# [EDITED] REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)



## UnknownVT (Nov 25, 2016)

Please see the  *IMPORTANT NOTE* -  at the bottom of this post.

Still on the theme of preparedness, readiness and low cost power outage lights - 
I like the idea of useful brightness with L-O-N-G runtimes.

Enter






The Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH) ...

But let me back up a step or so -

I was recently taking stock of my floating lanterns -
you know those things with the big 6V lantern batteries
and my most recent one was about 4 years ago -




this is the only LED lantern I had Eveready 5109L - 3 Nichia LEDs - 
25 lumens and 65 hours runtime on the supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc 6V lantern battery (ANSI FL-1 rating)

So I looked for better brightness and longer runtimes -
and as expected, the 5109L was upgraded to 50 lumens and 65 hours using the same 6V lantern battery.

Then I thought about those 6V lantern batteries - 
yes, there are alkaline that last twice as long - 
but they are just not compatible with any other lights/things I have -
thoughts went to 4D to lantern adapters - yes! RayOVac made one - 
but now discontinued and those and any others available seem to be very expensive...

My eyes wandered over other lights in the search listings for the Eveready Floating lantern - 
and came across this ReadyFlex - it looked like a regular lantern - so why was it called "Flex"?

Looking at the details - revealed why....




it runs on 2 or 4 D-cells!
D to lantern adapters aren't needed.

and the whole light with 2 D batteries was $5 (actually $4.47 at my local Lowes). 
So I had to have one!

Eveready doesn't even have it on its website - 
I found the official pdf data sheet on Digi-Key,
relevant crop below -




50 lumens, 80 hours on 2 supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc -
ie: same brightness but longer rated runtime than the version using a 6V lantern battery!

On 4D cz the runtime is rated at 160 hours - 
so the D pairs are in parallel -
4x alkaline gets a 350 hours rating.

Size -




left - ReadyFlex, right - 5109L 3 LED lantern





left - Eveready 1D; right - ReadyFlex 

Heads -




left - ReadyFlex, right - 5109L 3 LED lantern





left - ReadyFlex; right - Eveready 1D

The reflector of the ReadyFlex does not actually extend all the way to the retaining bezel - 
there is only what I would term decorative (non-functional) silvered surround to the physical reflector.
So the head need not be so big - but perhaps the size is to make battery access easier?
(they never considered that for the 6V lantern battery versions - 
especially those older incandescent models that required wire attachments!)

Side-by-side Comparison beamshots -

vs Eveready Floating Lantern 5109L (circa 2012) - both on supplied carbon zinc







The 3 Nichia LED 5190L lantern side-spill shows the effects of using 3 discrete LEDS -
the lens actually is lightly textured to diffuse to try to smooth out the beam - but it is still pretty obvious.

vs. Eveready 1D (link to review), both on supplied carbon zinc D cells 








I am currently very taken with the very economical Eveready 1D (link to review) getting a rating of 25 lumens, 60 hours on a single supplied carbon zinc, 
and the beam profile to me is much more suitable for indoors usage - especially for power outages.

But I like this ReadyFlex lantern for its "Flex"ibility.

*>>>EDIT to ADD<<<* -

 *IMPORTANT NOTE* - 

Things may not be quite as positive - even though this ReadyFlex has ANSI/NEMA FL-1 rating of 50 lumens with 80 hours run time.

This light is more than likely to be direct drive since it is cheap and using 2D in series (carbon zinc batteries will give ~3.2V) - any sag in voltage and the light will dim -
please see beamshots in Post *#20* below.

Other lanterns using the venerable 6V lantern battery are unlikely to suffer quite as dramatically as this - since 6V is way above the Vf and even if the carbon zinc chemistry sags - it will remain significantly higher than the Vf.

Whereas this ReadyFlex is dependent on 2D cells in series and direct drive, any sag will significantly affect its output/brightness - even if it manages to cripple along at the noticeably lower brightness to the ANSI FL-1 rated 80hours.

So although the design is "clever", unfortunately it is also its biggest weakness.

My thanks to* xxo* for highlighting this.


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## ZMZ67 (Nov 26, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I like that they included the option of using 2 or 4 batteries but in lantern size lights I would rather use the 6V battery. Since the 6V and 9V batteries use sub-cells(D or F for the 6V) the leaks seem to stay contained better IME.6V and 9V are the only alkalines I use regularly in flashlights.While this could be a decent light for the average consumer dead set on using common cells I don't like it nearly as well as the Eveready 1D in that role.Credit to Eveready for putting some thought into this light but I would rather see the Dolphin design and a 4D to 6V adapter if they want to make D cells usable.


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## UnknownVT (Nov 26, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> I like that they included the option of using 2 or 4 batteries but in lantern size lights I would rather use the 6V battery. Since the 6V and 9V batteries use sub-cells(D or F for the 6V) the leaks seem to stay contained better IME.6V and 9V are the only alkalines I use regularly in flashlights.While this could be a decent light for the average consumer dead set on using common cells I don't like it nearly as well as the Eveready 1D in that role.Credit to Eveready for putting some thought into this light but I would rather see the Dolphin design and a 4D to 6V adapter if they want to make D cells usable.



Many thanks for the thoughts.

I went the other way - carbon zinc 6V lantern batteries are about $2.25, alkaline about $6.50 - 
D cells are much cheaper to run.

But the D to 6V lantern adapters are no longer that common and have become quite expensive -
RayOVac used to have this:








There is even a MIL-Spec unknown brand:





BUT they are $12 and up - 
that is more than the cost of 2 LED lanterns with batteries.

That's why I like this ReadyFlex so much -
but I agree with you I prefer those Eveready 1D for their cost, runtime on single D cell, and their beam profile.

Yes, of course I have several incandescent lanterns - which I could replace with LED PR2s - about $2.50 off eBay.

Combine that with the D to lantern adapter is about $14.50 - just to salvage the old incand lantern bodies
That's about the cost of 3x LED lanterns with batteries - doesn't work for me economically -
I'll just donate the incand lanterns to GoodWill - if they'll take them.

Thanks


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## ZMZ67 (Nov 27, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Unfortunately incan lanterns generally require negative polarity so finding PR base leds isn't easy. Maybe I will take a look at those LED PR2s on eBay if the are negative polarity. Energizer had a version of the Eveready Dolphin that I like at Wal-Mart for a while and I bought plenty of those so I am in good shape in the LED lantern department anyway.

Hard to understand why the 4D to 6V adapters are selling for so much. They must be out of production but that seems odd since 6V lanterns are still pretty common.

As much as I like my higher end lights I still appreciate the low cost consumer lights when they are well designed like the 1D or the Readyflex.


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## UnknownVT (Nov 27, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> Unfortunately incan lanterns generally require negative polarity so finding PR base leds isn't easy.



Ah! Thank you!! (and a big dOH!)
that's why the LED PR2 bulbs didn't work in some of my incand lanterns!!!
I thought it was just me being clumsy fingered and not being able to attach those wires!

Thanks ,

PS - I just found the Eveready Dolphin lantern (link)




listed on DolphinTorches.com, from that name I looked, and they say: 


> *Heritage*
> Did you know? Over 45 years, more than 20 million Dolphin torches have been sold in Australia and New Zealand.


and they are now on the Mk7 model of the Dolphin lantern - this page lists the lantern versions
200 Lumens (twice as bright as previous MK6 LED model)
65 hours run time
200m + beam distance


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## ZMZ67 (Dec 1, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

There was a recent post in the budget light section on that 4LED Dolphin but unfortunately it is not available in the U.S. AFAIK. The Dolphin clones I have use a single LED and are similar to the Mk 6. There are a couple threads on the Dolphin and being a fan I was aware of some of the history.I really wish that Eveready/Energizer would continue with the Dolphin design here in the U.S. but it seems to appear and disappear from time to time in the American market.


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## xxo (Dec 3, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I have one of these (red colored); I like the option to use 2 or 4 D cells but I am sorry to say that's about all. Construction is cheap (even for a "cheap" light) - I find that the little contacts are easily bent and sometimes need to be bent back into shape before the light will turn on. And the reflector is a real mess......why don't they make a full sized deep reflector that throws like the old incan lanterns? The beam on mine has all the rings of Saturn and is very blueberry colored. If they won't make a proper reflector, why make one so big? I have some doubt that mine is really 50 lumens, though that is what it said on the package, just doesn't look that bright to me. I think the blue $3 6 Volt Rayovac lantern that I have is rated at 75 lumens and seems a little better constructed and I would choose it over the readyflex. Just my 2 cents.

Anyway, thanks much for the review.


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## vadimax (Dec 3, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I don't understand that stupid design. Why have they done those huge heads when reflector itself takes 1/4 of the total area?!


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## UnknownVT (Dec 3, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I have one of these (red colored); I like the option to use 2 or 4 D cells but I am sorry to say that's about all. Construction is cheap (even for a "cheap" light) - I find that the little contacts are easily bent and sometimes need to be bent back into shape before the light will turn on. And the reflector is a real mess......why don't they make a full sized deep reflector that throws like the old incan lanterns? The beam on mine has all the rings of Saturn and is very blueberry colored. If they won't make a proper reflector, why make one so big? I have some doubt that mine is really 50 lumens, though that is what it said on the package, just doesn't look that bright to me. I think the blue $3 6 Volt Rayovac lantern that I have is rated at 75 lumens and seems a little better constructed and I would choose it over the readyflex. Just my 2 cents.
> 
> Anyway, thanks much for the review.


Thank you for the input.

I agree with you regarding the faux size of the reflector.

However as regard the construction -
caveat I only have the common cheap (<$5) incand floating lanterns from Eveready and RayOVac -
my experience and take has been although both were serviceable, the Eveready floating lanterns were better constructed than the RayOVacs - 
this ReadyFlex is about par with the Eveready floating lantern (LED version of 5109L shown in the opening post).

My 2 RayOVacs - seem to be made of expanded polythene, and flex/flimsy compared to Eveready - although as I said they were more than serviceable.





this shows the RayOVac material is thin and there is an in turned lip to the opening - whereas the ReadyFlex material is more rigid, harder and there are internal "struts".
I've enhanced the area near the switch on the RoV - this shows the handle is hollow - 
the ReadyFlex internal has the dividers for the batteries but probably also serves as strengthening struts.





handles - RoV - is hollow an expansion/extension of the body - ReadyFlex has those struts.

head bezels - RoV is visibly thinner than the ReadyFlex

as for contacts - the RoV (incand) has those fiddly wires and the ReadyFlex head, once aligned, merely screws on. 
(this may be unfair, as RoV LED floating lantern could be different)





switches - both RoV protrudes prominently - but I've never had any problems with accidental turn on - as the handle does protect the switch.
ReadFlex has partial recess/protection to its switch.

It's funny you should critique the construction - as I had just been thinking what would make the Dolphin lantern (apparently highly regarded) so much better than this ReadyFlex oo:?

Brightness - the claimed 50 lumens is ANSI/NEMA FL-1 rated - from my side-by-side beam shots this seems about right - 
I think this ReadyFlex has been designed for throw, so it has a more concentrated intense hot spot (this might explain the faux/smaller reflector?)-
whereas in comparison the Eveready 1D spreads its light into the side-spill more - and for me makes a more useful indoors light.

Thanks,


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## Swedpat (Dec 4, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I have wondered why the new high power flashlights are not produced in this design. More comfortable to hold a handle than at thick body. And such a battery holder could house 4 x 26650 cells. and the diameter of the bezel houses a large reflector! The heat dissipation had been better than the with present high output models available today.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 4, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Swedpat said:


> I have wondered why the new high power flashlights are not produced in this design. More comfortable to hold a handle than at thick body. And such a battery holder could house 4 x 26650 cells. and the diameter of the bezel houses a large reflector! The heat dissipation had been better than the with present high output models available today.


This may be why some people want the Dolphin lantern -




I do realize its output isn't even in the same league as the lights you are talking about - 
but to me, plastic floating lanterns in the incandescent days - 
had always been the goto light that had good brightness and throw -
with reasonably long runtimes and good value for money.

But more in keeping with what you were talking about -
while CPF had the red screen false positive of deceptive site problem -
I found the CPF FB group where Tina Wu posted a throw beamshot from a 10,000 lumens handheld "search light" -










I thought the detachable handle incorporating switch was a great idea.
I'm pretty sure it's not $5(!) - 
but with a *low* mode of 500 lumens! probably not that practical for general purpose light.....
It is waterproof to IPX-8 standard (2M underwater) 
does it float ...
like an anchor?


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## xxo (Dec 4, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

My comments on the construction was not so much the plastic body but the easily bent contact (3 of them) and the cheap feeling screw on bezel ring (feels cheaper and flimsier than a jar of peanut butter). after playing around with the readyflex, it does seem to be close to 50 lumens on band new cells. Mine only runs very dim (maybe 10 lumens?) on freshly charged Eneloops in adapters, which tells me it does not like even a slight drop in Voltage......I'm thinking the carbon zinc batteries it comes with won't last long at anything near full brightness, though I am sure it would run near forever before it hit 5 lumens for the ANSI run time.


BTW this is the Rayovac floating lantern that I have:

http://www.rayovac.com/lights/general-purpose-lights/6v-economy-floating-lantern.aspx


....nothing to write home about to be sure, but considering you can get one for around $3 with a 6 Volt carbon zinc battery, it's not too bad of a deal for the price.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 4, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> My comments on the construction was not so much the plastic body but the easily bent contact (3 of them) and the cheap feeling screw on bezel ring (feels cheaper and flimsier than a jar of peanut butter).


Thanks 




I'm pretty sure the head bezel is a bit more substantial than a peanut butter jar lid, which I have not thought as flimsy.





it looks more than 3.5mm (1/8") thick - when I first saw it, I wondered why it had to be that thick as my other cheapo lantern head bezels weren't - 
then I put it down to perhaps it was because of the larger size/diameter.



xxo said:


> BTW this is the Rayovac floating lantern that I have:
> http://www.rayovac.com/lights/general-purpose-lights/6v-economy-floating-lantern.aspx
> ....nothing to write home about to be sure, but considering you can get one for around $3 with a 6 Volt carbon zinc battery, it's not too bad of a deal for the price.


Thanks, yes, I've seen that, 




Unfortunately on the second user review on the link you provided -


> Ninerock1 . a month ago *
> Don't drop it*
> I had mine for over a year. Did not use it much. It mostly hang in the kitchen. My 10 year old son dropped it and it never worked again after that. I changed the bulb and batteries. That did not fix it.
> ✘ No, I do not recommend this product.



RoV does have an LED version that has pretty good specs of 85 lumens, 45 hours, 125m throw - 
it uses 10 LEDs with individual reflectors -




might check it out - 
but it is still using the 6V lantern battery -
I prefer the ability to run on D or other more common cells.


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## xxo (Dec 4, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> ...






The bezel on mine feels very cheap/loose fitting.....seems like it might pop off if it was dropped.


The ROV is one of those cheap lights you basically get for free for the price of a battery, if it outlives the battery it has basically served it's purpose. I'm thinking the one the kid dropped probably bent something inside that caused it to lose contact....pretty sure the same thing would happen with the eveready as mine did without even dropping it just changing the batteries (would not come on until I bent the contacts slightly). I have seen many complaints of much more expensive lights killed off by drops/ use by kids, so no big surprise that it can happen to a $3 plastic light with a big 6 Volt battery inside. It is interesting that most of the bad reviews seem to be related to the lack of instructions telling people that they need to take the plastic protector off of the battery before you can use it in the light!


Still I was hoping that ROV brought out a single LED version of this light - with 6 Volts, it could drive a small LED to full brightness and the deep/full size reflector should give it decent throw.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 4, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> Still I was hoping that ROV brought out a single LED version of this light - with 6 Volts, it could drive a small LED to full brightness and the deep/full size reflector should give it decent throw.


I've been editing my post you just replied to - I've added the 10 LED RoV lantern

There is a Lowes listing for a 35 lumens single LED RoV lantern - Model # EFL6V-BLW
their pic -




using their 360 rotation





Searching on the Model # EFL6V-BLW seems to show mostly non-US - the only obvious US listing was the Lowes listing -
perhaps it is either discontinued, or only sold abroad?


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## xxo (Dec 5, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> I've been editing my post you just replied to - I've added the 10 LED RoV lantern
> 
> There is a Lowes listing for a 35 lumens single LED RoV lantern - Model # EFL6V-BLW
> their pic -
> ...



That looks real good, pretty much exactly what I was thinking of except it's only listed at 35 lumens and 150 Meters of throw (I was hoping for around 100 or more lumens and 300 + meters of throw) - will have to pick one up the next time I am at Lowes.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 5, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> That looks real good, pretty much exactly what I was thinking of except it's only listed at 35 lumens and 150 Meters of throw (I was hoping for around 100 or more lumens and 300 + meters of throw) - will have to pick one up the next time I am at Lowes.


Unfortunately using the link Lowes listing none of my local Lowes appear to have it available for pick up -
hopefully your local Lowe may actually have it - so you can see before you buy.

I'm being pedantic/cautious because doing a search on the Model # EFL6V-BLW -
(1) doesn't seem to turn up other US listings
(2) other US listings show the 75 lumen incandescent model
(3) the right item listing all seem to be non-US.

Good luck.


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## xxo (Dec 5, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

The lowes by me supposedly have them in stock according to the lowes site, weather or not they really have them in the store, we shall see. If not it may be possible to order one site to store?

Hopefully they do exist and are just new......should be the case considering there are some reviews on the lowes site.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 5, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> The lowes by me supposedly have them in stock according to the lowes site, weather or not they really have them in the store, we shall see. If not it may be possible to order one site to store?
> 
> Hopefully they do exist and are just new......should be the case considering there are some reviews on the lowes site.


Cool!:thumbsup: Please do let us know about it.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 8, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> ... after playing around with the readyflex, it does seem to be close to 50 lumens on band new cells. Mine only runs very dim (maybe 10 lumens?) on freshly charged Eneloops in adapters, which tells me it does not like even a slight drop in Voltage......I'm thinking the carbon zinc batteries it comes with won't last long at anything near full brightness, though I am sure it would run near forever before it hit 5 lumens for the ANSI run time. ...



I wanted to check the lower voltage brightness.

Using AA to D adapter and compared to Eveready 5109L 3led floating lantern using 6V carbon zinc lantern battery (ANSI FL-1 rated at 25lumens)

Duracell Ion-Core AA (re-badged Eneloop Pro/XX) fully charged a few months ago -
open circuit resting voltage = 1.35V







this is pretty obviously not very bright.

DuraLoop AA (re-badged eneloop) freshly charged 
open circuit resting voltage = 1.47V







this is reasonably "respectable" brightness -

The 1.47V Duraloop shots look about in the same ballpark as using the supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc D cells
open circuit resting voltage = 1.62V
to be scrupulous - I have just re-taken these at the same time as the NiMH AA shots (I included the D battery in the shot to distinguish from the ones in the opening post) -








BUT bear in mind those were freshly charged DuraLoop/eneloops reputed to maintain a higher voltage under load ...
using 1 AA to D adapters this level of brightness is unlikely to be maintained for long.

However there are 3AA to D adapters (in parallel) - 




perhaps those would maintain reasonable brightness for longer?

but we're now straying a bit from the whole point (for me) of this lantern - 
it is inexpensive and seems to be bright and has pretty long runtime on just about the cheapest carbon zinc D cells - 

3 for $1 at a local $ store -


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## xxo (Dec 8, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

The Eneloops I used were charged a few days prior and read 1.40 Volts, did not make a difference between 1 or 2 cells were in each adapter (did not try 3 because I only had 4 Eneloops charged up at the same time)....still only, as best as I could tell by eye, about 10 lumens (and that is probably a generous estimate). If it won't run on Eneloops in adapters, it negates the one of the big advantages of being designed for D cells for me (although probably not for most people).

I would be surprised if this light draws much current, it seems like the slightly lower Voltage is the problem for a direct drive LED - even 3.2 Volts is probably under driving the LED and 2.8 Volts only gives a fairly dim output. I will have to see if I have some old partially drained cells to see how they run, but I'm thinking it won't take long for carbon zinc cells to drop to 1.4 Volts open and while they still would have a lot of their energy left as they run down to completely drained at below 1 Volt.....I guess that's OK if you don't mind lugging around a big 6 Volt size lantern that is putting out 10 lumens or less for most of it's run time or changing out the carbon zinc batteries when they start to get dim.


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## UnknownVT (Dec 8, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> The Eneloops I used were charged a few days prior and read 1.40 Volts, did not make a difference between 1 or 2 cells were in each adapter (did not try 3 because I only had 4 Eneloops charged up at the same time)....still only, as best as I could tell by eye, about 10 lumens (and that is probably a generous estimate). If it won't run on Eneloops in adapters, it negates the one of the big advantages of being designed for D cells for me (although probably not for most people).



Thanks - that's what my first side-by-side beamshot using Ion-Core @ 1.35V seems to show - the ReadyFlex on 1.35V Duracell Ion-Core (re-badged Eneloop Pro/XX fully charged months ago) in 1xAA to D adapter, does not give anything bright - your estimate of about 10 lumens seems about right.



xxo said:


> I would be surprised if this light draws much current, it seems like the slightly lower Voltage is the problem for a direct drive LED - even 3.2 Volts is probably under driving the LED and 2.8 Volts only gives a fairly dim output. I will have to see if I have some old partially drained cells to see how they run, but I'm thinking it won't take long for carbon zinc cells to drop to 1.4 Volts open and while they still would have a lot of their energy left as they run down to completely drained at below 1 Volt.....I guess that's OK if you don't mind lugging around a big 6 Volt size lantern that is putting out 10 lumens or less for most of it's run time or changing out the carbon zinc batteries when they start to get dim.



Right, I think the same way too - because it is cheap - it is more than likely to be direct drive, because it is using 2D in series and has 3.2V initially - being carbon zinc, even if they are "Super Heavy Duty" zinc chloride chemistry - it is well known voltage will sag noticeably pretty quickly - so the brightness will drop fairly quickly to the 1.35-1.4V level observed by you and shown in my beamshot - it is still a usable level, BUT not very impressive at all for a lantern type light. Alkaline may fare a bit better, but again it's not very hopeful.

It's OK for a power outage light indoors - but then the design for throw, as opposed to flood light, kind of runs contrary for that purpose.

The Eveready 1D (link to review) - seems a much better bet for this kind of purpose - with a better spread of light, and because it is a single D cell, has to have some kind of boost - so does support AA NiMH in D adapter much better.

Thank you for pointing all this out - I have edited the opening review post to include this finding as an  *IMPORTANT NOTE* -


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## xxo (Dec 8, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Thanks - that's what my first side-by-side beamshot using Ion-Core @ 1.35V seems to show - the ReadyFlex on 1.35V Duracell Ion-Core (re-badged Eneloop Pro/XX fully charged months ago) in 1xAA to D adapter, does not give anything bright - your estimate of about 10 lumens seems about right.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Thanks.


I ran into this problem before with a Energizer 2 in 1 Fusion light that ran on 2 AAA's......it was decently bright with new alkalines and even a little brighter with Energizer lithium L92's, but with Eneloops it only gave a very dim glow. I ran it for days on Eneloops to see what would happen and after several days it still had about the same dim glow and the batteries still had a lot of their charge (I think the were around 1.3 Volts when I gave up after something like 3 0r 4 days). I guess this is why most cheap direct drive lights run on 3 1.5 volt cells in series. For example, the 3 AAA "free" multi LED lights from Harbor Freight run pretty bright on Eneloops (maybe a little too bright due to their low internal resistance, but that's another issue).


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## UnknownVT (Dec 8, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I ran into this problem before with a Energizer 2 in 1 Fusion light that ran on 2 AAA's......it was decently bright with new alkalines and even a little brighter with Energizer lithium L92's, but with Eneloops it only gave a very dim glow. I ran it for days on Eneloops to see what would happen and after several days it still had about the same dim glow and the batteries still had a lot of their charge (I think the were around 1.3 Volts when I gave up after something like 3 0r 4 days). I guess this is why most cheap direct drive lights run on 3 1.5 volt cells in series. For example, the 3 AAA "free" multi LED lights from Harbor Freight run pretty bright on Eneloops (maybe a little too bright due to their low internal resistance, but that's another issue).


Yes, ha-ha  (embarrassed laugh) it's been so long since I examined a light that is direct drive. It didn't even occur to me this ReadyFlex was one....

until you said it was bright on carbon zinc, but dim on eneloop -
so I had to investigate more -
and sure enough on anything except freshly charged eneloop/DuraLoop, even if the LSD were fully charged (but sometime ago) - this ReadyFlex was dim...

Like they say dOh!direct drive...

Thank you for pointing all this out, and making me investigate more...
even if it should have been obvious in the first place!

Thanks


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## xxo (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Yeah, direct drive lights have been pretty much off of my radar as well, but I guess they are to be expected with cheap lights (the 1D Eveready that you reviewed being a notable and welcome exception!). Come to think of it, the atomic Navy SEAL light they are advertising all over apparently runs on 3 AAA's or a single 18650.....another direct drive light?


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> Yeah, direct drive lights have been pretty much off of my radar as well, but I guess they are to be expected with cheap lights (the 1D Eveready that you reviewed being a notable and welcome exception!). Come to think of it, the atomic Navy SEAL light they are advertising all over apparently runs on 3 AAA's or a single 18650.....another direct drive light?


Does seem suspicious...
as do many of the 18650/3AAA lights sold as low as < $4 shipped on eBay...












Still at those prices they might make good hosts for real pills and drivers?


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

If a light has "modes" it has a driver.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> If a light has "modes" it has a driver.


Of course you're right, I was just thinking of that - 
thank you for that confirmation.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Of course you're right, I was just thinking of that -
> thank you for that confirmation.


Most lights that use smd type LEDs have drivers as they have gotten very cheap to make if I can buy a light with 3 modes that zooms and takes an 18650 for $1.99 including shipping that has a driver the cost of the cheap generic drivers must be in the range of 25 cents or so.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> Most lights that use smd type LEDs have drivers as they have gotten very cheap to make if I can buy a light with 3 modes that zooms and takes an 18650 for $1.99 including shipping that has a driver the cost of the cheap generic drivers must be in the range of 25 cents or so.


Thanks.

Yep, that seems to be about the size of it...

Of course those lights are very unlikely to have their advertised 2000-8000LM...
(LM could mean "Lite Mints" and not lumens! 
- but there are plenty that actually use the word lumens after the outrageous thousands.... in the listing description.)

At sub $4 - even if it is 200lumens, might not be that bad a purchase - 
worst case it could double as a door-stop....


----------



## xxo (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> If a light has "modes" it has a driver.




True, but wouldn't a switcher for PWM/strobe be all they really need (no boost or buck circuit)?


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I was at Home Depot and saw that Eveready has another LED lantern with 3 LEDs in the reflector.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> True, but wouldn't a switcher for PWM/strobe be all they really need (no boost or buck circuit)?



Yup they can get by with that, a linear regulator as the Vf of LEDs isn't too much higher than the output of the batteries that a buck circuit would be totally worth it for a cheap light. Boosted lights do have a boost circuit like my cheap 1AA zoom light.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> I was at Home Depot and saw that Eveready has another LED lantern with 3 LEDs in the reflector.


Could it possibly have been the previous generation 5109L floating lantern (circa 2012 - using the standard 6V lantern battery)?

shown in the opening post -




on the right






from pdf data sheet -





or are you saying it's running on 2 or 4 D cells like this 1 LED ReadyFlex, but with 3LEDs?


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I think I have one of the 4D to 6v adapters with a built in sliding storage box on the bottom of it.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> It looks like the second one.... but a different color I didn't open it to look at it. I think it was blue


interesting...
But it was with a standard 6V lantern battery?

Thanks


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

To be honest after growing up using 6v lanterns my dad had 3 of them I only liked them because they had decent runtime for an incan. Now a cheap 2AA LED light has about the same output and similar beam pattern.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> To be honest after growing up using 6v lanterns my dad had 3 of them I only liked them because they had decent runtime for an incan. Now a cheap 2AA LED light has about the same output and similar beam pattern.


yep, that's how I felt -
6V lantern batteries were good in their day for incandescent lights giving good brightness and throw at an inexpensive price - 
like xxo said lantern with battery priced just a little more then just the battery.

But with LED efficiency - the 6V battery did not make much sense to me -
that's why I ended up finding this 2/4 D ReadyFlex - so I would not have to buy any more 6V lantern batteries.

Of course I did not see that it may be direct drive - dimming noticeably at 1.35-1.4V -
Super Heavy Duty carbon zinc (zinc chloride chemistry) batteries are very likely to droop to that level fairly quickly 
and this ReadyFlex would cripple along at a fairly dim (~10 lumens) level for the remainder of the 80hrs ANSI FL-1 rated runtime...

The problem with Eveready/Energizer and even Duracell is that they upgrade the products, but retain the same model # 
- so there is confusion to which model we may be purchasing when it is sight-unseen.

The 5109L lantern (just like the Eveready 1D) has had several upgrades -
I think my 3LED 25lumens/65hrs model may have been the first LED (circa 2012)
then there was a 1 LED @ 50lumens/65hrs -
and I have just come across a listing for a 1 LED 50lumens/100hrs




there doesn't seem much to distinguish one from another without reading the fine print...


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 9, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> yep, that's how I felt -
> 6V lantern batteries were good in their day for incandescent lights giving good brightness and throw at an inexpensive price -
> like xxo said lantern with battery priced just a little more then just the battery.
> 
> ...


Just find a cheap 2 cell led light with a boost circuit and transplant the circuit into the lantern.


----------



## Swedpat (Dec 11, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> This may be why some people want the Dolphin lantern -
> 
> I do realize its output isn't even in the same league as the lights you are talking about -
> but to me, plastic floating lanterns in the incandescent days -
> ...



Thanks for reply! My comments in read.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 11, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Swedpat said:


> Thanks for reply! My comments in read.


But of course.

It was an interesting idea, of the many very high lumen but multi-battery lights, 
are really not that handhold friendly (and even less pocketable)
those really should have a handle like the old floating lanterns -
or even better a detachable one (but with switch/control).

Thanks


----------



## xxo (Dec 12, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> I've been editing my post you just replied to - I've added the 10 LED RoV lantern
> 
> There is a Lowes listing for a 35 lumens single LED RoV lantern - Model # EFL6V-BLW
> their pic -
> ...



I was at lowes today and picked one of these up - initial impression: I like it.The included 6V battery drops right in and the head is easily screwed on without any fuss. The beam pattern is not pretty on a white wall, but the hot spot is very intense for distance and the huge spill beam provides enough light up close to see your way around indoors. By eye the spot looks a little more intense than my old 4D Mag with a Rayovac 40 lumen LED upgrade, so it should throw real well for only 35 ish lumens.

Might not impress too many around here, but for $5 from lowes, it would make a good budget/ semi-disposable light for a camping or fishing trip, or to throw in the trunk of a vehicle or just to keep around the house for bad weather/power outages. Even if you only get half of the ANSI 120 hr. run time in real life, that's more than enough for a couple of weekend camping trips or a mullti day power outage....definitely a good deal for a throwy, long running LED for $5 and a proper LED successor to the old incan 6V lanterns.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 12, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I was at lowes today and picked one of these up - initial impression: I like it.The included 6V battery drops right in and the head is easily screwed on without any fuss. The beam pattern is not pretty on a white wall, but the hot spot is very intense for distance and the huge spill beam provides enough light up close to see your way around indoors. By eye the spot looks a little more intense than my old 4D Mag with a Rayovac 40 lumen LED upgrade, so it should throw real well for only 35 ish lumens.
> 
> Might not impress too many around here, but for $5 from lowes, it would make a good budget/ semi-disposable light for a camping or fishing trip, or to throw in the trunk of a vehicle or just to keep around the house for bad weather/power outages. Even if you only get half of the ANSI 120 hr. run time in real life, that's more than enough for a couple of weekend camping trips or a mullti day power outage....definitely a good deal for a throwy, long running LED for $5 and a proper LED successor to the old incan 6V lanterns.


Good stuff - glad you found, and like it.

It follows the long tradition of good value, runtime and throw of floating lanterns.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 12, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I was at lowes today and picked one of these up - initial impression: I like it.The included 6V battery drops right in and the head is easily screwed on without any fuss. The beam pattern is not pretty on a white wall, but the hot spot is very intense for distance and the huge spill beam provides enough light up close to see your way around indoors. By eye the spot looks a little more intense than my old 4D Mag with a Rayovac 40 lumen LED upgrade, so it should throw real well for only 35 ish lumens.
> 
> Might not impress too many around here, but for $5 from lowes, it would make a good budget/ semi-disposable light for a camping or fishing trip, or to throw in the trunk of a vehicle or just to keep around the house for bad weather/power outages. Even if you only get half of the ANSI 120 hr. run time in real life, that's more than enough for a couple of weekend camping trips or a mullti day power outage....definitely a good deal for a throwy, long running LED for $5 and a proper LED successor to the old incan 6V lanterns.


Almost looks like it has a PR base LED bulb in it.
I thought of a way use normal PR base dropins in a 6v lantern. It requires soldering wires on the bulb holder and putting a piece of tape over the end of the bulb socket so it won't contact the battery. I probably won't bother with my 6v lantern as it has the same batteries in it for the last 15 years and they are still good.


----------



## xxo (Dec 12, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> Almost looks like it has a PR base LED bulb in it.
> I thought of a way use normal PR base dropins in a 6v lantern. It requires soldering wires on the bulb holder and putting a piece of tape over the end of the bulb socket so it won't contact the battery. I probably won't bother with my 6v lantern as it has the same batteries in it for the last 15 years and they are still good.



It might be, but I don't think they intended for it to be changed out. From the inside, the base is enclosed in plastic and it looks like the 2 plastic pieces are snapped together. But yeah, it is probably similar to the PR LED that Rayovac use for the LED Mag upgrades.

IIRC some of the PR drop ins where made to run with both standard and reversed polarity so that they would work in lanterns as well as Mags, but I don't know if this was the case with the Rayovac PR drop ins or not.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 12, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> It might be, but I don't think they intended for it to be changed out. From the inside, the base is enclosed in plastic and it looks like the 2 plastic pieces are snapped together. But yeah, it is probably similar to the PR LED that Rayovac use for the LED Mag upgrades.
> 
> IIRC some of the PR drop ins where made to run with both standard and reversed polarity so that they would work in lanterns as well as Mags, but I don't know if this was the case with the Rayovac PR drop ins or not.


I think the days of LED PR base dropins are numbered as we are seeing cheaper plastic lights go to SMD based LEDs with proprietary reflector/boards making them tough to upgrade but cheaper to assemble I figure. As an experiment I purchased a 3V SMD screw base bulb but it won't work for my application. I am currently using a 5mm LED pr bulb transplanted into a screw base.


----------



## xxo (Dec 13, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

OK, I took it apart and it does use a PR drop-in. Comparing to my old 75 lumen krypton bulb lantern, they are the same except for the bulbs.

The LED drop-in appears to be the same as the Rayovac 3-4 cell 40 lumen “6V 0.13A 0.80 Watt” drop-in I have in my 4D Mag. The 2 LEDs will interchange between the Mag and the 6V lantern and light up fine, so these work with both polarities (center positive or center negative). The drop in form the Mag is stamped “KT-LB6V” and the markings on the drop in from the lantern was a little too faint for me to read, otherwise they seem to be pretty much the same (the one from the lantern has a slightly cooler tint).








The lantern drop-in is in the center, with the Krypton bulb on the left and the drop-in from my Mag on the right.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 13, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> OK, I took it apart and it does use a PR drop-in. Comparing to my old 75 lumen krypton bulb lantern, they are the same except for the bulbs.
> 
> The LED drop-in appears to be the same as the Rayovac 3-4 cell 40 lumen “6V 0.13A 0.80 Watt” drop-in I have in my 4D Mag. The 2 LEDs will interchange between the Mag and the 6V lantern and light up fine, so these work with both polarities (center positive or center negative). The drop in form the Mag is stamped “KT-LB6V” and the markings on the drop in from the lantern was a little too faint for me to read, otherwise they seem to be pretty much the same (the one from the lantern has a slightly cooler tint).
> 
> ...


WoW! many thanks for that...
strangely I think I can read the stamping of the lantern drop-in (center) -
seems to be "6V0.8W"(?) 
which would tie in with your 40 lumen “6V 0.13A 0.80 Watt” Mag drop-in


----------



## xxo (Dec 13, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> WoW! many thanks for that...
> strangely I think I can read the stamping of the lantern drop-in (center) -
> seems to be "6V0.8W"(?)
> which would tie in with your 40 lumen “6V 0.13A 0.80 Watt” Mag drop-in




Makes sense, that is probably right. The markings are easier to see in the pic than they are holding the drop-in in my hand.


----------



## UnknownVT (Dec 13, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> Makes sense, that is probably right. The markings are easier to see in the pic than they are holding the drop-in in my hand.


Yep, your pic is larger than life, 
plus the lighting was probably just about right to help make the stamping clearer


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Dec 13, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

It's too bad that the dropins aren't considerably brighter a 0.5A dropin would be considerably brighter in use but most likely the heat would slowly ruin it.


----------



## xxo (Dec 20, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I apologize for taking this thread further off topic with Rayovac lanterns, but I thought it might be of some interest given the discussion of them here already.....








I saw a couple of different rayovac 6V lanterns at walmart and had to take look at them. One is the 10 LED 85 lumen version Vincent already posted. 








I don't have much to say about this lantern except that I doubt that it is really 85 lumens out the front (maybe they are LED lumens??) I could be wrong, but seems more like 50-60 lumens to me at best.

The 2nd​ single LED lantern is really strange and something of a mystery. 








The ANSI spec claim 40 lumens which made me think it might use a drop in like my 35 lumen blue LED lantern from Lowes, but it only lists 30 M of throw and 20 hrs of run time. 







Looking at the reflector at first it reminded me a little old time lanterns with a magnifying lens. 

BUT looking closer it is actually a small conical reflector inside a the full size reflector and only the small reflector comes into play when the light is on! The beam is smoother and floodier than the blue lowes lantern with the drop-in. Why Rayovac uses this set up I do not know.....maybe they just wanted a cleaner looking floodier small reflector beam and were willing to sacrifice throw?? Same logic as with the Readyflex big little reflector?


















Taking it apart shows that it does not use a drop-in – this is a purpose built LED lantern (which makes me wonder if the blue Lowes lanterns are a limited production items intended to use up old incan lantern parts and LED drop-ins?).


The small reflector within the reflector explains the reduced beam distance, but what about the run time? Is the LED set up really only 20% efficient as the drop-in or is the 20 hr rating a typo and should be 120 hrs? Again, I do not know. 


BTW, I could not find this lantern on the Rayovac site....might be a Walmart exclusive?


----------



## ZMZ67 (Dec 28, 2016)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Slightly off-topic but it may interest participants in this thread. Dorcy's online site www.dorcy.com has 4D to 6V adapters for a reasonable price,currently $3.00 on sale. Thought I would mention this since the other offerings I see seem to be over-priced.


----------



## xxo (Jan 2, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> Slightly off-topic but it may interest participants in this thread. Dorcy's online site www.dorcy.com has 4D to 6V adapters for a reasonable price,currently $3.00 on sale. Thought I would mention this since the other offerings I see seem to be over-priced.




Thanks for the heads up! I ordered one, should have it soon.


----------



## xxo (Jan 11, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I got the adapter and it works great! 

I have been using it with AA Eneloops in 3AA to D adapters (adapters in adapter) - no problems with lower NiMH Voltages, in fact the LED runs bright until the cells are totally depleted around 0.8 - 0.9V. The adapter is a little sturdier construction that it looks (at least to me) in the photos on Dorcy's site. Definitely a good way to make your 6V lantern dual fuel, or tri fuel with AA's in AA to D adapters....looks like it will also work with C cells in a pinch if you use some coins as spacers (about 3 quarters per cell).


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 14, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I got the adapter and it works great!
> 
> I have been using it with AA Eneloops in 3AA to D adapters (adapters in adapter) - no problems with lower NiMH Voltages, in fact the LED runs bright until the cells are totally depleted around 0.8 - 0.9V. The adapter is a little sturdier construction that it looks (at least to me) in the photos on Dorcy's site. Definitely a good way to make your 6V lantern dual fuel, or tri fuel with AA's in AA to D adapters....looks like it will also work with C cells in a pinch if you use some coins as spacers (about 3 quarters per cell).



Happy to hear the adapter is working for you. Oddly enough the idea of using 3AA adapters in the 4D to 6V adapter crossed my mind butI never tried it. Good to hear that it works providing a way to use eneloops or potentially lithium AAs.


----------



## xxo (Jan 15, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> Happy to hear the adapter is working for you. Oddly enough the idea of using 3AA adapters in the 4D to 6V adapter crossed my mind butI never tried it. Good to hear that it works providing a way to use eneloops or potentially lithium AAs.




L91 lithiums would be good if kept outside/ in a vehicle, but it might be a little strange spending more on the lithium cells than on the lantern itself.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 15, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> L91 lithiums would be good if kept outside/ in a vehicle, but it might be a little strange spending more on the lithium cells than on the lantern itself.


It happens a lot with cheap lights. You can buy a $1.50 Rayovac 2AA LED light and use eneloops in it and have $5 worth of batteries. When you buy 6v lanterns sometimes the alkaline 6v batteries cost as much or more than the lantern does that is why they often give you a "free" heavy duty 6v battery as is why other cheap lights have cheap batteries included as often most of their battery space is dedicated to selling alkalines I think they make the most money from them and when people price alkaline batteries alone and figure out the light they forget the light comes with heavy duty batteries that cost 1/4 or less the price.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 15, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> L91 lithiums would be good if kept outside/ in a vehicle, but it might be a little strange spending more on the lithium cells than on the lantern itself.



Outdoor/car use is what I had in mind. Honestly I like the 6V lantern batteries but there is no lithium version available. Alkalines stored in cars always leak IME. It may seem silly to have more money in the batteries than the light but if it suits your purpose it makes perfect sense to me.I can get 12 L91s for about $20 so it really isn't that much money at the end of the day.


----------



## xxo (Jan 16, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> It happens a lot with cheap lights. You can buy a $1.50 Rayovac 2AA LED light and use eneloops in it and have $5 worth of batteries. When you buy 6v lanterns sometimes the alkaline 6v batteries cost as much or more than the lantern does that is why they often give you a "free" heavy duty 6v battery as is why other cheap lights have cheap batteries included as often most of their battery space is dedicated to selling alkalines I think they make the most money from them and when people price alkaline batteries alone and figure out the light they forget the light comes with heavy duty batteries that cost 1/4 or less the price.




I'm old enough to remember when most flashlights were sold this way, in effect you bought the batteries (usually carbon zinc variety) and got the flashlight for free on near free. Alkalines were pretty expensive back then and alot of people still used heavy duty batteries in their flashlights.


----------



## xxo (Jan 16, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> Outdoor/car use is what I had in mind. Honestly I like the 6V lantern batteries but there is no lithium version available. Alkalines stored in cars always leak IME. It may seem silly to have more money in the batteries than the light but if it suits your purpose it makes perfect sense to me.I can get 12 L91s for about $20 so it really isn't that much money at the end of the day.




True, but if you were to buy L91's at a local store for around $10/4 pack and you used 3 AA adapters, that would be $30 to fill up a $5 light.....not saying it is a waste of money just a little weird when you add it all up.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 16, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I'm old enough to remember when most flashlights were sold this way, in effect you bought the batteries (usually carbon zinc variety) and got the flashlight for free on near free. Alkalines were pretty expensive back then and alot of people still used heavy duty batteries in their flashlights.


We always used alkalines as they gave you more runtime for the dollar although the free batteries were used in something.
With today's LED lights as long as they don't push the envelope you can get a lot of runtime out of the heavy duty batteries in the cheap plastic ones.


----------



## xxo (Jan 16, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

When we were kids, we saved the alkalines for boombox's (that took 10-12 D cells), flashlights usually got cheapo eveready silver carbon zinc or black super heavy duty batts. Back then, at least until we got maglites, our cheapo flashlights were pretty junky....you needed to shake and smack them around to get them to turn on and if you dropped them they would fly to pieces.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 16, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> True, but if you were to buy L91's at a local store for around $10/4 pack and you used 3 AA adapters, that would be $30 to fill up a $5 light.....not saying it is a waste of money just a little weird when you add it all up.



I suppose,especially when you consider the much more expensive lights we often reference here on CPF. I don't intend to pay $10 for 4 batteries though,I can get them at Sam's club cheaper without having to order online. Unfortunately lithium primaries are really the only good batteries for car storage IME. I would be happy to have a 6V lithium if it existed but even if they did make one it would probably cost $30> making the L91s more cost effective anyway.A 6V using lithium F cells would offer some fantastic run times for a low power light.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> Unfortunately lithium primaries are really the only good batteries for car storage IME. I would be happy to have a 6V lithium if it existed but even if they did make one it would probably cost $30> making the L91s more cost effective anyway.A 6V using lithium F cells would offer some fantastic run times for a low power light.


Well it was the economics that led me to this ReadyFlex.

I wanted to be able to run lanterns on D cells (hence the search for 4D to 6V adapters) 
but changing out the incandescent for LED bulbs - 
of course it didn't occur to me lanterns had reverse polarity - 
so that actually would not have worked anyway.

The ReadyFlex seemed like a great solution - a lantern that would run on 2D or double the runtime using 4x D

But as pointed out by xxo - when running on NiMH the light was not very bright - 
dim on drop in voltage level, and the supplied "Super Heavy Duty" carbon zinc D cells would drop pretty quickly -
giving a long running, but dim lantern - not exactly what I was looking for...

It is exactly the economics that stops me from acquiring another 6V floating lantern - even if they are cheap at around $5....

I'd rather get two Eveready 1D (Economy) LED Flashlights for that price.

Or I can get 2 of the Lensed Zoomable 14500/AA Cheap Flashlights off ebay
or even 2 of lensed/zoomable 18650 lights.

If I really wanted a "lantern" style light there are 2x 18650 lights with handles that cost about $8.50 claiming 3000 lumens 
(I'm sure it's not, but it has to be brighter than any cheap 6V LED floating lanterns which are currently @ about 50 lumens) 






Thanks for keeping the discussion going on this.


----------



## xxo (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> I suppose,especially when you consider the much more expensive lights we often reference here on CPF. I don't intend to pay $10 for 4 batteries though,I can get them at Sam's club cheaper without having to order online. Unfortunately lithium primaries are really the only good batteries for car storage IME. I would be happy to have a 6V lithium if it existed but even if they did make one it would probably cost $30> making the L91s more cost effective anyway.A 6V using lithium F cells would offer some fantastic run times for a low power light.




I'm hoping that someday lithium primaries replace alkalines and carbon zinc batteries completely.....aside from cost I don't see any advantages of these over lithium primaries.


----------



## xxo (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Well it was the economics that led me to this ReadyFlex.
> 
> I wanted to be able to run lanterns on D cells (hence the search for 4D to 6V adapters)
> but changing out the incandescent for LED bulbs -
> ...




The Rayovac LED PR bulbs will work with either polarity....I think the Dorcy LED bulbs are supposed to as well.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> The Rayovac LED PR bulbs will work with either polarity....I think the Dorcy LED bulbs are supposed to as well.



Cool! Thank you so much for that.

I actually have a Dorcy 4.5-6V LED PR bulb sitting in a 3D MagLite to try out in a lantern...
and indeed it worked great! 

Time to look for that Dorcy 4D to 6V adapter - I'm sure the sale is over - but it was not that expensive.

However, those 2x 18650 lantern like lights for under $9 look very tempting right now...




Thanks,


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> The Rayovac LED PR bulbs will work with either polarity....I think the Dorcy LED bulbs are supposed to as well.


I believe Dorcy makes them for Rayovac as there are other Rayovac lights that are the exact same as Dorcy lights.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> I'm hoping that someday lithium primaries replace alkalines and carbon zinc batteries completely.....aside from cost I don't see any advantages of these over lithium primaries.



I doubt we will see lithiums replace alkalines because of the cost. Right now we only have AA,AAA and 9V lithiums available among common consumer batteries. I would be happy at this point to see lithiums become widely available in C and D sizes but many consumers just aren't willing to pay the higher price. If they could solve the leaking issues then the lower cost of alkalines would make them worthwhile for a wider range of uses. Alkalines seem to work well in low draw applications like remotes and I have had good luck with 9V in Pak-Lites but AAA to D alkalines have leaked so often for me in lights over the years that I will only use them in cheap lights I don't care about.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 17, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



xxo said:


> The Rayovac LED PR bulbs will work with either polarity....I think the Dorcy LED bulbs are supposed to as well.



That is a great tip!


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> I doubt we will see lithiums replace alkalines because of the cost. Right now we only have AA,AAA and 9V lithiums available among common consumer batteries. I would be happy at this point to see lithiums become widely available in C and D sizes but many consumers just aren't willing to pay the higher price. If they could solve the leaking issues then the lower cost of alkalines would make them worthwhile for a wider range of uses. Alkalines seem to work well in low draw applications like remotes and I have had good luck with 9V in Pak-Lites but AAA to D alkalines have leaked so often for me in lights over the years that I will only use them in cheap lights I don't care about.


I think the cost may come down a fair amount when Energizer's patent on them expires. If they can make and sell alkalines for 25 cents each in stores which is about 1/5 the cost of name brand alkalines in a 4 pack then I would guess the $2-3 cost of lithiums could be reduced in price to about half or less. personally if I could get lithiums with half the capacity of Energizers for 1/3 the price I would probably put them in most of my remotes it wouldn't bother me if they were no name brands with no warranties if they don't leak I think a lot of people would buy them at that price.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> I think the cost may come down a fair amount when Energizer's patent on them expires. If they can make and sell alkalines for 25 cents each in stores which is about 1/5 the cost of name brand alkalines in a 4 pack then I would guess the $2-3 cost of lithiums could be reduced in price to about half or less. personally if I could get lithiums with half the capacity of Energizers for 1/3 the price I would probably put them in most of my remotes it wouldn't bother me if they were no name brands with no warranties if they don't leak I think a lot of people would buy them at that price.



I am getting L91s for right around a $1.67 ea.now at Sams club.I know of at least one off-brand lithium 1.5V AA that is available online and it is $1.30 ea. CR123s have wide competition and they are still a $1 ea. for the low cost brands made in China. I don't know if the battery manufacturers would be willing to develop low cost lithiums when they already have alkalines to fill that market segment. Even though folks like us are put off by leaking alkalines it seems like the average consumer would rather pay less and use them anyway.

EDIT: I think I may have wandered a little too far off the original topic,apologies to UnknownVT


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> EDIT: I think I may have wandered a little too far off the original topic,apologies to UnknownVT


Not at all, I am enjoying the discussion -
this is the reason I participate in forums -
because of the interesting turns.

Actually, just to show it's still relevant - 
if there were lithium primary D cells - 
this ReadyFlex floating lantern would not suffer from drooping brightness, as lithium primaries would maintain their voltage much better
and as pointed out, kept as occasional/emergency use there is much better readiness and less likelihood of leakage.

There, we're right back on topic -
please carry on!


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> I am getting L91s for right around a $1.67 ea.now at Sams club.I know of at least one off-brand lithium 1.5V AA that is available online and it is $1.30 ea. CR123s have wide competition and they are still a $1 ea. for the low cost brands made in China. I don't know if the battery manufacturers would be willing to develop low cost lithiums when they already have alkalines to fill that market segment. Even though folks like us are put off by leaking alkalines it seems like the average consumer would rather pay less and use them anyway.
> 
> EDIT: I think I may have wandered a little too far off the original topic,apologies to UnknownVT


CR123s are nowhere near as commonplace now as Energizer L91/L92s are and I'm betting if their patent expires we will see other brands of the same chemistry perhaps even C and D size cells may appear which would fit these lanterns. CR123s use a different chemistry and are a different voltage so I'm not sure it is a valid comparison or not the type of lithium mixture may be more costly or cheaper than that in L91s. $1.67 isn't cheap enough to go putting them in everything compared to 25 to 75 cents for alkalines.
What I find ironic is an alkaline D cell costs less than a lithium AA.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Not at all, I am enjoying the discussion -
> this is the reason I participate in forums -
> because of the interesting turns.
> 
> ...


I agree, and this that comparison price/volume of L91s it makes a D cell lithium battery of same chemistry way too expensive as the volume of such is perhaps 4 times making it cost in the $8 range or more per battery. If an L91 cost dropped to 75 cents for generic no name brands then we may consider a $3 lithium D cell a possibility. I'm sure more people would use them even though they cost 2-3 times that of alkalines for the fact that you can store them literally for 20 years in devices without worries plus the weight of 4 of these lithium batteries would make devices using them noticeably lighter. 
The idea of a 1D high quality lantern using lithium primaries (that can use alkalines or in a pinch AA/C even AAAs in it with adapters becomes a reality with lithium D cells but the idea of a high quality (not cheap) device getting destroyed or damaged at the least by being all but forced to use alkaline D cells in it to get any decent runtime for the price is rathery irritating.
To put it simply a lithium ~1.5v D cell battery would be able to compete on a level with 18650s as far as rutime, output, and weight advantage.


----------



## xxo (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Saw one of these rayovac LED lanterns at Job lot:


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017C32U64/?tag=cpf0b6-20


Price there was $10, has a 4D to 6V adapter inside and came with 4D cell batts.....weighs more than typical plastic 6V lanterns, seems fairly heavy duty with a 1M drop rating.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> CR123s are nowhere near as commonplace now as Energizer L91/L92s are and I'm betting if their patent expires we will see other brands of the same chemistry perhaps even C and D size cells may appear which would fit these lanterns. CR123s use a different chemistry and are a different voltage so I'm not sure it is a valid comparison or not the type of lithium mixture may be more costly or cheaper than that in L91s. $1.67 isn't cheap enough to go putting them in everything compared to 25 to 75 cents for alkalines.
> What I find ironic is an alkaline D cell costs less than a lithium AA.



I hope you are right especially about the addition of C and D lithiums but I will believe it when I see it. CR123s are not as common as AA but there are no competition barriers and I don't see why they would cost significantly more to produce than a AA even if the chemistry/voltage is not the same. I have not tried the off-brand lithium AAs and I don't know what chemistry they use but the reviews are positive. They are still $1.30 and if I had to bet I would guess they were manufactured in China where manufacturing costs are lower. At least the expiration of Energizer's patent should open competition up so that should help prices even if it doesn't bring them down to alkaline levels. How long is left on Energizer's patent rights,anyone know?


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 18, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> I hope you are right especially about the addition of C and D lithiums but I will believe it when I see it.



ditto on believing....

However looking at it economically - 
those lantern-like flashlights with handles using 2x 18650 - 
I've seen that as low as $7.69 shipped.

That led me to looking at ones that would focus/zoom and I found ones as low as $12 shipped:




the lens kind of looks like TIR optics - but I am dubious - 
it probably is just the center area that's active and the outer part is kind of a faux surround to make up for the head size - 
kind of like this ReadyFlex reflector - the one shown is boasting 8000 lumens(!) I am incredulous...
but I have watched 2 video comparison tests (YouTube) and I don't think it is doing much better than a single 18650 zooming flashlight -
if anyone is interested the light is the SkyWolfEye E688 (a search will find the 2 test videos) 
the unboxing gave a bit of a hint - 
but the testing (I think) showed the E688 didn't seem to do much better than the gold 1x18650 flashlight - 




I have one of these in black and its performance is actually pretty good, 
but no better than any of those Lensed Zoomable 14500/AA Cheap Flashlights

Warning: the test video is horrible - 
(gave me a headache just trying to watch it, 
and I wanted to yell at the guy for not being clear about which light he was using 
and not editing the video to eliminate the useless stuff - you have been warned!)

So although the pricing is attractive - I've not been tempted by those lantern-like flashlights with handles 
since a zooming 1x 18650 light may outperform them - and be a lot more portable.

Currently I am taken with the UltraFire (I know, not a well respected name/brand) SK98 (<$5, but I got mine for $2.49 shipped by bidding)
it's like the ubiquitous SK68 on steroids using a single 18650 -





It does outperform the single 14500 lights like the SK68....







its beam/circle of light is significantly wider than any of the Lensed Zoomable 14500/AA Cheap Flashlights
and will focus to just as tight a spot
so in a literally pocketable flashlight, I can have the function of one of those lanterns -
using an IMR18650 or NCR18650 there is very little problem of leakage, 
and on low level the light ought to run for a long time too.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



ZMZ67 said:


> I hope you are right especially about the addition of C and D lithiums but I will believe it when I see it. CR123s are not as common as AA but there are no competition barriers and I don't see why they would cost significantly more to produce than a AA even if the chemistry/voltage is not the same. I have not tried the off-brand lithium AAs and I don't know what chemistry they use but the reviews are positive. They are still $1.30 and if I had to bet I would guess they were manufactured in China where manufacturing costs are lower. At least the expiration of Energizer's patent should open competition up so that should help prices even if it doesn't bring them down to alkaline levels. How long is left on Energizer's patent rights,anyone know?


If they can't get C/D lithium cells under $5 each I somehow doubt they will go over well in stores. I have no idea how long Energizers patent has left they used to be 15 years but now it may be longer and it may be that when there is a few years left they may patent some process to make them others don't know about that is essential such that it they can keep anyone else from making them for another 15 or more years. I know I saw one company selling lithium AAs that you were talking about but they were a lot less capacity (less than half if I remember correctly) for about half the price (or more even) not much of an option. What would be nice is instead of a 3000mah capacity make a 1000mah capacity lithium AA for around the price of an alkaline battery it would be plenty to put in remotes that are only occasionally used.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*






I have two of these one is exactly the same as this Gold one and a Silver one too. The only thing that I didn't like is the "next mode" memory to them in that you turn it off and it came on in the next mode in sequence. I fixed that on my cheap lights though.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> I have two of these one is exactly the same as this Gold one and a Silver one too. The only thing that I didn't like is the "next mode" memory to them in that you turn it off and it came on in the next mode in sequence. I fixed that on my cheap lights though.


Yes, that what annoys me as well. 
But I do like it for its very compact size.




The unlabelled light is the 18650 ConvoyS2+/Jaxman E2 (please see: Jaxman E2 (bargain Nichia 219B highCRI) and Convoy S2+ 18350 body)

How did you fix it?

In the meantime, having only 3 modes I just have to remember to change modes until the one *before* I want.

I'm not too sure if next mode "no memory" might actually be better for me than ones that reset to the default mode (High) - 
I prefer to start on low - it actually works better for me (as long as I remember to go the High before turning off) to get the light to turn on Low.

That UltraFire SK98 had a much wider beam circle than this SkyWolfEye TLY-6501 (same beam size as the SK68 on wide)

This means the SK98 has a very useful and even flood on wide, and when zoomed can throw a long way -
thus working better for my use than any lantern I've used.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

In order to fix the "next mode" memory you have to access the driver board and use a pencil (graphite) to smear it across the right diode which will in effect "drain" the memory based upon how much is shorting across the diode. I used clip leads so I could test the operation of it and had to reapply more pencil lead twice to get it to work right. The more you put the shorter the memory is maintained after turning off. I first had it where you had to leave it off for a minute or two but found that I liked it best at 5 seconds or less.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> In order to fix the "next mode" memory you have to access the driver board and use a pencil (graphite) to smear it across the right diode which will in effect "drain" the memory based upon how much is shorting across the diode. I used clip leads so I could test the operation of it and had to reapply more pencil lead twice to get it to work right. The more you put the shorter the memory is maintained after turning off. I first had it where you had to leave it off for a minute or two but found that I liked it best at 5 seconds or less.


Thank you very much -
I'll have to try this :thumbsup:


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

If you get too much just use a cloth and wipe off the excess and start over. I think too much it may only have one mode unable to remember long enough to go to the next mode.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> If you get too much just use a cloth and wipe off the excess and start over. I think too much it may only have one mode unable to remember long enough to go to the next mode.


Thank you again for the follow up. Nice to know it's adjustable and reversible.

I am debating whether it's worthwhile on these 3 mode lights that are High>Low>strobe - 
as I prefer to turn on Low - 
either: 
(1) As-Is always have to remember to turn off at High.
(2) Mod: Resetting back to High, will always require changing mode to Low - but has the advantage of avoiding strobe.

However I do have an Astrolux A01 current version with 5000K Nichia 219B (90+CRI) and PWM - 
that does next mode "no memory" L>M>H>L>M>H>Strobe (L=firefly or moon mode) - 




with this I would love it to reset back to L or firefly mode - 
so I can avoid strobe, unless I deliberately wanted it.


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Thank you again for the follow up. Nice to know it's adjustable and reversible.
> 
> I am debating whether it's worthwhile on these 3 mode lights that are High>Low>strobe -
> as I prefer to turn on Low -
> ...


As far as I know it only works to remove memory from lights I don't think the trick will allow for skipping modes on them.


----------



## ZMZ67 (Jan 19, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> If they can't get C/D lithium cells under $5 each I somehow doubt they will go over well in stores. I have no idea how long Energizers patent has left they used to be 15 years but now it may be longer and it may be that when there is a few years left they may patent some process to make them others don't know about that is essential such that it they can keep anyone else from making them for another 15 or more years. I know I saw one company selling lithium AAs that you were talking about but they were a lot less capacity (less than half if I remember correctly) for about half the price (or more even) not much of an option. What would be nice is instead of a 3000mah capacity make a 1000mah capacity lithium AA for around the price of an alkaline battery it would be plenty to put in remotes that are only occasionally used.



I agree with you that C/D cells will have to be under the $5 price point to appeal to the average consumer. The off-brand lithiums I saw were closer in performance to L91s at least by their specs and the reviews but as I stated the price was still well over a $1. 

Looking at some of the cheap lights you and UnknownVT posted it occurs to me that we are seeing decent LED lights at low prices quicker than good batteries at low cost. There are some desirable lights now in the sub $20 range and even more at sub $30.Even Olight who typically offers more expensive models has the I3E available at $9.99.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 20, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> As far as I know it only works to remove memory from lights I don't think the trick will allow for skipping modes on them.


Correct.

I didn't mean I could skip any mode - (other than by deliberately not turning to that mode).

If the light is H>L>Strobe
and I wanted always to turn on Low
then As-Is with next mode memory, I always have to go through strobe to get to High to turn off there, so when I turn on it is at Low.

With your mod, then it loses that next mode memory and goes back to High?
So to get to Low I always have to switch modes - but I never have to go through strobe, because turned off it goes back to High (after a period)

Same with the L>M>H>L>M>H>Strobe
If the mod loses the next memory - then when turned off it goes back to the first Low mode (which is what I want)
and as long as I don't go beyond 6 changes I don't have to go through Strobe.

Right now, with next mode memory I have to remember if I was on the first High to turn off, or go through all the modes until I hit strobe then turn off to have the light come on at Low.

With the mod the light will turn on Low, and I can avoid having to go through Strobe.

Hope that was clearer?

Thanks


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 20, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Correct.
> 
> I didn't mean I could skip any mode - (other than by deliberately not turning to that mode).
> 
> ...


Yeah I sort of figured what you wanted to do. I've done the turn it off on strobe or high bit so I could get high or low the next time I turned it on but after having to remember to do that a dozen times and forgetting the other dozen times I got to where I didn't know what mode it was going to be in ending up often turning it on in strobe mode. I would love it if they came in L/H/Strobe or better just L/M/H but the only way for that to happen is to replace the board which drives the price up on the light and replacing the circuit tempts you to get a Cree board also which in the end makes your $3 light a $10 light that may still be cheap quality construction with not much better beam output and it loses its bargain status plus makes it more valuable going from a throw away light if needed to a "I better take care of this" type light for the work put into it.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 20, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> Yeah I sort of figured what you wanted to do. I've done the turn it off on strobe or high bit so I could get high or low the next time I turned it on but after having to remember to do that a dozen times and forgetting the other dozen times I got to where I didn't know what mode it was going to be in ending up often turning it on in strobe mode. I would love it if they came in L/H/Strobe or better just L/M/H but the only way for that to happen is to replace the board which drives the price up on the light and replacing the circuit tempts you to get a Cree board also which in the end makes your $3 light a $10 light that may still be cheap quality construction with not much better beam output and it loses its bargain status plus makes it more valuable going from a throw away light if needed to a "I better take care of this" type light for the work put into it.


Thanks.

Yep, agree totally with what you say - 
that's why your pencil mod is so good to me -
I didn't realize that one could mod the light so that it would reset the next mode "no" memory back to the first/default mode.

Well worth doing - thus keeping the bargain status - yet getting a light that is more usable.

Next I just have to figure out how to get the pill out on some, and then get to the circuit board.

Is there a particular tool you use to unscrew the pill, please?

Thanks


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 20, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Yep, agree totally with what you say -
> that's why your pencil mod is so good to me -
> ...


I only done 2 types of lights the Gold zoom 18650 light and a small AA zoom light. I have a reflectored 18650 light that doesn't have the next mode memory issue seems 5 mode lights don't have the problem only 3 mode zoom lights seem have the problem. I got the pills out by simply unscrewing it and then prying the board out with a small screwdriver.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> I got the pills out by simply unscrewing it and then prying the board out with a small screwdriver.



Thanks.

The reason I asked about a tool for unscrewing the pill is because I have a few that seem very tight, recessed or difficult -

4 year old SK68




usually with this type I just use a screwdriver on one side and push, they normally give.
With this one - that didn't work - so I tried a pair of snipe nosed pliers fitting in the two slots, 
but again the pill seemed tight, that the pliers would slip.

Astrolux A01 -




thin bladed screwdriver on any recess that would fit, doesn't seem to have enough leverage to turn the pill...

Thanks


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

On the first one if you can find a thick flat washer the diameter of the ring and cut it in half and use a large adjustable wrench it may work. The second one You may have to make a tool using nails and a large round dowel rod. Take a piece of thin tracing paper and cut it to fit down inside and you can poke the holes through it with nails and then take the paper on the end of a dowel rod and trace the holes (dots) on it and hammer the nails into the holes then maybe grind them off etc.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> On the first one if you can find a thick flat washer the diameter of the ring and cut it in half and use a large adjustable wrench it may work. The second one You may have to make a tool using nails and a large round dowel rod. Take a piece of thin tracing paper and cut it to fit down inside and you can poke the holes through it with nails and then take the paper on the end of a dowel rod and trace the holes (dots) on it and hammer the nails into the holes then maybe grind them off etc.


Thank you!

Now that's great thinking...


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Thank you!
> 
> Now that's great thinking...


Only if it works


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

If you don't have a thick washer that size you could fold over a thinner one pounding it flat on the folded edge to fit maybe grinding the edge if it gets too thick even.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> If you don't have a thick washer that size you could fold over a thinner one pounding it flat on the folded edge to fit maybe grinding the edge if it gets too thick even.


Thank you for the follow up and additional ideas :thumbsup:.

The Astrolux A01 is really the one I'd like to try your pencil mod on.

Whereas with H>L>strobe 3 mode lights, from my usual Low - I have learned to double tap to "skip" the strobe, then press harder to turn off on high.

Although I agree, once in a while I do forget and find I turn on to strobe, but that's fairly seldom these days.

I like that SkyWolfEye TLY-6501 (the one you have in gold), because it is so compact - 
and although it doesn't perform any better than 14500/AA lights - 
the use of 18650 means theoretically it ought to run up to 5 times longer. 
My sample's tint is a bit more purple/blue than the other cheapo lights -
but I like it, as it will do as well, if not better than any lanterns I have used, 
but in a much more compact form factor...
and,
price was 1/2 that of the ReadyFlex -
of course the 18650 battery is going cost more - 
but it is rechargeable ...

Thanks


----------



## Lynx_Arc (Jan 21, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Thank you for the follow up and additional ideas :thumbsup:.
> 
> The Astrolux A01 is really the one I'd like to try your pencil mod on.
> 
> ...


I have two of the 18650 zoom skywolfeye lights a silver and gold one and both have different color (tint) LEDs one is bluish tint closer to the white I like the other is a warm/yellowish white. I fuel mine with laptop battery pulls i got from a local computer store that recycles them. It is rather easy to do the pencil mod on them.


----------



## UnknownVT (Jan 25, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> In order to fix the "next mode" memory you have to access the driver board and use a pencil (graphite) to smear it across the right diode which will in effect "drain" the memory based upon how much is shorting across the diode. I used clip leads so I could test the operation of it and had to reapply more pencil lead twice to get it to work right. The more you put the shorter the memory is maintained after turning off. I first had it where you had to leave it off for a minute or two but found that I liked it best at 5 seconds or less.





Lynx_Arc said:


> If you get too much just use a cloth and wipe off the excess and start over. I think too much it may only have one mode unable to remember long enough to go to the next mode.


Just to make sure I have got the correct component - 
is this it? (highlight in red)




Not my photo - 
screenshot taken from this YouTube video, and enhanced a bit -
Skywolfeye TLY-6501 focusable LED 18650 flashlight from China / ebay review and teardown (RaT) 
(it's gold same as yours!)
The reviewer didn't know how modes were changed until about 12:39, it's from a few seconds later when he attached the macro lens the screenshot was taken
https://youtu.be/hZuJIiZIGNo?t=12m39s 

He is suggesting the component is a capacitor.

Thanks,


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 25, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

I can't tell on my computer but resistors typically have numbers on them and capacitors are gold/yellow colored. I had to try all of them in one light as it had more than one capacitor I think the 18650 SKywolfeye lights only have 1 capacitor if I remember right.


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## UnknownVT (Jan 25, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> I can't tell on my computer but resistors typically have numbers on them and capacitors are gold/yellow colored. I had to try all of them in one light as it had more than one capacitor I think the 18650 SKywolfeye lights only have 1 capacitor if I remember right.


Ah.. but my question was a lot more basic/mundane than that...

Is that the right component (highlighted with red ellipse) to use the pencil on, please?

Thanks


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 25, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Ah.. but my question was a lot more basic/mundane than that...
> 
> Is that the right component (highlighted with red ellipse) to use the pencil on, please?
> 
> Thanks


Yes, It should do the trick.


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## UnknownVT (Jan 25, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> Yes, It should do the trick.


Thanks so much for the confirmation - 
I'll give that a try.

That component being a capacitor seems to make sense - 
as drawing a pencil (graphite) line bridging the terminals 
would in effect give a resistor between them, forming a timer.

pic from Wikipedia Multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCC)






Thanks for all the advice.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Exactly.... or short it out. Long ago people figured out you could overclock some processor chips by using a pencil to draw traces across some parts of the chip with a pencil. The trick is to get the right amount. I put a lot of lead on the capacitors as just a little doesn't seem to do much of anything.


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## UnknownVT (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> In order to fix the "next mode" memory you have to access the driver board and use a pencil (graphite) to smear it across the right diode which will in effect "drain" the memory based upon how much is shorting across the diode. I used clip leads so I could test the operation of it and had to reapply more pencil lead twice to get it to work right. The more you put the shorter the memory is maintained after turning off. I first had it where you had to leave it off for a minute or two but found that I liked it best at 5 seconds or less.





Lynx_Arc said:


> If you get too much just use a cloth and wipe off the excess and start over. I think too much it may only have one mode unable to remember long enough to go to the next mode.


Thank you so much!
This worked for me.

It took me 2 tries - 
at first I did 4 firm pencil lines between the terminals of that capacitor...
and...
when I put the light back together it wouldn't even switch on.

I thought perhaps it was the board not making contact with the pill -
so I put a blob of solder at the edge of the board hanging over the edge of the pill -
but no luck.

So perhaps I over-did the pencil lines -
went back and used a pencil eraser and rubbed off the lines 
and this time I did just two lines...
and lo-and-behold! it worked
not only that, the reset time after off is less than 2 seconds.

WoW! it worked! 

FWIW my board looks like this:





Thank you so much!:twothumbs


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Your welcome. I got the information from a thread in another forum somewhere. There is one issue with it if you drop the light really hard you may be able to knock loose some of the graphite and have to redo it. I had to use 4 times on mine to get it to work right first time I did it I had to wait 30 seconds for it to "forget" I think mine are now 1-2 seconds too. I'm guessing if you are good at soldering SMD components you could choose a smaller capacitance value and replace it and work the same, most likely they put a cap in that they could get cheaper than the right value without thinking much. For the $2 or so I paid for my lights I'm not complaining at all about having to do the mod but wished they would have charged me another penny to get the right component in the first place.


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## UnknownVT (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> Your welcome. I got the information from a thread in another forum somewhere. There is one issue with it if you drop the light really hard you may be able to knock loose some of the graphite and have to redo it. I had to use 4 times on mine to get it to work right first time I did it I had to wait 30 seconds for it to "forget" I think mine are now 1-2 seconds too. I'm guessing if you are good at soldering SMD components you could choose a smaller capacitance value and replace it and work the same, most likely they put a cap in that they could get cheaper than the right value without thinking much. For the $2 or so I paid for my lights I'm not complaining at all about having to do the mod but wished they would have charged me another penny to get the right component in the first place.


I guess my capacitor may be a different (smaller) value?

Because I used only two pencil lines, and got about <=2 secs reset time.

4 pencil lines probably had shorted the capacitor out -
in my case the light wouldn't even turn on.

Thanks, I am real pleased with the results with such a simple mod.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> I guess my capacitor may be a different (smaller) value?
> 
> Because I used only two pencil lines, and got about <=2 secs reset time.
> 
> ...


wouldn't surprise me if they just put different capacitors in that slot on the boards to use up extras that they had.
What I think boggles the mind is that someone can make these lights and ship them from china to your doorstep for less than $3 regardless of having to do the mod or not. Without the mod I wanted to almost throw the light in the trash as I often turned it on in strobe mode or low mode and when it turned on in low I couldn't always tell and tried putting it in low.... got strobe. I would love to get rid of the strobe mode for good in the light without losing the L/H modes.


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## UnknownVT (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> wouldn't surprise me if they just put different capacitors in that slot on the boards to use up extras that they had.
> What I think boggles the mind is that someone can make these lights and ship them from china to your doorstep for less than $3 regardless of having to do the mod or not. Without the mod I wanted to almost throw the light in the trash as I often turned it on in strobe mode or low mode and when it turned on in low I couldn't always tell and tried putting it in low.... got strobe. I would love to get rid of the strobe mode for good in the light without losing the L/H modes.


Looking at the photo of my board more closely - that capacitor space is actually marked 1µF.

Having done the mod I can more or less avoid seeing the strobe mode unless I want to deliberately switch to it,
since turning off at Low now will reset back to high and no longer go to strobe.

Thanks!


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## UnknownVT (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> What I think boggles the mind is that someone can make these lights and ship them from china to your doorstep for less than $3 regardless of having to do the mod or not.


Still on my pursuit of lantern alternative - I did a low-ball bid on this:




even though it says "Vander", the same looking light is also sold as UltraFire and possibly others.
It came as a "kit with 18650 battery and charger - and I manage to get it for $3.06 shipped (US vendor)

So this is cheaper than the ReadyFlex and other cheap lanterns -
in this one case it came with battery - rechargeable too.

It is labelled as 3000mAh - on test it is only 1022mAh - but it works, just lower capacity than the label.

Being a bigger 18650 light it is 5 modes - with the bigger LED -





BUT this had a very long reset back to High - in the order of possibly hours,
so it may as well have been next mode "no" memory.

It was a prime candidate for the pencil mod.

This light was relatively easy to take apart and access the board - 
it looked similar to the other one I'd seen -
so it was easy to locate the capacitor.

Two pencil lines and the light did not seem to reset, in anything in reasonable time.

So added more pencil lines to about 5 in total.

This time on test it would reset in about 4-5 secs.

However there is a difference - in less than 4-5 secs but more than 1 sec - the light comes on with the last mode - which was rather nice.

Perhaps a little less pencil lines could extend the last mode period before reset back to High?

Its widest setting is just wider than the UltraFire SK98 (also 18650) -
so the wide flood coverage is better, and it will focus/zoom to a tight spot showing image of the LED die.

With the pencil mod even as is, this has become a really good candidate for a lantern alternative..
and it was cheaper (although the price is probably an anomaly)


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



UnknownVT said:


> Still on my pursuit of lantern alternative - I did a low-ball bid on this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Last mode memory isn't as much of a problem as "next mode" memory which is extremely annoying because before you turn the light off you have to purposely change it to another mode before the mode you want it to come on. I like the 5 mode lights as the low modes tend to be lower than the low on 3 mode lights
I have one of those 1000mah 18650s that came with a USB rechargeable fan claiming it to be 2500mah. I'm not complaining as the fan cost me less than other fans without the free battery.


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## UnknownVT (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*



Lynx_Arc said:


> Last mode memory isn't as much of a problem as "next mode" memory which is extremely annoying because before you turn the light off you have to purposely change it to another mode before the mode you want it to come on. I like the 5 mode lights as the low modes tend to be lower than the low on 3 mode lights
> I have one of those 1000mah 18650s that came with a USB rechargeable fan claiming it to be 2500mah. I'm not complaining as the fan cost me less than other fans without the free battery.


Just to be clear that Vander flashlight had next mode memory.

I would have been quite happy with last mode memory, and would not have done the mod at all.

The second and successful pencil mod gave it last mode memory, if the time before switching on was less than about 4-5 secs (after which it would now reset back to High).

Thanks


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 26, 2017)

*Re: REVIEW - Eveready ReadyFlex Floating Lantern (EVFL45SH)*

Yeah I'm half tempted to buy some decent $3 circuit boards/drivers that will fit my 2 lights and replace them as there is no guarantee that the $6 lights have any better drivers. My 5 mode lights don't have any next mode memory issues.


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## GarageBoy (Nov 9, 2021)

Bumping a nice old thread - had a bunch of alkalines in a closest and work and figured why not pick one of these up?

Bought it and thought, man this is the dimmest 80 lumens ever... Should have checked this thread first. I hook it up with an 18650 and it's much better - too bad I can't get an 18650 to make contact. Guess this goes into the donate pile. 

Can't really see a need for D batteries anymore. Maybe vintage AM/FM radios ?


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## xxo (Nov 9, 2021)

The Eveready 1D is good for a cheap D cell light -

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/review-eveready-1d-economy-led-flashlight.424718/

or the ozark 1D if you want something a little brighter -

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/ozark-trail-1d-led.447897/


I keep some alkaline C and D cells around for the unlikely event that I have a power outage that lasts longer than all of my rechargeables for use in Maglites set up as lanterns.


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