3W 1AA Led Police Flashlight

What is the output of the 3W 1AA Led Police Flashlight on ebay?
Thanks,
Jerry

It’s about 40-60 lumens depending on the reflector.

Don’t buy that crap, they are not worth it.

Thanks, I have one, but did not realize it was that level.
Actually, considering cost from 99 cents to 1.29, and run times they are not bad for looking into the cabinets and for kids. Not for serious use, I agree.

Thanks,
Jerry

They’re great for what they are - dollar backup lights. In an emergency you’ll be glad to have them stocked around with primaries. And no worries about kids losing them or being dangerous to their eyes. I don’t know why some people are so against these.

And as far as those I have tested, they do around 10-20 lumens with regular AAs.

Hi Pulsar,
I have 6 on order through ebay just for those reasons. They have a relatively long run time, and if the battery leaks so what? I have one that I have had over 2 years and no problems.

I made a point to drop the light several times on carpet and tile floors. The light did not falter.

Regards,
Jerry

In an emergency I would not rely on a light that can fail any second :wink:

Hi Sirius,

Just curious, but have you ever used one of the subject lights, and if so did it fail? Thanks.
As previously stated I made it a point to drop mine on a tile floor from a little over waist high several times. It did not fail in any way. They burn over 7 hours on one eneloop.

I would not hesitate to stash some for emergency power failures, and don’t believe any would fail. I have a couple now with several on the way.

The only lights that I have had fail were supposedly good quality lights. I had several Arc failures, and several twisty single AA lights that were touted as good. That was several years ago and I do not remember the maker. I also have had a Thrunite Ti fail.

Anyway that is my experience.
The subject lights are not my edc or favorites, but they do not deserve such a bad rap in my opinion. I just normally leave single mode low output lights in various places, such as my TV and computer cabinets to look into the back of the units.
Regards,
Jerry

I have bought 2 different ones from DX some years ago - they never worked properly.
I had to smash them against something before they worked a bit, but they ofter flickered and went out many times.

If you want an emergency light, use a small light that costs <15$ - there are many of them and if you really ever need it, you will think “Money well spent” :wink:
for example the Convoy S2

I buy these cheap lights (20 at a time) for my father who has Parkinson's disease. He drops them all the time and because of that they don't last very long. So I save the battery, throw out the el cheapo light and just give him a new one.

THE only thing I like about these lights are that they are cheap.

This is the same light that TMart had the offer on, £0.01, $0.01, I just received mine and put this review on the TMart site.
.
I was lucky enough to get one of these lights on one of TMart’s £0.01p offers so it was good value.

First the bad points.
The tailcap threads were very gritty to feel yet they were machined bright and well defined.
The lanyard was a pain in the arse to fit because the switch ubber is close to the hole in the tailcap.
Despite being flat ended the light will not tailstand because the rubber boot over the switch slightly protrudes above the tailcap.
Not very bright.

Now the good stuff.
Not very bright, you don’t always want a wall of light.
A wrapping with shrink wrap over a AA cell made the fit a lot tighter.
A smear of silicon grease on the tailcap threads made things a lot smoother.
Fairly useful lanyard.
I have a use in mind for which this small light will be perfect.

After using it for 1 day, on/of 4-5 times the clicky switch is getting unreliable.

Whoever designed this light must have worked really hard to get it this bad.
For £0.01 I’ve lost nothing but please avoid this piece of crap at all costs.
The one thing that is unforgivable to me is to design a light for the worldwide standard AA cell and not having it fit!

Hi all,

Got one too.
Blue-ish purple-ish light, but incredibly low pricing.
No problems with the switch here.
The size of the battery part is indeed quite ridiculous… lol

Took it apart to (one day…) mod it.
Maybe I won’t. :wink:

Better get the MXDL 1 x AAA straight-tube-shaped mini torch, which is really nice, even elegant,
and only twice the money.

my experience is literally identical.
constant flickering, doesn’t always power on, unreliable switch, hollow pill… they are just not worth of repairing if they don’t work from the start and myine didn’t…

I use mine every day, (but it is slightly modified)

New switch and boot from the parts bin…
‘Blue’ led replaced with nw xpg from parts bin…
Reflector replaced with ledil tir from the parts bin….
Tacticool bezel ground off, it now reads “olice 3w” :slight_smile:

Was it worth it?

Maybe…. :~

I also have the MXDL. The problem is thaat the contact at the head is just a tab of aluminum. When I did a drop test on it the light did not work until I bent the tab out so it would make contact.
The Police light is superior. HEY! If the police use it then it must be reliable and well made should it not?:):slight_smile:
Jerry

Adding my voice to the chorus of “don’t waste $1.75.”

Recieved mine 5 minutes ago from Fasttech. Bought 3 and was intending to give them away as stocking stuffers and they didn’t make it in time. Good thing. NO WAY I’d give someone one of these.

Think Harbor Freight bargain-bargain-bargain bin that they’re giving away with $5 purchase. Terrible.

The one of the three that’s slightly less purple I let my 5 year old have.

Hi Shimey,

What specifically did you find that caused your dissatisfaction? Did they fail to light when turned on? I am sure you did not expect Surefire quality.
Did you give them a drop test or what? I previously stated that one ran 7 hours on an eneloop, but I read my writing incorrectly. It ran over 9 hours. I have one running now with a Tenergy. It has been on for 4 hours and has not lost any brightness to the eyes. For a cheap long running light where you do not require a high output they are worth the money. The most I have paid is $1.27. I bought one recently for 99 cents.
BOY! What a deal.:slight_smile: They are pretty rugged in that my own drop test has not affected one yet.

Surely you know that the average person does not care a whit about the tint or if the beam is not perfect.
Of course if it is cheap enough I don’t either.:slight_smile:

Best,
Jerry

My take
10 lumens soaking wet (my convoy m1 on low would take 5-10 of these to get the same output)
damn near impossible to get apart without destruction (i have yet to succeed)
cheap, cheap, cheap and unreliable
if you lose it you won’t cry over it unless you had an eneloop in it
you can’t replace it with a cree led without major mod work, you can’t drop in a replacement because its designed for the no name led it has in it

its worth 1 cent if you don’t want to mod it and like the poster above you give it away intending it to get wrecked

if you want to gift it as a goodwill gesture, send a card instead

When i was told this before i got it i was like oh well not a big deal, but having used it my advice has become don’t waste your money or time or brain power on it.

Get an sk68, its far brighter and more durable and reliable

That tab is not aluminum, but not sure what it is though…
Some stainless alloy (?) probably possible to solder it.
But when bending it out kinda solved the problem, something must have gone wrong with the spring in the tail.

But also the driver AND the LED are better than POLICE3W (and most other’s under , say, 3 dollars.)
But, POLICE3W is (i.m.o.) a fairly decent body and even the parabolic mirror is usable.
As far as I can tell the tailcap and switch are up to the job for a cheap 1A (really 3 Watts, but not yet POLICE :stuck_out_tongue: ) upgrade.
But then a 4½ dollar AA / 14500 zoom Q5 (sipik / ultrafire) would be the more sensible choice…
This one is also nice, and slender too:

Also 1 mode 3 Watts Cree XPE Q5, but completely useless because of the tiny weak lens…
The cooling needs work too if you wish to use it with a 14500…
But that’s why it’s a DIY hobby, off course.

I think I assumed (there it is) that Fasttech wouldn’t stock something so obviously cheap.

Maybe I got 3 bad ones, but the tint is not just a little purple, it’s PURPLE. I’d think that the uninitiated, coming from incandescent flashlights would say: “eww”

As toys for the kids, maybe. I’ve actually bought Dollar Store lights that are just as cheap, but brighter and whiter.

My first Convoy C8 arrived in the same package. I’m so thoroughly impressed with it, maybe it’s easy to be critical of anything else. :slight_smile: