SOLAR RECHARGEABLE
LED WARNING LIGHT

Solar Rechargeable LED Warning Light, retail $14 (http://cgi.ebay.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown, for Symmetry Co.) (www.symmetryco.com/)
Last updated 08-22-06




This isn't an LED flashlight in the truest sense of the word, but it uses a battery, some LEDs, and maybe a power inverter to produce light, so here ya go. :-)

What this is, is a traffic warning light that you can put on a roadway or wherever else, and let its six bright LEDs do the work instead of you standing out there with a flag or something. It comes with two long screws and what appear to be drywall inserts (which may also be placed in wet concrete and allowed to set with the rest of your pouring).

They were designed for freeway use as road studs (I don't know that term, so please don't ask), warning lights for pedestrian crossings, roadside warning lights for hilltops and winding roads, illuminators for your driveway, etc. Landscape designers can also use them for exterior decorating, the garden, the swimming pool, etc. Just mount them where you see fit, and where they'll receive sunshine for 8 hours or more a day, and you ought to be ok.

It features a 1.2 volt NiMH battery (current capacity unknown and not stated) inside, and a solar panel on top to keep it charged.

These lights come with LED colors of red, yellow, green, blue, and white.
The model I bought has green LEDs in it.


SIZE



The light needs to be charged before its first use. Eight hours in sunlight ought to do the trick here.

To use this product, just mount it in any location you see fit, using the included phillips head screws and included plastic inserts if necessary. If you're fastening it to a wooden surface, the inserts are not necessary.

It turns itself on automatically at dusk, and turns itself off automatically at dawn, so you don't have to {vulgar term for intercourse} with it every day.

A toggle switch on the side allows you to select flashing, steady-on, or off modes. As the switch opening is facing you, and the solar array is facing upward, positioning the black rod in the switch opening to the left is steady-on, center is off, and right is flashing.

The flashing mode appears to blink the LEDs at 3Hz or 4Hz. The steady-on mode flashes the LEDs much faster, using a method called PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to provide increased battery life. It *looks* steady-on, but if the unit is waved about rather rapidly, you can see the LEDs turning on and off.



This product is solar rechargeable, and the user does not have to buy batteries for it, so this section will be largely skipped.

Just ensure the solar panel is exposed to sunlight for about eight hours a day, and the LEDs will light for up to 12 hours at night.




The majority of this product is made of a metal I believe to be aluminum, and the top where the solar panels are and the two sides where the LEDs are have thick plastic coverings. I believe the product is quite durable and impact-resistant, and should not become broken with ordinary accidents, like drops, falls, being stepped on, being run over, etc.

The unit was designed to be used outdoors, so I don't think water-resistance will be much of an issue here. The only visible location where I could see a vulnerability (the recessed toggle mode select switch on the side) was suctioned, and did not leak or admit air from inside the light body. I did not try to suction the area while moving the switch rod side-to-side, as that would be rather difficult, if not outright impossible.

If the battery really is 1.2 volts, there must be a step up inverter in there to drive the LEDs. No visible light LEDs have a Vf of 1.2 volts; they generally require 2.0 to 4.0 volts, depending on LED color and chemistry.

It's been one day now (around 6:00pm PST 03-30-04, and I started charging it around 5:00pm PST 03-29-04) and there's still no light.
Maybe I bought a defective one. Or maybe it just needs some additional time to charge. There is no direct sunlight here, so I've kept it about 2" to 3" above a compact fluorescent light bulb, solar cells facing the bulb of course.
(Edit 04-02-04): It probably charged correctly right off the bat, but I did not have the unit turned on. Boy, do I feel silly.
The switch is NOT a spring-loaded "push in" type. Turns out, it's a toggle switch. As I explained earlier, as the switch opening is facing you, and the solar array is facing upward, left is steady-on, center is off, and right is flashing.


Here's a macro photograph of this switch; in this photograph, it's in the "off" position.

There is a photoelectric switch on the unit, automatically turning the unit on at dusk and off at dawn. This switch appears to be the solar panel array itself, so please don't look for an "electric eye" (a CdS photocell; typically a round white thing with a squiggly brown line on it), as you won't find one.

The green LED version (which I have now) uses InGaN LEDs, which emit a pure green color, not the ugly yellow-green emitted by GaP LEDs.

This product is not reflective or retroreflective, so you may not see them as well during daylight hours as you might at night when the LEDs are blazing or blinking away.



Close-up of three of the six LEDs illuminated.
The other three lamps are on the opposite side.



Close-up of three of the six LEDs in the blue LED unit.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LEDs in the blue unit.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LEDs in the green unit.
LEDs were not bright enough to get a taller curve on the scale.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from TWO-CUBED.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on Ebay and received late in the afternoon on 03-29-04.
The ebay listing I bought it from is right here, but will expire around 06-20-04.
Use the Sellers Other Items link to see if he's offering any more of these lights.
This seller also has an ebay store if you do not see the product in his auction listings.


UPDATE: 04-02-04
I'm expecting to receive a blue LED unit from a group buy, and the seller of this product has offered these to me (for this website) in other colors; this page will be updated when I receive them.


UPDATE: 04-08-04
I received the blue LED unit today, and added a photograph of three of its six blue LEDs illuminated just below where you see the same type of picture of the green LED unit. I will now charge this unit fully, before any other testing is conducted.


UPDATE: 05-08-04
I ran over one of these lights (the blue LED model) four times with the rear drive wheel of a 400lb electric wheelchair (orienting it so the LEDs faced forward and backward; as it might be when installed in a roadway or driveway), and did not damage it in any fashion. I don't own or have access to a car, so this is the closest approximation of running one over I can provide.


UPDATE: 06-21-04
The blue LED model is now two floors down, upside-down on top of a sidewalk cover, and I seriously doubt I will be able to retrieve it. So I believe it is a total loss. The rubber band that was holding it in my window apparently became broken.


UPDATE: 06-21-04
Yes, another update on the same date.
I put in a work order with my building manager to retrieve the light, and I should have it back in 7 to 10 days. Maintenance just has to get a ladder and go get it.


UPDATE: 06-22-04
Building maintenance has removed the light from the overhang; now I just wait until they bring it up to me...waiting...still waiting...sill waiting...still waiting...looks like the maintenance people either absconded with it, or they're going to wait the full "7 to 10 days" before bringing it up to me.


UPDATE: 06-24-04
I received my blue LED light back a few moments ago (around 1:17pm PDT). It works as well now as it did when it was new, and there's no damage that I can readily detect. So yes, it is durable to the point where it can fall onto a steel overhang from two floors up.


UPDATE: 07-02-04
I just opened my rent bill, and I saw that I was charged $54.45 for retrieving this light from the sidewalk overhang.


UPDATE: 07-21-04
A user of this product from northern Europe - Scotland I believe - sent these two photographs to me for use on this website. In both photographs, he ran over the light with a Jeep.


Under the wheel of a 2,000Kg Jeep in a gravel driveway.


Same; only a closer view of the light, the tire (or tyre), and the gravel.

He wrote the following in email to me:

The only evidence that it's been run over at all is that there are a couple of marks on the underside, and that's only because I don't have a tarmac driveway, so had to take the photographs on a gravel one. Running over it on tarmac didn't mark it (I just couldn't really stop there to take photos, given that that test was done at three in the morning on the road!). Is also worth noting, that if run over at speed when it isn't fastened down - the blasted thing will go flying! After I ran it over at 45mph, it came to rest about 200 yards further down the road, in the ditch. Didn't seem to mind though. Just glad I did that at night, otherwise I'd never have found it!

This person also proclaims that this light is VERY visible in dark conditions, especially on strobe mode.

One effect that really serves no useful purpose, but is a curiosity nonetheless, is that on some units, if you switch the LEDs from constant-on to off very slowly, the PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) circuitry can be overridden, resulting in a noticeable brightening of the LEDs. This mode is difficult to obtain, and is certainly not stable, so it's not useful in the truest sense of the word. But it is mildly entertaining, and is a curiosity that might be of interest to you.
The person who supplied the above photographs discovered this.


PROS:
Unit appears to be solid and very durable
Switch assembly is protected and weatherproof
Never have to buy disposable batteries for it
Recharges itself - no cords or cradles needed
Projected device lifetime of at least three years


CONS:
Not all that bright (there goes half the star)
Not reflective or retroreflective (and there goes the other half)


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown, for Symmetry Co.
    PRODUCT TYPE: LED traffic warning light
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm LED, color varies with what you order
    No. OF LAMPS: 6
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Toggle switch to change modes on side
    BEZEL: LEDs protected by colored plastic windows
    BATTERY: Internal 1.2v NiMH, 1,200mAh
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Unknown
    ACCESSORIES: 2 ea. phillips head screws and drywall (or concrete) inserts
    WARRANTY: 1 year

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Solar rechargeable LED warning light * www.symmetryco.com/






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