Uni-corn Wind up Torch

A little while back my dear old mum went on one of her shopping sprees and amongst the carrier bags of unneeded tat was a new torch, not just any torch but a wind up one, in fact a Uni-Com 54849 Wind Up Torch. Now I must admit I thought this was just going to be another piece of rubbish which ends up buried at the back of her cupboards, especially as she already had two traditional (battery) torches sitting on the side in the kitchen. Well several ...
...two traditional torches are now buried in the cupboards and the wind up torch is now the main one, after proving its worth.


►►► You're winding me up

So what is a Uni-Com 54849 Wind Up Torch? Well to be honest it is not much different to your bog standard torch except that it has a rechargeable battery pack enclosed which is ingeniously charged by using a wind up handle. Of course it is not that ... more

A little while back my dear old mum went on one of her shopping sprees and amongst the carrier bags of unneeded tat was a new torch, not just any torch but a wind up one, in fact a Uni-Com 54849 Wind Up Torch. Now I must admit I thought this was just going to be another piece of rubbish which ends up buried at the back of her cupboards, especially as she already had two traditional (battery) torches sitting on the side in the kitchen. Well several months later I am actually eating my words as those two traditional torches are now buried in the cupboards and the wind up torch is now the main one, after proving its worth.

►►► You're winding me up

So what is a Uni-Com 54849 Wind Up Torch? Well to be honest it is not much different to your bog standard torch except that it has a rechargeable battery pack enclosed which is ingeniously charged by using a wind up handle. Of course it is not that simple and inside the torch are some clever workings which use gears and a dynamo to turn the winding into electricity. The other change from a standard torch is in the bulbs, in this case the torch has three white LED's which I believe are more energy efficient than your standard light bulb, as per the reason for using them in this torch.

►►► Go on crank my knob

So to use this little beauty there is a fold away arm which fits snugly into the body of the torch, which you flip out to enable the winding mechanism. Grip the body of the torch in your hand and then turn the arm to start charging the torch. One of the good things about this torch is that you can wind it either clockwise or anti-clockwise so it is well designed for both left and right handed people. Though it does say that once you start the winding you should keep going in the same direction until you have finished. The actual design of this winding mechanism and the arm is pretty decent as on the end of the arm is a knob which you can grip while cranking away, and there are no other protrusions which you can scuff your hand on whilst charging the torch up. The only concern for me when using this cranking mechanism is snapping it, as whilst it is not flimsy in any manner I can imagine putting a little too much pressure on the arm will cause it to break. Once you have finished charging the torch, there is a simple on off button on the top of the torch for, as you would expect switching it on and off.

►►► The longer you crank the longer I last

The instructions say that a minutes worth of charging will result in 30 minutes light, they also mention that they call a minutes charging as 120 revolutions. But to be honest, although it is not tough to crank the charging arm doing 120 revolutions in a minute would be going some and I have clocked 120 revolutions at a minute and a half. Surprisingly doing 120 revolutions does make the torch last for half an hour, actually I clocked it as 35 minutes which is quite impressive. So being inquisitive I discharged the torch completely and then recharged it by giving it 240 revolutions and the torch then lasted for an hour and a quarter of constant use. Like all battery operated appliances, the batteries do lose there charge after period of inactivity and after a month of the torch sitting dormant it did loose about 10 minutes from a standard 120 revolutions charge. But this is not such a huge issue as you can just give it a few more turns of the crank to get more life out of it.

To be honest I was a bit sceptical at how powerful this torch would be, partly due to the winding mechanism but mainly because of using LED lights. I needn't have had any concerns as this torch is just as powerful as any normal household torch, thanks to the plastic lens which covers the three LEDS magnifying the light brilliantly. In fact to put this to the test, the beam is powerful enough to reach a good 15 metres before it seems to fade out, more than adequate for use round the home or for in the car as an emergency torch. It is also okay for close up work but the three separate lights do not focus into one light until the torch is about 20cm from the object.

NB. Do not stare straight into the light it does hurt and it will blind you for a few minutes .......

►►► Nice and thick and easy to grip

What is really nice about this torch is that it fits firmly in your hand despite not being the typical cylindrical shape. With the dimensions 145 x 55 x 45mm (LxWxD) it is not too big and surprising light weight. On either side of the torch are to rubber strips which act as grips and are so firmly attached to the torch that no amount of picking at them will remove them, not that you would wanted. The body of the torch is made from plastic and is pretty robust as having dropped the torch on concrete it only shows a minor scuff mark. It is also states that it is water resistant on the packaging, but I would say that it is more splash/ rain proof and would not recommend plunging the torch into water. As already mentioned the lens is made of molded plastic and is in fact three separate lenses for each of the LED’s. The only negative when it comes to this torch, and not really a major issue, is the fact it is only available in silver with black grips.

►►► Technical Gubbins

Rechargeable Ni-Mh batteries (3.6 volts 80 m AH)
Output power < 1W
Dimensions 145 x 55 x 45mm (LxWxD)

►►► Where can I lay my hands on one

Well this particular brand of wind up torch is available from a couple of non main stream websites, with prices ranging from £4.99 up to £8.99. But they can also be found in Wilkinson’s at a decent price of £3.99, which personally I feel is pretty decent and will probably pay for itself after about two years, in saving on batteries.

►►► Summary

Despite my initial feelings of what a waste of money, I can honestly say that I cannot really fault this torch. Not only has it been designed so that anyone can use it, but it saves on having to replace batteries all the time. I suppose I would have liked to have seen the winding arm/ mechanism made stronger, but then again I can say that even after much use the mechanism on my mothers torch still seems in brilliant order. There are numerous other brands and makes of wind up torches available, some with 5 LED’s, some which also have a radio, most of which are more expensive than this model. So I would definitely recommend this as not only does it do the job brilliantly you are also doing your bit for the environment by not using standard batteries and also by not using mains electricity to charge the device.

© Christianfilmcritic June 2007 

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