robotnut's Full Review: As Seen On Tv Everlasting Led Flashlight
The thing I hate the most about flashlights is the maintenace. I hate having to go out to buy batteries, hate having to remember to change the batteries, and hate having to bring dead batteries to be recycled. And when the bulb blows out, forget about it. It's easier just to buy a new flashlight than to try to find a replacement bulb. While LED flashlights have provided a solution to the the light bulb problem, there's still that whole thing with the batteries.
I used to keep a regular battery powered flashlight in my car just in case of an emergency. It was a really nice heavy duty flashlight, fully armored with rubber to make it shockproof and waterproof, and it had a super bright krypton bulb. I bought two expensive alkaline 'D' batteries and stuck 'em in there. Well, for years I kept that flashlight in my car and never had an emergency. I even bought a new car and transferred the flashlight from the old car to the new one. Finally, one night I found myself in a situation where I needed a flashlight, so I grabbed my rubber armored krypton flashlight with the two expensive 'D' batteries in it, pushed the button on...and nothing! The batteries were dead because I never thought to change them all those years.
In that particular situation, I really wished I had a flashlight that didn't use batteries. The Faraday Light has answered my wish. I bought this 2-pack of Faraday Lights and I keep the large one in my car. So now, I never need to worry about batteries and I know I'll always have a light source when I need it.
The Faraday Lights are pretty simple to use. You just shake them for a couple of minutes. The shaking motion causes a sliding magnet to pass back and forth through a coil of magnet wire which by doing so generates electricity. The electricity is stored in a capacitor which then supplies power to the LED. Remember when you were a kid and you wrapped a length of wire around a nail then hooked the wire up to a battery and it magnetized the nail? Well, this is basically the same idea except in reverse. For the larger flashlight, the instructions say to shake for at least two minutes while the smaller flashlight they recommend shaking for at least 3 minutes for first time use. Subsequently, you only need to shake it for about 30 seconds whenever the light gets dim and you need to give it a boost.
I did a simple test with the larger Faraday Light by shaking it for a full 2 minutes and then leaving it on to see how long the LED stays lit. After more than 30 minutes the LED was still lit. Although, realistically I'd have to say that you get useable light for only about the first 3 minutes. Beyond that, the LED still glows but it gets progressively dimmmer to really do anything with. Of course in real life you can always just shake it some more to recharge for more light. I could not do the same test with the smaller Faraday Light because it only has a momentary push button switch, meaning you have to keep pressing the button to keep it lit. I didn't want to be sitting there for 30 minutes holding it with the button pressed. The larger flashlight has a traditional push on/push off switch. Other differences between the larger Faraday Light and the smaller one is that the larger one is waterproof while the small one is not. The smaller one also has a smaller magnet and smaller coil, thus it requires more shaking to charge it up. The light output between the two appears to be roughly the same, although the light seems to be more focused with the larger one due to the larger magnifier lens.
Ok, so the performance may not sound very impressive. And granted, even at full brightness, the light output is not nearly as bright as a regular flashlight. I do admit this won't completely replace traditional battery powered flashlights. But it's certainly useful enough to light your way through a dark rooom without you stubbing your toes or tripping over anything, or finding a keyhole in the dark, or finding your lug wrench and car jack in a dark trunk if you get stuck with a flat tire at night. In an emergency, it's certainly better than a flashlight with dead batteries.
Beware of Fakes
When buying a shake light, beware of cheap knockoffs. There are some shake lights out there that are fakes. The fake shake lights are made to look like the real thing but in reality they're powered by button cell batteries or a small battery made to look like a capacitor. The wire coil is in fact not connected to anything and instead of having a sliding magnet, it's just a plain non-magnetic metal slug. The counterfeit shake lights will light up of course when you first buy them, but only until the battery dies out. Then you can shake them until the cows come home but you won't get anymore light out of them.
Sometimes even a retailer may be unaware that the shake lights they're selling are fakes. I definitely would not buy a no-name shake light from a dollar store. In this case, brand name does make a difference. The best way to avoid buying a fake is to buy one made by a reputable manufacturer.
As Seen On Tv. 2pk. Of Flashlights That Dont Use Batteries Or Bulbs. Each Runs About 5 Mins. After A 30sec. Shake. If You Want It On For More Than 5 M...More at Target
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