Night buddy original or clone?
Added 2022-10-17 06:07:48 +0000 UTCTodd suggested I take a look at the much hyped Night Buddy style light. But instead of buying the official marketed one for £30 I got a £10 one from eBay.
I'm wondering if they've just selected a common product and marketed it as if it's an original design. The official one may have the extra feature of a red LED option in the COB.
The design isn't bad, but it does try to please everyone, and in doing so lacks what I look for in a head torch, which is being able to aim it directly at where you are working while running it at low intensity for maximum run time. That's essential when it's being used for long working hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJUtPNhtLGo
Comments
Well. I already have the other kind. I just ordered one of these. Looks fun to play with. Eleven bucks for the knockoff on E-Bay where as the "real" ones are $40 and way up.
Dave Frederick
2022-10-22 04:15:42 +0000 UTCYou'd get a free head warmer in that case. :-)
Jon Knight
2022-10-21 11:39:48 +0000 UTCI got a similar one, look much cheaper. The COB did eat up a lot of battery power and faded less than one hour, I guess it did boost circuit to 10V (this type of COB usually 10V), so battery drain real fast.
Johnson Lam
2022-10-18 02:16:35 +0000 UTCI have a similar one, I find its good for walking outside at night, as you get a really wide area of illumination. Not as good for tech work, or eating dinner while camping.
Kate Cole
2022-10-17 20:57:09 +0000 UTCThe standby current with IR active seems to be quite high at 70mA, but 40mA of that appears to be the two indicator LEDs that could really have done with a 1K resistor each. I think the TP4057 is either an evolution of the TP4056 or may just the mini SOT23-6 package version.
Big Clive
2022-10-17 15:31:13 +0000 UTCThat Amazon review shows exactly what I was saying. The LED leads have pierced the cell pouch causing electrolyte leakage. If they'd gone deeper it could have been worse.
Big Clive
2022-10-17 15:24:06 +0000 UTCLOL - the dude still gave it 2 stars. Must not have been on his head when it went "kaboom"...
Todd Sharp
2022-10-17 14:01:32 +0000 UTCOh shit...check this out from an Amazon review: https://imgur.com/uTCxaLT
Todd Sharp
2022-10-17 13:59:32 +0000 UTCExcellent! I was hoping it would be a bit more dodgy, but it's nice to see something decently engineered for once (except for those solder joints up against the lithium cell). Some of the ads I've seen for it recommend it as an "ideal light source for exercising or working in low-light conditions, good tool as camping accessories, hurricane supplies, and survival kits." So, maybe they're not targeting us technical people. Although one ad that I saw said it came with hardhat clips - and any of us who have worn a hardhat knows that it would be completely useless like this (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media-library-service-media/4f98d792-2a43-4870-85bf-460f699d205d.__CR0,0,300,225_PT0_SX300_V1___.jpg). Interesting to see USB-C for charging - is C becoming more common these days? Also - the 4057 - is that a newer version of the TP-4056? What's the difference? I wonder how much current the pulsing IR LED consumes and how much more battery life could be extended without that.
Todd Sharp
2022-10-17 13:55:22 +0000 UTCHi Clive, I've got a couple of these. The COB on low lights a room for fair few hours and certainly enough to read by. I get the issue of reflection in glasses of the side light but the COB is brilliant if you're out walking or during a power outage. I've also got an LED LENSER H3.2 dimmable and focusable 3xAAA head torch for where I need either a spot or flood at the right brightness and angle where I'm looking.
2022-10-17 13:10:40 +0000 UTCIf you want to extend the usage time of the light, you can wire it to a 12V car battery. It'll run for days. Although I admit that my neck gets stiff after an hour or so...
Curtis Hoffmann
2022-10-17 06:42:39 +0000 UTC
