Flashlight w/crank & 2 LEDs

[Bigglez]

I've a weakness for novelty electronics. Last week I
found a neat little keychain flashlight that requires
no batteries. The crank powers the "generator" and
"charges" the LEDs lights. Manufacturer's info for a similar product.

EDIT: Forgot to place a coin in the PIX for scale.
The LEDs are 3mm, the body about 40 x 30 x 15mm.

[psycho]

Looks cool. You gonna get 5000 of them from that exporter?

My son would love that. I'll have to keep my eyes open for em.

[Bigglez]

Looks cool. You gonna get 5000 of them from that exporter?

Not this time...

My son would love that. I'll have to keep my eyes open for em.

Mine was from a check out counter display,
for $6.95 each. They may have had Yellow, Orange, Black,
or White body colour. I chose black as th orange was sold
out. There are similar ones from a Google search, but this
is the only one I've seen with a nylon cord. The metal
keyring version breaks easily (at the ring).

It's a toy (i.e. not very robust). Looks as if the factory
gets a buck a piece for them. I wonder what the real
Chinese BOM cost is?

[Janitor Tzap]

Hmm....

Seems crank lights are all the rage now.

I got one for my brother that has 3 white LEDs.
FM Radio, and a power jack for charging his cell phone.

American Science and Surplus
http://www.sciplus.com/

Has a few interesting ones
http://www.sciplus.com/search.cfm?utm_s ... tnHand.y=0

Walmart carries these Crank Lanterns.

Coleman Crank lantern is similar to the Crank Flash light.
But it has all the cell phone adapters with it for charging your cell phone.


Here's an even better one from Garrity.



Unfortunately It doesn't have the cell phone adapters.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[MrAl]

Hi,


We have a lot of cranks popping up around this area...all different kinds.
I'm too lazy to crank so i stick to the battery ones.
I've seen some nice crankers though, with multifunction switches
and various number of LEDs. They use a uC inside.

[Engineer1138]

Hi,
We have a lot of cranks popping up around this area...all different kinds.
I'm too lazy to crank so i stick to the battery ones.

Not to worry. On another forum someone posted that they bought one of these crank flashlights and opened it up. The crank did nothing and the LED was powered by a battery! Apparently they figured the purchaser would lose it/throw it away before the battery died

[dacflyer]

Engineer1138 >> there was a lot of them so called shaker flashlights. you shake it like your .... well you know.. to supposedly charge it up..but it too had just 2 coin cells in it,, a metal slug that shifted back and forth thru a non connected coil of copper windings. after i found out that mine was a fake knock off of the real ones out there, i took it back to where i bought it @ the flea market and i made a stink about it, told the guy that he was a fraud and i was loud enough that everyone around heard it too. i told him i wanted my $6.00 back. he was not willing until i said that i was going to goto the flea market manager and let him know...well he gave me my money back and was half threatening, i went to manager anyway..
he was no longer the next weekend. apparently others complained too
buyer beware ! (~ ~)

[Bigglez]

On another forum someone posted that they bought one of these crank flashlights and opened it up. The crank did nothing and the LED was powered by a battery! Apparently they figured the purchaser would lose it/throw it away before the battery died :-)

On first pass this makes no sense. Why would someone
create a non-functioning product and invest in the
time and effort to bring it to market (exported from their
native lands and language)?

Part of the answer is that China operates on a vast
scale, and a "minor" over run of plastics or PCBs or
other hardware could easily be ten thousand units.

Rather than dump these in a land fill cheaters put them
together and sell them to import-export companies that
either don't know better or don't care.

Its a variation on the old game of trying to sell an
empty shipping box (of bricks) out of a car boot/trunk.
Caveat Emptor!

[dacflyer]

well if they was going to sell such a flashlight that does nothing such as the fake crank or shaker flashlights, why not save the money and leave out the useless stuff and just sell it as a cheap flaslight.. stuff like that confuses me.. why they'd do such a thing..
like the shaker flashlight..leave out the dummy coil and the metal slug.
if the guy at the flea market would have had a sign or mentioned that the shakers were not real, i would have not made a stink like i had.. but he kept claiming that they was the genuine thing.. oh well, like i said,, buyer beware

[Bigglez]

well if they was going to sell such a flashlight that does nothing

Who are "they'?

Most likely "they" are the person you bought from, who
was told a lie by the importer, who in turn was told a lie
by the exporter, who in turn was told a lie by the sneaks
that ran the dummy products.

All participants (including you) are money motivated!

If you wanted a decent product backed by a warranty
and customer service shop elsewhere, not the flea market!

[Janitor Tzap]

well if they was going to sell such a flashlight that does nothing

Who are "they'?

Most likely "they" are the person you bought from, who
was told a lie by the importer, who in turn was told a lie
by the exporter, who in turn was told a lie by the sneaks
that ran the dummy products.

All participants (including you) are money motivated!

You said it yourself, "Caveat Emptor! Let the buyer beware!"

If you wanted a decent product backed by a warranty
and customer service shop elsewhere, not the flea market!

Hey!
Don't go knocking Flea Markets so quickly.
I've gone to several Swap Meets, Flea Markets, Computer Sales, Tool Sales.
And found some really good buys.
Now granted you will also find a lot stuff that is just plain junk.

I usually bring stuff out to the local swap meets.
I try to make sure any of the items I sell are in good working order before I put it up for sale.
I have brought out some stuff that was not working, and I marked them "Parts Only As Is".

One year I had three HPIIp's that I brought out with me.
One I rebuilt and was working fine.
The other two I marked as "Parts Only".
The parts only HP's were snapped up almost right away.
While the working one sat there till the very end of the meet.
I was just starting to pack up, when this guy came over looking at it.
He then grilled me as to what all had been done to it.
How many pages it had printed on its engine.
Did it have a toner cartridge.
Did it have the operators manual.
I took it over to an ac outlet, and ran a test sheet for him.
So he could see it was working.
I even gave him 90 days money back, if he didn't like it.
He bought the printer.

Some years later I saw him again, and asked how the printer was working.
He didn't know, because he had given it too one of his cousins.
But he said it was still working good when he gave it to her.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Bigglez]

Hey!
Don't go knocking Flea Markets so quickly.
I've gone to several Swap Meets, Flea Markets, Computer Sales, Tool Sales.
And found some really good buys.
Now granted you will also find a lot stuff that is just plain junk.

I've worked the flea markets form both sides of
the tables - most of our mid-century period home
decorations are from high profile flea markets.

About the only frustration is that there's not much
of interest to my wife at Dayton, and there's no
vacuum tube or broadcast TV kit at The Rose Bowl
or Alameda Pointflea markets
for me!

The local electronics flea market (formerly at Foothills
College and still called "Foothills" by old timers) has
given way to churning computer junk.

The local general flea market has become almost
exclusively Spanish or Mandarin speaking...

[dacflyer]

same thing here also.. most are known as "little mexicos"
now you see mostly foreign vendors that sell useless stuff, its getting harder to find the good stuff anymore.. one booth in the flea market has a lot of great stuff, but only problem is.. theres signs all over the place that say " NOT FOR SALE " if its not for sale then why display it.. maybe its cheap storge space..lol

[psycho]

The Tristate flea market (off 294 near Worth/Alsip, IL) has had a guy there for what seems to be more than 20 years selling car audio stuff. I have not been there for several years but he used to sell all of that stuff. His tables were always very busy.

Could be longer than that... I remember buying a Pyramid EQ from him when I was about 16. He has those big amps you put in the trunk, tuners, EQs. I don't know what brands they were last time I was there but he must be doing something right because, like I said, he's been there for a long time and his tables are a frenzy of customers - reminds me of the stock exchange floor.

[Bigglez]

The Tristate flea market (off 294 near Worth/Alsip, IL)

Hmm, sounds familiar. I also ran a table at the
Sandwich/Dekalb hamfest back in the day (as
they say...)

I don't know what brands they were last time I was there but he must be doing something right because, like I said, he's been there for a long time and his tables are a frenzy of customers - reminds me of the stock exchange floor.

Oh, yeah! I call that the "LED flashlight armada".
"Foothills" opens before dawn, so early birds are
besieged by buyers with flashlights. Kinda spooky
they shine their lights in the windows to see what
you have, as you slowly drive to a seller spot.
On a good day I'd make the first twenty bucks
selling stuff I didn't even put out on the table!