*MaxLife 369 LED Tripod Light*
Packaging Statements:
Manufacturer: STANLEY Made in China, Designed in the United States, Patent Pending
Anodized aluminum construction
Low Battery Indicator
Adjustable Head
Just as bright using 3,6 or 9 batteries
200+ hours of continuous run time
Actual Findings:
Legs are anodized aluminum construction, Main body, end caps and tilting head are made of plastic.
Low Battery Indicator- This does work. However, once it starts blinking you need spare batteries ready to install. It will shut itself off. Timeframe varied from 23 seconds to 1 min. 17 seconds.
Adjustable Head – Head is adjustable but the pivot point utilizes a wax based washer for friction. I left one on the dashboard of my truck to see if it had any affect. The wax started to melt and the pivot motion loosened up quite a bit. I fixed this by wrapping some wax impregnated dental floss around the pivot point.
See picture below
The wax pivot point melted while sitting on my trucks dashboard.
Just as bright using 3,6 or 9 batteries.- I put 3 of the MaxLife 369’s side by side and had 1 each running 3, 6 and 9 batteries. I did not see any noticeable difference. Test was run at night in a completely dark room.
200+ Hours of runtime – Ran for 152 hrs with 9 batteries and 1 LED. Did not meet the 200+ statement but I was unable to find out what their testing parameters were or what type of “AA” batteries were used..
Temp Range at time of my test was 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit. I used a total of 54 Energizer AA Alkaline Batteries with a use by date of 2013. All batteries were purchased at the same time and came from the same case.
| 6 LED’s | 3 LED’s | 1 LED | |
| 3 AA Batteries | 16 Hr | 30 Hr (1 day-6 Hr) | 57 Hr (2 days-9 hrs) |
| 6 AA Batteries | 28 Hr (1 day-4 hrs) | 46 Hr (1 day-22 hrs) | 112 Hr (4 days-16 hrs) |
| 9 AA Batteries | 36 Hr (1 day-12 hrs) | 55 Hr (2 days-7 Hr) | 152 Hr (6 days-8 hrs) |
Actual run times rounded down to the nearest hour
Batteries are located in each of 3 tripod legs. You must use 3 batteries in 1 leg for the light to work
Comments:
Most stores sell these for $35 USD. Around Christmas time and Fathers Day you can find them on sale for $20 USD. I personally did not and would not purchase these for the $35 price.
They can be used as a flashlight or the most common use that I have found is the original intent of the design-a tripod light. I keep one in each vehicle. They come in handy if you need to change a tire at night and don’t have a headlight handy. Also, can be used in the basement if you need to work on the breaker box when power goes out or under the sink when doing plumbing repairs.
I have used these outside in a driving rain where the tripod legs where standing in a puddle in excess of 2 hours and had no water seepage into the battery compartment.
These are not meant to be used as high powered flashlights. They do make a great little work light when your hands are too busy to hold a flashlight.
Alpha20FP
www.alpharubicon.com
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