HELPING HANDS 3xLED LIGHT

Helping Hands 3xLED Light, retail $9.99 (www.rightaid.com)
Manufactured by Faucet Queen (www.faucetqueen.com)
Last updated 08-01-07




The Helping Hands flashlight is a small handheld LED flashlight that comes in a metal body with a stinky rubber sleeve over most of the barrel. It feeds from three AAA cells in a side-by-side carriage inside the barrel. It has three 5mm white LEDs in its "business-end"; these LEDs are significantly brighter than expected (~35,366.7mcd each).

It produces a smooth beam, which consists of a wide spot with a dim corona or sidespill.


SIZE



The flashlight will arrive to you needing a feeding, so feed it first (see directly below), and then you can go to town.

Press the metal tailcap button until it clicks and then release it to turn the flashlight on; press and release it again to turn the flashlight off. This is hands-free or continuous mode.

There is no momentary or signalling mode available when the flashlight is off, however you can blink it by first turning the flashlight on and then pressing and holding the button (press it more gently) for as long as you want it off; releasing it turns the flashlight back on.

There is no LOTC (Lock Out TailCap) function available on this flashlight; please do not look for or expect to find one.



To change the batteries in the Helping Hands flashlight, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it in the {vulgar term for feces}bowl, yank that silver handle on the front of the cistern down, and flush it away...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the transparent, colorless plastic battery carriage out of the barrel and into your hand. If necessary, remove and dispose of or recycle the used cells if they are present in this carriage.

Insert three new AAA cells into the carriage, one in each compartment. Orient each cell so the flat-end (-) negative faces a spring for it in its compartment.

Once the carriage is full, insert it into the flashlight's barrel with the spring on one end going in the barrel first, screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that tailcap now?

Current usage measures 274mA on my DMM's 4A scale.



This flashlight is reasonably durable, but I don't believe it is indestructible or "bomb-proof". I struck this flashlight 10 times against the concrete floor of a patio (five against the side of the bezel and five against the side of the tailcap), and the expected damage was found - some scuffing and minor gouging on the side of the bezel where it was struck. No damage was found on the side of the tailcap, and no electrical or optical malfunctions were detected. So, durable, yes - in that it withstood "The Smack Test" with only very minor cosmetic damage. It's still stinky though.

It is splash-resistant, but it is not waterproof or submersible. When I performed "The Suction Test" on it, some air leakage was detected. It isn't a real bad leak, but it's there. So please try not to drop it in creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, oceansides, docksides, puddles of African elephant pee, slush piles, mud puddles, tubs, toilet bowls, cisterns, sinks, fishtanks, cat or dog water dishes, full washing machines, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. A little rain or snow probably wouldn't hurt it though, so you need not be too concerned about using it in lightly to moderately bad weather.

If it fell in water and you suspect it got flooded, disassemble it as you would for a battery change, dump out the water if necessary, and set the parts in a warm dry place for a day or so just to be sure it's completely dry inside before you reassemble and use it again.

If it fell into seawater, got thrown into a glass of milk, if it fell in a root beer float, if somebody squirted a Massengill brand post-menstrual disposable douche or a Fleet brand disposable enema at it (and hit it with the douche or the enema), or if somebody or something peed on it, rinse all the parts out with fresh water before setting them out to dry. You don't want your light to smell like seaweed, sour milk, flowers, fresh butts, or rotten piss when you go to use it next. Besides, salt (from seawater, disposable douches, disposable enemas, or uranation), lactic acid (from moo juice), or sugar (from root beer & ice cream) can't be very good for the insides or the metal contacts in the battery carriage.

There is a stinky rubber sleeve on the barrel with some mainly longitudinal cuts in it; this will help aid in retention (the ability to hold onto the flashlight when your hands are cold, oily, or soaked with milk, beer, bird poop, wet algae, urine, diet Sprite, cold coffee, water, etc.).
The rubber sleeve does emit a noticeable gasoline or "petroleum" odour; it does not need to be flexed or abused to emit this odour.

The tailcap switch has a loose & wobbly feel to it; this is not the fault of a loose-fitting battery carriage - the tailcap switch is fully encapsulated and it has this loose feeling whether the tailcap is affixed to the flashlight or not.

The beam that comes out of this flashlight is smooth, and has a nice, pretty much pure white color to it.

Somebody remarked that this flashlight looks very similar to a funeral urn; however, since I've never seen one before, I did not make that association.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 106,100mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LEDs in this flashlight.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from WWW.TWO-CUBED.COM.





TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at Right Aid late on the morning of 07-31-07.

The rubber covering emits a rather strong gasoline or "petroleum" odour; the odour is not objectionable, but it *IS* noticeable.
That's why I called it a "stinky flashlight" on this web page.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Faucet Queen
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small handheld flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm white LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 3
    BEAM TYPE: Wide spot with dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off switch on tailcap
    CASE MATERIAL: Metal & rubber
    BEZEL: Metal; LEDs protected by plastic window
    BATTERY: 3xAAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 274mA
    WATER RESISTANT: Splatter-resistant at minimum
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: Small lanyard
    WARRANTY: Lifetime

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Helping Hands 3xLED Light *






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