Gerber Infinity Ultra with Nichia CS LED

[sniper]

Re: Where to buy : Gerber Infinity Ultra | Nichia CS

Yeah. Use a thin but firm piece/sheet of plastic, like the plastic from blister packs and slide it between the pocket clip and the flashlight. You can then easily remove the clip by sliding it over the plastic instead of the flashlight.

Thanks. I will try that. Me wife says her Minimag with Smjled makes her purse"too heavy". OH, come now, sez I. :laughing: and my Inova X1 is not enough lighter to tell the difference. Sooo, it looks like a Gerber I U is in the future. Of course, SHE gets one, and I get one for me, too. Hee hee.:thumbsup:

 

[eebowler]

lol sniper, I think you should keep your wife away from the ARC website.

 

[pizzaman]

Quote:"In addition:Quickbeam noted that removing the pocket clip will mar the light. Does anyone know if that problem has been solved?"

I just used a bit of silicone grease (used to lube O rings") and put a dab in the gap between the ears, then turned the clip a bit to get the lube underneath. I added a bit below the clip, then slid it right off. Not a scratch. Clean up the grease and enjoy.

TR

 

[Erasmus]

Great trick to remove the clip

I have not received an answer from Gerber Customer Support yet, I have sent my e-mail once more, they might not have received it since I have network problems.

 

[jsr]

I got both my Gerber IUs from REI (www.rei.com) during their sale. I tried one out first to see if I liked it, took it home, and liked it so much with the combination of quality feel, good output, and super smooth floody beam with still some hotspot that I went and picked up another one a day later. All the packages I saw had the BBT on it. I didn't know it was changed.
I remove the clip by grabbing it just behind the bend with a needle nose plier (using a piece of cloth helps to not scratch the clip...I've done it both w/ and w/o cloth, so my clip is slightly scratched, no biggie shake, it's just a clip) and pull up till you see the clip expand (it will start to lift away in various directions from the light). When it's expanded, I just slide the clip forward and past the head and it's off (while keeping the upward tension to keep the clip sides expanded). Pulling away might mar the finish, doing it this way, I don't get any finish damage and I've removed the clip about 3-5 times now.

 

[Erasmus]

So far no online store where I can get the CS version for sure Kevin from BatteryStation.com tells me he gets a fairly large shipment of these lights each month because he sells a lot of them. Maybe I can take the risk and buy one from him and hopefully be lucky and get a CS version. However, I'm still waiting on Gerbers answer on the question what difference the BBT packaging indicates.

 

[Hondo]

I bought my Gerber Infinity Ultra from Mountain Equipment Co-op in Vancouver, Canada, around four months ago - it came with the BBT logo on the packaging. They must be widely available to make it up here!

I don't have the older, non-BBT version, or indeed the CMG, to compare it to. However, I can compare it to a Dorcy 1AAA - older model, without the convex lens - and both have a similar output. The Dorcy is slightly brighter, tho' you think it's going to be a lot brighter until you use both of them side by side, which I think is because the Dorcy has a far warmer tint - the IU is quite a cool blue. However, light from the Dorcy is very ringy. I prefer the IU, which has a flawless beam.

I'm confused about this supposed update to the light, because the flashlightreviews.com figures, for the older model IU, put it at a bit below the Dorcy in terms of output. So the newer LED does not seem to make a huge difference, if it's still comparable to the Dorcy 1AAA. Perhaps this is why Gerber has not marketed the light as having been upgraded.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have bothered changing the LED, but that, IMO, it would not be worth replacing an older Gerber IU with the BBT version in the expectation of getting a great deal more light.

I'm pretty sure some of my older IU's had that BBT marking too, and it does not sound like that corresponds to the upgrade to the CS upgrade. An IU with a CS should blow away an unmodded Dorcy AAA. Sounds like Gerber is straight up saying there is no change in packaging to differentiate the latest stock.

I use the "yank" method on the clip, as described in this soon to be near-obsolete write-up:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/98568

No damage, just keep your thumb on the tip of the clip so it doesn't try to straighten out when you pull. I catch one edge first and sort of roll it open to near the widest point to reinstall, then snap it the rest of the way down.

Actually, I'm glad I can now start recommending these more highly without having to suggest modding them to get the most out of them. It will be harder, though, to get motivated to disassemble one just to polish the reflector, but it looks soooo cool!

Hondo

 

[Erasmus]

It will be harder, though, to get motivated to disassemble one just to polish the reflector, but it looks soooo cool!

Hondo

Can you post comparison beamshot comparing a polished reflector versus an unpolished one? What's the difference in beam output?

 

[eebowler]

Kevin from batterystation is very helpful. Maybe you can reaquest that he ships one of the BBT Gerbers to you.

I've polished my reflector. The difference isn't much. It intensifies the corona slightly and adds a ring of light in the middle of it. Sorry, no pics.

 

[greenLED]

Re: Gerber Infinity Ultra with Nichia CS LED?

so the BBT stamp on the packaging was ... an advertising gimic?

Yup. Unless they changed the circuit, which they probably won't acknowledge publically, of course. C'mon guys, open one up and post a pic, there's people out here who can tell you if the circuit is any different (chimo, robocop )

 

[Erasmus]

Apparently they don't want to tell me anything about what difference the BBT printing indicates. They simply don't answer my e-mails anymore, sad

 

[Hondo]

Can you post comparison beamshot comparing a polished reflector versus an unpolished one? What's the difference in beam output?

Sorry, but mine either have both the CS LED and polished reflector, or neither. And like eebowler said above, it is not a real big deal, most of the forward throw is accomplished by the LED lense. When I said it looks cool, I meant the flashlight, not the beam - although I have always liked to think it ads just a bit more "free" brightness to the light, as in at no cost to run-time. Most of all, I find the difference from LED to LED to be so significant, you would not be picking up the reflector contribution so much as the character of the individual LED's.

Hondo

 

[dental4usa]

OK, I'm lost here, being relatively new on the flashlight scene and all. Kevin shipped 2 of these out to me on Monday (8-1-06), and I received them yesterday. The packaging on both the white LED one and the red LED one both have the BBT. I have absolutely no idea how to tell if it has the Nichia CS LED or not.

 

[Erasmus]

OK, I'm lost here, being relatively new on the flashlight scene and all. Kevin shipped 2 of these out to me on Monday (8-1-06), and I received them yesterday. The packaging on both the white LED one and the red LED one both have the BBT. I have absolutely no idea how to tell if it has the Nichia CS LED or not.

There is no physical difference between the previous generation and the CS LEDs. The only way to check it is to compare it to other flashlights... Take some beamshot so others can help

 

[Hondo]

Your sig line does not show a good example that I could say it should be brighter than/similar to if it had a CS Nichia. It should be much brighter than a stock Dorcy AAA, old style, which is only $6 at Wallmart. If you can find one of those with a reflector instead of the newer "fish eye" magnifying lense, it would be worth grabbing, they are sometimes still found on the back of the hooks. Those are a bit brighter than the old LED IU's and nowhere near as good as an IU with a Nichia CS in it. But they rock with a CS in them, too, and are much easier to mod than the IU. A new IU should be a dead match for a new Inova X1, but those are $20 at Target. They do, however, work in the package at the store, so you can do a fair comparison without buying one. Those are going the opposite way of the Dorcy AAA, and the older ones have a magnifying lense, which is very hard to compare to the IU. But most of those older ones are gone now. If you see the domed LED through the clear lense, it is not a magnifier (same with Dorcy).

Hondo

 

[Erasmus]

This is the final reply of Gerber Customer Support on the question what difference the BBT print on the package means :

I've spoken to several individuals about this situation and all have come to the same conclusion. Retail outlets continue to have some of the older product and even some of the newer on their shelves. The packaging has not been modified to explain any modifications to the product at this time, however there are plans to change the packaging in the near future.

So the BBT print is actually marketing b*llsh*t, however you might find a IU with CS LED inside.

 

[NutSAK]

I suspected this might be the case.... They may have been b*llsh*tting about the Nichia CS just the same....

 

[lebox97]

why spend so much time and complication figuring this out? :shrug:

if you like the output on the one you get - great!
if you don't - swap out the LED to something better!
(it easy - a soldering iron and less than 5 minutes - and you can polish the reflector while your at it to make it better yet)

I personally don't like blue centered Nichia CS's :touche:

 

[jsr]

I still can't remove the head on my IU...dangit! Already tried it with a heatgun and twisting (grip-aided hands).

 

[Hondo]

Ooh boy, that epoxy they use does suck. Heat is the key, though, I use a heat gun as well. I prep the outside with multiple rubber bands looped around to build diameter and give grip. Leather gloves keep me from burning my hands as I keep upping the temp to defeat the glue. Last ditch I grab pliers with curved jaws, and an old piece of leather belt in the jaw, on top of the rubber bands. May the force be with you!

Hondo