DURABUILT SELF-POWERED
HAND CRANK LED FLASHLIGHT

Durabuilt Self Powered Hand Crank LED Flashlight, retail $14.99 (www.target.com)
Manufactured by Vector Manufacturing for Target Corporation (www.vectormfg.com)
Last updated 09-03-05




This is a largish plastic LED flashlight that never needs to have disposable batteries bought for it, and never needs to have the batteries (or itself) placed in a charger. A crank unfolds from the bottom of the unit and allows you to charge its built-in batteries whenever necessary. You can select one or all three LEDs, depending on how bright you need the light.

The wind-up rechargeable flashlight comes in an attractive plastic body, with a rubbery grip on the bottom and a rubber piece on the bezel (head) to help protect it when it is dropped.


SIZE



This flashlight came to me needing to be charged first. When you receive yours, remove it from the package the best way you see fit, unfold the crank, and wind it at two revolutions per second (120RPM) for ten minutes. This is to ensure the internal battery is fully charged and ready to go. This is not specifically stated on the packaging materials or in the instructional materials inside, but is considered to be "the norm" with dynamo flashlights that use rechargeable batteries inside.

Once this is done, you only need to crank it for one minute to obtain one hour of light with one LED, or 20 minutes of light with all three LEDs (according to what it reads on the packaging material anyway).

Press the triangular button on the top of the flashlight until it clicks and then release it to turn one LED on. Press & release it again to turn all three LEDs on, and press & release the button a third time to turn the flashlight off.
Just like it reads on the back of many shampoo bottles, "lather, rinse, repeat". In other words, pressing & releasing the button again turns one LED on again.



This product does not use disposable batteries, so this section really isn't needed except to tell you how to recharge the built-in rechargeable batteries.

To charge the built-in rechargeable cells when necessary, unfold the crank and wind it (in either direction) at 120RPM (two revolutions per second) for one minute, then fold the crank back onto the bottom of the flashlight body; this should provide you with one hour of light with one LED on, and 20 minutes of light with all three LEDs on.




Photograph of the front of the unit, showing the moulded-in lenses in the window.

Because there are a number of moving mechanical parts inside this flashlight, the "smack test" really isn't that appropriate here. Same with The Toilet Test. It should offer light splash-resistance at minimum, but when suction was applied over the switch and on the bezel, air leakage was detected.

So this section of the page will seem more bare than this section of the page on a page about a battery-operated (using disposable batteries or batteries that are externally recharged) flashlight.



Beam photo (low) at ~12".
Measures 27,700mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



Beam photo (high) at ~12".
Measures 45,800mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent by a website fan, and was received on 08-28-05.

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: Vector Manufacturing
    PRODUCT TYPE: Self-powered (dynamo) flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm white LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 3
    BEAM TYPE: Very narrow flood
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/mode change/off on top of product
    BEZEL: Rubber; LEDs protected by lensed plastic window
    BATTERY: Internal rechargeable button cells; capacity & chemistry not stated
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Light splatter-resistance only
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: None
    WARRANTY: 2 years

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Self-Powered Hand Crank LED Flashlight *






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