Home Depot Deal Alerts & Discussion Thread

Yeah, two andurils and a narsil with a side of biscotti. :slight_smile:

Out Of Stock at my local HD but 20 In Store 50 miles away………

I wonder how it fairs on NiMh’s (hint hint). Also - do you think it’s possible to run it from an 18650 (or multiples in parallel).

-Garry

Planning to do a NiMH runtime test after the alkaleak test ends (still running).

As far as running off a single Li-Ion cell, my guess is no because voltage will be too low to achieve full brightness. It might work but light output will be much lower, plus there is no space to install an 18650 cell, so it’d have to sit outside. Usually, 4xAA type lights are not good candidates for Li-Ion conversion.

Well, with a decent 18650 cell, providing 2A @ 4V should be no problem. Seems like the light is designed to suck the alkaline cells voltage down to 4V based on the current draw. The NiMh had higher voltage at test start because they can handle the current. Not seen one of these yet, but suspected that a 18650 cell would not fit.

I suppose it’s doable.

A single 18650 has comparable energy to 4 high capacity AA NiMH cells, so you’d have to build a battery pack consisting of several 18650 cells in order to extend run time.

I picked one of the work lights up today and checked it out really quick. I saw the same 2A on high with the fresh alkaline batteries. I connected a laptop pull pair charged to about 3.7V, got 1.1A on high, 0.35A on medium. I’m charging it up to 4.2v to see what we get then. Long leads and the meter certainly lower the current some.

Update

The laptop pull pair charged to 4.0v open circuit, they deliver 1.5A on high, 0.5A on low. Also tried a 21700 cell salvaged from the recycle bin rated at 40A, voltage a bit above 4.0V, it also delivers 1.5A with the light on high. Finally charged a nearly new Samsung 30Q to the full 4.2V, by far the lowest ESR cell I have, 1.66A on high. Guessing the alkalines at start must be closer to 4.5V than 4V, or the current from the 30Q test would have matched or exceed that of the alkalines. Anywho, a fun bit of testing.

So, I measured the voltage across the alkalines, 4.3V and 2A of current into the light. That’s what I guessed. Sure seems like the light is directly across the batteries in the high mode.

I picked up a Rayovac Sportsman lantern yesterday on clearance for $6.33, from $24.99. Maybe good for the kids, keep them from swiping your LT1?

For some reason I didn’t believe this data, so I had to try to duplicate it. I don’t have a lumen measurement device, but I do have a DVM. I figured the current would be roughly proportional to the lumens. I only tested with eneloops, not alkalines.

Well, guess what. The initial current when I started was 2.9A. At 5 minutes, the current had dropped to 0.62A, or about 20%. The current stayed at roughly 0.62A for the next few minutes while I measured the voltage across the cells under load, 5.12V.

I’ll trust the data now for the alkaline cells. Fun test.

Ok, this Husky shop light has some very interesting characteristics. I ran the same test with a pair of laptop pulls. Before turning the light on, they were at 4.08V. Right after the light went on, down to 3.98V, and 1.42A into the light. The current and voltage dropped for the first couple of minutes, then the cells voltage started to go back up, and the current continued to drop. The current stopped dropping at 5 minutes, at 0.33A, or about 20% of the starting current. The cells can clearly provide more current, but the light just won’t have it. Something in the light heats up, or there is some silly circuit in it that reduces current over the first 5 minutes. Now I’m tempted to open it up and see. I tried the other day but removing the 4 screws on the back didn’t seem to free it up for opening.

At 15 minutes, the cells are still at 4.00V, and the current is still at 0.33A.
25 minutes, the cells are at 3.98V, the current is at 0.32A. Now begins the slow decay, but too slow for tonight.

Yup, something is funky there for sure. Like some turbo timer of sorts. Keep us posted on what you find out.

I ran it a couple more times this morning, same sort of behavior. I was noticing the current and light intensity seem to drop in steps. Small steps, but the current will hold for 10ish seconds at some level, then make a discrete drop and stabilize, and so on. I could see small steps in the light output also, like my LT1 does in sunset mode. Some sort of timer circuit in there or sure, whether its analog or digital I don’t know yet. Testing with the laptop cells keeps the input voltage stable so it easier to observe. with these two laptop cells, and the present 0.3A, it would run there for 10+ hours easy. I’m doing it in chunks as I can’t just be around for that long.

I had one of my Ryobi 18 volt batteries die a month ago. Another last week. Both were 63 months old. So I went online looking at new ones. I also briefly entertained the idea of rebuilding the packs but decided against that. Anyhow, after searching around on the HD website I found an interesting sale. HD has what they are calling a free tool sale. Buy a two pack of the 3 AH batteries with a charger and a bag and get a tool; Six different deals. It’s not really a free tool, but close, as you get the 2 batteries, charger and bag and the tool, but the price varies from $99 to $129 for the package. Still if you need or want one of those 6 tools it is a great price. I had dropped my jigsaw a while back and got the better model along with the batteries I wanted for about the amount I was going to spend on the batteries.

https://www.homedepot.com/collection/Tools/RYOBI-Free-Tool-Promotion/Family-312120639?omsid=308056104

two pack of ONE+ 4.0Ah batteries + Charger + Bag $99 + FREE Bare Tool

Ryobi ONE Starter Kit

You order it online and pick it up, or just walk in. I was able to walk in, grab the battery pack/box off the kiosk and tool I wanted from their tool section and go through self check out. IIRC the batteries rang up for $58 and tool for $41

Credit goes to Plothound in the “”Soldering iron”:https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/62533” thread

Yes, a good deal. One observation of mine though. That charger is one of their less well designed units. When the battery is plugged in it overhangs the row of LED indicators making them almost impossible to see, especially in bright light. Not a deal breaker but it is very annoying the few times I have used that charger. I do have a more traditional charger of theirs that has very easy to see LED’s. It is still a good deal.

Yes, definitely dump that charger in favor of one of their better ones. The bag is nice too though

A good price on a Wen 2000W inverter generator.
Wen super quiet genny $388

lots of lights step down like that.
i have an energizer and a hf that do it.
bet there is a resistor inside you can change to get the current up on li-ion.

Ridgid 16-Gallon 5.0-Peak HP NXT Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum

$99
$50

Shopvac Comparison: Best Shop Vac? Ridgid vs Shop Vac, DeWalt, Stanley, Hart, Craftsman - YouTube
I love mine, totally worth it at this price.

today, i went to Home Depot and bought
AA and AAA 40-packs for $8 each.