LED HUMMINGBIRD
WIND CHIMES

LED Hummingbird Wind Chimes, retail $14.98
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 07-07-12




The LED Hummingbird "Wind Chimes" ("Wind Chimes" is in quotes here because the unit does not actually make any sounds when the "hummingbirds" are blown about in a breeze or shaken in an earthquake) is a beautiful decoration designed to be displayed in a sheltered location outside or almost anywhere indoors.

The "hummingbirds" sparkle in the sun during the day, and glow rather prettily at night when you turn them on.


SIZE



To use these wind chimes, *CAREFULLY* remove them from the packaging.
I say "CAREFULLY" here, because the wires that attach the "hummingbirds" are very small in diameter, and therefore, easy to break.

Using the metal chain with the loop on the end, hang the wind chimes in a sheltered outdoor location, such as under the branches of a large tree or under the roof of a covered patio; or in any indoor location away from windows and doors.

On the underside of the blue disk, you'll find a small black slide switch. Slide this switch to the "ON" position to turn the unit on. Slide this switch toward the lightning bolt symbol on the opposite side to turn the unit on in sound-sensitive mode. Slide this switch to the center position to turn the unit completely off.



To change the batteries in these wind chimes, unscrew and remove the four screws from the top of that flat blue cylinder, and set them aside. Lift off the top of that cylinder, place it on the ground, and kick it in the garden so the praying mantids will think it's something yummy to eat and strike at it...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

If necessary, remove the used AA cells from their chambers and recycle or dispose of them as you see fit.

Insert three new AA cells, orienting them as shown in the instructional material furnished with the product.

Place the top of the cylinder back on, insert the four screws you removed earlier, and gently but firmly tighten them.
Aren't you glad you didn't kick that top into the garden with all those hungry, hungry praying mantids now?


Here is what a praying mantis looks like.
I found this guy on the morning of 09-08-06 clinging to the basket of my scooter.

Current usage measures 65.1mA on, 6ľA (0.06mA) in sound-activated mode (LEDs off), and 61.5mA in sound-activated mode (LEDs on).



The Hummingbird Wind Chime is a product designed to be hung inside or outside and then not screwed with, not a flashlight meant to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused. So I won't hit it against the concrete floor of a patio, throw it in the toilet, stomp on it, throw it against a wall, run over it with a 400lb electric wheelchair, throw it at a wall-mounted porcelain urinator to see if it smashes open (the wind chimes, not the urinator), let my housemate's cats take a leak on it, sit on it really hard, or subject it to any other potentially destructive tests that a regular flashlight might be subject to. So this section of the web page will appear SIGNIFICANTLY more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

In my brief testing so far, the sound sensitive feature requires a fairly loud sound. The sound of hands clapping at moderate intensity at a range of ~3 feet did the trick; lowering the intensity of clapping caused the set to stop responding to sound. A ghetto blaster with an output power of ~5 watts per channel RMS like the one in the photograph directly below, blasting heavy metal music (like Anthrax, Raven, Metallica, Exciter, Dio, Pantera, Prong, etc.) at near full intensity with the speakers aimed at the blue cylinder near the top of the product (at a range of ~4 to ~6 feet) ought to give you a nice light show here.



(Update 09-27-06):
If the upper ring is tapped *VERY LIGHTLY* with a metal object - in this case, a walking cane - the unit will readily turn on & off while in sound-sensitive mode.

If, despite my cautions about the frail wires holding the hummingbird lights, you still manage to break one, the unit will be only slightly tilted, but will still hang reasonably correctly. You need not go out of your way to devise a counterweight, or worse, dispose of the set. That simply isn't necessary.

The colors of the "hummingbirds" when lit are red, yellow, green, blue, and a very pale purple or pale lavendar.



Photograph of the wind chimes, illuminated.



Photograph of the product hung on our patio.
As you can see, some movement occurred.



Photograph of the product hung on our patio, in daylight (shade).
There is no direct sun there at this time of the year, so I cannot furnish that photograph.



Another night time photograph of the product hung on our patio.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the red LED in these wind chimes.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the yellow LED in these wind chimes.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the green LED in these wind chimes.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the white LED in these wind chimes.

USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.

I wanted to perform spectroscopy on the blue "hummingbird", but it went out on 04-29-07 and hasn't functioned at all since.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the product responding to music.
This clip is approximately 6.69 megabytes (6,719,376 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than thirty minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

That music you hear is the Anthrax song "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun".
(This song was originally recorded by The Beastie Boys)

The lyrics were very carefully checked for toliet language; none was found.
Actually, this is the beginning of the song, which contains no lyrics anyway.

I would have hoped that this product would have been more sound-sensitive;
the ghetto blaster (a fairly high-end JVC RC-656JW) was held just a matter
of inches away from the Hummingbirds, and the audio (sound)
volume was cranked fairly high to get any flashing at all.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased from the Harriet Carter catalogue on 08-17-06, and was received on 08-29-06.

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: 04-29-07
O no!!!
The blue "hummingbird" has gone out!!!


As you can see (it's the rightmost "hummingbird" in this photograph), it's totally dead. I flicked it, followed the wire up to the battery compartment & circuit, and jiggled that, and it did not even flicker.

I hung the set on the patio yesterday (04-28-07) and found the blue one out last night when I turned the set on after dark.


UPDATE: 07-07-12
The URL to the product on Harriet Carter's website is no longer any good, so I removed it from the two places where it was shown on this web page.


PROS:
Very pretty to look at, day or night.
Uses batteries that are common and relatively inexpensive.
If one hummingbird becomes broken or goes out, the remainder are unaffected.


CONS:
Sound-sensitivity is surprisingly low


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: LED "wind chimes"
    LAMP TYPE: LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 5 (1 each red, yellow, green, blue, white)
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide switch on/mode change/off
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: LEDs inside acrylic "hummingbirds"
    BATTERY: 3xAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 6ľA (0.06mA) to 65.1mA
    WATER RESISTANT: Very light weather- and splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: 3xAA cells
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





LED Hummingbird Wind Chimes *






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