Finally got around to swapping the old incandescent light bulbs out for new LED ones. What’s interesting is that the LED bulbs had a ‘soft indoor’ version and a ‘outdoor light’ version. These had nothing to do with venue, but rather color or ‘warmth’. For example, if you look at most of the regular light bulbs in your house, they throw a yellowish light. As a result everything you see in your house has a bit of that color tinge in it..nothing in your house is the ‘real’ color. I swapped out some of the bulbs for the ‘outdoor light’ bulbs and discovered that what they mean by ‘outdoor light’ is that, like natural light outside, it isn’t as tinged with other color. In other words, you put these bulbs in your household fixtures and you get to see what color your furniture, paint and carpet really is. Eye opening.
I replaced the bulbs because I was out of regular bulbs and had to go to Costco. LED bulbs provide the same light at about 1/10th the power usage so that’s kind of nice. The major appeal is the stupid things are supposed to last orders of magnitude longer than incandescent bulbs…and don’t bulbs always crap out at the worst times? So…LED upgrades.
As I was swapping bulbs, I passed a few of the battery operated ‘puck lights’ that are in the basement for use in power failures. They’re little LED lights that run on AAA-batts. I keep them mounted to the ceiling studs next to the regular lights. As I was swapping bulbs I figured I’d test out the lights. And…this:
As is typical when this sort of thing happens, you’ve got a 50/50 chance of the device being destroyed. In this case, a little cleaning with a wire brush and some fresh batts set things in the right direction. This is why, broadly, I try not to store things with batteries in them. I haven’t heard of this sort of thing happening with lithium batts, like CR123 or lithium AA’s, but I suppose it may happen..I just haven’t experienced it yet.
Moral of the story: those battery devices (like flashlights and radios) should probably get a six-month check to avoid this sorta thing. Put it on the same schedule as smoke detector battery changing – Daylight Savings Time changeover day.
Use rechargeable batteries you won’t have that problem.
Use a good rechargeable battery Eneloop Duracell most of the good rechargeable batteries are made in Japan,but i have had good luck with EBL batteries also,1.2volts is not half dead.An important thing is too get a good charger a smart charger. For 110 Ac a good charger is a Panasonic BQcc17 for NIMh, and for usb charger i like the Xtar VC2 plus.The Xtar will charge NiMh batteries which are AA AAA your more standard size,or it can charge Li ion.If you are looking to start using Li ion do some research on the care of Li ion batteries,a good place to start is Battery University.Stay away from cheep Li ion batteries or chargers do your research first.
If you are a ham operator, or a SWL, you need to check your reception after installing any LED lighting. The cheaper they are, the more likely they are to put out MASSIVE amounts of RF interference.
I can barely listen on 80m, 40m, or 20m when my costco LED can lights are on. The undercabinet strip lights wipe out my radios completely.
WRT batteries, I stopped using the Duracels when they changed their chemistry. They always leak. The newer chemistry leaves a hard clear or white crud. I find the kirkland brand is much less likely to leak and ruin gear, although they will leak. I’ve been using the Kirklands exclusively in AAA and AA for a couple of years and have significantly fewer instances of destroyed gear. The only plus to the new chemistry is it is easier to mechanically remove, and it is less likely to actually eat up metal in your device.
FWIW, solar inverter systems are also often very RF noisy. At least one post-apocalypse novel has the hero’s bolt hole betrayed by being RF noisy. And given that the lighting power supplies favored by illicit pot growers are also very RF noisy, I wouldn’t be surprised if LEOs end up looking for high RF emitters to locate grow houses. You might end up a suspect simply because of your cheap noisy lighting….
That said, I like the light output of the costco down light replacements, although I haven’t tried the classic bulb replacements yet.
nick
And, the power electronics will fail long before the actual rated life of the LEDs. Don’t count on getting the full life in any payback calculation.
I lost a good pair of Howard Leight electronic ear pro to that corrosive white crud that oozes out of batteries. If you’re only losing 50% of devices that get exposed to it, I’d say you’re doing really well.
Lithium batteries are spendy, but not nearly as costly as new devices.
My buddy had some batteries from CostCo mounted in his Bushnell Holosight. Batteries crapped the bed and ruined the sight. He took the mess to CostCo and they cut him a check for a new Holosight.
Duracell has been bad for a couple years now. I’ve been seeing the same problem in Costco’s Kirkland batteries for maybe a year. I suspect that Duracell makes them. Duracell went from being the best to joining the crap at the bottom of the barrel.
I’m guessing that they changed the guts to make them cost less, in an attempt to deal with inflation. I see the same thing everywhere. Duracell was absolutely stupid in this regard, as reputation is almost everything in their business. They did harm to their company that they may never recover from.
LED lights also put out too much “blue” light, supposedly. It allegedly interferes with your ability to go to sleep, or something. I don’t understand it all, but I do know people who swear that it’s true.
I like http://www.newcandescent.com/. All the benefits of incandescent bulbs plus they last for like 10,000 hours..
And, no, I’m not affiliated with them in any way.
i’d say 6 months is way too long with these things. i have lost craptons of gear to them. i went to 3 month rotation and still lost a 50 dollar flashlight to them. i switched to eneloops and had no problems with corrosion but they start out at 1.2 volts versus 1.5 plus, so they are already half dead. some things run dimmer, but most things run 100 percent but go dead faster. i think i might try lithiums for things i use/need immediately, and keep the eneloops for non essential devices, uninstalled. the old batts were flawless, must have been some epa crap that changed all that. maybe trump’s guy will let us have good batts again, and wasp spray, termite killer, cleaning solvent……
flashlightn. 1. a storage device for dead batteries
Something I have noticed about LED vs. CFL lights is that the LEDs seem continue to put out full brightness compared to CFLs in colder weather. It’s noticeable even here in San Antonio, where it doesn’t really get cold (at least to me, having lived in Chicago for the first part of my life). Thoughts?
I live in a climate that experiences a vast shift in temps throughout the year. I’ve got some outdoor landscape lighting, and I’m running CFLs in about half of those and LEDs in the other half (I’m upgrading to LEDs as the CFLs burn out). I can attest that CFLs suffer in colder weather–really about anything approaching freezing or below. They start out much dimmer than LEDs, and only gradually reach peak light output as they warm up.
CFLs and LEDs both seem to withstand high temps and cold temps equally well from a longevity standpoint. However, for a variety of reasons including cold-temp performance, I do not plan to buy any more CFLs for use in or around my home.
“The major appeal is the stupid things are supposed to last orders of magnitude longer than incandescent bulbs……..”
*That* has absolutely NOT been my experience. Those POSs cost literally 5x as much and do not last any longer than properly-rated incandescent light bulbs.
The past two years I have had terrible experience of Duracell batteries Leaking. DuraCells used to be good, but someone must have made changes to the composition of manufacturer which as resulted in the batteries leaking. I have not had the leaking problems with lithium or EverReady alkaline yet. After doing research on where most batteries are made, especially CR123 lithium, I found out, as with most everything sold in the U.S. today, most are made in China. What a shock. However, Panasonic manufactures their CR123 lithium batteries in the U.S. and also makes some other branded CR123 for other companies. I only buy Panasonic and EverReady batteries. They cost more, but they haven’t given me any problems. I will not buy batteries made in China or if the battery origin is not listed.
A little white or apple cider vinegar will eat that corrosion right off of / out of devices and usually leave them working as good as before. http://cleaning.lovetoknow.com/Clean_Alkaline_Battery_Corrosion
Also, major companies will usually make a similar offer(see link above(Energizer, Duracell, Rayovac). I think if I recall correctly that I once heard Steven Harris of thesurvivalpodcast.com expert council reference that there may be some law pertaining to leaky alkaline batteries, though I do not know if any such actual law may also pertain to damaged devices.
https://www.duracell.com/en-us/technology/battery-care-use-and-disposal/
“Duracell Battery Guarantee
If not completely satisfied with your Duracell battery product, call 1-800-551-2355 (9:00AM – 5:00PM EST). Duracell guarantees its batteries against defects in materials and workmanship. Should any device be damaged due to a battery defect, we will repair or replace it at our option. Leaking battery and damaged device must be provided as proof of claim. Duracell may deny claims of damage caused by misuse or modification of the batteries or device.”
Duracell’s “guarantee” is worthless. They refused to “repair or replace” two LED flashlights that were destroyed by their batteries. Both were frozen by corrosion; the still closed one they claimed was “not due to our battery” while the one I had forcibly opened with a saw to prove it was their battery was rejected as “damage done by user.”
Duracell can suck it, they’ll never see a penny from me or any of my family and friends.
I use Amazon’s Subscribe and Save feature for several things, including batteries. When a box containing several different sizes of batteries arrives every 6 months it’s time to “walk the perimeter” and replace batteries in everything. So far, I’ve not lost any equipment, but I don’t use Duracells and anything stored is stored with batteries not installed. I’ve found using painter’s tape to cover battery terminals on one end both holds the necessary number of batteries together with the device (works best with AA and AAA) and has enough space for dating the batteries with a Sharpie.
I’m not sure, but I suspect battery leakage may be related to charge level, or at least accelerated with batteries that are substantially discharged.
I’ve had a brand-new, never-used, Duracell AA cell leak in an LED light within 2 months. Literally opened the new pack of Duracells — with an expiration date 9 years in the future — put a battery into an LED light that I know was working, put the light back into its pouch on my field gear, and when I pulled the gear out of the locker 2 months later, the light was stone dead, with the battery cap frozen to the body by corrosion.
Duracell said “it wasn’t our battery” when I sent it in for “repair or replace[ment]” under their so-called guarantee.
I figured it was just a fluke and I was out a light… Then I had a second light get ruined by a Duracell battery. I cut that one open to prove it was their battery, and they refused to “repair or replace” since “the light was damaged by the owner.”
Even I can learn a lesson, eventually…
Never had any Duracell batteries leak but have quit buying Rayovac as every device I use them in, I’ve found have leaked and also find that they do not last nearly as long as the Duracell’s. I also will not buy any chinese batteries, as they are just junk with a capital J.
After a 28 year Police Career and way too many Kel Lite/Mag Lites ruined by leaky batteries…..DURACELLS are the WORST offenders. I have had them rot out a flashlight in under 3 months….JUNK! Switched to Energizer and never had a problem.
Can’t comment on the radio signal issues with LEDs.
But color: used to be you could only get “white” LEDs in one color (which yes, was very blue). They’ve mostly fixed that issue and you can get them in colors very similar to the old style bulbs now if you prefer. And yes, CLFs lose their light quality after a while. SO FAR (cross fingers knock on wood) my oldest LEDs have avoided that problem.
They’re also becoming cheaper to buy. My local Home Depot just recently redid the planogram for their lightbulb aisle, resulting in a bunch of LEDs going to the clearance bay. I got enough to finish switching the house over for just about $2/bulb.