LUMISTAR LED FLASHLIGHT

Lumistar LED Flashlight, retail $29.99 (www.radioshack.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown; possibly Nuwai) for Radio Shack (www.radioshack.com)
Last updated 06-08-07




The Lumistar LED Flashlight is a smallish, almost all-aluminum flashlight that features a Luxeon I LED near the bottom of an almost mirror-smooth reflector.

The LED is powered with three AAA cells held in a side-by-side carriage in the flashlight's barrel.

I don't know the current consumption of this flashlight; however it is significany brighter than expected for a Luxeon I product.


SIZE



Feed it three AAA cells first (see directly below), and then you can go to town.

Press the black plastic button on the barrel until it clicks and then release it to turn it on.

Press and release the button the same way again to turn the flashlight on back off.



To change the batteries in your Lumistar flashlight, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it in the john, yank that silvery 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 black 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, aiming it so the silver colored end goes in first. Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that tailcap now?

Unable to measure current usage due to how the product was constructed.



This flashlight appears at least fairly durable, and it is. When I performed that terrible smack test on it (ten whacks against the concrete floor of a patio: 5 smacks against the side of the bezel and 5 smacks against the side of the tailcap), only the expected damage was found. There is some minor gouging on the sides of the bezel and tailcap where it was struck. No optical or electrical malfunctions were detected.

There is a clear Type II anodized finish over all of the exposed aluminum; this should help keep the flashlight looking newer for longer, even if it goes up against coins, keys, or other flashlights.

The flashlight appears to be weather- and water-resistant at the very least. When I removed the tailcap, relieved the barrel of its batteries, and then performed that dreadful suction test, only very minor leakage was detected. So if it fell into shallow water, just shake it off and keep going. And you need not be concerned about using it in rain or snow. And if it fell next to the mailbox and the dog pissed on it, just take the garden hose to it or douche it off under the faucet...good as new! Being water- and pee-resistant is fairly new for a suspected Nuwai product, and makes an already good product even better.

The light produced is a pure white, with no obvious yellow, blue, purple, or "rotten squid urine green" tints to it.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 1,051,000mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



Photograph of the beam spot on a wall at ~10 feet.

Those rectangular graphic things in the upper left quadrant of this photograph are marquees from:
Nintendo ''R-Type''
Super Tiger...er...uh...Konami ''Super Cobra''
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''

upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.

And that graphic toward the right is:
A "BIG SCARY LASER" poster sent by www.megagreen.co.uk



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


ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis.
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at a Radio Shack store in Sacramento CA. USA on the morning of 06-07-07.

Product was made in Taiwan. 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: Unknown; possibly Nuwai
    PRODUCT TYPE: Handheld flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 1.25W white Luxeon Star LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot w/dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off on barrel
    CASE MATERIAL: Aluminum
    BEZEL: Metal; LED & reflector protected by polycarbonate window
    BATTERY: 3xAAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Yes, in shallow water for brief periods only
    ACCESSORIES: Small lanyard
    WARRANTY: 1 year

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Lumistar LED Flashlight * www.radioshack.com...






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