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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Alternative uses for Harbor Freight LED flashlights

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July 11, 2011 3:43 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

Ok, so I'd be surprised if the majority of folks here did not have AT LEAST one of the red, blue, or black LED flashlights from Harbor Freight (HF) that take 3 AAA batteries and have the little black plunger switch at the end.

I started this thread to ask what type of material (plastic, I assume) I might use and where to buy it to make a set of navigation lights out of a couple of these (think red and green lights at the front of a boat) by cutting a small circle of red and/or green plastic to put in place of the lense or under the lense.

Kind of like the old green military flashlights used to have interchangeable, colored lenses.

Then I realized if I had a red lense, I could duct tape or rubber band these to the fender of a trailer that had no working lights. Not legal, but better than nothing, to be sure.

So...who (think Home improvement or Target type places) carries some colored plastic that I could put in there? Maybe a craft place would have it?

Anybody tried it?

This post is half question, half sharing an idea I think others might like.

Clem
July 11, 2011 3:51 p.m. pilotbraden HalfDork

I would try the red taillight repair tape from the autoparts store
July 11, 2011 3:54 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

Good idea for the red. I wonder about green. Maybe some of that wrapping paper plastic stuff? A wad of easter grass, lol?

These things are so damn bright I think there will have to be some significant tint to whatever is used.

Clem
July 11, 2011 3:58 p.m. joey48442 SuperDork

Colored saran wrap?

Joey
July 11, 2011 4:10 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork

Look for plastic supply in the yellow pages ( think 4X8 sheets of lexan) Find address in daytime,ask to see scrap bin. If they give you a hard time suitup for a dumpster dive after dark.
July 11, 2011 4:13 p.m. Hocrest HalfDork

The disposable tupperware type containers are available with different color lids. Buy some, use them to take lunch to work once or twice, then they'll be free filters.
July 11, 2011 4:14 p.m. Hocrest HalfDork

Or a Mountain Dew/Sprite bottle??
July 11, 2011 4:15 p.m. Woody SuperDork

I often have to whack my cheap flashlights to get them to go on. I can't imagine that they would stay lit very long strapped to the back of a trailer.
July 11, 2011 4:27 p.m. Mazdax605 Dork

I sold a pop up camper many years ago to guy who came south a few hours to pick it up. He showed up in a ratty Honda accord. Now the camper wasn't huge but probably more than I would feel comfortable with behind a ratty Accord. The guy proceeded to tell me the thing had the heavy duty trailering package. I called bullE36 M3.

He then proceeded to tape flashlights with taillight repair tape over the lenses to the sides of the camper facing backward. Now if it had the heavy duty trailering package wouldn't have the wiring for a you know trailer?

I have no idea if the guy made it back without getting pulled over,but he didn't seem to care. I got my money so no big deal I guess,but still shady.

Chris
July 11, 2011 4:27 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

Woody wrote:

I often have to whack my cheap flashlights to get them to go on. I can't imagine that they would stay lit very long strapped to the back of a trailer.

Lol...have you SEEN how trailers ride? They'd be getting "whacked" constantly. Seems there's daylight under the tires like 10% of the time.

Now...I don't really know that it would be conducive to longevity...

Clem
July 11, 2011 4:30 p.m. Ojala New Reader

I have seen bunches of homemade trailers with HF flashlights screwed down to trailer fenders. They use plumbing strap to screw it down, color the lens with a sharpie, and run wires from the flashlight into a home made trailer plug/harness that was "custom" tapped into the tail lights.
July 11, 2011 4:32 p.m. e_pie Reader

Check an arts and crafts store, they are bound to have something you could use.
July 11, 2011 4:37 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

The main reason I'm interested in this, just FYI, is not for a trailer but for navigation lights on the front of a little boat that won't have or need a battery otherwise (pull start 6hp Johnson outboard).

but I do think it would be handy to have the stuff on hand to make instant taillights for when I have to pull a trailer without working lights. Actually...it'll probably enable me to NEVER fix trailer lights again ;).

Clem
July 11, 2011 5:03 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

find a theatrical supply house.. sheet of gel.. roughly 3 ft by 3ft will run you about 8 bucks.. and come in any colour imaginable

Rosco Lux.. I recomend #26 or #27 for the red
July 11, 2011 5:31 p.m. JoeyM SuperDork

This may not be GRM, but advance autoparts sells sheets of rigid plastic in their taillight section. That takes care of the red, but not the green.
July 11, 2011 6:05 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

$23
The biggest issue you would have with the HF lights is that you would need 4 of them, 2 per side because the navigation lights are required to be viewable from both the front and the side. 4 lights at $4 each would be $16 and then you still need some fabricating supplies.
I think the $23 would be cheaper and certainly easier.
The lights like these are legal for boats up to 26 ft.
http://www.amazon.com/Innovative-Lighting-560-1111-7-Battery-Navigation/dp/B000ZFT...

For $29 more you can get the proper stern light which meets the requirement of being viewable for 360 degrees. I comes on a 3 ft pole and the rules require that it must be the high enough to be seen unobstructed from all around the boat.
http://www.amazon.com/Innovative-Lighting-560-2113-7-Battery-Navigation/dp/B001BWC...
July 11, 2011 6:45 p.m. xd Reader
July 11, 2011 9:03 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

As a side note to your red-right-return thread, I have found that the ground connection between the light circuit board and the anodized body gets intermittent. If your flashlight isn't working well, pull the batteries and with a small screwdriver, scratch along the spring wire to aluminum body junction down inside by the circuit board.
July 11, 2011 9:36 p.m. 93gsxturbo HalfDork

The best source for tinted plastic is translucent colored binders from an office supply store. All the colors of the rainbow, thin, cheap, and fairly "true" color when used with white light behind them. We used to use them all the time to change gauge cluster colors.
July 12, 2011 7:56 a.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

93gsxturbo wrote:

The best source for tinted plastic is translucent colored binders from an office supply store. All the colors of the rainbow, thin, cheap, and fairly "true" color when used with white light behind them. We used to use them all the time to change gauge cluster colors.

Now that's what I'm talking about!
July 12, 2011 7:58 a.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

In reply to jrw1621:

Well...yeah. That would work. I'm aware of those but was kind of thinking about a homebrew solution. Admittedly, my way is more work, but it would be a fun project with the kids.

And those HF lights aren't $4 each. I don't pay more than $1.50 for them...and they're often free.
July 12, 2011 8:49 a.m. ultraclyde HalfDork

If you get really desparate, theater lighting "gels" ,the colored filters used on stage lighting, are available on ebay for kind of cheap. good intense color but not nearly as cheap as office depot binders.
July 12, 2011 8:58 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

if you go for gel.. try to get some from Rosco. Gam Gels are dyed and will come off of the plastic with some chemicals.. unless that is a look you are after.
July 12, 2011 9:05 a.m. N Sperlo HalfDork

93gsxturbo wrote:

The best source for tinted plastic is translucent colored binders from an office supply store. All the colors of the rainbow, thin, cheap, and fairly "true" color when used with white light behind them. We used to use them all the time to change gauge cluster colors.

now thats an idea. Consider my afternoon filled
July 12, 2011 12:19 p.m. 93gsxturbo HalfDork

Thanks for the complements guys. There is a reason I get the big bucks.

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