I know a few was waiting for this topic with the video about the many micro lanterns i built & modded, the video shows most of the details.
- These all range from 5 lumens up to 50 lumens, and all brighter than a candle, even the tinyest, wallet size, which has a run time of 20+ hours on a CR2032 coin.
- Also both the micro “Hurricane lantern” and micro camping lantern, (smaller than a C-battery) has run times of 20+ hours on, and have a fire-fly glow mode that will likely run for 4+ years on a CR2032.
Below is the innards of the simple “wallet lantern” with 20+ hours run time and brighter than a candle.
It seems dollhouse and railroad miniatures are the terms to search for.
Was there a specific switch you used? I assume it’s a 3-position switch with one leg either direct drive or run through a small value resistor, and the other leg a high value resistor?
I used a single/dual on/off micro DIP switch. i used a 22 ohm , 1/8 watt resistor for the “on” mode, and used a 400K ( 400,000 ohm) 1/8 watt for the night glow mode that is wired direct to the battery holder.
Great video and some very nice mods. A few comments:
“We’re all familiar with the foxton”
You mean the fauxton. “faux” being french and pronounced “pho” and means fake. It is still pronounced pho-ton. Get the joke?
I do agree with you on CR2032 being a nice little battery. It is my favorite for last-ditch lights.
Those remote phosphor LEDs look great! I’ve just looked through 2000 products on Aliexpress and Alibaba trying to find a supplier. Came up empty handed though. Tell us if you ever manage to find them.
I also really like the idea of the always-on firefly bypass resistor. I will have to add that to some of my lights.
It runs on 2xCR2032 and comes with a Nichia LED. It has possibly the most impressive diffuser I’ve seen on a lantern this size. Conical mirror combined with a reeded linear optic. Of course I replaced the LED with a 3200k yuji. The keychain junk was replaced with a lanyard. I make my lanyards a bit longer than yours - just long enough to slip over a door knob. The battery situation was trickier. What I ended up doing was replacing a CR2032 with a thin rare earth magnet. So now it is dimmer and I can stick it just about anywhere between the lanyard and the magnet.
You made me decide to buy 2 lights.
The NEBO and the smallest CR2032 ones. Though I fail to find a cheap source of the latter, FT seems the best, $3.51 for a 10-pack with the BLF coupon. I have a feeling they can be had for less…
I wish i knew who makes those remote-phosphor warm-white 5mm LEDs, as they are the most efficient, widest light-angle tiny low-power LEDs i ever seen. these seems to glow the brightest of any LED i ever tested for a white LED on a 300K+ or higher resistor. (other than the tiny straw-hat blue LEDs) So far its only in the Walmart $1 garden solar lights i have found them.
I had a search last night for the remote phosphor LEDs and couldn’t find any, but just did a quick google for 360 5mm LED and there are a few in the image search.
The other ones I thought may be good for a even light are the filament LED, like you get in retro bulbs. They are easy to find on eBay, aliexpress etc.
