Sylvania brand Emercency Lights

Simon & Nicky

Bronze
Feb 3, 2004
655
14
0
www.simon-hall.co.uk
I bought a pack of three of these things from PriceMart in Santiago. They are small and compact and supposedly come on when the power fails. Perfect for a small house / emergency situation so you don't get plunged into total darkness EXCEPT, all three have broken in less than 24 hours!!! Don't rush to buy a pack (I think they were nearly 2000 pesos) until I've got to the bottom of why they all broke in just a day.
 

POP Bad Boy

Bronze
Jun 27, 2004
984
30
0
I've found that

almost anything that operates on a rechargeable battery doesn't last long at all here..............flashlights / cordless drills / rechargeable batteries etc........

anything that i can charge via a usb cable on the computer I do that way since it is the only way that they items seem to last...............
 

Ringo

On Vacation!
Mar 6, 2003
2,823
41
0
What "Bad Boy" says. Years of trying"rechargables" that worked in the U.S. .... and they don't work here for nada.

Regards, Ringo
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
The reason why those lights would seem to be of less quality as they operate in the DR, its due to the remarkable hours of operations vs the amount of time they output overseas.

A lights-out event overseas is mostly a mere minutes to 2 hours, a lights-out in the DR can be half a day and more; as such the batteries are depleted to the core and once that happens damage occurs, rendering the unit useless to recharge.

The same goes for battery operated tools, the power output in the DR fluctuates most of the time; even during normal operations the voltage will surge or decrease too often. Electrical noise is a killer of battery operated tools as well.

If you want to get the most out of your battery operated devices in the DR, using some devices like an APC back-up to regulate power and conditioning is a must, especially when recharging devices from the outlets.

You can add line conditioners to your home electrical panel to avoid costly damages because of power spikes and noise.

I currently employ an "inversor" in my home coupled with an automatic power generator, but I have almost all electrical devices connected to an APC with line conditioners in most lines from my service panel.