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New 4100 Lumen Flashlight Can Set Things On Fire
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Mon Jan 28, 2008 04:04 PM
from the no-telling-ghost-stories-with-this-baby dept.
from the no-telling-ghost-stories-with-this-baby dept.
i4u writes "Engadget is reporting that Wicked Lasers has introduced The Torch. It is the world's brightest and most powerful flashlight. The Flashlight is capable of melting plastic, lighting paper on fire within seconds, and if you like, fry an egg or a marshmallow on a stick. At 4100 lumens, The Torch is 100 lumens more powerful than The Polarion Helios, the former most powerful flashlight, and retails for around $300. The Torch is apparently also undergoing review at the Guinness Book of World Records."
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Campfires! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Campfires! (Score:4, Insightful)
Revenge is a dish that is best served cold, but this would work pretty well too.
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Re:Campfires! (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Campfires! (Score:4, Funny)
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Omg (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Omg (Score:5, Informative)
(4100/683/c)
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Re:Omg (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Omg (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Omg (Score:5, Funny)
Give it to your neighbor's son and say,
"Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it."
"Why wouldn't my uncle allow it?"
"Because you can burn your arm off with this."
"COOL!"
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Good news, everyone! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Omg Ready... Illuminating/Eliminating--1, 2, 3 (Score:4, Funny)
2. Hit three performing singers at once and it's a "torch song trilogy"...
3. As a method of execution.... Trial by fire... no illusions here
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warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Welcome to the Nanny Nation.
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
It is fucking dangerous! Maybe you think that chainsaws shouldn't have warning labels as well? "Mummy what happens if I do this? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh" (though actually, all the chainsaws I've handled recently have quite good safety features).
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
Of course they shouldn't. If someone is so brain damaged that they can't figure out that a SAW can hurt them, why shouldn't they suffer the consequences?
You can't protect stupid people from themselves, and you shouldn't try. It just encourages the spread of stupidity among the general population.
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course they shouldn't. If someone is so brain damaged that they can't figure out that a SAW can hurt them, why shouldn't they suffer the consequences?
Chainsaws have warning labels because they can hurt the user in ways the novice wouldn't expect by looking at the saw. Thinks like binding in the kerf and kicking.
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Informative)
Only if you put the shit right up against the light.
A 300 watt halogen bulb puts out almost 6000 lumens [acehardware.com], much more powerful than this light. You can start a fire with one, but not across the room or anything. You have to get the combustibles right up against it. (Which is why the newer floor lamps using this sort of bulb have a safety cage.)
There are many things in your house more dangerous than this super-bright flashlight. Should they all have labels? The problem is that when everything has a warning label, the chatter drowns out the important warnings.
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Re:warning labels (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Quiz time - You just bought a cool black anodized aluminum high-powered flashlight, with a huge ugly orange sticker on the handle warning you not to look at the beam. Do you:
A) Have the warning professionally engraved directly onto the barrel of the flashlight, so it can never wear off,
B) Remove that sucker before you even put in the batteries,
C) Leave the sticker alone, ruining the look of your new toy, or
D) Take it back to the store and ask for one with a more permanantly-affixed label?
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
E) Look directly into the beam.
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
People like the child/wife/friend/visitor who picks up this neat little flashlight and, while remarking "I hate these maglite knock-offs" proceeds to permanently blind themselves?
As another commenter pointed out, you can't use the design and form-factor of a harmless device when packaging an extremely dangerous device, because you will confuse and possibly harm people unintentionally. Would you package rat poison to look like candy bars or perhaps like a nice slice of deliciously moist cake? Warning labels protect people. They may not serve to protect the buyer of a given device, because they generally tend to know what they're buying and what it's used/not used for; but it can serve to protect somebody unfamiliar with the device, somebody who may happen upon it by random chance. If I owned one of these lights, I would have a sticker on it that said "DO NOT POINT AT FACE. EVER. SRSLY."
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
"Hey! There was nothing that said it was dangerous to chew on the cord while it was plugged in! Nor was their anything telling me I shouldn't plug a coffee pot, a space heater, and a PS3 onto the same cord! I should sue their asses!"
The above example may be a tad bit extreme (actually, it may not be...) but that is why those labels are there. If the company's lawyers could think of someone suing them over something, they would be stupid to not put a warning label on the product. Seeing as so many people would sue over so many little things (but NEVER over their own stupidity), a large number of labels go onto everyday products. Blame your fellow citizens for that gripe.
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
"So I'm sitting there, installing this new valve for a toilet...everything is going great, until I turn the water back on, twist the new valve open and realize that I didn't put any sealing tape on the threads. So water is flying everywhere, right? I quickly shut off the valve, and proceed to stand up to go back downstairs to shut off the water. Up I go, on my feet...down I go, on my back. Floors are slippery when they are wet. Don't forget that."
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
"If nothing else, maybe I can serve as a bad example."
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
Granted, I didn't actually grab any of the bare wire ends and hang on, but in retrospect it wasn't exactly the safest behavior to be following.
Not long after that, I tried testing a 220V outlet with the back of my hand & ended up punching myself in the face. Beauty of a black eye, and a great conversation starter
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Informative)
Firstly, every cord *SHOULD* be labeled with maximium voltage... most likely 600V for most equipment. This is based on the voltage the insulation on the wires can withstand in a normal environment.
What you likely meant to say is the maximum AMPERAGE (or wattage, which is voltage*amperage) a cable is designed for. This is a much harder thing to spec... just like a CPU, it depends what the temperature is. The larger a conductor (think cross-sectional area), the less resistance it has, and the less current will be lost to heat while in use. It is this heat that makes things unpleasant... you could take a "standard" cord and run 29384092385902380953A through it, but not for more than a millisecond or two whilst the metal melts and subsequently vaporizes in an explosive poof at room temperature.
However, if you put it in liquid nitrogen, you likely will increase that time by several orders of magnitude... more assuming you can keep the cold flowing in (maybe a continual stream of L/N?)
Coming back to reality, it may be safe to run your vacuum cleaner for a few minutes on the cord, even if it gets warm... assuming you *KNOW* it is getting warm, and you will stop using it shortly. Where it isn't safe is if you run a heater off of an undersized cord, then throw a rug on top of it to further keep ambient losses from cooling the cord, then spill something with a low flashpoint on the rug.
Would make a hell of a warning label...
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Just curious (Score:4, Insightful)
I usually think of myself as not abysmally stupid, but why can't I safely run a 20ga 100ft cord from my basement to my garage beer fridge? The purpose of the cord is to connect an outlet at one end to an appliance at the other.
Does it matter that one end is in my basement and the other is in my garage? I know some cords are rated for outdoor use and some are not, but what if my garage is attached? Is there something intuitively obvious about 20ga cords that aren't suitable for beer fridges? And how do you know if my beer fridge is one of those little travel jobbies that can run off AC or 12-volt DC, or if my beer fridge is a full size Kenmore? (I drink a lot of beer.)
Something so "mind-numbingly obvious" should be easy to explain. Maybe I'm just abysmally stupid.
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Re:Just curious (Score:5, Informative)
A 20gauge cord is most likely not capable of carrying enough amperage to power your beer fridge without either A)heating up, or B)outright failing.
Situation A: A 100ft cord that heats up to unsafe temperatures may start a fire with any number of low-flashpoint items between your garage and basement.
Situation B: Failing outright means that the cord heats up to sufficient temperatures in order melt the insulation off, exposing bare, high-temperature, semi-high voltage wires to the environment. They may spark, which can easily start a fire, the insulation might burn or char, and the exposed wires represent an electrocution hazard. This would be unsafe for a 4ft core, but a 100ft cord represents a line of death stretching the length of your house.
Take a look at http://www.interfacebus.com/Reference_Cable_AWG_Sizes.html [interfacebus.com] . Those are conservative numbers for load carrying capacity, and deemed "safe" for 100ft or longer runs. You can potentially multiply those numbers by 2-3 for shorter runs.
Even so, 20 gauge wire should really only be used for a 2-6 amp load; and on the lower end of that scale for a longer (100 ft+) run. A pretty average, smallish home fridge has a "max" current draw of 15 amps. Even your beer-mini-fridge probably draws 7-8 peak. 7-8 is greater than 2, and as such, is a fire hazard. And, with a 100ft run, most people would probably stick it under a rug, which results in even MORE heat buildup.
The thing about it that makes it worse is that the circuit breaker will only protect you against over-current based upon the wiring load (assuming the electrician did a good job), not electrical cords, particularly wimpy electric cords. The only time the circuit breaker will kick in is after the electrical cord has shorted, and it may be too late by that point. If its a ground fault, and not a fire, and not an electrocution, a GFCI circuit might protect you, but it'll probably be too late for that, as well.
That all being said, it's not common knowledge; but it should be. It takes a bit to educate yourself on this stuff, but its important knowledge, and a lot of lives could be saved, and fires stopped, if they taught this stuff in highschool.
IMHO, its a bit pretentious to say that this, stuff is "common sense". The little endian nature of the gauge scale (not to mention that it is logarithmic so 19 gauge is 2x the diameter of 20 gauge), and the unclear nature of the warnings on the stuff is kinda useless. It would make far more sense to make the Amperage of all devices clearer (peak), and simply put "This cable can carrying X amps at Y temperature, and is unsafe for use at higher temperatures" on extension cables.
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Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:warning labels (Score:4, Funny)
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Lumens War (Score:4, Funny)
This is actually a good idea (Score:5, Funny)
But what is the point? (Score:5, Insightful)
It is far to dangerous to do many of the things that you often do with bright lights (for example, to go shooting), and so why?
Perhaps it says something in the article? Not that I can see... (Though it does say, 15 minute battery life! WTF is the point of it then?)
Re:But what is the point? (Score:4, Funny)
- Every other politician
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oblig. (Score:5, Funny)
I have one. It doesn't seem so bright (Score:5, Funny)
New and improved (Score:4, Funny)
Re:New and improved (Score:5, Funny)
My penis is on fire again!
-
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I can beat that... (Score:5, Funny)
My invention, "An Actual Torch" can set things on fire in even less time. It also has a much more disperse beam so it illuminates a wide area. The only drawback is it has a much shorter range. But then again on the plus side, it can't be accidentally used to destroy airplanes.
The only question is... (Score:4, Funny)
4100 Lumen is certainly no world record holder... (Score:5, Informative)
Regardless, I'd link to some of them, but the forums there have enough time staying up as it is and they don't need the extra traffic. Here's a beam shot of the Maxablaster shining on some clouds 4 miles up. http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spotoncloud2dp4ta1.jpg [imageshack.us]
coming soon (Score:4, Funny)
I can see it now... (Score:5, Funny)
ObStephenson (Score:4, Informative)
Oblig... (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:15 minutes? (Score:5, Funny)
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