Handheld Spotlight

[Anak]

While you are waiting for it to arrive: Wagan Tech 2741

Direct Download of PDF Owners Manual, also available at bottom of above link: wagan.com/spotlights/2741.pdf

 

[seekermeister]

Thank you very much. I had looked for a manufacturer's website, but apparently looked in the wrong place. Too bad it is the Chillout room, or I would rep you.

EDIT: Duzzy's input was also very helpful.

 

[Anak]

That's okay seeker, my pleasure.

Not sure if you noticed, but there is a link at the top of the Product page where you can "Ask a Question".

 

[seekermeister]

I found one note in the manual that bothers me some:

The AC charger provides a slow steady charge to the unit. Charge for a maximum of 16
hours (except for the initial 24 hour charge) and do not overcharge.

The battery may recharge in 6 hours, as the seller claimed, but with a maximum of 16 hours recharge, I tend to doubt it. I just hope that if I play with it too much one night, that I can have it recharged by the next.

 

[Anak]

You should be okay, the way I read that is the user should not leave the unit on charge for more than 16hours after the initial 24hour charge otherwise you take the chance of ruining the battery.

Anything under that is okay, like 6hours. You just have to observe your LED indicators.

5. Indicator LEDs will illuminate increasingly, from RED , YELLOW to GREEN depending on battery status at time of charging.
• RED LED : Battery is low
• RED/YELLOW LEDs: Battery is slightly full
• RED/YELLOW/GREEN LEDs: Battery is medium full
• RED/YELLOW/2 GREEN LEDs: Battery is completely full

Source: http://www.wagan.com/pdf/spotlights/2741.pdf

Once you get the hang of it you may find you can go a couple, three nights before you have to re-charge, it all depends on the length of each usage, and if your done by Sunrise I would think it would re-charge in the 12hours before the next Sunset.

One word of caution....Be very careful of how/where you use it. With 18million watts you could blind someone or catch a combustible object on fire. Like the drapes, venetian blinds (paint) or screens if they are fabric/plastic in your window. Do not set it lens down while it is on, on your desk.

Test it out, I'll bet you can set a piece of 8½ x 11 copy paper on fire from a foot away.

I know from personal experience, I set a rug on fire once.

 

[seekermeister]

I'll keep that in mind, but I don't think that there will be any fire hazard, because I intend to use it from a glass top patio table. I just got a response from Wagan about the recharge time:

It is recommended for customers to charge this unit for at least 10-12 hours.

That's in line with what you guessed, and if it hold true, it should be sufficient. I won't know until the light arrives, but looking at the manual, the battery looks similar to those used in my APC UPS, except that the terminals are not on top. When this battery goes down, if it will fit, I will probably try to refit it will a battery with more amp-hours.

EDIT: As for blinding anyone, I kind of doubt that will happen, except maybe on a temporary basis, since I will only be targeting my vehicle at a good distance away. If it does temporary blow their night vision, then I imagine that they will complain to management, and that will give me to opportunity to discuss the street light repair.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

I have a Wagen air compressor and emergency battery charger and it works well till it broke after 6 uses. I did contact the importer and they were very understanding and sent me a newer model for free. It's still going strong after 5 uses but I will have to say I don't hold much hope that it's quality will go the distance but look forward to being proven wrong. This is of course a different beast than just a flashlight.

 

[seekermeister]

As a companion for the light, I was thinking about using a camera to take a picture of anyone around the vehicle, but the cheap point and shoot camera that I have doesn't zoom enough to get usable facial details for legal purposes. I did find some inexpensive infrared point and shoot cameras, but they are too limited in their infrared mode to be of any use to me, unless I decided to go ghost hunting.

With the spotlight, I shouldn't need infrared anyway, but I can't afford a good DSLR camera. Is there such a thing as an affordable point and shoot camera that would zoom closely to a distance of 100-125 feet?

 

[seekermeister]

I have a Wagen air compressor and emergency battery charger and it works well till it broke after 6 uses. I did contact the importer and they were very understanding and sent me a newer model for free. It's still going strong after 5 uses but I will have to say I don't hold much hope that it's quality will go the distance but look forward to being proven wrong. This is of course a different beast than just a flashlight.

As they say, anything that can go wrong will. Here's hoping that your replacement is better. I have a cheap charger/compressor also, but bought it at Harbor Freight. I have only used it a few times, so I don't know how it will hold up in the long run. I had a lesser model from the same source that seem to be good...until it was stolen.

 

[seekermeister]

So far so good. The light just arrived and I unboxed it finding it appearing to be intact and operable so far as I can tell. I won't really know until tomorrow evening, after the initial charge. According to the LEDs, it already has some charge in it, but I guess I will let it go for 24 hours like their instructions say. Even though the measurements of the light were in the ad, it's size is still somewhat surprising. Almost would make one feel that they were a prison guard when using it.

 

[nitroman84]

For a little more direct approach to stop vandals messing with your vehicle you could go to the farm store and get a good hot electric fence charger and wire it up to your car. :devil: If you want to get real fancy you could get one of the 12 volt battery operated ones and wire it up through a remote key fob switch. Just remember to turn it off before going for a drive.

 

[seekermeister]

No, that idea might work for some, but I don't have an AC outlet available near the car, and I think a DC operated one would just run the battery down.

 

[nitroman84]

No, that idea might work for some, but I don't have an AC outlet available near the car, and I think a DC operated one would just run the battery down.

Yeah, not a good idea in reality. On board computers in vehicles don't really care for stray voltage too much. But it would sure be funny to zap some little punk that likes to damage and steal others property.

 

[seekermeister]

The problem is that I think that I know who the punks and punkess are, and they are not little or kids. I don't want to just surprise them, I want to nab them. That is why I'm still looking for a good point and shoot zoom camera that I can afford.

 

[seekermeister]

Hmm, I just checked the light, and it is already showing a full charge on the LEDs, even though is has only been charging ~5.5 hours. Should I really continue charging for 24 hours, as the instructions say?

 

[carwiz]

I would leave it charging. If you disconnect the charger and check the battery right away, you're testing a residual from the charger. For a true test, disconnect the charger and let the light sit for an hour or two then test.

 

[seekermeister]

Reasonable, but the part that doesn't make sense to me about the instructions, is that the initial charge should be greater than the maximum routine charge. I would understand that better if the battery arrived totally without any charge, but that was not the case, since the LEDs alit indicating that it already had a medium charge in it. This, plus the fact that there was no sign of a seal of any kind on the box or the bag containing the light, makes me wonder if it had been used previously (open box/returned)? Even if I accepted that didn't reflect that the light was defective in any fashion, it would mean that it had already had it's initial charge, and to do it again would exceed it's routine maximan charge time, which would run the risk of damaging the battery.

 

[carwiz]

The partial charge occurs during manufacturing. They never come fully charged. Even if they did fully charge them, the battery self discharges over time. The only battery type that I know of that comes fully charged from the factory is lead-acid. The initial long charge is to insure the battery doesn't develop a "memory" for the partial charge. This has always been a problem with NiCd batteries. I'm not sure about NiMh but it's always good to follow the manufacturer's instructions. They must know something.

 

[seekermeister]

The battery in this light is lead acid, and as far as I know, there is no charge memory involved with that type of battery. I know that I have bought automotive lead acid batteries that had no charge at all, until the sale, when it was put on a charger, but that may have only been those batteries that had no acid in them, until added...I can't remember. The only reason I can think of for them to pre-charge the battery during manufacture is to test the light, but that could easily been done by some other means.

EDIT: If they had pre-charged the battery during manufacture, then I wouldn't understand why they wanted the user to charge it again for so long before first use.

 

[seekermeister]

Since I haven't received a response to a query I sent to the seller yesterday, I just sent another to WaganTech. Hope one of them responds soon.