Suggest SMJLED PR2 hosts?

nerdgineer

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I got a few of trueblue's SMJLED PR2 bulbs on sale and like them a lot. I did find out that the bulbs' brightness is affected by the host flashlight - probably by resistance in the host body.

So mine work GREAT in a PT Tec-20. They worked a lot less well in a cheap 99 cent 2AA host - which is not suprising. So my question is, what hosts have CPFers used for these SMJLED's (especially those with multiple bulbs who can provide comparisons) and which ones do you think made good hosts.

Thanks for looking.
 

TrueBlue

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My light is more an out of the box but in the box mod. A two-brightness folding portable lantern is what I've chosen to make. You have to admit it is different. :huh2:

 
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trailstoride

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I liked how well the Energizer Work Light (K220WB-E) worked, I bought two of them. It has a nice side spill and good throw. I bought mine at Target for $5.99. It has a faceted reflector, and holds the bulb in place with a metal disk that aids in heat sinking the SMJLED PR2 bulb. Here are some pictures. The beam shot is with new batteries.

SMJLED_vs_PR2.jpg
Worklight.jpg
Worklight%20parts.jpg


I also tried it in an Engergizer Industrial 2D flashlight - it has a narrower beam and bit longer throw at the expense of less side spill. I wonder about cooling with the Industrial 2D - the bulb base is in plastic and could get quite hot if left on for a while...
EJ011439.jpg
 
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nikon

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I bought some inexpensive RayOVac branded lights at Walmart recently (see picture below), and they're terrific. The three pack is 6.79 and a single 2AA is 2.00. I haven't found anything better to go with the PR SMJLED.

4b8a8260.jpg
 

leduk

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I made a few beamshots a couple of weeks back.




The last one's bright as its a 1W Lumuled PR drop in.
The first one is 0.5W Advancemart for comparison although its more floody than any of the PR2 hosts.

I like the yellow 47p Tesco one. The reflecor is dimpled(stochastic?).

Cheers.
 

AlexGT

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I tried some lights with the SMJLED PR and the energizer flashlights seem to have an edge here

The energizer Quick switch AA/C/D light
The energizer worklight AA

And my personal favorite is the energizer 2 in 1 outdoor, It's shorter than the 2 previous lights and it has a very good spot (Better than the worklight) with sidespill and also turns into an arealight if needed. Deep reflector, very good construction and nice price at $6.xx at target. I might just get a couple more, an added bonus is that it can be run on 2 or 4 AA for extra runtime, but it has reverse polarity, you have to mod the light to fit the batteries backwards.
http://www.energizer.com/products/flashlights/flashlight.asp?cat=4&id=6

I think this is a winner for overall use.

HTH
AlexGT
 

mosport

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leduk - Liking that Tesco 2D, even has a faceted reflector too!

Put my first SMJ PR2 from into a dollar store 2C light, nothing special but does the job suprisingly well. Throw is respectable and there's lots of useable sidespill, with minimal artifacts from the reflector (you can barely see the emitter wires).

Just ordered another pair from TrueBlue, so might go back and pick up one more - can't go wrong for $1 :)

img04514uh.jpg


img04524bd.jpg


img04567bi.jpg
 

DonShock

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I really like mine in the 2D Rayovac Industrial lights, $5 at Walmart. They have a RYG warning LED system to let you know the batteries are getting low. The beam is a good center spot for moderate throw and good usable side spill. And since the bulb mount is in the body and not the head, you can remove the reflector and use it in candle mode to light up the entire room.

In the AA light, I like the Garrity 2AA with faceted reflector, $4 at Walmart. It produces a much more floody beam. A little short on throw but great for general around the house use.
 

WNG

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Another fellow CPFer mentioned the Sears Craftsman Endurable Lux-1 3AAA body was a superb host for the PR SMJLED. Once the PR Lux bulb is harvested, you're left with an unused and rather well constructed body.
The battery tube has a ridge that is for aligning the AAA battery carrier.
If you sand it down, 2 AAs can be inserted to power the SMJLED.
Or, fabricate a dummy AAA for the existing battery carrier.
 

chesterqw

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i don't have one but they sure is nice :)

ADD:btw, srry donshock. i totally forgot about the whole you give me a mjled and i put a review thing.

will put it up later today :)
 

lexina

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I have 2 on the way from Trueblue - can't wait! Since I intend to use it as a long-running emergency light, I am planning to use it in a 2D light that can do candlelight mode such as the Mag2D.
 

TrueBlue

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My mod worked so I must have done something right. Two SMJLED PR based bulb power the Energizer Lantern. The light retains two-brightness use.

The stock lantern is directly driven from 4xAA batteries. The 6-volt setup had one current limiting resistor and the second resistor dimmed the 5mm LED emitters. The circuit board was rearranged. I used the 75 ohm resistor that came in the lantern to starve the SMJLED PR bulbs. That was my solution to dim the bulbs.

Looking at the lantern on high is hard. A brighter high and dimmer low was the result of the mod.
 

WNG

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I received my PR SMJLEDs today. Wow, great tint and can be exploited very well in some flashlights, and be underwhelming in others.

It didn't work well in my intended host, a Panasonic Kryptalite 2D with shallow , faceted reflector. Seems the SMJLED works best in deep reflectors.

It went into an old B&D Snakelite for a floody long-running area light.
To my surprise, the other is a throwaway 2AA handout. And it has a great beam.

IMG_0219Medium.jpg

IMG_0220Medium.jpg

IMG_0223Medium.jpg

IMG_0224Medium.jpg
 
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filibuster

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TrueBlue said:
My mod worked so I must have done something right. Two SMJLED PR based bulb power the Energizer Lantern. The light retains two-brightness use.

The stock lantern is directly driven from 4xAA batteries. The 6-volt setup had one current limiting resistor and the second resistor dimmed the 5mm LED emitters. The circuit board was rearranged. I used the 75 ohm resistor that came in the lantern to starve the SMJLED PR bulbs. That was my solution to dim the bulbs.
TrueBlue, this looks great! So, could you go into a little more detail on this lantern mod. I have a couple of the lanterns I'd like to do the same thing to but could use a little more guidance on what's entailed.
 

x-ray

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So far I've had best results with the Energizer Hard Case flashlight:

hardcase13vu.jpg


The large faceted reflector seems to work very well with the SMJLED, Here's a beamshot:

hardcase24io.jpg


Being a 2D light, the runtime should be fairly long.

Cost £7 (around $12) on ebay :)
 

cavanaug

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I was doing some playing around with the smjleds (both bipin & pr) I got from lambda. I tried them in Minimag, Coleman tent light etc.

The one that really surprised me was a simple Mag 2D with a sputtered reflector that I had. I was really impressed with the beam & overall brightness. I had not planned on leaving it in the 2D but thats where it is going to stay.

I figure its a very long running light with a decent amount of output. Actually the light output is slightly more than a stock 2D but the runtime is like 40x.

--
John
 
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