Parts directly from China

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Post by Furcurequs »

That seems to have helped. I'll know for sure tomorrow during the steamy part of the day. ...though according to Google, the relative humidity level now at close to 4 a.m. is 92% at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Ouch. Wonder what it will be like when it reaches the forecast 88 degrees tomorrow?
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Furcurequs »

After blackening the mating surfaces with a pencil, my mechanism does seem to be working again. It's currently something like 86 degrees Fahrenheit here and 64% relative humidity.

So, thanks again, Bill.

It looks like I won't need to make any major alterations or have to find some wax.
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by ovyyus »

Good work Dwayne. BTW, wax, unlike graphite, can sometimes increase static friction, especially with temperature increase.
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Furcurequs »

Thanks.

I was wondering about the wax, and thinking it might not do well in a humid environment, either.

I seem to remember how sweating drinking glasses and my mom's nicely waxed furniture didn't seem to go too well together. :( ...nice raised water spots.

When looking for my pencil in my art supplies, I did find a small jar of Vaseline I think I was using with my air brush. If the graphite ever fails me, I guess I could try some lube before swapping out my dowel.

The graphite seems to be doing fine, though. It's now 89 degrees and 50% relative humidity.
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Furcurequs »

...a little bit of an update...

No new parts from China, but this past week I finally got to a point with my latest build that I can see that it indeed behaves like in my original Blender simulation. That's nice to see.

Of course, I've not yet gone far enough with the simulation or the build to know whether either will show an actual energy gain.

I can basically do a one shot test now with the build and see that things behave essentially as I want them to - at least when I give the device a sufficient initial speed.

To know whether I am getting an actual energy gain, however, I would have to rigorously take data - which I'm not set up to do - or finish the build so that it can behave cyclically.

So, I've gotten some work left to do.

This week I also rebuilt some parts for my previous incomplete device build. I made the new parts sturdier and also with a slightly different design to remove some slop in the mechanism.

I mounted the new parts on the device and they operate much more smoothly than the old ones did. ...but that's still with Mr. Hand in the equation. I now only need to put the finishing touches on the device and fine tune some things and then if lucky I may have an answer.

I think it looks quite promising, especially now with the better made parts, but Mr. Hand of course could be deceiving me.

Hopefully, more to come...
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Furcurequs »

This isn't wheel related, but I thought I would go ahead and post it in this thread, anyway, since it does involve some more things I bought directly from China!

I had been having some problems with a bouncy mouse button on the wired optical mouse I had found at the trash place where I had also found this, my current, computer. So, I finally got onto ebay and ordered a replacement mouse directly from China!

I ended up ordering 3 mice from 3 different sellers, actually. One was a wireless optical "gaming" mouse that looks a bit like the wired gaming mouse I'm replacing. It was only $3.99 with free shipping, but it's now been over a month and I still haven't received it! I'm still in the projected delivery window, though, which doesn't close until the end of November.

Another was an optical mouse with a PS2 plug that I ordered for a friend. It was only $3.03 with free shipping and it arrived in about 2 weeks time, give or take. (Now, if I could only get him to actually come out and get it - while, of course, bringing me some Chinese food from town...)

I also ordered a second mouse for myself as a backup. It was a wired usb optical mouse that was only $1.66 with free shipping, and it may have arrived in less than a week! It got here so soon, I wasn't even expecting it yet. I've been using it for quite a while now, and I've really grown to like it. It's a bit smaller than the one I had been using before, though.

Anyway, once again I'm amazed. I bought and had an optical mouse delivered directly from China to my mailbox in a matter of just a few days - and all for only $1.66! That's probably about what it costs me in gas money to just drive to town and back.

Of course, this has inspired me to seek out more Chinese merchandise, and so now I've been pursuing the latest in flashlight technology!!

With the new high efficiency LEDs and the large energy storage capacity of lithium ion batteries, there seem to be some pretty sweet flashlights out there now. You can get one that's not much larger than a penlight with a single LED and which uses a single lithium ion cell that can put out as much light as an old 60 watt incandescent light bulb and for over an hour!!

With a setting that puts out a more modest level of light, of course, a single cell can power it for maybe days.

Needless to say, I have one of those on its way now!!

The one I ordered has a machined aircraft grade aluminum body that's been anodized blue and it has a neutral white LED. I've seen a video of this model of flashlight being frozen in ice and broken out with a hammer and of it being boiled in a kettle of water and then of it being dropped from about a 4 story window onto concrete - all while the light was burning and without it going out!

My blue version is supposed to have a stainless steel switch which may not make it as waterproof as the one with the rubber switch in the video, but I might end up getting that version, too, eventually.

In anticipation of the one on its way, I also ordered and received a hobby battery charger and a laptop battery from which I've removed the lithium ion cells - the charger indirectly from China and the battery indirectly from Korea. I must be very careful with the lithium ion cells, however, in that they don't have the protection circuitry that individual cells normally have - and they can be dangerous if overcharged or shorted.

There are some nice exploding battery videos on youtube, btw.

Oh, and then there's the new LED lights for my cabin I need to order, since about half of my compact florescent lights have now burnt out!

Dwayne
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Art »

"and so now I've been pursuing the latest in flashlight technology!! "

----------

You're not thinking of getting one of those 2000 lumen plus led torches by any chance ? I'd be interested in what you think of them .

I have been thinking of having a go at getting one as soon as I get receipt of my last purchase of scroll saw blades from the same chinese company that intend to get the torch from .I wish they would hurry up , I'm getting like everybody else I know , - I want it now ! - don't bug me with the details .

I have a lot of led torches - ( I'd probably be a hypnotists dream , always fascinated by bright glittery things ). Brightest torch I have at the moment is one with a 5W Cree led which is pretty bright but I think not close to 2000 lumens .

I had an excellent opportunity last night just after it turned dark . I had taken a walk outside and heard snuffling and grunting in the bush about 6 meters away on the opposite side of a chain link fence that I have between my place and the bush. Since it's late spring here at the moment funny grunting noices aren't unusual from the native animals at night , so since I've been tryin to identify what animals make what kind of noise I ran back to the house and grabbed the torch and without turning it on tracked the grunting and snuffling about 20 meters along the fence until I came to where the fence turned at right angle on its way to the gate . At this stage I was about 2 meters from the grunting which had resolved by this time into multiple seperate grunting and shufflings. I turned the torch on to shine it trough the fence expecting to see the quarry on the other side doing whatever it was they were doing .

What I saw was a mad flurry of about 3 wild pigs on the other side of the fence running further into the bush and 3 between me and the fence on my side . The three on my side tried to dash directly away but hammered straight into the fence and just became transfixed in the beam of light when they regained their footing . I had the beam on them from a distance of about a meter and a half. They were totally confused !. They stayed like that for about 4 seconds until I shifted the beam to the other side of the fence again to see if there were others around and they took that opportunity to head off at a rate of nots back to where they had got in .

If I had of had a good rope with me and someone to hold the torch I'm pretty sure I could have roped one of them easily , because it appeared they couldn't see a thing and just wouldn't move once the beam was on them .

Yep , I'm going to get me one of them 2000 lumen torches , with a rope mount ! : )
Have had the solution to Bessler's Wheel approximately monthly for over 30 years ! But next month is "The One" !
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Furcurequs »

Hey Art,

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was feeling pretty rough for a few days there with my health problems.

Anyway...
Art wrote:You're not thinking of getting one of those 2000 lumen plus led torches by any chance ? I'd be interested in what you think of them .
What kind of question is that?! Of course I am!! ...lol

I've been geeking out on this stuff, actually.

The flashlight I had already ordered arrived on Monday, and I'm really pleased with it. It's certainly the best one I've ever owned.

It, like yours, has a Cree LED, but it's supposed to be one of the their latest and most efficient designs - an XM-L2. With proper heat sinking I believe it's supposed to be able to handle up to 10 watts and put out about 1000 lumen, but the actual flashlight I got drives the LED with just shy of 7 watts and so it realistically will only put out somewhere between 700 and 800 Lumen.

From what I've read, the newer Cree LEDs like they use in flashlights/torches can put out around 100 lumen per Watt for the XM-L and about 116 lumen/Watt for the XM-L2. So, with your 5 watter, if it's fairly new, it could be around 500 lumen or so. If it's an older "Q5" or something, from what I've read, it may be closer to 300 lumen.

With the flashlight/torch I bought which has an XM-L2, there were several options to choose from - the current to the LED, the tint of the LED and also the color of the body (or "host" as the aficionados call it). I actually went against my normal impulse and chose 2.1 amps instead of the maximum 2.8 (and close to 1000 lumen output) which I could have gotten. I had heard, though, that with the higher powered version the light got a bit too hot for continuous use when on the high setting.

Which reminds me, there are multiple modes of operation with my light - high, medium and low, and also strobe and SOS.

I put the light on high using one of my fully charged lithium ion cells and placed it on a laundry detergent box to time how long it would run. It lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes before it started flashing and dropped to a lower light level. It had pretty much depleted the cell to a point where it would be damaging to the cell to run it for much longer after that, but I've read that it might still run on the low setting for another couple of hours if one needed it to in an emergency - though while flashing annoyingly.

Oh, and the flashlight got quite hot to the touch after it had run for a while, so I think I made the right decision about the power level. It, of course, wouldn't get nearly so hot while being held with the heat being carried away by the hand and body. The people on the flashlight forums like to point out that it has a liquid cooling system with the blood flow.

I've not timed my light on the low level yet, but it should last close to 24 hours with one of my fully charged cells. The low level is still brighter than the output of one of my $1 discount store LED lights, I might add, which from what I've read actually puts out only 20 to 30 lumen at best. My lithium ion cells are unprotected 2600 mah LG brand from a laptop battery, btw, which I bought on ebay.

Here's the specific flashlight/torch I bought:

https://www.fasttech.com/p/3409802

Again, there are multiple options available. Check the drop down menu for the model. The gray and black versions are actually about $3 cheaper. I chose blue, though, so it would hopefully be easier to find in all my clutter. I may actually end up getting a gray or black one also, however, since those have the rubber over the buttons and are more waterproof. ...and should I ever have to go crawling through neck deep water in a cave again like I did as a teenager!

Here's a version of my light (but the one with the rubber buttons) being frozen in ice, boiled in water and dropped from a building onto concrete. The video also shows the different tints available.

"Convoy S2+ flashlight cold ,hot ,crash resistance. Tc demo"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGko-djhCjQ

Here's a video review and tear down of a blue one like mine (though it may have a higher power level). He also runs over it with his car tire a few times. ...lol

"Convoy S2+ Review and Teardown - Best Flashlight Under $20"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2kW52HLk-U

Now, about the 2000 lumen lights!

With my unprotected lithium ion cells (I got 9 out of the laptop battery), it would be safer to use multiple cells in parallel rather than in series, so the higher powered light I'm considering is the "Sky Ray King" which can hold up to four parallel 18650 lithium ion cells. It can run on fewer, even, but the high current needed might be dangerous for just one or two.

Here's the specific light I've been eyeing. You can get it with anywhere from 3 to 12 LEDs. The lumen output for these are highly exaggerated in the ebay listings, but from what I've read about them they should actually be able to put out over 2000 lumen without modification.

ebay link

The actual output is limited by the batteries, the driver and how much heat can be dissipated. More LEDs would probably make it a little more efficient and give you more of a flood light than a beam.

Another thing, with the low cost of these particular lights, there is probably a good chance that the LEDs aren't actually CREEs but rather a look-alike knockoff brand instead. I've read that they're not really that bad, though, so for the price it's probably still a good deal.

If one had to, he could replace the LEDs and driver to something better and/or make other modifications - or find a much higher priced version where there is no doubt as to what is inside.

There's also a chance that the stock lights - these on ebay - might have some noticeable flicker at low levels due to the driver board they use.

It would be possible to modify these to put out 10,000 lumen or so for brief bursts, but you would need a different type of battery than the ones I have, and ones which can handle the much higher current (like the kind that those vaping e-cigarette people use), and you'd have to change out the driver to something better and make some physical modifications to help with the transfer of heat from the LEDs.

...but, again, even without modifications this thing should actually be able to put out over 2000 lumen and possibly as much as 4000 depending on what's inside.

It's definitely on my wish list.

In the short term, though, I'm thinking about buying a few of the one LED cheapies that take AA batteries, which can be bought for around $3 on ebay, and also buy some AA nimh rechargeable batteries to power them.

I understand the quality isn't as good as what I've just bought, but I think it would be nice to have a few scattered around for an emergency - and which can also use standard sized batteries. ...not to mention I'll have a few more toys to play with.

To be honest, seeing the different colored versions, like the green anodized one and the various camouflage patterns, I'm not sure if I can resist.

As far as the wild pigs, I'm not sure if we have any of those around here or not. We may have some closer to the mountains. At night here I would likely see oposums (our only marsupial, btw), raccoons, coyotes and deer.

My dad had told me about eating opossums when he was a kid, so one night about a decade ago while on my way back from town I grabbed an opossum off the road that I had hit on the way into town (or saw someone hit?) thinking it was time for me to try one. I knew it was fresh, at least, and due to the "roadkill bill" passing in my state, it was even legal for me to take!

When I got home with it, though, it stunk so much from the carrion it had been eating, I couldn't imagine actually eating it. ...not to mention it felt like a bag of straw covered fat. Oh, it also had live babies in its pouch.

All in all, not very appetizing. Maybe next time.

An Australian woman in a chat room I used to hang out in online told me that evening I should try to save the babies, but that didn't happen. They were very small and hairless and died shortly after.

Anyway, yeah, I'm with you on them 2000 lumen torches!

Maybe if I could see what I was trying to eat when out at night, I'd know better.

Dwayne
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Art »

Thanks Dwayne for that very comprehensive rundown .

I think you are in the wrong field , you need to go into marketing cosultancy or something , now I definitely want one of those top of the line torches and batteries to boot ! : )

Browsing through the link where you bought yours from I see a number of the same models that are listed in the place where I intend to order from , with the main difference being that your prices are a lot better being in American dollars . It just seems incredible that they can actually free ship items like that for prices like that ! Even if Donald hikes the price up by 45% - it will still be incredible !

This is the company I'll be ordering from , - they delivered the scroll saw blades I ordered this week , - took 28 days , ( but most of that time would have been spent working through the local postage system I bet !)

http://www.banggood.com/MECO-CREE-XM-L- ... otproducts

I can see looking at their selection of rechargeable Li Ion batteries that I'm going to need some of those too ! Got to keep the world economy from turning down : )

I heard of a bloke here a few years ago who travelled across Australia walking and living off road kill (mostly kangaroos i imagine ) and he lived to tell the tail (pun intended) .He travelled with a dog and had no problem getting enough for them both .More eating on a kangaroo than a possum though .

The road kill around my area is kangaroo and wombat . Kangaroo I've eaten (got it from the supermarket and as far as I know it wasn't road kill) but wombat I havn't and don't know anybody who has . Somebody must have because there is a kids song here about Wombat Stew , and since the animal is a strict vegetarian they should taste ok .

Wombats are funny little animals (sometimes big animals actually ) genetically related from millions of years ago to Koala Bears . They look and shuffle along like little Sherman tanks and live in burrows . They are also nocturnal which is why they frequently end up as road kill unfortunately . They look like a furry cube with legs and they even go so far as to poo little cubes . No kidding , - the first time you see it you would think someone was pulling your leg and had deliberately shaped it into a perfect little cube !

I bet roadkill wombat would taste as good as crow ! If I owned a restaurant I'd be tempted to carry out an experiment ! : )
Have had the solution to Bessler's Wheel approximately monthly for over 30 years ! But next month is "The One" !
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by WaltzCee »

This is most difficult to parse, Ant. None the less, let me attempt
We all gotta to eat!
What have we learned? Don't move too slow, because I'm a hungry one. You are too. Let's see who wins.
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Art »

Quote Woody Allen

" Thought : Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food : frequently there must be a beverage. "

.
Have had the solution to Bessler's Wheel approximately monthly for over 30 years ! But next month is "The One" !
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Post by Furcurequs »

Hey Art,

Sorry, again, for another delay in response.
Art wrote:Thanks Dwayne for that very comprehensive rundown .
You're welcome. Just sharing some of my recent research. I am a bit of a techno geek.

Art wrote:I think you are in the wrong field , you need to go into marketing cosultancy or something , now I definitely want one of those top of the line torches and batteries to boot ! : )
To be honest, being involved in marketing in any way whatsoever isn't really a pleasant notion for me. Maybe it has something to do with how much I despised having to sell things like oranges and candles and candy bars and stuff to try to earn money for band way back in my school days.

If my part in it all involved sharing information about things I'm actually interested in, however, and that I knew others might really want or need, I could perhaps see that. I could almost see myself running some sort of hobby shop, maybe.

When I was a kid, I once got a paper route and saved up money all summer long to purchase a top of the line metal detector. By the time I placed my order, I knew about everything there was to know about the things and the major manufacturers.

Even still, though, I felt like I was gambling when I finally placed my order, and after getting and using the one I did order, I still wasn't sure if I had gotten the best available. At some point, when it comes to comparable products at least, I think it is really just a toss up and one can over think things.

Art wrote:Browsing through the link where you bought yours from I see a number of the same models that are listed in the place where I intend to order from , with the main difference being that your prices are a lot better being in American dollars . It just seems incredible that they can actually free ship items like that for prices like that ! Even if Donald hikes the price up by 45% - it will still be incredible !
Yeah, it is rather amazing. I had not ordered from that particular website before, but I had seen it mentioned a few times on the flashlight/torch forums, and it also took Paypal which I normally use for my ebay transactions.

I'm quite pleased with how things went, too. I did pay the extra $.40 for the upgrade in shipping to priority mail or whatever it was, and the website allowed for easy tracking of the package and whatnot. They even had a picture of my actual package as its bar code was being scanned on the website!. ...lol ...and my package arrived in just two weeks (well, and one day - but I ordered it on a Sunday)!

Art wrote:This is the company I'll be ordering from , - they delivered the scroll saw blades I ordered this week , - took 28 days , ( but most of that time would have been spent working through the local postage system I bet !)

http://www.banggood.com/MECO-CREE-XM-L- ... otproducts


I've seen that website mentioned on the flashlight/torch forums also. I've not ordered from them (yet) myself, however. I noticed that they ship from both Chinese and American warehouses, but that the products which are shipped directly from China are actually cheaper - and that's with free shipping from both! I guess you pay more to get it sooner.

Oh, according to the tracking information, my shipment from Fasttech spent less that 3 days of the approximately 2 week travel time moving through the U.S. It arrived in Miami at around 2 a.m. Saturday morning and was delivered to me Monday afternoon.

Also, I finally got my third computer mouse from China that I had bought through ebay. It was probably my slowest shipment from China to date. It took 6 weeks.

As far as the actual item you're thinking about ordering (if you haven't already), it looks rather familiar. Look what was in my ebay watch list (okay, I had lots in my watch list but still...):

another long ebay link

I guess it's time to consult a little bit. From what I've seen in the flashlight forums, the Meco brand flashlights from Banggood have been known to use a knockoff brand LED instead of actual Crees. The brand is Lattice Bright and some say they're actually not too bad and could possibly end up surpassing the Crees eventually, but of course others denounce them as being inferior to a legitimate Cree and say they have poor color rendering.

http://www.latticebright.com/En/cpzs1/2 ... w-179.html

Also, there is no way that the torch you are considering will put out 2000 lumen using only the one LED. If you look at the specs on an actual XM-L Cree you can see that it's maximum output is 1040 lumen, so you are looking at something closer to the light output of the flashlight I now have at best - if the knockoff LED is actually comparable to a real Cree.

http://www.cree.com/LED-Components-and- ... /XLamp-XML

For the price, though, even with a counterfeit Cree and the exaggerated specs, it's probably an okay light as long as you are okay with what it is you are actually getting.

I guess it really is false advertising, though, and potential patent infringement on the company's part with the knockoff LEDs. Of course, I've also read of a recent patent infringement suit against Cree themselves, so maybe no one is totally innocent when it comes to employing the latest in technology.


Art wrote:I can see looking at their selection of rechargeable Li Ion batteries that I'm going to need some of those too ! Got to keep the world economy from turning down : )
Okay, when it comes to Chinese Li Ion batteries, you need to be very careful! Many of them seem to not only have very exaggerated specs, but are just plain fraudulent and dangerous. Some Chinese companies are actually recycling used unprotected laptop battery cells that still hold any sort of charge. They will put fresh shrink wrap coverings on the old cells and even put fake end caps on to cover the evidence they are used.

Some have been found to have no protection where protection was claimed, and others were actually just small lithium polymer or other type batteries hidden inside of the 18650 steel casings.

So, not only do many have real capacities that are only about 1/10th of that which is claimed, but they can also be dangerous to use.

From my research I was able to find one legit Chinese manufacturer whose relatively inexpensive batteries and cells seem to be as claimed. That manufacturer is "Pkcell." I'm sure there may be a few others, but without researching and knowing what you are buying, you are really taking your chances here - according to information I've found online.

To be safe, I'd recommend reading up on Li Ion cells and chargers before taking the plunge. They really can be quite dangerous, apparently, sometimes behaving like bombs and model rocket engines from what I've seen online.

People recommend using name brand cells like LG, Sanyo and Panasonic. Any 18650 cell rated over 3400 mah would also be suspect, for that is about the maximum capacity available now.

The LG cells I got out of a slightly used laptop battery I have tested to be very near their actual rating of 2600 mah. They are unprotected, though, so I have to be very careful about not going over voltage when charging them and also not accidentally shorting them out lest they vent with flames!



Art wrote:I heard of a bloke here a few years ago who travelled across Australia walking and living off road kill (mostly kangaroos i imagine ) and he lived to tell the tail (pun intended) .He travelled with a dog and had no problem getting enough for them both .More eating on a kangaroo than a possum though .

The road kill around my area is kangaroo and wombat . Kangaroo I've eaten (got it from the supermarket and as far as I know it wasn't road kill) but wombat I havn't and don't know anybody who has . Somebody must have because there is a kids song here about Wombat Stew , and since the animal is a strict vegetarian they should taste ok .
Some friends of mine took a roadkill deer to the butcher's after having seen it get hit near their house. I'm sure there was some good eating there. I love venison.

One year, I think in the Fall, I saw about 6 roadkill skunks. Preparing those for supper might pose a bit of a challenge, though.

Oh, I wasn't really paying attention to the date when I made my last post, but that day would have been my dad's 99th birthday if he were still alive. So, his possum eating days were quite some time ago.

I had also forgotten that he (or someone) had told me that when they ate opossums, they would actually catch them and feed them buttermilk and cornbread for a few weeks before actually killing and eating them. I guess you want to clean those rotting carcases out of their systems first.
Art wrote:Wombats are funny little animals (sometimes big animals actually ) genetically related from millions of years ago to Koala Bears . They look and shuffle along like little Sherman tanks and live in burrows . They are also nocturnal which is why they frequently end up as road kill unfortunately . They look like a furry cube with legs and they even go so far as to poo little cubes . No kidding , - the first time you see it you would think someone was pulling your leg and had deliberately shaped it into a perfect little cube !
I've seen wombats on nature shows, of course, but are you sure those droppings aren't from the drop bears?! ...lol
Art wrote:I bet roadkill wombat would taste as good as crow ! If I owned a restaurant I'd be tempted to carry out an experiment ! : )
I'm still looking forward to eating some crow! ...but I'd try some wombat, too! I'm not a picky eater. ETA: Well, as long as the meal is not a vile smelling roadkill opossum, I guess.
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Art »

Hi Dwayne ,

Quote "Also, there is no way that the torch you are considering will put out 2000 lumen using only the one LED. If you look at the specs on an actual XM-L Cree you can see that it's maximum output is 1040 lumen, so you are looking at something closer to the light output of the flashlight I now have at best - if the knockoff LED is actually comparable to a real Cree. "
......

Quite right there !. I had noticed though that in one of the views of the torch that they actually use two LEDS in the reflector end of the torch angled (or so it appears ) to come to a common focus . A little bit of dodgy marketing because the specs for the torch certainly aren't clear about where the 2000 Lumens comes from and overall appears to try to give the impression that the torch contains a 2000 lumen LED.

Buying stuff online is honing the cynic in me !

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Quote "Okay, when it comes to Chinese Li Ion batteries, you need to be very careful! Many of them seem to not only have very exaggerated specs, but are just plain fraudulent and dangerous. Some Chinese companies are actually recycling used unprotected laptop battery cells that still hold any sort of charge. They will put fresh shrink wrap coverings on the old cells and even put fake end caps on to cover the evidence they are used.

Some have been found to have no protection where protection was claimed, and others were actually just small lithium polymer or other type batteries hidden inside of the 18650 steel casings.

So, not only do many have real capacities that are only about 1/10th of that which is claimed, but they can also be dangerous to use.

From my research I was able to find one legit Chinese manufacturer whose relatively inexpensive batteries and cells seem to be as claimed. That manufacturer is "Pkcell." I'm sure there may be a few others, but without researching and knowing what you are buying, you are really taking your chances here - according to information I've found online.

To be safe, I'd recommend reading up on Li Ion cells and chargers before taking the plunge. They really can be quite dangerous, apparently, sometimes behaving like bombs and model rocket engines from what I've seen online.

People recommend using name brand cells like LG, Sanyo and Panasonic. Any 18650 cell rated over 3400 mah would also be suspect, for that is about the maximum capacity available now.

The LG cells I got out of a slightly used laptop battery I have tested to be very near their actual rating of 2600 mah. They are unprotected, though, so I have to be very careful about not going over voltage when charging them and also not accidentally shorting them out lest they vent with flames! "

.....

Yeah , I have already experienced some of that firsthand . About a year ago I ordered eight 9 Volt Li Ion rechargeable batteries through EBay (from an Australian Supplier) for use in my metal detector (Garret VLF/TR) .

They worked very well but when I attempted to recharge them I couldn't . Then I noticed in very fine print on each battery was written "not rechargeable" ! A little bit of cognitive dissonance took over and I thought "bullshit" it must be a matter of getting the right charging conditions so I dug out my various battery chargers , upping the voltage and amps until I ended up having one test battery hooked up to 12 Volts at 4 Amps where it appeared to be taking a charge nicely .The battery case was just getting nicely warm .

I was doing this on my kitchen bench and was quite pleased with progress and went off to do something else for 20 minutes . After about ten minutes the battery exploded with a tremendous bang which filled the kitchen with dense smoke and left a permanent burn mark on the bench . I was pretty relieved that I hadn't been standing beside it at the time !

Now I know why they were labelled "not rechargeable " . Each battery had three 'in series' cells constructed with a non vented (steel ?) casing . Perfect little mineature bombs ! . No wonder these things are being banned for air flight .

Seems to me that designing a li - ion battery in a metal casing without vents should be a "kick in the head " offence . You live (luckily) and learn !

I still have six of these batteries intact and wouldn't mind being able to recharge them !

Any Ideas ? :)
Have had the solution to Bessler's Wheel approximately monthly for over 30 years ! But next month is "The One" !
Andyb
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Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:41 pm

re: Parts directly from China

Post by Andyb »

Hi Art,i did some research on li ion batteries and found that traveling on planes
the batteries should be discharged to 50 %charge and stored in fire proof charging bags ,i have seen these batteries go off at my racing events the smoke is very thick, i wonder if the consideration of pollutants through fire have been truly considered ,if they come from China more than likely not ?
i just recharged my batteries in my rc car gonna take it for a run tomorrow morning they are lithium ion they were charged 3 weeks ago and it has been cold and you know they only lost 27 seconds of charge, amazing, these batteries see 70 mph head on collisions and i have had some of those, no battery problems, totally reliable,apparently these batteries need balancing when charging i personally never have done this , but it can lead to longer battery life ,i have been using mine for 2 years now so impressed ,all the best Andy.
Only by making mistakes can you truly learn
Furcurequs
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re: Parts directly from China

Post by Furcurequs »

Hey Art,

I've seen pictures of some flashlights with dual LEDs, but I didn't see that in the link you provided. Looked to be only one LED in the pictures that I saw. The torch you are considering also appears to be a zoomable one with a lens in the front that can, of course, be used as either a flood light or a beam/throw.

It's still amazing how much light even a single LED can put out now, though. So, probably not a bad deal even if it is just the one LED and not the output claimed.

The only complaint I have about my new flashlight is that the thing which makes it the most rugged, it being made from a machined aluminum cylinder, also makes it a little hard to hold on to. When I use a loose grip, it feels like it could slide out of my hand at any moment. If I were going to be carrying it for a significant length of time, I think I would actually, then, want to attach the lanyard to it and my wrist so that I didn't accidentally drop the thing.

Anyway, yeah, there are lots of exaggerated claims with the Chinese lights. It's hard not to be cynical. I will say, though, that there do seem to be some quality Chinese manufacturers out there who seem to care about putting out a good product if you look for them.

Some will even work with feedback from their customers to improve their products. That seemed to be the case with some of those key chain "spy cams" like the one I ordered from ebay which hobbyists use in their radio controlled planes and drones.

Oh, one more thing about my flashlight. I'm really pleased with the tint. The neutral white light really is nice. I like it a lot better than the blue tint of the typical cool white LED in most lights or even the reddish tint of the warm white which is sometimes an option. So, being able to choose from various available tints really is a plus in my book.

As far as Chinese sellers, I did get burned on a cheap telephone caller id box that I bought from ebay. It worked fine for a while until the first storm, and then it stopped working. I thought it might have just been bad luck and maybe lightening had run in on it and knocked it out or something. So, I took a chance and bought another one just like it. The first storm came, and it too crapped out on me. Neither time was anything else connected to the phone line damaged.

I guess, then, the caller id just wasn't built with sufficient surge protection. I should probably provide them some feedback on that, since it's possible that they aren't aware of the problem and might even want to correct it. I'm not sure if the seller was the manufacturer, though. That's certainly not always the case.

I've since got a used set of Panasonic cordless phones and a base unit with built-in caller id that even announces the name, number or location of who is calling in a synthesized voice.

Believe it or not, it was a Garret VLF/TR that I decided to buy as a teenager nearly 40 years ago! So, I certainly know about the 6 9-volt batteries in the sliding tray! I ended up buying NiCds for mine and from Radio Shack, I think it was.

As far as the Lithium batteries go, there are apparently quite a few different chemistries and some of them are simply not rechargeable. The non-rechargeables, typically called primaries, have a long life and store well and so are good for some applications. So, you're probably out of luck trying to recharge the ones you have. As you've seen, it not only doesn't work, but it's supposed to be dangerous!

;P

I would say, though, that it could have been an honest mistake on the part of your ebay seller. Maybe they saw "Lithium" on the batteries and just didn't realize they weren't rechargeable.
I don't believe in conspiracies!
I prefer working alone.
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