LED light battery situation

[RichColvin]

I have the cover for mine.  As a Woodturner, I have stuff flying everywhere.  And since the Tormek is kept near the lathe, the cover has helped it not get dust all throughout. 

I wish I'd have gotten a free stone replacement program ....

[Ken S]

SADW,

You make some good points. Fortunately for us, while some of the gimmicks may not last, the Tormek itself, and the jigs and accessories are designed and built for the long run. I suspect my LED light will someday fall victim to battery leakage or the very fine threads on aluminum will fail. Until that inevitable day, I like the improved lighting.

If Tormek designed or found a Tormek quality light with a Tormek lifetime, it would probably be priced above what today's consumers want to pay. Case in point is the Tormek Rubber Work Mat. It is very well made and priced accordingly. I suspect it is not a hot seller. Too bad; it works very well.

My shop has overheat fluorescent lighting installed by the former owner. It would probably pass for good general lighting. It is not good task lighting. Better lighting is a quest, just like the search for the ideal tripod is among photographers. I should add that the quest candidate must conform to the budget.

Funny comment about the marketing department vs the engineers. Unfortunately, in all business, the marketing boys generally win. I suspect they win because the public likes gimmicks and lower prices more than solid quality and useful accessories. Why else would people buy complete sets of of inexpensive shiny chisels with radiused backs requiring hours to properly flatten and sharpen instead of buying just the few practical sizes in a real quality tool?  If that was not the case, the T4 would not be packaged at a price point and would include the TT-50 ( and be priced accordingly).

For now, I am looking for slightly thinner AA batteries. I am always looking for better lighting.

Re: the hats, if you have not watched the Tormek friends video with Per Fritzell, the fisherman and comedian, you are missing a treat. Watch it on tormek.com.

Ken

[Ken S]

RESOLUTION:

I have found two good sources for batteries which fit well. These batteries give a nice sliding fit.

CVS Pharmacy brand alkaline batteries, both regular in four pack for $4.99 and MAX in six pack for $6.99 are sized right. The regular pack has a date of Dec 2022. The MAX pack has some letters which may be a date code. (Competition Walgreen's batteries probably work fine for other applications, however, they are too large for the magnetic LED light.)

Harbor freight value pack (black and yellow item #61675) 24 batteries for $4.99 has a date of 2019.

I would have preferred high quality rechargeable batteries. However, these have the benefit that they are sized to fit.

I will be returning my just purchased light. I was finally able to carefully remove the battery chamber from my older unit. It works well with the new smaller batteries. With 34 batteries for a three cell holder, I have ten changes in ready reserve. That should suffice. I will continue looking for a backup light.

Thanks to all who replied and especially Elden and Steve for the winning suggestions.

Ken

[Hatchcanyon]

They range from 13.43mm or .551" for Energizer rechargeable 1400mAh to 14.23mm or .563 for the Duracell rechargeable 2450mAh. Energizer Alkaline measures 14.15mm or .558".

Ken,

all brands are within the standard that allows 13,5 bis 14,5 mm.

Rolf

[Ken S]

Rolf,

The problem is not the batteries. All the batteries I measured fall within the industry guidelines you posted. The problem is the engineer who designed the light ignored the battery standard. As such, only those (few) batteries near the small end of the standard will fit. Except for this design flaw, it is a nice light. With top rated rechargeable batteries, this light would be an excellent match with the T7 and SuperGrind. Unfortunately, these fine batteries, although manufactured within industry standards, will not fit in the undersized lighting unit. It is frustrating.

Ken

[Ken S]

Other than for smoke detectors, I won't use anything that takes AA or AAA batteries that won't take rechargeable batteries anymore.  I bought a bunch of them and have not had to purchase any more batteries for years.  Eneloop and Imedion are great AA/AAA LSD Ni-MH batteries!  I have not had a problem with them fitting in anything yet.

Get yourself a MAHA MH-C9000 charger and you're good to go.

Great post. I purchased a Maha mh C9000 charger on Grepper's recommendation. It works very well and leaves regular chargers in the dust. All thumbs up.

Ken