COB LED vs. non-COB Lanterns for emergency power outage lighting

I’m looking at these 2 models of AA lanterns on Amazon. One model brags about how their COB LED’s are more efficient. Any feedback or recommendations for some lanterns like this? I usually have plenty of AA’s around so thought this would be a good type of lantern.

I like this particular model because of the dimmer: Amazon.com

This is the COB model, and offers 4 for the price of 2 above: Amazon.com

If the second lantern had the brand name “MalloMe” printed over top of the logo of the guy roasting a marshmallo(w), I’d be all over that lantern like a monkey on a cupcake. :smiley:

Ugh, yet another 3×AAA light…

They’re cute, but are just toys. Oh, they’ll be nice’n’bright with fresh cells right out of the pack, but will start dimming constantly ’til you get so fed up with the ever-dimming light that you toss half-good cells to replace with new ones. No regulation, no squeezing every last bit of juice out of the cells, nothing.

And they’re no doubt Angry Blue™ instead of any decent CT/tint.

I’d rather have parallelled cells with a good (and cheap) boost converter, like you’d see in 1×AA lights.

Say, there’s an idea…

Frankly, they’d probably make good modding material, but unless desperate I wouldn’t rely on them. And keep the cells outside the light ’til you’re ready to use ’em, unless you want alkaleaks to take a dump right in the holder and ruin ’em.

Oh, yeah, I see one is AAA. I don’t want that one at all.

Hmm, just thinking… that 800mA boost converter (works down to ~1V or so) from FT might be able to fit in there. Rewire the holder to put the cells in parallel, and use that to supply 800mA to the already parallelled LEDs. At least it’d be reasonably regulated, and wring out more juice from the cells before fading. (This is for the lanterns without the dimmer.)

@Lightbringer, now that would make for a nice lantern.

Just plop in a triple MCPCB with 3x LH351Bs 3000k, and you will be ready for camping.

IMO though, I would just wait for the BLF lantern.

I’m doing that but with older really WW Nichias (the 3pak from FT) in an antique-looking “hurricane lantern”.

Complicated mechanicals (real glass, springy mechanism to raise-lower it, “chimney vents” on top that I intend to use to convection-cool the LEDs/mcpcb, etc.), so it’s slow-going, but should look nice if I ever finish it.

Has a built-in knob dimmer w/ switch that I’m hoping to use directly vs hacqueing away at it after fitting it for a few parallelled 18650s (takes 2 D cells) and usb charger.

Oh, and it’s actually metal, not plastic. Thin thin thin metal, but metal nevertheless.

I’ve had the above COB lanterns for a few months now and WOW are they angry bright! And no dimmer either. They are what they are - cheap lighting for emergencies.

I will have to use 2 of them in an off-grid cabin situation soon for 3 nights and hoping someone can suggest an inexpensive DIY filter / diffuser to soften up the harshness. Or a DIY tophat / shade to help project the light downward if I suspend them from a high place?

In addition to these I will have my Zanflare T1 which is much nicer, but assume I will be running all 3 quite a bit in this large and dark cabin.

Thanks!

Parchment paper works as a diffuser in a pinch. Just cobble together a loop of it to fit snugly around lantern. You can even double or triple the paper to darken if ya like. And parchment paper is burn resistant to ,I believe, around 400F

Neat little fact about parchment paper: it is made by treating the wood fibers with acid to partially gelatinize them. The most common form of tracing paper is made by more fully gelatinizing the fibers in the same kind of process, so that they are as transparent as possible. If you want more light to get through, you could use tracing paper as a diffuser. It’s resistant to heat as well.

I’d just as soon make a dunce-cap for my Q8 out of parchment paper as an improvised diffuser.

Or not, as I bought one of those diffuser tupacs from Sofirn.

I’m probably going to be under-illuminated this trip - I expect at least one lantern to fail and probably need one or two more to keep the evening and mornings from seeming too dim inside.

I don’t want to buy another lantern as i’ll (hopefully) be getting my BLF lantern in a few months and it should be awesome. Perhaps i’ll get a string of LED lights to hang instead of a lantern? Lanterns are just cooler though…

I have picked up a couple of these (and the non-cob version) to modify to improve them in the past. Either way they are basic cheap lights for emergency use & do the trick for basic camp, cabin, or power-outage lighting in an emergency, but not much else. (injection-molded plastic construction, low-CRI LEDs, mostly generic low-cost components and just a resistor to regulate the current to the LEDs.) They are what they are, a low cost emergency light just a step or two above a disposable flashlight or disposable lamp. As for the COB design, (Chip-On-Board) they are almost like a variation a remote-phosphor type of flat strip LED, (with the blue LED chips spaced equally on a aluminum board, with the phosphor embedded in the silicone rubber coating over them instead of directly on the LED die as traditional LEDs have.) I find COBs not necessarily more efficient, but they do offer a bit smoother light distribution for low-cost lantern or area-light use, with less point-glare & less hard-light shadows than multiple small Straw-hat or SMD LEDs often found in cheaper, low-cost lanterns with clear lens/shades. The other issue is the use of generic 3 AAA or AA battery format, ( AA is a bit better for capacity) which will limit the output and run times to a hour or so on their highest modes with a constant downward dimming light curve as the batteries drain.

Oy.