Teardown: Costco Duracell 1300 Lumen Durabeam Ultra Flashlight

[@phillewis3921]

I'm using the recharging sleeve and leaving the battery sleeve as a reserve. I'm a tow truck driver. I work the graveyard shift. So flashlights are an essential tool of job. I've gotten two 2000 lmns cordless spotlights that are rechargeable. They have so far taken a beating. Since I work in all sorts of weather. I have two other Canadian Tire flashlights which are very handy. The cordless spots and the Canadian Tire lights have magnetic bases. Too bad the Duracell flashlights don't. I'm never rough with my tools. And their always cleaned. Never thrown in a bag with other tools. So I'm hoping that the Duracell flashlights last. So far so good. No complaints.

[@MrThisllwork]

ive had mine for 2 years same setoff batteries bright as day one left in a cold garage works great i love it

[@a.k.9425]

Thanks. Just twist and shout to get the lens hood off. I drove the stuck battery out using a long bolt and hammer. Baking Soda and Vinegar. A little acid pitting in the battery tube but not much. I used a paint tray to hold the shorter China Chine 1345 500 Lumen Costco Duracell flashlight. The C batteries that become stuck were surprisingly the Duracell C batteries. I prefer energizer. I have had too many Kirk batteries leak easily or too soon ruining a few electronic items.

[@nunyabissnus565]

All of these "Duracell" flashlights have a standby drain on the batteries. In other words even when it is off, you are draining your batteries. I guess they want to sell you more batteries. The solution is to remove the batteries when not in use. So, do not expect to buy these and (for example) store it in your car's glove box for emergency use, unless you remove the batteries. see 9: 25 in video.

[@billurbon1014]

WARNING, this is a constant on always light, I. E. it is always using battery even with bulb off, so if not using for over a week pull out the batteries or they will expand like a maglight

[@skipsaunders5974]

that paste on the copper pill under the LEDs is heat sink paste... very common for LED products

[@pgannon1948]

The biggest problem for me is that the BATTERIES WILL DEPLETE while the flashlight is OFF! It has something to do with the way they designed the circuitry. Duracell is aware of this problem because in their newer 1500 lumen flashlight they state in ALL CAPS on the front of the package "NO BATTERY DRAIN IN OFF POSITION." I cut a cardboard insulator and put it between the switch and the last battery, with a note on the outside to remove it to use the flashlight.

[@knightwind6628]

I see you have constructed a new lightsaber, your skills are complete. ✌️😎

[@Paladin1873]

I purchased six of the 1000 lumen Duracell flashlights when COSTCO had a sale about five years back. All of them failed with a year or two either from constant battery draining or bad switches/circuit boards. Duracell replaced the defective ones with upgraded 1200 and 1300 lumen flashlights. A couple of them had defective circuitry (as well as draining batteries). Duracell replaced these when asked. Through several years of trial and error I have determined which of these lights do not drain batteries, and these went into my vehicles. The other ones are in my house. I'd like to replace them with affordable lights that don't quit or drain batteries. If anyone has some recommendations, please post them here.

[@gsj5]

Thanks for the breakdown along with the commentary. I'm subscribing to the channel with the hope you will publish similar detailed content in the future.

[@lambertj.2892]

I just bought one of these at Costco, $14.99. The thing lights up my alley all the way to the end. Maybe not 1300 lumens, but dang near the brightest light I've even owned. Not a bad deal for $15. The downside is that it's heavy and big. Probably not the ideal camping buddy. But definitely a good light to have around the house for emergencies.

[@lincolnhunt9558]

the flood mode no longer works on mine. the 3 flood led's flicker and never reach full brightness

[@SovereignKnight74]

That thing is a piece of junk. Thanks for the video.

[@PowerScissor]

They're great when not used as just a flashlight. I keep one in each car with Eneloop rechargeables that last a year in standby...so once a year charging. They make a great weapon when needed. You can blind a person first, then give them a good smack with these lights.

[@scottsmith8546]

DURACELL.....BAD FLASHLIGHTS! GOOD BATTERIES! They eat the batteries like crazy.

[@anthonygarbo8114]

I've never had an issue . . . . I live in southern Az and the flashlight stays in my car . . . heat or cold . . .

[@johnbreimann1697]

Good job, thank you. For the price i think the flashlight works well.

[@chrismchale7226]

Good job for what breaking the dam thing or for sounding like a big douche bag.

[@robjackson5245]

How do you replace a 350 battery port.

[@johnsamuelson34]

Always fails, No support by Duracell, The bottom line: DONT BUY DURACELL.

[@Redtailedhawk99]

I had the older 1000 lumen Duracell and bought rechargeable batteries and burned it straight out.

[@TheStewieGriffinShow]

I've gone through three of these in two years. Each time I heard a pop, and I suspect the LED light blew. I came here hoping I could find out how to open the flashlight and replace an LED light as I know many others have had their LED lights pop. Duracell claims the problem has been fixed. P.S. I can't get the lens to come off, and I'm using a tool. Now I am wondering if it is reverse threaded.

[@anthonygarbo8114]

No it is not reversed . . .

[@gabrielgrenier4335]

Who else can’t unscrew anything 😩

[@jo83ben]

Awesome! Thanks for the breakdown. I'm just learning electronics, and was wondering if there is anyway to hack this light to run off a 12v cigarette plug? Thanks

[@NooshTube]

+jo83ben No problem! Assuming you can hook it up to the 12v plug, how do you foresee using it? The reason I ask is because it probably isn't worth it, and you have easy alternatives if you are looking for, as an example, a work light around your car. You can buy something like a cheap led car fog or driving lamp that you would have to do nothing more than solder two wires. The problem is voltage and current. Typically these style LEDs run around 3.6v and are very sensitive to both voltage and current. Voltage x Current (amps) = watts. If you raise either volts or amps, your watts go up. so it is easy to burn out your LED if it isn't protected for both. I assume the cigarette plug is in your car? When your car is running, it produces ~14v, not 12v, because the alternator is charging the battery. So you either need to design the protection for 14v, and then get less light output at 12v, or you need a driver that regulates variable voltage and/or current (google buck converter). There are a ton out there and you can find one pre-made for a flashlight that allows the range of voltage you anticipate (eg: 7-15v). you could also rewire the 4 LEDs in series which would make them 3.6+3.6+3.6+3.6 = 14.4v, near what your car puts out. Then you may only need to worry about limiting current but light output would drop or turn off as voltage drops when the car is off. The other issue with what you want to do is drilling the flashlight to connect the wire. All of this points to getting something already designed for typical vehicle voltage, and retrofitting it to your intended use!

[@danhalen2546]

If you were going to try and insert a regulated buck/boost driver, whats a good guess at the type/specification on voltage and current? Even if you modded to change the battery type to rechargeable or 18650?

[@NooshTube]

If there is no regulation on this flashlight, you can assume it draws the maximum current from 4 C Alkaline batteries. If you had fresh batteries, it would be ~1.6v x 4. I don't remember exactly, but I seem to recall that a decent C alkaline can draw about 2 amps due to its internal resistance. So 2 amps at 6.4 volts would be my *guess* of what it draws as-is. Since they designed it to light up some but not all of the LEDs, my guess is you could potentially push more current when all are lit. 2 amps @ 6.4v would of course be 12.8 watts so watch out for heat ...

[@killedbysora]

Hey I accidentaly popped my tail cap off do you have and way of putting it back on?

[@randalnihei9764]

If anyone knows how to get the switch out? Please make a video, something wrong with the switch on my flashlight.

[@manjunathsonu5127]

Please help me to remove the back side switch of Duracell 700 lumen tourch

[@domenicwilliamson8930]

How did you take the zooming bit off?

[@NooshTube]

Been a long time since I played with this, but in the video I mentioned the aluminum part with the leds has to come out first. So the order IIRC I believe is unscrew the lens, slide the zooming bit backwards, remove the led/aluminum pill, slide the zooming bit forwards and off ....

[@akmt123]

Help...by mistake I opened the Top and finally put it back. But, now it is not working as before...

[@johnsamuelson34]

If it's $15 and it fails in a year and Duracell doesn't support it, theres good reason to complain. This guy makes no sense...

[@mrs8629]

Costco. No complaints.

[@tracer690]

My battery expanded in mine and is stuck, any advice? Time to give up?

[@billurbon1014]

take it apart until you have a tube, then soak in a vinegar bath (i used a water bottle to hold it all) it takes about an hour but it dissolve the acid enough to pop it out

[@billurbon1014]

I just did it with mine turns out this is an always on light, that's why the battery expands

[@tracer690]

Thank you. I cannot get the part with lens to come off, any tips?

[@billurbon1014]

to take lens off, you have to grab at the 2 rings of the base and separate the top head (1:00 minute in video) once the lens if off, you then can take the LED module off, the lower ring

[@billurbon1014]

FYI , i contacted the tech support site yesterday and they got back to me today, gave them some info and now have a new flashlight coming my way. i let you know when it comes

[@jamesroth7385]

The Advertisment says my flashlight cooks eggs, whatever.!! Why does it take 3 AAA batteries but still comes with a big blue (lithium) battery too.? And how do you tell the positive end from the negative.? And I'm assuming you can't use it with the AAA cuz there's no room but I'm afraid to plug it in to charge the blue one because I don't wanna burn the house down..!!! Help me Obi won.!!!!!

[@shable1436]

Bet you wish you could take back a louis ck quote lol

[@NooshTube]

Lol now I'm afraid to quote anyone

[@sheldonoetter3935]

I have (had) a duracell 1000 with pretty much the sames internals and focus cap. I bought NiMH rechargable C batteries for it and when I first turned the light on it worked for a few seconds then dimmed out to a very very low glow of the LED, and nothing more. I first assumed it was the Cree LED which went out (and I ruined it in the process of trying to reflow it.) But after noticing the PCB under the cap, I'm wondering if that SOIC logic chip was what went funky. Any thoughts anyone? which would be more sensitive/prone to failure; the LED or the SOIC chip? BTY, if its more than likely the LED, I could just buy a few from digikey and reflow them on. The light lasted me about a year, so I figure a new LED every now and then wont hurt.

[@michaelhall7711]

I have the same problem with the low glow and I'm here to find out if anybody knows what causes that and if I can fix it

[@sheldonoetter3935]

@@michaelhall7711 the driver board is practically impossible to get to w/o breaking parts so it's not worth the hassle.

[@edisonyaselga6899]

Necesito el desamblaje

[@relikvija]

do not buy my just died

[@stevek4928]

I just want to change the battery out - that's all. No area seems to want to un screw.

[@josephwilson3264]

Exactly. WTF. How do you change the battery?

[@donkisler3538]

I bash it because you have to throw it away and it will not last but a few months. I was stupid enough to buy more than one.

[@billurbon1014]

By the ways anyone want to get a nice set of flashlights? Check out radio shack and get the 4 pack of enercell flashlights (catalog number 6100074). Normally 12.99 (I got mine on sale) It have a 2D, 2 AA and a single A. They are bright, 200-300 lumens I would guess and pretty well made. My mom got rid of her old ones and only uses these.

[@joshuahuang07]

do u know if this Duracell flashlight uses a cree xm-L2 led?

[@michaelabraham6441]

This flash light is absolutely garbage.