The ACDelco 13-LED Hand Lantern (hereinafter, probably just called a lantern or a hand lantern) is a visual throwback to the days of yore (think 1970s and 1980s here) when hand lanterns were bulky and really did look like this!
This hand lantern has a modern twist however: instead of an incandescent light bulb at the bottom of a large reflector, this lantern uses 13 high-power phosphor white LEDs; each LED is at the bottom of a mini-reflector for it.
Also, there are two options for powering the lantern: four D cells in a carriage, or leave the carriage out and pop in a 6 volt lantern battery (this consists of four F cells in series enclosed in a metal canister with two spring terminals at the top).
This lantern has a handy-dandy carrying handle built in, plus it is waterproof and floats when dropped in water.
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To use the lantern, install batteries in it first (see directly below) and THEN you can go paint the town red -- or bluish-white in this case.
Press the buttton on the handle until it clicks and then release it to turn the lantern on.
Do the same thing to neutralise the lantern.
You can blink the lantern when it is on by partially depressing the button until it turns off; relieving pressure on the button turns it back on.
To change the battery(ies) in this lantern, unscrew the bezel (the part on the front that has a black ring and a water-clear ribbed plastic ring), place it on the floor, and use your foot to gently push it under that old, tattered couch (that stinks like cat pee) so that the carpet beetles, silverfish, and piss ants will think that it's something yummy for their insect tummies, attempt to eat it, find it like totally unpalatable dude, and simply squat over it and uranate on it...O WAIT!!! THAT'S THE GOOD PART!!! So just set it aside instead!!!
(I actually had a pet rat a number of years ago that squatted over & pissed on some nuts or something I had brought home for her from the foodbank, hahaha!)
If you're using D cells, pull out the black battery carriage, and (if necessary) relieve it of the four tired old D cells. Dispose of them (in the garbage can; NOT by flushing, hahaha!!!) or put them in the battery recycling box if your community has a battery reclamation program in place.
Install four new D cells into the compartments for them in the carriage, orienting them so that their flat-ends (-) negative terminals face the springs for them in each chamber.
Place the now-full battery carriage back into the body of the lantern, springs facing up.
Screw the bezel firmly back on; orienting it so that the two large protruding metal tabs on the underside of the bezel face the switch (handle).
If you're using a 6 volt lantern battery, leave the black battery carriage out, and gently drop the battery into the lantern's body, springs facing up.
Screw the bezel firmly back on; orienting it so that the two large protruding metal tabs on the underside of the bezel face the switch (handle).
It is remarkably easy to crossthread the bezel when screwing it back on; it might take you several attempts before you get it "right".
Aren't you glad that you didn't push that bezel under that ratty old smelly couch with all of those hungry, hungry insects that had to go poddy now?
This lantern appears to be at least fairly durable, and it is. When I beat the urine out of the poor, helpless, defenseless, innocent lantern (ten whacks against the side of a brick wall: 5 smacks against the side of the bezel and 5 smacks against the butt of the tail-end), only the expected damage was found. There is some very minor gouging on the sides of the bezel and tailcap where it was struck.
No optical or electrical malfunctions were detected.
This is a brief video hosted on YourTube of me performing, "The Smack Test" on this lantern.
Water-resistance is good at absolute minimum; you need not be concerned with using it in rainy or snowy weather, and water-landings should not kill it either. In fact, this lantern floats when dropped into deeper water.
I administered, "The Toliet Test" on it, and found no leakage whatsoever.
(Edit): I found condensation on the inside of the window the next morning and found water on the outside of the batteries approx. 30 hours after that, so, "water-resistant?" yes. "Waterproof and submersible?" NO!!!
So if it falls next to the mailbox and the dog does a wee on it, just take the garden hose to it or douche it off under the tap (faucet) -- good as new. Yes, it ought to be water-resistant enough to be cleaned off in this fashion -- just don't dredge it.
The LEDs are all well-matched for color and intensity.
The only thing that piddles me off about this lantern (and this is fairly minor in my eyes) is that the light output by it has a distinct bluish tinge. Many phosphor white LEDs will show this bluish tint however; it's not exactly rare or even all that uncommon.
Beam terminus photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 747,000mcd on an Amprobe LM631A light meter.
Beam terminus photograph on a wall at ~8 feet.
Photograph of the lantern floating in the cistern (toliet tank).
I used the cistern because it's the deepest water that I have access to.
Photograph of the lantern's "business-end" showing the 13 reflectors.
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in this lantern.
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in this lantern; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 440nm and 460nm to pinpoint native emission peak wavelength, which is 451.180nm.
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in this lantern; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 510nm and 530nm to pinpoint phosphor emission peak wavelength, which is 524.430nm.
The raw spectrometer data (tab-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at 13led.txt
A beam cross-sectional analysis would normally appear here, but the ProMetric System
that I use for that test was destroyed by lightning in mid-July 2013.
TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at the Happy Market in Fresno CA. USA on the morning of 06-01-21.
UPDATE: 00-00-00
PROS:
Reasonably durable
Floats -- but fish it out of the water with a quickness!
Reasonable intensity
Two different power options
Uses LEDs instead of a hot, fragile incandescent light blub
Very good warranty period
NEUTRAL:
A bit on the large and heavy side; definitely a throwback to hand lanterns from decades ago
CONS:
Unusually easy to crossthread the bezel following a battery change
Potential for short battery life because of the number of high-powered LEDs
MANUFACTURER: Powermax
PRODUCT TYPE: Handheld lantern
LAMP TYPE: High-powered phosphor white LED
No. OF LAMPS: 13
BEAM TYPE: Medium spot with soft corona
REFLECTOR TYPE: Mirror-smooth (all 13 of them)
SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off on product's handle
CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
BEZEL: LEDs & reflectors recessed under & protected by slightly domed plastic window
BATTERY: 4x D cells or 1x 6 volt lantern battery
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
WATER- AND DONKEY PEE-RESISTANT: Yes
SUBMERSIBLE: ¡¡¡SATANÁS LLEVA UN PAÑAL APESTA, NO!!!
ACCESSORIES: Battery carriage for D cells
SIZE: 171.60mm L x 74.30mm W x 123.20mm T (incl. handle) x 110.10mm Dia. reflector
WEIGHT: 676g (23.80 oz.) incl. 4x alkaline D cells
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: Unknown
WARRANTY: Limited lifetime
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