What can a fiver buy you here in Australia?
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Hey lads I thought I would write from the heart! Lol= Lots of love? Actually I was strolling through Bunnings (Biggest hardware chain in Australia). I usually go to see what is on special. Last time I picked some portable fans that are powered by 2 18650s for $5 each. (That deal blows) Each Bunnings have there own clearance items that are store specific other day I picked up Hills branded hose connector $1.25 lol. Maybe hills is getting out of the water business? I think Americans will know of hills hoist washing lines?
I am not sure if $5 was the sale price or normal price as its not on Arlec or Bunnings website.
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Any way enough about my shopping experience lol! I get of track so damn easy lol.
$5 bucks I got a Arlic branded headlamp with a whopping 100 lumens and it even included 3 AAA batteries. I am actually happy to see an improvement with price to performance torches here in Australia.
Don’t get me wrong the headlamp is very average but its okay? Yea nah yea nah? It works and its fairly bright seems brighter then 100 lumens. In Chinese terms its at least 1000 lumens easy!
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Where to start?
Its cheap so I was not expecting Nitecore quality! Maybe that is why I am happy.
Firstly the headband itself is okay. Its super comfy and soft but it fairly thin so I do not think it will last long. It has the usual side and top adjustments. The top band is connected to the body of the headband by a simple loop at the back none of these fancy connecters. For a fiver its okay!
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The headband is on the smaller size although I do have a fat head but when compared to a brand name light it is defiantly smaller. Common attachment at the front where the LED sits its just a piece of molded plastic all 3 bands attach here. The lamp/light itself is fully adjustable up and down and the adjustment is the clicker style not friction. The detent in the clicker feels really good it has a strong click when adjusting the light.
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It is a full plastic body with a plastic lens polycarbonate I guess. The lens looks rough as guts it has the usual polycarbonate look. This is why I hate watches that use it so easy to scuff. The Lens is also slightly defused which is not needed when the LED is this big.
The reflector is fully plastic also but I was not excepting a plastic body to have an alloy reflector. Fully custom made part the reflector because the headlamp is using a COB LED.
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Taking the light apart is easy its held together by a top bit of plastic that hides two self tapping screws. Screws are easy to get out but the plastic is a bit chewy so I would not undo the light 100 times because you will get issues!
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Inside the light you find the COB led with no markings on branding so I guess its generic. The output light is white so no high CRI here.
The LED is mounted to the driver so no heating sinking for the LED its self besides the driver board. Cost cutting at its finest I guess! I mean for 100 lumens spread out so far do you really need a heat sink?
The reflector is also mounted to the driver board and they are all press fit together so they must be preyed open to see the goodies.
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The cob itself is actually on an okay piece of alloy its 1mm thick and 40mm long and 10mm in height. For a 100 lumens its fine it does not heat up at all!
The driver is a simple 3 mode driver but board its self is not populated by much. It looks to have a few resistors and a FET also another chip maybe a controller chip for the modes. No marking on the chips.
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I take that back the FET of what I think is the FET is marked 2TY? I will Google it.
If your interested it seems to be a 40v PNP COB transistor
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- Low
- Medium
- High
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I can not make the controller chip it seems to be wiped of but I can see letter there maybe if I clean it. Looks to be SS1 but that takes me to Texas interments so I doubt it.
The wires from the battery connector are very thin but they will do the job for this low amperage application. Its only pushing a max of 350ma so nothing to fancy is needed. I will mod the wires and see if I get more power. The battery compartment is also plastic but its using external bit of metal on the for the battery connections.
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The button is build into the driver with the negative running straight to the button. Seems to be a proper clicky of some sort it is super small.
I can not find the find the light on Bunnings website but the packaging states IPX44. No O-rings any where but the lens does sit deep and the button is protected by a rubber boot.
Overall if I was a fisherman or hunter and I wanted a light that does the job okay for 5 dollars I think you have a winner. It holds up okay even compared to a five dollar headlamp that is bought online. Build quality is a minimum but it looks like it will last a while if treated okay. Output is not spectacular but it lights up in front of you okay.
Pics are at ISO800
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