Coleman Cree XR-E headlight

[VegasF6]

I will have to consider both those options
Taking it back makes more sense, but taking it apart sounds like more fun! Just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar problem.

 

[mattchase]

I haven't had / used mine enough to say if the batteries are draining. It has had the same set of batteries in it for about 4 days straight with only about 15 minutes of use on this set. I will let it sit for another week and then check it to see if the batteries get drained in mine.

As for the switch feeling, I think you nailed it. There is definitely a feeling when you switch modes but it isn't a firm click.

 

[Garand]

This light has ONE serious design flaw that has to be fixed before it can be relied on for hard use in the field.

Drop it on the floor and you will immediately see the flaw.

 

[Dogmeat]

This light has ONE serious design flaw that has to be fixed before it can be relied on for hard use in the field.

Drop it on the floor and you will immediately see the flaw.

OK for those of us thinking about buying one, can you tell us the secret?

 

[Jaygnar]

OK for those of us thinking about buying one, can you tell us the secret?

I'm gonna go out in a limb here and guess that the flaw is that the light breaks and you have to replace it.
Am I close?:thinking:

 

[VegasF6]

I am not sure what Garand is getting at, but the light will pop out of the strap relatively easy. So far though, mine hasn't broken, just needs to be picked up and snapped back together.

My advice, don't drop it

 

[Garand]

I have dropped mine three times. All three times the light came off the headband.

I use a headlight when I ride my ATV at night. I keep it around my neck when I am not using it.

This light will not work for me on my ATV because it will separate from the head band too easy and I will loose it.

Until I figure out how to fix this problem the light is not what I need.

Too bad because I am impressed with the output.

If I work out a fix for the problem I will let you know.

 

[Marduke]

Is the band slipping through the gaps in the plastic part on the light which holds the band? My solution to a similar problem was wrapping a piece of plastic side from a 2-liter soda bottle around that gap so nothing can slip through.

 

[Garand]

No. Not that simple.

The light is attached to a plastic piece that is attached to the strap.

The light comes off the piece that is attached to the strap.

It is a poor set up but as soon as I get the time I will figure out a fix.

I love this light. The output is amazing. If I can fix this flaw it will be my everyday use light.

 

[Dogmeat]

I went into Wal-Mart today, hoping to score some of the Rayovac headlamps. No luck, but I broke down and bought the Coleman.

I am not a flashlight wonk like many of you. The only headlamp I have to compare it to is an old Princeton TEC 3-AAA lamp. The Tec had old batteries and on high it is slightly dimmer in the hot spot than the Coleman. With new batteries, it might be brighter.

That said, the TEC has a terribly misshapen hot spot and no spill. The Coleman has a perfect circle and a very nice, even spill. It's also about 1/3 the weight of my old lamp.

I do see how it could fall off, though I didn't drop it to test. The pressure clamp is fairly secure on mine and I could not get it to budge even with hard shaking. I would venture to say it would take quite a secondary jolt to dislodge it. But a good direct wack could knock it off.

I'm basically happy with it, though I was trying to avoid using AAA batteries. I'll take it through Hezekiah's Tunnel in November and see if I can keep it on my head and dry.

 

[redburn_38]

2 small black zip ties should do the trick and neatly trim them.

 

[vtunderground]

I saw one of these in a cave today... The output was definitely not 105 lumens - it was comparable to my SSC P4-equipped EOS on "high".

The owner confirmed that it was the one advertised as having 105 lumens, not the 55 lumen model. :shrug:

 

[Garand]

I have no way of measuring or even guessing the output but I do know I am impressed with it.

It is by far the most powerful headlight I own.

 

[ncg53]

I just got this light and so far I like it. Its not INSANELY bright but its definitely got enough brightness that for your typical camping or hiking trip it is plenty. I would say for mtn biking it is not enough. Road biking it'd be pretty good. I really liked the fact it has two red led's(they are a very usable brightness). The switch is kind of a pain to turn, but my guess is it will start to loosen up and feel real nice eventually. I wanted to add that this thing IS indeed waterproof. Im not sure to what extent but the battery cap does actually have softer rubber on the edges that mate against the main body. The switch on the side also has a O ring and the screw holding it on has a rubber washer. The lenses in front of the LED's are glue'd to the body. My guess would be you could easily dunk it and it'd be fine. I wouldn't go swimming with it though. Not sure if maybe this is just a recent upgrade, but I just got mine the other day.
Nick

 

[darknessemitter]

Re: New Cree XR-E headlight at Walmart for $25

Yes, I still like mine. By the way, your head isn't crooked. The red l.e.d.s in mine have hotspots one on top of the other, which seems strange since the beams should be side by side. I tried mine out on a overnight backpacking trip up Mt. San Jacinto last weekend. I wish it had a third lower setting. I tried seeing my freeze dried dinner at night with it. The white low was too bright for this task and the red l.e.d.s didn't make my dinner look very good.

It's defninitely not a LOW-low, but at least it's noticably dimmer than the high setting. I can't stand it when a multi-mode light barely has any difference between settings.

My red hotspots are also one over the other, but I don't really mind it too much. It might actually turn out useful to see more of the path that you're walking on, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you need to be super stealthy, or need to maximize battery life.

 

[brjones]

Re: New Cree XR-E headlight at Walmart for $25

The red 5mm leds surprised me with there brightness as well, indoors at least, but the focus on them is a little funny. Either one is higher than the other, or my head is crooked

You're totally right. Mine is exactly the same way, down to the weird hotspots. I find the red LED's to be totally lame, but then again, I don't like red LED's, weird patterns or no, albeit this has decent brightness. The light would much more benefit from a "medium" mode (yes, I said it) instead. Or alternatively, a "really low" setting. Less cost, weight, and I've always seen the "red LED" as a gimmick feature--a hallmark of cheapie headlamps, though I'm sure there're exceptions.

Here's the Wal-Mart link. This was available in my store, but it was on the bottom hanger, easily missed. The packaging is also lame (too subdued), lending no loud suggestion of its easy superiority over the stupid 8 and 11 lumen schlock they have.


Coleman Cree XLamp XR-E LED Headlamp, 3 "AAA"
$24.88, model 2000001571, Wal-Mart # 000964776
Made in China (except for the LED, which I think is USA-made)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10196615


The twist switch is too positive, hard to turn with one hand, and I don't believe it'll loosen up. I thought the strap and head mount were of very high quality materials and design. Haven't worn it long-term, but when I first put it on at least, I thought it was very comfortable.

A hidden feature of this light is the ability to take it off the mount (and put it back) very easily. You then have a handy side-firing (albeit not easily stood-on-end) fat little cylinder of a light, which fits fairly well in a pocket. I think the good strap/mount assembly could be modded to hold other things.

In my research, this is proably the best "value" or "bang for the buck" headlamp out there. But my assumption is these are low-bin Cree's, and the light & quality are very good for the price, but it won't "blow you away" either. What it will do is "blow away" anything comparable that's a few years older in a side-by-side test. I also realized this will not replace a (planned) Zebralight H30 for me. The light output is probably about the same, but the Zebra is drastically smaller and more versatile, and has no hot spot at all, which for me seems better for "around house" and "around camp" headlamps. I also don't think it'll replace a modern "pocket rocket" for when you need a pocket-sized "spotlight"... However, to have one ready for a friend, as a gift, a backup, or to keep one where you wouldn't leave a Fenix, I think you can't go wrong.

I took some photos and I hope to do a full review before this product loses momentum, but I'm constrained right now, plus I'd like to do some beamshots.

Thanks to CPF for the tip-off on this one.

- What is the model or lumen rating of the "2-AA" Coleman headlamp, or this mystery Rayovac headlamp? I must've missed something. Also, is the "handheld Coleman Max 3aaa 135 lumens" mentioned in post #5, in fact the model linked below (rated at 115 lumens)?:
Coleman Cree XLamp XR-E LED Flashlight, 2 "AA"Model 2000001569, $24.88
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10196613

I also didn't realize you could get a huge (5 D cell?) M@gLite at WM for like 18 bucks (why does everybody here spell it like that--is it a bad word or something around here?).

 

[Marduke]

Search for "Coleman" in thread titles only using the CPF search and you'll turn up those Coleman lights.

 

[adirondackdestroyer]

Re: New Cree XR-E headlight at Walmart for $25

Mine also has an ugly uneven beam in the red setting.

I'm actually surprised that Coleman (and other companies using Cree XRE) aren't hyping them up on the packaging about how incredibly bright they are.

This light is actually quite a bit brighter than my Zebralight H50 Q5. The Coleman tested out at over 100 lumens with fresh cells.
I also doubt they are using low bin Crees, mostly because they are using the new silver Crees which haven't been made for all that long.

You're totally right. Mine is exactly the same way, down to the weird hotspots.
The packaging is also lame (too subdued), lending no loud suggestion of its easy superiority over the stupid 8 and 11 lumen schlock they have.
In my research, this is proably the best "value" or "bang for the buck" headlamp out there. But my assumption is these are low-bin Cree's, and the light & quality are very good for the price, but it won't "blow you away" either. What it will do is "blow away" anything comparable that's a few years older in a side-by-side test. I also realized this will not replace a (planned) Zebralight H30 for me. The light output is probably about the same, but the Zebra is drastically smaller and more versatile, and has no hot spot at all, which for me seems better for "around house" and "around camp" headlamps. I also don't think it'll replace a modern "pocket rocket" for when you need a pocket-sized "spotlight"... However, to have one ready for a friend, as a gift, a backup, or to keep one where you wouldn't leave a Fenix, I think you can't go wrong.

 

[brjones]

Re: New Cree XR-E headlight at Walmart for $25

This light is actually quite a bit brighter than my Zebralight H50 Q5. The Coleman tested out at over 100 lumens with fresh cells.
I also doubt they are using low bin Crees, mostly because they are using the new silver Crees which haven't been made for all that long.

Thanks for that correction and the test!! Sweet info! The Coleman does in fact have a nice throw/spill combination (if that's what you like) for a less-expensive headlamp. But the more I think about it as I consider which lights to purchase, I think having a "true flood" headlamp with less throw (à la Zebralight), combined with a "throwy", powerful handheld flashlight (which can be easily turned on/off, to conserve batteries), is probably a great combination (albeit for more money).

 

[brjones]

Re: New Cree XR-E headlight at Walmart for $25

I'm going to rescind my declaration of "best value" in a headlamp (though I don't have a replacement "award" ).

Last night, I had a little run-in with a skunk under my porch as I came home from work. I didn't know it was a skunk, I just heard something before I took to the steps. I had my headlamp with me, and it was almost dark, so I put it on to look through the cross-hatched wood which is supposed to keep "critters" out of there, and I see this butt of a skunk right up against the cross-hatching, tail up, aiming at me . Now here's the good thing: had I not had that headset, I probably would've pressed my face up against the cross-hatching (it is very dark underneath the porch, and was almost dark outside), and I probably would've gotten a face-full. I then left it on high and watched this juvenile skunk calm down and resume trying to "break into" the underside of my house (oblivious to me with 70 or so lumens on him). So after about 5-7 minutes of watching him (only "high" was really useful, but it was useful), I was done, but it was the first time I was sure I could notice a lessening in brightness. I had probably had it on ~around~ 8-10 minutes total beforehand, maybe. I decided to keep it on, and the brightness significantly decreased over the next 5 minutes to an unimpressive level, somehow equal with "low". That's still "usable" light for very close things; I experimented, and was comfortably able to eat using it. But otherwise, it seemed spent.

Now here's the big proviso. I was using cheapo 700 mAh NiMH AAA's. I know 1000 mah's are available now fairly cheap, at least at batteries.com (I plan to get some). "But still." I expected more than 15 minutes useful burntime in high, even on cheap batteries. The packaging is of course ridiculous in claiming "6 hours" runtime (I think?) on high--yeah, maybe, if you consider "high" to be the "same as low, and getting lower". Sure, they exaggerate. But come on. But I knew there was more juice in those batteries, it's just wasted due to the lack of any regulation. It's all about the voltage with these unregulated LED's.

So, number one, have good batteries for it, and enough of them. And a backup light to change the batteries. I definitely wouldn't recommend using this for something that required any significant length of time on high--but it's for the "high mode" that you buy it. To me, 15 minutes is not enough time to comfortably change a tire with time to spare. With good NiMH batteries, I calculate you might get in the low 20's of a decent high mode. That's starting to be useful for a lot of things, but to me it's the lowest end of useful runtime for something that size.

I also noticed that I often can't twist the setting without changing the whole angle of the light, because the twisty is too positive. So it's generally 2-handed. But you can turn the lamp off in the gap between High and Low, and have your choice to go straight to High or Low immediately (otherwise, you are forced to rudely start on high).

On a positive note, I was able to (easily) remove the lamp module from the head mount, and use it as a "flashlight", and (the important part) easily put it back on my head, without taking off the band. Now that is cool. It was nice to be able to put the lamp right into one of the holes of the cross-hatches with my hand, and illuminate the whole underside of the porch, and then easily put it back on my head. The plastic arms (wings?) which hold the lamp are flexible, and you just bend one to the side a little, and pull out the light. The light can only go in oriented correctly Left-Right due to differing-sized holes on each side. Put in the right side first, then just push in the left side, and it snaps in

I think like most "bargain" items, this was meant to meet a "price point" (ugh), and that most of the users will probably just let it set in a drawer somewhere, and only use it during a power outage or attic adventure. I expected a steady "linear" drop, but actually it seemed pretty strong for awhile, then pretty much lost most of its usefulness not long into it. It'd probably stay on that really "low" high setting for a day, but who cares. We like to pick things apart here (and find EVERY flaw), but really this thing could SERIOUSLY use some regulation, and otherwise IMHO cannot be considered a "serious" headlamp, not much beyond a (pretty bright) toy, vs a real tool. And further realization that more expensive "toys" might be less of an ultimate waste of money.