Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?

On Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 3:33:33 AM UTC-4, wrote:
http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Fo...9_MBC_0001.jpg

goo.gl/Z2qawl

first image I saw of the QC was the chassis n running gear in clean silver with Ford n his engineers.

a stunner.

like Benz designed a chair, Cugnot a horse but here was a Bonneville streamliner

On 5/14/2017 8:37 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 3:33:33 AM UTC-4, wrote:
http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Fo...9_MBC_0001.jpg

goo.gl/Z2qawl

first image I saw of the QC was the chassis n running gear in clean silver with Ford n his engineers.

a stunner.

like Benz designed a chair, Cugnot a horse but here was a Bonneville streamliner


Bonneville was made famous by John Howard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py94okBKDU0

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

a UPS convoy is OK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GgQGuE4w_c

On Sun, 14 May 2017 00:23:54 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

WD 40

WD40 does one thing rather well. It displaces water. For everything
else I can think of, there are specialized potions and concoctions
that work as well or better.

I'm going to try and fix it by drilling out the D size battery either
on my drill press of a friend's lathe. Chemical attack is useful but
slow. Brute force and mechanised horsepower are fast and easy. Using
the force either fixes the problem, or destroys the work. There is no
middle ground with brute force. No, I won't post photos of the
results because I'm sure it will be ugly no matter what I try.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 5/14/2017 10:44 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 14 May 2017 00:23:54 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

WD 40

WD40 does one thing rather well. It displaces water. For everything
else I can think of, there are specialized potions and concoctions
that work as well or better.

I'm going to try and fix it by drilling out the D size battery either
on my drill press of a friend's lathe. Chemical attack is useful but
slow. Brute force and mechanised horsepower are fast and easy. Using
the force either fixes the problem, or destroys the work. There is no
middle ground with brute force. No, I won't post photos of the
results because I'm sure it will be ugly no matter what I try.

Remember Albert Einstein's wise words "If it jams, force it. If it
breaks, it needed replacement anyway."

On 5/14/2017 12:44 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 14 May 2017 00:23:54 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

WD 40

WD40 does one thing rather well. It displaces water. For everything
else I can think of, there are specialized potions and concoctions
that work as well or better.

I'm going to try and fix it by drilling out the D size battery either
on my drill press of a friend's lathe. Chemical attack is useful but
slow. Brute force and mechanised horsepower are fast and easy. Using
the force either fixes the problem, or destroys the work. There is no
middle ground with brute force. No, I won't post photos of the
results because I'm sure it will be ugly no matter what I try.


The liquid to clean up alkaline battery mess is vinegar, as it reacts
with the battery guts and liquifies them. The problem with an aluminum
flashlight is that the vinegar also kinda attacks the aluminum too. If
you get any vinegar on the reflector for example, it's instantly gonna
eat a hole in the silver aluminizing.

Lead-acid battery guts eats aluminum too. That was the thing that ruined
a few of my flashlights through the years... The battery would leak that
acid dust, it would work its way into the front end somehow and eat
holes in the reflector coating.

-------

Once upon a time, Mag Lights were something. They didn't cost much but
were still a lot more durable than all the cheap dim plastic 2-D-cell
flashlights around. They're not the only choice for that anymore.

The LED bulbs helped a lot with the extended runtimes, but didn't work
well in the incan reflectors. The only thing that was really good about
mag-lights was that for a while they were the only flashlight that you
could find non-maglight-brand accessories for.

Most of the non-bike lights I use now are China-generic things. They
usually work well enough and are so cheap that they border on being
disposable.

On Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 1:44:50 PM UTC-4, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 14 May 2017 00:23:54 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

WD 40

WD40 does one thing rather well. It displaces water. For everything
else I can think of, there are specialized potions and concoctions
that work as well or better.

I'm going to try and fix it by drilling out the D size battery either
on my drill press of a friend's lathe. Chemical attack is useful but
slow. Brute force and mechanised horsepower are fast and easy. Using
the force either fixes the problem, or destroys the work. There is no
middle ground with brute force. No, I won't post photos of the
results because I'm sure it will be ugly no matter what I try.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

http://www.walnutacres.com/product_overview.php

On Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 9:05:06 AM UTC-7, Doug Cimperman wrote:
A couple of my old headlights died due to batteries accidentally being
left in them long enough to leak. The old lights were Cateye HL-EL530s,
that took 4 x AA batteries.
http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/HL-EL530/
tho mine wasn't that one, mine was the previous-generation that had a
rectangular beam due to a second focusing cone inside the main
reflector. I cleaned them up a bit with some vinegar and water, but
they're probably toast. The reflector surfaces look pretty gray.

So I'm shopping around for ANY kind of headlights that take 4 x AA
batteries, and there is none. The best I can find is one that takes 3 x
AAA, but that doesn't put out anywhere near what the previous lights did.

The best that Cateye offers now is the EL135, which is 3 LEDS and only 2
AA batteries.
http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/HL-EL135/

I don't need a whole lot of light, I had two headlights just in case one
failed. And I don't want anything with an external battery pack, even
for free.

Years back the rechargeables cost too much ($100+ just for the smallest
systems). Now they're cheap enough, but they suck compared to the
disposable-battery ones.

At Nashbar, the Nashbar-brand Wedge headlight is 100 lumens, costs $20
and uses 3 AAA batteries. The run time is given as 15 hrs on high, 30
hours on low and 60 hours on flashing.

Nashbar also sells the Cateye Volt 100, the lowest-end Volt model. It is
USB rechargable and the output is given as 100 lumens... But the runtime
is given as "2 to 30 hours depending on mode". Uhhh... no sale.

I'm trying to spend money here and just not seeing a lot that's
interesting.

Plus--on the LWB recumbent, the lights have to be mounted upside-down.
And the old Cateye lights were "waterproof", while almost all of these
new ones are just "water resistant", and I'd bet, not nearly so if
mounted upside down in the rain...

So far the best candidate is the little 3-AAA flashlights with handlebar
mounts. They're round beams but have a spot-flood focusing lens at
least. Plus they all have high/low/flash modes now.

IF the lament here is against sealed housing rechargeables, then let's separate rechargeables into field replaceable battery units that take standard off the shelf batteries that happen to also be rechargeable batteries and also have a built in charging circuit, versus sealed housing lights which I think are what the original posting was lamenting about, that leave you out of light and out of luck when the battery drains.
The Oculus may be the only reputable high powered light in the field replaceable as well as rechargeable battery category. In the field you can quickly replace a drained battery with a fresh charged standard size off the shelf battery, or when off the bike you can recharge the battery in the light with the light's built in charging circuit.
Using standard size rechargeable batteries, a field replaceable design, along with built in charging circuit, were initial design goals that cost a ton of extra money requiring several design iterations to get really right.
The value of this rapid battery recharge or replacement design along with the amazing combination of beam evenness with brightness keeps distinguishing itself.
Most recently, two prominent well known RAAM entrants this year have requested Oculus sponsorship for just these reasons.
Also, Oculus will be the primary lighting rental and support provider by invitation at the 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest MTB race as part of the N24 National 24 Hour MTB Championship.
These and others continue to find that Oculus doesn't just suit their needs, but is the first choice GoTo light when money and the race is on the line.. See
http://www.barrybeams.com/uploads/1/...1476089589.png
for a pic of the quickly field replaceable standard size battery, cover, and chamber. Oculus takes both the 26650 and 18650 standard sizes, so the user has a choice of weight, capacity, cost, charge and burn times that no other light offers.

On Sun, 14 May 2017 15:50:35 -0500, DougC
wrote:

On 5/14/2017 12:44 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 14 May 2017 00:23:54 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

WD 40

WD40 does one thing rather well. It displaces water. For everything
else I can think of, there are specialized potions and concoctions
that work as well or better.

I'm going to try and fix it by drilling out the D size battery either
on my drill press of a friend's lathe. Chemical attack is useful but
slow. Brute force and mechanised horsepower are fast and easy. Using
the force either fixes the problem, or destroys the work. There is no
middle ground with brute force. No, I won't post photos of the
results because I'm sure it will be ugly no matter what I try.

The liquid to clean up alkaline battery mess is vinegar, as it reacts
with the battery guts and liquifies them. The problem with an aluminum
flashlight is that the vinegar also kinda attacks the aluminum too. If
you get any vinegar on the reflector for example, it's instantly gonna
eat a hole in the silver aluminizing.

Yep. Vinegar works, but so does 409 household cleaner. Any mild
acid, such as lemon juice will work. However, there's a problem with
this particular mess. The swelling of the D cells have jammed the
corrosion well into the aluminum. The nice smooth aluminum inside
walls are long gone, to be replaced by a sandpaper-like surface. Even
if I could dissolve off the potassium carbonate, I could not slide the
battery out of the tube. Maglite has made extraction unusually
difficult by not allowing access from the business end of the
flashlight. I've had to deal with this problem in the past and found
that drilling out most of the battery and breaking loose whatever
remains, is the most effective method.

Lead-acid battery guts eats aluminum too. That was the thing that ruined
a few of my flashlights through the years... The battery would leak that
acid dust, it would work its way into the front end somehow and eat
holes in the reflector coating.

Umm... I don't think anyone uses lead-acid batteries in modern
aluminum flashlights. Methinks you mean alkaline batteries, which use
potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an electrolyte. KOH doesn't really
directly attack the aluminum metal, which is coated with a somewhat
protective layer of aluminum oxide. The KOH first attacks the oxide
coating, which exposes the base aluminum metal to attack by water
(H2O). This article should explain how it works:
https://stab-iitb.org/newton-mirror/askasci/chem07/chem07376.htm

Once upon a time, Mag Lights were something. They didn't cost much but
were still a lot more durable than all the cheap dim plastic 2-D-cell
flashlights around. They're not the only choice for that anymore.

Yep. I didn't get the word that Maglites were officially useless
until recently. I still have a few around the car, house, and office
for emergency use. I used to carry a Mini-Maglite (2AA) LED light on
my belt for looking inside computers and other dark places. I got the
clue when the local thrift shop had some 2D and 3D Maglites for sale
at about $6 and they didn't sell. I was crushed and immediately went
on an eBay buying binge, purchasing a wide variety of poorly designed,
poorly built, but cheap LiIon LED flashlights. I got lucky and found
a few which actually worked which I am using to replace the Maglites
when the batteries finally expire. The others, I gave to friends. It
feels odd when the flashlight and 18650 cell costs less than the
battery charger.

The LED bulbs helped a lot with the extended runtimes, but didn't work
well in the incan reflectors. The only thing that was really good about
mag-lights was that for a while they were the only flashlight that you
could find non-maglight-brand accessories for.

True. I retrofitted my various 2D and 3D Maglites with aftermarket
LED conversions. The reflector design was obviously all wrong but
worked well enough to be usable. There are now Maglite conversion
kits which replace everything from the light bulb, to the entire head
assembly.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/maglite-ledupgrades.html
I don't think the high cost is worthwhile.

Most of the non-bike lights I use now are China-generic things. They
usually work well enough and are so cheap that they border on being
disposable.

Yep. I bought this pile of junk:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201457081072
The machine work at the front are milled to a sharp edge and have
already shredded on pair of my pants. The 14500 battery fits very
loosly. One of the six in the order had defective electronics. I
broke the switch on another after about 20 operations. However, at
about $2/ea for the light, and about $1/ea for the junk batteries,
they really are disposable.

One of the flashlights I purchased had a threaded ring at the front
that locked the lens in place.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/391639378962
The thread fit was rather loose. I had one on my belt for a day, only
to find that the ring had fallen off. I had to Loctite the others to
avoid a repeat performance.

Biggest problem so far is that I can't easily hold these Chinese
flashlights in my mouth, like I could a Mini-Maglite.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Try Pixa 2

https://www.rei.com/c/led-headlamps?...adlamps&page=1

a worklight not a riding lamp ...

We progressed to ID ing the solution

now how deliver fresh solution to the surface when removing used solution ?

dripping solution iznot gonna work