Little Lamps from Aldi

Vara

Vara

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Saw these in Aldi this morning, 2 for under £5. 4 leds and batts

DSCF3932.jpg


Not water proof but a dob of sealant in a few places should sort that, they also work with standard rechargeables.

Can't find them on their site.
 
You obviously bought a pair.

How bright do you reckon they are.Good enough to use as an anchor light? To comply with regs they should be visible for 2miles. (Not saying you need to be able to see them from 2 miles but that is how the regs are written.

Can you measure the current they draw from the batteries (which are? AA cells?).

I bought a lantern, which looks similar except for having one very bright LED, from Maplin. The spec indicated that it would be of the required brightness but when tested I discovered it drew 0.25 amps! The result is that a new set of batteries would be needed every night, or a set of rechargeables recharged daily, at least towards the end of the season.
Yet to use it in anger though.

Cost a lot more than £2.50 /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif excl batteries! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Weather proof though IIRC

Found a use for the July PBO I see too
 
They come as a pack of two.
3 AA cells.
No can't measure the amps (out of scale for my cheap meter)
Look plenty bright enough for an anchor light. Will send SWMBO up university hill on a bike to test after dark.

Have left one on to assess life.
 
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Will send SWMBO up university hill on a bike to test after dark.

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That's pretty cruel. Just done one half as long and half as steep and I'm sweating and puffing. Hope its a mountain bike.
 
Huh! Young people today; no stamina.

When I was a student at UKC, I walked up and down the hill twice a day; never did me any harm. Can't say the same for the magic mushrooms that grew in the bomb pit next to Eliot College... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Now you are stretching my knowledge of the uni! I know Elliot college since I used to be at school next door, and sometimes ended up in the bars in the colleges. Not surprisingly I don't remember a crater. Can't see it on google earth, but then so much has been built on.
 
My Maplin one does not really give enough light output to read by but the spec for it makes it bright enough in terms of luminous intensity to be suitable for an anchor light.

On a different note I've been playing with a solar powered garden light. Bought it from Lidl about a year ago. Surprisingly intense light but I have altered the design of the reflector so that all the light is reflected sideways rather than back up on to the LED and the inside of the top cover. It may not have 2 mile visibility but I reckon it won't be far short. At this time of the year it stays on at full brightness all night but by October it is a bit dim by dawn. Still got to get round to making away of using it on the boat though, the ground spike wont stick into the grp deck!
 
I have one attached to the pushpit, so that anyone creeping up the creek in the dark can avoid the boat. I cut a semicircular notch in the bottom of the tube, drilled a small hole and threaded a cable tie through.
 
I cut the ground spike off at a suitable level on my 4 cheapy solar powered garden lights- and they sit very nicely in my winch sockets....
 
26 hours and still pumping out light.

Tests last night indicated clearly visible at just over a mile (had to stay up well past my bed time /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif, the things I do for the advancement of knowledge)
 
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