SMART CANDLE™


Smart Candle™, retail CDN$19.90 (US$16.07) (www.maresb2b.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Mares Business 2 Business (www.maresb2b.com)
Last updated 06-26-06

* IMPORTANT: Pricing is accurate as of 02-13-05. Please visit the Currency Calculator for the latest currency conversion rates from Canadian dollars to US dollars.



The Smart Candle™ is a battery-operated "candle", consisting of a battery pack and LED module, to be placed in the included diffused glass jar. There is no dripping wax, no flames, no heat, no smoke, and no messy wiring. Just turn the Smart Candle™ on, set it somewhere, and walk away. No worries, no muss, no fuss.


SIZE



Any time you want to use the Smart Candle™, just tip the white module out of the glass and into your hand, look on the bottom of the module for a red button, press & release the button, and place the module back in the glass holder, LED facing up.

Do the exact same thing to turn the Smart Candle™ off.



To change the batteries, tip the white module out of the glass and into your hand, unscrew the ring from the bottom and set it aside, and press on the top of the LED to allow the internal portion of the module (which includes the battery carriage) to slide out the bottom.

If necessary, remove the two used AAA cells out of the carriage, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Insert two new AAA cells into the carriage, orienting each cell so its flat end (-) negative faces the spring for it in each chamber.

Slide the assembly back into the exterior module sleeve, LED-end going in first (so the red button faces outward from the bottom). Screw the cap back onto the bottom of the module, and place the module back in the glass holder, LED facing up.

Due to the way the Smart Candle™ is constructed, I cannot obtain a current usage measurement.

I started a battery discharge analysis on 02-11-05 at 1:00pm PST.
The flickering circuit stopped at 2:45pm PST, but the LEDs continue to glow at maximum intensity. So the flickering lasts for 1 hour 45 minutes before the LEDs run steadily.

As of 9:26am PST 02-12-05, the LEDs continue to operate at what I believe is full intensity.
As of 1:00pm PST 02-12-05 (exactly 24 hours), the LEDs continue to operate at full intensity.
As of 1:00pm PST 02-13-05 (exactly 48 hours), the LEDs have dimmed slightly, but not enough to prompt me to change the batteries.
As of 5:27pm PST 02-13-05, the LEDs have dimmed significantly, but I still don't feel the need to reach for the new batteries.

As of 7:04pm PST 02-13-05, I stopped the test and changed the batteries. They measured +1.176 volts and +1.169 volts, for a total of +2.345 volts. The test ran for 54 hours 4 minutes.
The LEDs were not out, but had dimmed enough to make me want to reach for the new batteries.



The Smart Candle™ is a household lamp, not a flashlight. So I won't hit it against the corner of a concrete stair, throw it in the toilet, stomp on it, throw it against a wall, run over it with a 400lb electric wheelchair, let my housemate's cat take a leak on it, sit on it really hard, or subject it to any other tests that a regular flashlight might be subject to. So this section of the web page will appear more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

It is supposed to have this "flickering flame" effect, but in the hour or so I've had it on while writing this web page, the LED has been lit at a constant brightness. It flickered this morning when I took it out of the box, fired it up, and showed one of my housemates. Let's try taking the batteries out and letting it rest for a few minutes...BBS...nope, that didn't do the trick. It still looks good, don't get me wrong here, but it would look even better with that "flickering flame" effect.

(Edit 02-11-05)
Nothing is actually wrong with the Smart Candle™ I have for evaluation. The "flickering flame" effect was restored when I replaced the batteries in it with new ones. The open-circuit voltages of the batteries I pulled from the Candle are +1.336 volts and +1.337 volts. So the batteries are not dead by any means, but the flicker circuit seems to be awfully sensitive to low battery voltages. The combined voltage is 2.673, so figure this circuit will no longer function at voltages below about 2.7 volts.

The Smart Candle™ is outfitted with a glass diffuser, so please be careful not to drop it, or it will probably become broken. And cleaning up broken glass is no fun at all. Busted glass is very bad for a bagged vaccuummnne (vacum, vaccumn, vaccum, vacume, vacuum, etc.), so you'll want to use a broom and dustpan or a fan-last bagless vaccuummnne cleaner to clean it up...or better yet, don't drop the Smart Candle™ in the first place.

As of 02-11-05 at 1:00pm PST, I'm running an informal battery discharge analysis. I'll note when the flickering circuit quits, and when the candle itself poops out. Look for the information in the "Feeding Time" section of this web page as the analysis progresses.



Photograph of the Smart Candle™, lighted up of course.
Photograph makes the Smart Candle™ look brighter than it actually is.
And the white color in the center does not exist; it's an amber color all the way around.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LED in this candle.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from TWO-CUBED.


Quicktime movie (.mov extension) showing the candle in action.
This clip is approximately 1.6 megabytes (1,629,288 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps (11:01 at 24.15Kbps).
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit of the Smart Candle™ and two other flashlights were sent by N.M., and were received on the morning of 02-10-05.

Packaging indicates they come in pink, white, blue, and purple; the one I'm evaluating for you today comes with a white diffuser.

Packaging also indicates this product is made in China. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:
Looks surprisingly similar to a real candle
Uses batteries that are relatively inexpensive
Long battery life - except that flicker circuit
No dripping wax, no flames, no heat, no smoke, and no messy wiring
Looks surprisingly simi...o wait, I said that already.


CONS:
Flicker circuit appears unusually voltage-sensitive
Glass diffusing jar will probably become broken if unit is dropped


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: LED "candle"
    LAMP TYPE: Amber LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 2
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off on base
    BEZEL: Plastic thing around LEDs; diffused glass jar around that
    BATTERY: 2xAAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Light sprinkle-resistant at best
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: 2xAAA cells
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Smart Candle™ * www.maresb2b.com...






Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind? Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at bdf1111@yahoo.com.

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