Hand Crank Illuminator Wind-up LED Flashlights - 2 Pack

by iPowerit

Product Description

The Ultra Bright 3LED Flashlight will light up without batteries. Simply turn the handle and wind for one minute. This action will provide you with over an half hour of continuous light. There are two levels of brightness at the touch of a button. This flashlight is perfect for those emergency situations as well as camping, home, night fishing and more.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 3 x 3 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000MBQJES
• Item model number: 1038
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,260 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Output quickly deteriorates. Other options available, December 11, 2008

By 

Gary Coffrin (San Jose, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand Crank Illuminator Wind-up LED Flashlights - 2 Pack

We purchased two units. Our kids love reading in bed, and they sometimes prefer using a flashlight rather than a reading lamp. Plus, there are all the other good reasons to have dependable emergency lights.

These units provided a moderate amount of light - a bit dimmer than typical 2 D cell flashlights. And, that was OK with me.

However, the amount of time that the unit would provide light quickly decreased. After just 5 or 6 uses, light output would last only 90 seconds or so, and the brightness level also decreased. It soon became too much hassle to try to sustain light output for more than a few minutes - the frequent cranking was annoying, and every use further decreased battery life and light output.

The light's concept is appealing - but the implementation is poor. The light might be OK for a few uses, but based on the quick deterioration of performance I would not feel very confident that it would dependably work when needed and as long as needed in an emergency. Maybe the best use is in a car when you are unlikely to need light for a long period.

Another OPTION, if also less than perfect: Amazon is selling slow self-discharge rechargeable NiMH batteries. These cells retain 85% of their charge level after 1 year of sitting on a shelf. So, there is the option of buying Sanyo Eneloop (or similar) AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries and adding them to a few quality flashlights. Recharge once per year, and you have viable emergency lights, and perhaps keep some extra batteries around. These long shelf-life batteries are selling like hotcakes to photo enthusiasts, because you can immediately shoot photos even if your camera has been stored for 12 days or 12 months.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does?", May 7, 2010

By 

NLee the Engineer (Nashua, NH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hand Crank Illuminator Wind-up LED Flashlights - 2 Pack

Back in 2006/07, I bought two each of Illuminator Wind-up LED Flashlight, Garrity Power Lite, and Duracell Crank Light. The Illuminator lights worked great in the beginning - able to shine for nearly one hour after one minute of cranking. But after a few months, their run time has dropped to under 10 minutes. Lately, they can hardly sustain 10 seconds of dim light. The Garrity lights are marginally better, in that they can still provide 1-2 minutes of useable light. The two Duracell lights, on the other hand, are working just fine.

The difference is due to the rechargeable batteries used in those crank lights:
- The Illuminator contains a single 3.7V Lithium-ion battery with very low capacity (around 36mAh)
- The Garrity uses three 1.2V NiMH cells with slightly higher capacity (80mAh)
- The Duracell uses three NiMH cells with the highest capacity (300mAh)

All rechargeable batteries must die eventually, just that some sooner than others. Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are particularly delicate and will be damaged when over-charged, or over-discharged. But over-charging is inevitable in a crank light, since the user has no way to know when the battery is fully charged. That explains why the two Illuminator lights failed so quickly. In contrast, the NiMH cells used in Garrity and Duracell lights are more robust and can withstand more abuse. But sooner or later, the lower capacity battery in Garrity light will became damaged. The Duracell lights are still doing well, mainly because I have been slow-charging the battery through USB port, instead of fast-charging with the crank.

Knowing its short lifespan, I cannot recommend the Illuminator crank light. Unfortunately, the Duracell crank light has been discontinued. So your only choice left is the Garrity. Personally, I have mostly given up on crank lights. It is more reliable to use low-self-discharge batteries (such as SANYO eneloop) in LED flashlights that accept two AA cells.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Christian, November 4, 2010

By 

E. Christian "Christian" (Algonquin, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hand Crank Illuminator Wind-up LED Flashlights - 2 Pack

You get what you pay for. This light has such tiny bulbs it barely casts any light in a dark room. A lighted match casts more light. If you want an extra bright hand crank light, buy the Garrity. Has ten times the illumination.