LED TROUBLE LIGHT

LED Trouble Light, retail $23.98 (www.thingsyouneverknew.com...)
Manufactured by Power Cords & Cables (no URL known) for Trans USA Products, Inc. (www.transusaproducts.com)
Last updated 02-10-08




(In reference to the box I received from Things You Never Knew Existed at 2:42pm PST on 02-07-08):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}
Feels like a flaaaaaash-liiiight...feels like a FL

BREAK IN 49152
READY.
CONT

?OUT OF DATA ERROR IN 64738
READY.
Let's try that again...as soon as I saw the return address, I *knew* it wasn't a flashlight...

Feels like a trooooouuuble-liiiiiiight...feels like a TROOOOUUUUBLE-light!!!
Feels like a trooooouuuble-liiiiiiight...feels like a TROOOOUUUUBLE-light!!!


This is a combination LED trouble light & LED flashlight. It has six modes plus off (high, medium, medium/low, low, flashlight (forward LEDs only), and flash) that can be accessed with a single pushbutton switch on the back, and the entire thing feeds from three AA cells held in a carriage inside the handle.

There are 33 LEDs total - 30 in the worklight portion and 3 in the top of the unit for use as a flashlight.

It also has a low battery indicator LED so you'll know when its time to change the batteries.


SIZE



This worklight comes with batteries already installed; all you need to do is pull out and dispose of the little plastic tab from the side of the battery compartment.

On the rear side of the handle is a blue pushbutton switch.
  1. Press & release the button once to get the worklight LEDs to come on at maximum intensity.
  2. Press & release it again to dim all the worklight LEDs by ~50%.
  3. Press & release it again to turn the center strip of LEDs off.
  4. Press & release it again to turn the two outer strips off and the center strip on.
  5. Press & release it again to turn the worklight LEDs off and turn the front three LEDs on (flashlight mode).
  6. Press & release it again to cause the worklight LEDs to flash at ~1.5Hz (~2 flashes every three seconds).
In the 50% intensity setting (#2 above), the LEDs are dimmed by a process called PWM, or Pulse Width Modulation. In PWM, the LEDs are fed full current while they're on and shutting them off for a time (the duty cycle appears to be 50% in this case). Dimming the LEDs in this manner allows the color to remain the same; the LEDs flash so rapidly that they appear to be constant-on to the human eye. When the unit is rapidly waved about, you can see the LEDs flicker in this mode.


The waveform of this mode is shown here on an oscilloscope.
The rising end of the waves are curved probably because of the phosphor attack rate of the LEDs.
This is a perfectly normal waveform to see with phosphor LEDs, and is nothing whatsoever to be concerned about.

Regardless of what mode is engaged at the time, you can press & hold this button for 2 seconds to turn the unit completely off without having to run through the rest of the modes.

When the red LED located above the pushbutton switch comes on when the trouble light is used, it's time to think about changing the batteries.

There is a blue plastic hook mounted to the upper portion of the back; you may pull this hook free and use it to hang the trouble light from most hooks & nails; or pipes, or horizontal components that have no "end" and have a maximum diameter of ~0.6".
This hook may be stowed (folded back down) against the product body when not being used; this helps keep it out of the way during storage or transport.


Here, the trouble light is shown hanging from a dresser drawer.
The drawer is a little too thick, that's why the hook is not all the way down as it should be.



The trouble light comes with batteries included and already installed; to change them when necessary, follow these steps:
  1. Slide the battery door off (sliding toward the bottom of the handle), remove it, and set it aside.
  2. Remove the black plastic battery carriage, and dispose of or recycle the used AA cells in it as you see fit.
  3. Insert three new AA cells into the carriage, orienting each cell so its flat-end (-) negative faces a spring for it in each chamber.
  4. Place the battery carriage back in the battery compartment, orienting it so the end with the circular depression in it faces the spring in the compartment.
  5. Slide the battery door back on.
  6. There, you're done. No really, you are!




This is an LED trouble light, not a flashlight meant to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused, so I won't try to drown it in the toilet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a patio, let my housemate's citty kats go to the litterbox on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a large claw hammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout, with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; and the cannoņata is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a flashlight might have to have performed on it. So this section of the web page will be significantly more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight that was born to be a flashlight and nothing but a flashlight.

I do not own or have access to an automobile, so I cannot test this product with automotive fluids (ie. gasoline, motor oil, brake fluid, tranny fluid, antifreeze, etc.) to see what happens.



Beam photograph (work light) on the test target at 12".
Measures 134,000mcd (high), 87,400mcd (medium), 86,000mcd (medium/low), and 60,800mcd (low).
Measurements don't vary as much as in reality because the light source is so large.



Beam photograph (flashlight) on the test target at 12".
Measures 53,500mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.

All measurements were taken on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



Photograph showing the product can be used as a flashlight.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in this trouble light.


ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis (flashlight mode).
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the product in blink mode.
This clip is approximately 1.47 megabytes (1,531,466 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than six minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

That sound you might hear is a commercial playing on the boob tube.
This product is not sound-sensitive; the sound may be ignored or muted if desired.





TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased from the Things You Never Knew Existed website on 02-02-08, and was received at 2:42pm PST 02-07-08.

Product was made in China.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Power Cords & Cables
    PRODUCT TYPE: LED trouble light w/flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm white LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 33 (30 in the work light portion, 3 in the flashlight portion)
    BEAM TYPE: Wide spot w/dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/mode change/off on handle
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: Plastic; LEDs behind plastic windows
    BATTERY: 3xAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER- AND PEE-RESISTANT: Light splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: 3xAA cells
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





LED Trouble Light * www.thingsyouneverknew.com...






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