Denali Super Bright 9-LED Heavy-Duty Compact Aluminum Flashlight, 3-Pack
by Denali
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List Price: Our Price: $11.10 You Save: $18.89 (63%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Denali Super Bright 9-LED Heavy-Duty Compact Aluminum Flashlight, 3-Pack
Customer Review: More is LESS when it comes to LED flashlights
Summary: 2 Stars
I actually got several of those Denali Super Bright 9-LED Heavy-Duty Compact Aluminum Flashlight from my local hardware store. They are neither 'Super Bright' nor 'Heavy-Duty'. The aluminum case is very thin, and the battery cap treads get ruin easily. I have to interchange some caps, and clean their contacts to get them to work.
Each flashlight uses nine tiny 3mm LED for light sources. The light is diffused and unable to throw a beam over 20 ft or so. Most first-time LED flashlight buyers may assume that "The more LED, the better". But it is actually the opposite. A single high-current LED driven at 300mA can generate much higher light output than 9 cheap LEDs driven at 30-40mA each. Using a single LED also allows the beam to be focused. Comparing the light output from this cheap LED flashlight to a well-built one (such as the Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 1W LED Flashlight) is like, well, night and day.
Another problem with this flashlight (and all other cheaply made flashlights) is that there is no power regulation at all. All LEDs are connecetd in parallel, then driven by the battery through a limiting resistor. The current is therefore very sensitive to battery voltage. With 3 fresh AAA cells, the battery voltage is around 4.5V, so the LEDs burn brightly. But as the battery voltage drops slightly to 4V, the light output becomes less than half as bright. Below 3.5V, the flashlight is essentially dead. The Rayovac LED flashlight, which contains a regulator, can work all the way down to battery voltage of 1.2V!
At around three bucks each (including batteries) you should not expect too much. But I will hesitate to pay any higher than that.
Customer Review: Tricky Battery Installation, See My Pictures
Summary: 3 Stars
I suspect many of the 1-Star reviews of "Dead on Arrival" flashlights are likely due to complete lack of instructions and misleading markings on the battery cartridge (see explanation below). These Denali "Super Bright Flashlights, 3-Pack" are very bright and all three of mine worked perfectly AFTER figuring out how to correctly install the batteries. Here are my observations:
What You Get -
* 3 lightweight aluminum body flashlights in Silver, Gunmetal, and black colors
* 9 Panasonic AAA batteries (three for each flashlight)
Pros -
+ Very Bright; the nine white LEDs in each flashlight put out a lot of light
+ Aluminum Bodies; strong, small (1" Diameter x 3.5" Long), and lightweight
Cons -
- No Instructions; at least not for using the flashlights, but they did include directions for returning them to Amazon (telling?)
- Small Strap; too short to get around my wrist, I slip three fingers in (see my picture in the "Customer Images")
- Tricky Battery Installation; batteries need to be loaded into a cartridge that holds 3 AAAs, the confusing part is that the top is marked with (+), for "positive", and the bottom is marked with (-), for "negative", BUT one of the batteries needed to be loaded reversed (see my picture in the "Customer Images") - the key is to remember that the battery (-) is installed against the spring connector in the cartridge
Misc -
* Other reviewers have had switch failures but mine have worked fine (just luck of the draw perhaps, but will update if any brake)
These are not the highest quality but, since these were significantly reduced on a "Lightning Deal", I am fairly satisfied with these flashlights for the final price.
CFH
Customer Review: A fix for the connection problem
Summary: 4 Stars
While branded Denali, these flashlights are generic Chinese imports available under a number of other names. Each unit has a strong aluminum body, a plastic battery pack with room for three AAA cells, and a twist-cap on the rear with a push-button switch. The beam is a bright, wide, and blue spotlight very useful for household chores.
Facing from the front, the inner barrel has a ledge that the LED circuit board sits on top of. A plastic reflector fits over the LEDs, with a thin plastic window over that. All are held in place by friction. A single soldered contact from the circuit board touches the flashlight barrel. If the LED assembly has shifted forward at all, the circuit breaks and the flashlight does not power or powers intermittently.
There are a variety of ways to fix this problem. The simplest involves a small piece of tinfoil wrapped around the reflector and curled under the bottom of the circuit board and touching any of the soldered contacts. To reach the components, open the back compartment, remove the battery pack, and then push forward from within the barrel. The three front pieces should pop out. Then you can wrap your foil and pop them back in. This also improves the friction fit, so the pieces are less likely to pop out on their own.
Customer Review: Nice Little Flashlights
Summary: 5 Stars
I think these are a good value, nice quality and they work fine. Maybe I didn't notice the dimensions before I purchased them, so I was a little surprised that they are so much smaller than my old 2 D-cell flashlights (they are only about 3 1/2" long and 1 1/8" diameter). These are nice looking and small enough to leave around in places where you need extra light sometimes. I keep one on the coffee table next to my collection of TV remotes to help reading the buttons. It has a small strap which is too small for your wrist, but it can be used for hanging up. I don't remember if I received instructions but it's not too hard to figure out. They each use 3 penlight (AAA) batteries (9 batteries were included). You unscrew the back cap, slide out the battery holder. The flat end of each battery (without the bump) goes toward the spring in the holder. The holder itself has a black arrow which shows the direction for inserting the holder into the flashlight. The button on the end turns it on and off. Given its small size, the light is very bright, about as bright as my regular flashlights. The light is a nice white color with maybe a very slight bluish tint. If these hold up well, as I think they will, then I'll be tossing out my old unreliable flashlights.Customer Review: Handy little lights for your home or car
Summary: 3 Stars
Although I had read the reviews I decided to pick up a set of these on a recent Friday Sale. I figured for $10 shipped if they didn't work any better than the ones I find at the dollar store I would only be out a few dollars more, but could have them delivered to me.
Even knowing that they were compact, the small box surprised me when I opened it up. I did appreciate that they included 9 mercury-free Panasonic batteries so that I didn't have that additional expense. After looking them over I am a bit worried about how lightweight they are and that they won't be weather resistant. Anyways I popped the batteries in (3 for each) and turned one of them on. I believe I was probably capable of directing planes in to land at that point because as someone else mentioned don't look at them directly or shine at someone, they are as advertised: SUPER BRIGHT!
So far none of them have quit on me, but if I do experience the problems others have had I am sure it'll be during a storm when needed most, but until then these seem to be worth the price I paid.