A little dissapointed in my #9057 Handle Light


 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I was grilling last night and my light was flickering and going out. I had to tap it to get the light to come back on and sometimes several times as well as being much dimmer than I expected. I figured the batteries were going out but when I removed the light to bring it in and look at it, I notice there are cracks around the lenses and the chrome reflector lining in the lights is crinkeling. I thought these things would be much more robust. It isn't like I even use it that much, but it must have something to do with the heat from the grill unless the LEDs have something to do with it.

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I had one years ago and it cracked and eventually leaked water inside leading to the batteries corroding and all.

I blamed myself for leaving it on the grill, uncovered in "winter", although many people would say my winter weather is like their spring weather.

I don't recall where it cracked.
 
I don't think grills and flashlights should mate. I have picked up at least a dozen grills that had various grill lights and I think maybe 1 still worked a little. Heat, water, weather and electronics just don't seem to mix well. Either a head lamp or spot light seem to be better. I really wonder how long all these grills / smokers are going to last when they are kept outside.
 
Maybe that's why they stopped selling them. The wooden handles dry out, crack, and shrink with the heat over time, too. The heat and being outdoors takes its toll. Durawood might be the best option for outdoors.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
Maybe that's why they stopped selling them. The wooden handles dry out, crack, and shrink with the heat over time, too. The heat and being outdoors takes its toll. Durawood might be the best option for outdoors.
Click to expand...
Wait, what? They are made of wood?
 
No, they are plastic. He was just going on to say that Durawood is a good option for the outdoors.
 
Yeah whether you use it or not it lives a VERY tough life. Between extreme heat and cold and in winter the shock of going from one to the other. I don't think a handle light is the best way to go.
 
I really liked the convenience of the 9057 handle light when I had it.

I have grill light tools now, and they are OK, but I still liked having the grill lit up.

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The only thing I can come up with that might be doable is to make the 9057 removable. Or possibly gutting the 7661 and using a 18650 with the PR2 LED (just thinking out loud here).
 
It is kind of removable. I just loosened two set screws and slid the light out of the brackets, but that would be a PIA to have to do every time.
 
I was thinking the two bolts that hold the brackets to the endcaps. A thumbscrew and wingnut. May not be the prettiest and like you say, a PITA.
 
Those areas that are damaged are the closest to the lid and exposed to the highesr heat. A full bore burn-off at the end of a cook, when the handle light is already thoroughly heat soaked, could bake the plastic more and be part of the problem. I've been doing my burn-off and scrape during pre-heat because when I do a post-cook burn-off I always let it burn-off for 'way too long while I'm eating.
 
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That is probably part of the issue. I agree that burn offs would probably be better done pre-cook.
 
I have a Weber grill light handle on my Gen 2000 with the LED conversion and it works great, but then again I don't grill much at night.
It's also covered and under a covered patio so it never gets sun, rain or snow on it.
Also have durawood on the gen 2000 that's 23 years old and still looks like new.
Love the look of nicely stained wood slats but prefer the maintenance free durawood for my daily drivers.
 
I think it was the heat from the LEDs. I bought some for mine and I noticed the leds were getting hotter then the fluorescent ones so I took them out.
 
I went ahead and ordered one. Nothing makes me more mad than having to hold a flashlight in my mouth while trying to work on the meat on the grill. For the next 4 months or so, it will dark during most of my cooks.
 
So is your #9057 fixable? The damage to the reflector shouldn't be much of an issue because much of the light from the LED comes out of the front (versus the incandescent PR2 lamp where the light is emitted from all directions).

For comparison, the PR2 lamps provide 10 lumens each, the headlamp provides "up to 100 lumens", and the 3w LEDs provide 200 lumens each.
 
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It is still usuable and probably just as bright as it was when I put the LED's in. THe cracking around the lens is more concerning. Also, for some reason, I cannot seem to get the batteries in the light in such a way that they don't flicker or keep going out without me having to tap the light. That didn't happen at first either.
 
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