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LED flash lights stop working when the fall?

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gary350

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I bought an LED flash light for camping. I accidentally dropped it and it stopped working. The 2nd flash light stopped working when it rolled out of the vehicle and hit the ground. The 3rd flash light stopped working when it fell off the picnic table. I assume LEDs burn out like light bulbs?

I need a good flash light?
 
A light bulb is mechanical. If dropped the glass could break causing the filament to burn up or the filament could break.

An LED is a solid semiconductor with a plastic case that does not break. An LED will burn out only when it receives too much current or when it is made cheaply.

Probably the batteries in the LED flash light became out of position when dropped. The battery contacts might be cheap and are corroded from condensation.
 
Cheap electronics use an inexpensive printed board material made from paper and coated in phenolic resin.
If you open up the flashlight and you see a brown colored board, that's it.

It is very inexpensive, but cracks easily.
 
Another thing which can fail in these flashlights when dropped, is SMT inductors.
I have a single AAA cell Coast flashlight which was dropped a number of times and that is exactly what happened.
The inductor was cocked over at an angle due to a broken wire.
I decided to de-solder it, unwrap 1 turn and then re-solder it, which was pretty fiddly due to the size and how densely populated the PCB was.

HTH.
 
It has a small round PC board that it standard thickness with cap ceramic caps and the LED and a surface mount IC. Battery holder works in other flash light so it is not damaged. Push button on the end works on another flash light too so it is not bad. I put all new parts from another flash onto the LED end then is does not work with new body or old body so that proves to me the LED/circuit board part is bad.

I need a reliable flash light i see some new ones advertised, used by the military $15. Maybe I give one a try i hate to spend $15 on more junk.
 
Even though China is far away in the other side of the world I can hear them laughing each time we buy their cheap junk. When their cars are sold here will they be safe?
 
I get the "free with another purchase" ones at Harbor Freight. Never had one of them fail yet, even ran over one with the riding lawn mower that was thrown about 35 feet by the blades. The aluminum housing was cut pretty bad but it still worked just fine. Have one that's about 10 years old and other then replacing batteries a few times it's still going strong. Even without the free coupon their only around $3.
 
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