December 2014 I bought a Energizer 150 lumen Pop-Up lantern with "Light Fusion Technology" at Target for $15
It is widely available at brick and mortar stores such as Target, Home Depot, KMart, Walmart, so if you are reading this you may already have seen it and played with its Demo/"Try Me" feature. I took it apart to see what it looked like on the inside.
The light:
It has three surface mounted LEDs, that are in a horizontal line, aimed straight towards the front.
The LEDs are mounted just below the dark grey casing of the lantern so that they are not directly visible.
This makes all of the light that comes from it a diffused, or reflected light, (unless you look down into the lantern from above). This greatly reduces the glare, so often associated with lanterns.
In front of the LEDs is a semi-cylindrical acrylic cylinder that runs the width of the lantern, this collects the light, spreads it out, and directs it to the pop-up light panel. The bottom of the light panel, is cut at an angle, (perhaps 45 degrees, I didn't measure it) so that it collects the light from the semi-cylindrical acrylic cylinder. The light is then spread out, throughout the pop-up panel.
Tint:
I think that the tint is more of a Neutral white than cool.
It takes four AA batteries in a one up, one down, one up, one down, configuration. You'll need another light to see the orientation of the batteries if you need to replace them in the dark. I determined that the two contacts that are closest to the front of the light/ closest to the switch are the end terminals of the battery box. I mention this just in case need to use an external 6V power source to power the lantern in an emergency. The cover to the battery case is held in place with a slotted bolt. You might be able to open it with your thumb nail, if not, then a coin will work. It would have been nicer if it was a thumb screw, but it isn't bad. It MIGHT be a little challenging to get the screw started if your hands are cold, you are nervous, or have limited manual dexterity.
It has a rubberized strap, clip on handle. It is permanently affixed to one side and the other side clips in place. It appears to be designed to be able to wrap around the bottom of the lantern to hold the pop up diffuser in place for storage. BUT the strap is a little short! I am afraid that if I stretch it so that it snaps in place around the bottom of the lantern that I may not be able to unsnap it, and that would make the lantern unusable. Edit... ok, so I had to try it. I stretched it around the bottom, and with two hands clipped it in place. With two hands I was able to get it off. I think that in the winter, if the strap is cold, contracted and rigid, it would be more challenging. Hmmm, I found that I can slide it off of the bottom, and then unhook it. so now... that's easy
Regulation and Runtimes:
This is a regulated light, with an electronic dim-able feature.
Energizer lists it as 150 emitter lumens (and as we all know that means less out the front)
I loaded it with fully charged Duracell 2400ma iron core batteries and set it on high.
Since the diffuser panel is appox 1/4th the square area of its larger brother, it does emit a bit of glare on high compared to the larger unit on medium. It is still acceptable though.
The interesting thing is that the output gradually/imperceptibly dropped sometime during the first hour of testing. I then powered the light output down to low, and back up to high, and it was back up to the original high output. I found that the Rayovac Indestructible 2AA behaved similarly. Its Big Brother 300 lumen Folding lantern with light fusion technology did the same thing.
Run time on HIGH 8 hours 20 minutes ( with resetting it to high every half hour to hour)
Run time on LOW about 75 hours. (I guess 10-15 lumens) EDIT... I contacted Energizer and they responded:
Overall impression:
I like it. :thumbsup:
It is widely available at brick and mortar stores such as Target, Home Depot, KMart, Walmart, so if you are reading this you may already have seen it and played with its Demo/"Try Me" feature. I took it apart to see what it looked like on the inside.
The light:
It has three surface mounted LEDs, that are in a horizontal line, aimed straight towards the front.
The LEDs are mounted just below the dark grey casing of the lantern so that they are not directly visible.
This makes all of the light that comes from it a diffused, or reflected light, (unless you look down into the lantern from above). This greatly reduces the glare, so often associated with lanterns.
In front of the LEDs is a semi-cylindrical acrylic cylinder that runs the width of the lantern, this collects the light, spreads it out, and directs it to the pop-up light panel. The bottom of the light panel, is cut at an angle, (perhaps 45 degrees, I didn't measure it) so that it collects the light from the semi-cylindrical acrylic cylinder. The light is then spread out, throughout the pop-up panel.
Tint:
I think that the tint is more of a Neutral white than cool.
It takes four AA batteries in a one up, one down, one up, one down, configuration. You'll need another light to see the orientation of the batteries if you need to replace them in the dark. I determined that the two contacts that are closest to the front of the light/ closest to the switch are the end terminals of the battery box. I mention this just in case need to use an external 6V power source to power the lantern in an emergency. The cover to the battery case is held in place with a slotted bolt. You might be able to open it with your thumb nail, if not, then a coin will work. It would have been nicer if it was a thumb screw, but it isn't bad. It MIGHT be a little challenging to get the screw started if your hands are cold, you are nervous, or have limited manual dexterity.
It has a rubberized strap, clip on handle. It is permanently affixed to one side and the other side clips in place. It appears to be designed to be able to wrap around the bottom of the lantern to hold the pop up diffuser in place for storage. BUT the strap is a little short! I am afraid that if I stretch it so that it snaps in place around the bottom of the lantern that I may not be able to unsnap it, and that would make the lantern unusable. Edit... ok, so I had to try it. I stretched it around the bottom, and with two hands clipped it in place. With two hands I was able to get it off. I think that in the winter, if the strap is cold, contracted and rigid, it would be more challenging. Hmmm, I found that I can slide it off of the bottom, and then unhook it. so now... that's easy
Regulation and Runtimes:
This is a regulated light, with an electronic dim-able feature.
Energizer lists it as 150 emitter lumens (and as we all know that means less out the front)
I loaded it with fully charged Duracell 2400ma iron core batteries and set it on high.
Since the diffuser panel is appox 1/4th the square area of its larger brother, it does emit a bit of glare on high compared to the larger unit on medium. It is still acceptable though.
The interesting thing is that the output gradually/imperceptibly dropped sometime during the first hour of testing. I then powered the light output down to low, and back up to high, and it was back up to the original high output. I found that the Rayovac Indestructible 2AA behaved similarly. Its Big Brother 300 lumen Folding lantern with light fusion technology did the same thing.
Run time on HIGH 8 hours 20 minutes ( with resetting it to high every half hour to hour)
Run time on LOW about 75 hours. (I guess 10-15 lumens) EDIT... I contacted Energizer and they responded:
Thank you for contacting Energizer and for your inquiry. We would be happy to assist you.
15 lumens on low setting with fresh batteries.
Thank you for contacting Energizer. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us
Overall impression:
I like it. :thumbsup:
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