Tesco 3w cree

redvee

Innes wrote:

I just bought a AA lamp from Tesco, and used an old lamp mount to fix it to the bars. Any chance of a link to that Lockblock from Fenix Store Redvee?

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_inf ... cts_id=273

Innes

Thanks

dsmiff

BoardinBob wrote:

Went out for a proper night ride up to Carron Valley tonight. 2 torches on the bar and one on my helmet.Some shots

Not bad for £30!!! Still not managed to get out in the forest yet (snow!!!!) and can't wait, just used them down the lanes on my road bike so far.

Innes

I worked out quite a good way to alter the inside to take rechargeable batteries.

I used a bit of metal rod with a slot cut into the top, and then got a cutting of really rough sand paper, set a bit into the slot, and coiled it round the rod, fitted it to a cordless drill, and sanded the inside of the torch until the batteries slipped through.

I is a lot easier than trying to file it out, and makes the inside much cleaner.

Belphegor

What batteries are people having trouble fitting in the AA torch? I've tried the following:

Panasonic Rechargeable Ni-Cd 1.2v 800mAh
Uniross Rechargeable Ni-MH 1.2v 1300mAh
Energizer Rechargeable Ni-MH 1.2v 1700mAh
Energizer Rechargeable Ni-MH 1.2v 1850mAh
M&S endurance longlife alkaline non-rechargeable

As with the stock Tesco disposable batteries, they all slip into the torch barrel and then meet resistance towards the middle, but only enough to get nicely snug (so no rattle), and easily push all the way through with a pen, with the exception of the M&S disposables which actually slide all the way through like throwring a hotdog down a hallway.

andrew_s

Belphegor wrote:

What batteries are people having trouble fitting in the AA torch?

Standard NiMh much over 2300mAh (2500-2900), or the pre-charged rechargeable Hybrio/Eneloop type

Belphegor

andrew_s wrote:

... or the pre-charged rechargeable Hybrio/Eneloop type

I didn't even know these existed. Do they recharge with standard Ni-MH chargers?

A messageboard post Google threw up said they found the Uniross Hybrio batteries to be particularly oversized. Might have to invest in some Eneloops. Do they really not loose charge over time?

BoardinBob

Belphegor wrote:

What batteries are people having trouble fitting in the AA torch? I've tried the following:

Panasonic Rechargeable Ni-Cd 1.2v 800mAh
Uniross Rechargeable Ni-MH 1.2v 1300mAh
Energizer Rechargeable Ni-MH 1.2v 1700mAh
Energizer Rechargeable Ni-MH 1.2v 1850mAh
M&S endurance longlife alkaline non-rechargeable

As with the stock Tesco disposable batteries, they all slip into the torch barrel and then meet resistance towards the middle, but only enough to get nicely snug (so no rattle), and easily push all the way through with a pen, with the exception of the M&S disposables which actually slide all the way through like throwring a hotdog down a hallway.

My 2800mAh Tesco rechargeables don't fit at all.

I'm currently using 1300mAh rechargeable Energizer batteries and they fit easily.

sicknote

If you are going to use rechargables, from what people that know more than me have said is not to use the cheap charges as they work on a timer and your battery's will and last for long.
I will be getting one of the Ultra fast chargers that will look after your new battery's better

Look at this post and see the post from alfablue

Hope it helps

BoardinBob

Sicknote wrote:

If you are going to use rechargables, from what people that know more than me have said is not to use the cheap charges as they work on a timer and your battery's will and last for long.
I will be getting one of the Ultra fast chargers that will look after your new battery's better

Look at this post and see the post from alfablue

Hope it helps

Interesting read.

My £7.99 charger from Lidl works on the following basis:

This Universal Battery Charger controls the charging for the rechargable batteries of the types Ni-Cd and Ni-MH separately. This control is based on the -Delta U calculation.

In mathematics, with Delta differences are described. "Minus Delta U" in this case means a negative voltage difference.

This charge identification makes itself useful in the following effects:

Should a battery be charged with a constant current, its voltage rises continuously. When the battery is full, its voltage reaches a maximum and falls lightly with further current flow. This light fall in voltage is recognised by the charging electronics and the charge process is terminated. The Universal Battery Charger automatically switches to "Retention Charging"

Not bad for £7.99

sicknote

Hi BoardinBob
Can you post a pic of the one you have as it might be the one that is this in some of the stores.
Thanks

BoardinBob

Voila. Was £12.99 but down to £7.99

maxcars1

Just popped into my local Nettos to pick up a few bits and got one of their chargers with Qty 4 2700 battereis thrown in. Just tried them - after removing the paper sticker inside the tube of the troch they work treat. Cost was £5.99 all in

Belphegor

Awesome, thanks for that. I was expecting them to be a lot more expensive, so think I'll invest.

sicknote

Thanks Bob

That is the one in my Lidl's, so I will try one

Innes

I just had a quick blast round the small woods just down from my house to try out the single lamp mounted on the bars, and it worked really well.

The mount held the lamp well, it didn't move. I noticed you can buy similar mounts like the one I used on Chain Reaction for £1.49. So for £11.49, I have a good addition to my LED helmet lamp.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=29580

Innes

dsmiff

BoardinBob wrote:

Voila. Was £12.99 but down to £7.99

My wife picked one up today was still £12.99. Might rename this thread the credit-crunch light thread!!!!

Carlos13

Just thought I would add my two penneth to the discussion. I currently own a few of the currently fashionable lights, it might be useful to someone to read my opinions on them.

1) Tesco 3W Cree (2xAA). I have two of these, bought at the same time. They have quite different characteristics. One is an extremely bright white light with very little spread. The other is slightly dimmer, a more yellowish light, but with a better spread.
2) One Fenix L2D
3) One Ayup (the roadie kit)

IMO the Tesco lights are not very good unless used with a different type of light. You would need several, and position them very carefully to light up a useful area. One example of this, I was riding in the woods, came round a shallow bend and clonked a pedal into a fallen tree that I hadn't noticed was there - it was never in my field of view.

The L2D is pretty satisfactory as a bar-mount if used in conjunction with a helmet-mounted light. It is not as bright as the Tesco but does provide a much wider spread.

The AyUp is almost identical in brightness to the brighter of my two Tesco lights, but it's bright spot covers about 8 times the area of the Tesco, plus it has much wider spread. In terms of the perceived amount of light per pound, it's up there with the Tesco.

I'm using the AyUp as a bar mount in conjunction with the better of the two Tesco lights, mounted on the helmet. Whilst the Fenix is a "better" light that the Tesco in terms of spread, used in conjunction with the AyUp, you just can't tell it's on, whereas the Tesco provides useful extra light, so long as you don't point it into the hotspot of the AyUp.

redvee

Got the two torches and one mount but not for long as the other has been shipped from the states. One torch is standard spot beam the other is the flood 'modified' beam. Rode with the spot tonight and all was OK on the roads, will give the flood a go tomorrow night.

Northwind

Carlos13 wrote:

1) Tesco 3W Cree (2xAA). I have two of these, bought at the same time. They have quite different characteristics. One is an extremely bright white light with very little spread. The other is slightly dimmer, a more yellowish light, but with a better spread.

I found the exact same, with 2 torches from the same box... But with mine, it was caused by a weak battery. Well worth replacing the batteries immediately IMO, I'm not using anything special, just high-ish capacity energizer rechargables, but the difference is still pretty noticable.

Carlos13

I have a bunch of rechargable batteries (Energizer 2450mAh) that I interchange between both the Tesco torches.

Northwind

Eenteresting that... Just coincidence maybe that my low batteries caused the same symptoms.

BoardinBob

Carlos13 wrote:

Just thought I would add my two penneth to the discussion. I currently own a few of the currently fashionable lights, it might be useful to someone to read my opinions on them.

1) Tesco 3W Cree (2xAA). I have two of these, bought at the same time. They have quite different characteristics. One is an extremely bright white light with very little spread. The other is slightly dimmer, a more yellowish light, but with a better spread.
2) One Fenix L2D
3) One Ayup (the roadie kit)

IMO the Tesco lights are not very good unless used with a different type of light. You would need several, and position them very carefully to light up a useful area. One example of this, I was riding in the woods, came round a shallow bend and clonked a pedal into a fallen tree that I hadn't noticed was there - it was never in my field of view.

The L2D is pretty satisfactory as a bar-mount if used in conjunction with a helmet-mounted light. It is not as bright as the Tesco but does provide a much wider spread.

The AyUp is almost identical in brightness to the brighter of my two Tesco lights, but it's bright spot covers about 8 times the area of the Tesco, plus it has much wider spread. In terms of the perceived amount of light per pound, it's up there with the Tesco.

I'm using the AyUp as a bar mount in conjunction with the better of the two Tesco lights, mounted on the helmet. Whilst the Fenix is a "better" light that the Tesco in terms of spread, used in conjunction with the AyUp, you just can't tell it's on, whereas the Tesco provides useful extra light, so long as you don't point it into the hotspot of the AyUp.

At £30 for three Tesco torches, I'm more than happy with the amount of light they throw out. Perfectly usable round pitch black technical singletrack climbs and descents.

Innes

I was reading through some of the earlier pages of this thread, and found out about the modified beam. I am planning on using a lamp as a bar mounted lamp to supplement my home made LED helmet lamp, which gives off a really good spread of light. The idea of the bar mounted lamp is to see if adding a bar mounted lamp helps give detail to bumps on the trail as has been mentioned. I think I will modify the beam and see how I get on.

Here is my Helmet lamp:

forgotrafe

Innes - nice homemade job!

stumpyjon

One is an extremely bright white light with very little spread. The other is slightly dimmer, a more yellowish light, but with a better spread.

I found the exactly the same, first one I bought was more yellower with better spread (I use it on my helmet) and the other 2 are much whiter and tighter.

Marko1962

I have just compared a Cateye EL530 and a Tesco (2 xD) torch and there is little to choose between them. The beam, spread and throw is roughly the same but the Cateye is slightly brighter and whiter and a lot more expensive so if your not bothered about a slightly heavier light (than the Cateye) that looks like a torch plonked on your bars then the Tesco torch is a way to go ... just my 2p worth

Innes

I used a Tesco AA tonight along with my LED helmet lamp, and because the helmet lamp is so bright I didn't notice the Tesco lamp. The LED helmet lamp is really bright though.

One of the guy's I cycle with has just started using a Ebay Hong Kong bike light, one of the ones with the separate battery packs, and it is a lot better than the Tesco Lamp, it is £30 full price, (he got it for £14), but I think it is worth spending the extra.

Innes

Stormy

Just to pick up on a few points raised above regarding performance and beam type for the same model Tesco flashlights, flat batteries aside I have experienced similar issues with the brace of Fenix TK11’s that I own.

One of the units is much (seems) whiter and brighter than the other three, and apparently this is down to the manufacturing process of the Cree emitters and quality control, not a major issue but definitely noticeable, but only noticeable when you do a direct comparison.

Just out of plain curiosity I also purchased a two D cell Tesco light, and I have to say I’m impressed with it; it’s not as bright as a TK11 and doesn’t offer the same spill. However the cost of a TK11 is certainly not justified in being four times as much, the performance is not four times superior IMO, and the throw of each light is practically identical.

Also I found these being advertised on the net (not exactly for Tesco money) but they do possess that neat trick of altering the beam pattern from a wide flood to a very tight long throw beam whilst on the move. It takes 4 x triple A cells, with a claimed run time of 130 hours and a 170 Lumen output – anybody tried one out?

http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/led-lenser ... =all-items

moggy82

Went out last night with my mate using a AA on his head and im not that impressed, i thought it would be much better, i was using a hope vision 1 and a MC-E on my head. First itme i used the light on my head and as a combo its brilliant, just on its own it would be brilliant. So rather than buying 3 tesco lights put the extra £10-15 and get one of these off DX.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16501

Works out about £40-45 with batteries and charger.