life gear 1000 lumen 6 c-cell from Costco $100

[FlashCrazy]

...I'm part of the 1% (on CPF) who actually has respect for LED Lenser/Coast lights...

Me too, at least many of their models. Some of you may remember I used to mod the Coast "Hokus Focus" with a SSC P4, and sold them here. The HP550 is essentially a BIG BIG brother to it, with that same wonderful beam...and WAY brighter!

For those in the Sacramento area, the Folsom store just got the HP550's in. Picked one up today, the first one to sell there! I had to ask them at the front desk, and after 20 minutes of searching they were located by the stock guys in the back. They're not on the floor yet, but they're there! Awesome light for the money. Can't complain for the price, but it would've been great if it had a side switch, and no SOS mode. Mode memory would be nice too, but at least it has a forward clicky. It reverts back to high mode after being off for 5 seconds.

 

[JohnnyBravo]

Well, looks like the Rancho Cordova Costco finally got them in 2 days ago. My math tells me that 3D Duracells would be about 45,000 mAH. And 9 Duracell AAs is about 25,650 mAH. Had Coast gone the 3D way, I'd be more excited about buying one. I may still get one, but does anyone have a good theory as to why they went w/ 9 in a carrier?

 

[right-aileron]

Well, looks like the Rancho Cordova Costco finally got them in 2 days ago. My math tells me that 3D Duracells would be about 45,000 mAH. And 9 Duracell AAs is about 25,650 mAH. Had Coast gone the 3D way, I'd be more excited about buying one. I may still get one, but does anyone have a good theory as to why they went w/ 9 in a carrier?

Must be a voltage issue - I suspect 12-13.5v works better than 4.5v even if there's less wattage. An engineer/electrical techie will chime in and set us straight!

 

[dusty99]

Coast light from Costco

I tried out a dozen or so of the 1000L Coast sliding head lights today and saw bad beams, donuts, green tinge, etc. For the money it's still a decent deal, and if I didn't have a TK41 I might have gotten one, but beam shape and color weren't nearly as good as the Fenix.

 

[StudFreeman]

Must be a voltage issue - I suspect 12-13.5v works better than 4.5v even if there's less wattage. An engineer/electrical techie will chime in and set us straight!

If the battery carrier is wired 3Series-3Parallel then the voltage should be 3.6-4.5V depending on state of charge, capacity is the same as 3P AAs (1.2-1.5V and ~3x3000mAH at low drain).

 

[LEDmodMan]

I picked up a couple of these HP550's today. Pretty good deal overall IMHO, all things considered. :thumbsup: I went through the 7 remaining boxes worth of the lights they had on hand (~40 of em) at my local store and cherry-picked the two best ones. Some do indeed have a slight greenish tint, and some don't focus as well as others, so if you are as anal as I am, you will need to go through quite a few in order to be happy. :sick2:

I will confirm with 100% certainty that the battery carrier is wired in a 3-serial, 3-parallel configuration. I have already disassembled the battery cassette, and it is a neat trick that they've done so that the cassette can be inserted into the light in either direction. Rather simple design really, but cool nontheless. I have also confirmed that with this 3s3p design, you can run the light on only 3 or 6 batteries if necessary. However, I would NOT want to push 3 AA's that hard (on high) unless you really had to, but it should be fine to use on low that way. If I get some free time tomorrow, I'll try to take current measurements with only 3 and 6 batteries installed, along with 9 as well to see what we might be expected to get out the front end.

As to why they chose to use a 3s3p 9xAA configuration versus a single stack of 3 C or D cells, the answer is simply that a single stack of 3 alkaline cells just can't push the nearly 3 Amps (or more appropriately, ~10 Watts) the LED is asking for and be expected to survive. :duh2: Yes, there are certainly NiMH cells out there which will push 5 Amps happily without breaking a sweat (I still LOVE some of the old hotwire mag mods we used to build around here), but the everyday consumer can't be expected to have those on hand. The extra runtime of D cells would have been nice, but we would have had to live with something like ~750 (emitter) lumens instead of the ~1,000 quoted. I thought it might be interesting to see if 3 C-cells would fit and be made to work, but they're pretty loose in the body and would require a significant spacer of some sort to work, not to mention something creative would need to be done to make them work with the design of the positive and negative terminal design of the light.

Anyway, pretty good light for the money all things considered, and the unwashed masses who happen to pick one up just because Costco has them don't have the slightest clue what they're really getting. oo: Back 8-10 years ago we used to talk about the day when you could pick up reasonably well-made, super-bright LED lights at the local B&M stores for relatively little money, and I certainly think those days have arrived. I very much look forward to what advancements the next decade will bring.

PS - I also bought a pack of 10 Eneloops on sale for ~$15, with the specific internetion to use them in this light. I will top them off and try to check them out tomorrow evening.

 

[dusty99]

If I had your patience, maybe I would have found one good enough to buy! ;-) And I agree that the 10-pack eneloop deal is great. Enjoy them!

 

[mikekoz]

Must be a voltage issue - I suspect 12-13.5v works better than 4.5v even if there's less wattage. An engineer/electrical techie will chime in and set us straight!

The batteries are configured so when they are in the pack, they become a 3.6 or a 4.5 volt cell, depending on what type of batteries you use. I am using 9 2000 Mah NIMH cells in mine, and that becomes the equivalent to a 3.6v 6000 Mah battery pack. It will actually test as about 4.2 volt after the batteries are fully charged.

 

[JohnnyBravo]

Ah ha, thanks LEDmodMan. The amperage/pull issue w/ alki D cells. That part slipped my mind. I was solely thinking of capacity/mAh. I might just get one anyway, and some of those $15.99 10-pack AA Eneloops - they ought to handle the drain just fine eh?

I picked up a couple of these HP550's today. Pretty good deal overall IMHO, all things considered. :thumbsup: I went through the 7 remaining boxes worth of the lights they had on hand (~40 of em) at my local store and cherry-picked the two best ones. Some do indeed have a slight greenish tint, and some don't focus as well as others, so if you are as anal as I am, you will need to go through quite a few in order to be happy. :sick2:

I will confirm with 100% certainty that the battery carrier is wired in a 3-serial, 3-parallel configuration. I have already disassembled the battery cassette, and it is a neat trick that they've done so that the cassette can be inserted into the light in either direction. Rather simple design really, but cool nontheless. I have also confirmed that with this 3s3p design, you can run the light on only 3 or 6 batteries if necessary. However, I would NOT want to push 3 AA's that hard (on high) unless you really had to, but it should be fine to use on low that way. If I get some free time tomorrow, I'll try to take current measurements with only 3 and 6 batteries installed, along with 9 as well to see what we might be expected to get out the front end.

As to why they chose to use a 3s3p 9xAA configuration versus a single stack of 3 C or D cells, the answer is simply that a single stack of 3 alkaline cells just can't push the nearly 3 Amps (or more appropriately, ~10 Watts) the LED is asking for and be expected to survive. :duh2: Yes, there are certainly NiMH cells out there which will push 5 Amps happily without breaking a sweat (I still LOVE some of the old hotwire mag mods we used to build around here), but the everyday consumer can't be expected to have those on hand. The extra runtime of D cells would have been nice, but we would have had to live with something like ~750 (emitter) lumens instead of the ~1,000 quoted. I thought it might be interesting to see if 3 C-cells would fit and be made to work, but they're pretty loose in the body and would require a significant spacer of some sort to work, not to mention something creative would need to be done to make them work with the design of the positive and negative terminal design of the light.

Anyway, pretty good light for the money all things considered, and the unwashed masses who happen to pick one up just because Costco has them don't have the slightest clue what they're really getting. oo: Back 8-10 years ago we used to talk about the day when you could pick up reasonably well-made, super-bright LED lights at the local B&M stores for relatively little money, and I certainly think those days have arrived. I very much look forward to what advancements the next decade will bring.

PS - I also bought a pack of 10 Eneloops on sale for ~$15, with the specific internetion to use them in this light. I will top them off and try to check them out tomorrow evening.

 

[Turbo DV8]

So many thoughtful, technical theories why they went the way of the battery carrier instead of D cells. Sometimes I think maybe the reason is as simple as Coast has a fetish for battery carriers, nothing more.

One thought on the choice of 9 AA cells instead of D cells... When I was going through the 40 or so lights in the store, shining them on the ceiling, it attracted a lot of inquiries from customers. "Really bright" came up many times. What is interesting, though, is when I mentioned it takes 9 AA cells, there was a unanimous negative response. And if they had been holding one of the packages contemplating a purchase, they put it back down after I said it takes 9 AA cells. More than one took that into consideration along with the 2+ hour run time, did the math , and decided not to buy it. Out of about 15 or so customers who talked to me, only one person actually walked away with a package in his hand, along with a triple-pack of cheap headlamps. Only problem there was that when I left, both items had been abandoned 20 feet down the aisle. Hope Coast didn't shoot themselves with the 9 AA thing. It's one thing to ask an Average Joe customer to load a three or even four cell carrier, but nine? With a 2+ hour run time? I dunno. We'll see.

I checked out 35 or so lights in the store on the white ceiling, and not a single one had anything suggesting even a tinge of green tint. If anything, the lights I tried still leaned ever so slightly toward Coast's usual cool tints, but not as bad as my P14. It was interesting to compare to my P14. I am wondering if the lens itself affects tint, because the tints change between flood and spot. On my P14, it has a cool tint on spot, but gets warmer at the flood end. But on my 550's, the spot is warmer, but gets cooler (violet) as it goes to flood. The P14 lens does a much "better" job of concentrating the beam than the HP550, in that the P14 has absolutely no spill, whereas the HP550 has quite a bit. That's not all bad, as the HP550 certainly has enough light output to spare for spill, but I shudder to think how this thing could have thrown if it had a lens concentration like that on the P14. Also, FWIW, when I do a ceiling bounce with the P14 and slowly go from spot to flood, there is no perceptible change in light output. But with the HP550 in a ceiling bounce, there are definite fluctuations in light output between spot and flood, so there are some inefficiencies in the emitter/lens combination in the HP550.

Regarding the low level, I actually think low is on the bright side, but that's all matter of personal taste and usage. My P7 and P14 had an even lower low, and it is very nice to be able to use it on low close without affecting one's night vision. Cops might particularly find it useful to be able to use it on low in flood mode to write notes and tickets without ruining night vision. The low on the HP550 on flood would be a bit bright for that.

 

[StorminMatt]

As to why they chose to use a 3s3p 9xAA configuration versus a single stack of 3 C or D cells, the answer is simply that a single stack of 3 alkaline cells just can't push the nearly 3 Amps (or more appropriately, ~10 Watts) the LED is asking for and be expected to survive. :duh2: Yes, there are certainly NiMH cells out there which will push 5 Amps happily without breaking a sweat (I still LOVE some of the old hotwire mag mods we used to build around here), but the everyday consumer can't be expected to have those on hand. The extra runtime of D cells would have been nice, but we would have had to live with something like ~750 (emitter) lumens instead of the ~1,000 quoted. I thought it might be interesting to see if 3 C-cells would fit and be made to work, but they're pretty loose in the body and would require a significant spacer of some sort to work, not to mention something creative would need to be done to make them work with the design of the positive and negative terminal design of the light.

Good point. I guess I forget that, while NiMH D batteries have both higher capacity and lower internal resistance than NiMH AA batteries, going from a AA to a D alkaline gets you higher capacity with about the same internal resistance. So 9 AA alkaline batteries will DEFINITELY supply more current than 3 D batteries. Speaking of using D batteries in the HP550, Coast basically already makes something similar with the HP17. However, this 3D XM-L light only produces 615 lumens. It will be interesting to see whether they upgrade the LED in this light now that the HP550 is out. On the other hand, given Coast's tendency to push alkaline batteries HARD, I wouldn't be too surprised if the output of the HP17 was higher with NiMH batteries.

As for the 'low' setting, I also find that it's too low. Because I tend to use my lights mainly for night hiking, I would have preferred a low in the 100-200 lumen range. This would still give me enough light to see well on the trail while extending battery life. Even the Coast HP17 puts out 64 lumens on low. But 40? That's like trying to find your way through the woods with an old, 3D incandescent Maglite (doable back in the day, but I expect more at the end of 2012). Another (probably better) option would be to keep the 40 lumen low, do away with the strobe, and have a 200 lumen medium.

 

[MIKES250R]

Just picked up my HP550 today. I too picked thru several looking for a tighter beam or one with less artifacts. All seemed to have a pretty neutral tint not to green or blue at all. One thing I noticed is that there is quite a bit of beam distortion as I was shining the light thru the plastic packaging. Once out of the package the beam is fairly smooth and free of artifacts, there is some donut effects when transitioning from flood to spot but not too bad. Intial testing in my basement is very encouraging. Output is strong but I doubt it is pushing 1000 lumens-maybe close though. I am curious as to what emitter Coast used in this torch? The hotspot is a little large for my liking, however, the flood feature is way cool. It puts out a wall of light. I can't wait to test it outside tonight and see how it throws. Quality seems above average for a light in this price range although I have not inspected the battery carrier. So far I think this is a a heck of a deal and I am very excited about this light, and a new light hasn't inspired me in quite sometime. I may get another for my dad for Christmas. I will keep you guys posted.

 

[dc38]

If possible...anybody care to compare the hp550 to the lenser x21? 2 similar class lights with similar outputs...with a huge price difference.

 

[LEDmodMan]

Sorry I haven't gotten around to getting current measurements yet. I've been busy, then had the flu for 5 days. :green:

Hopefully I can get around to it this weekend. I'd like to add that I'm pretty impressed by this light thus far. oo: It easily goes from nice, large spot with good spill, to wall-o-light flood mode.

 

[mets1p]

Dang I'm jealous and disappointed at the same time...I've called and visited a few Costco's down here in So. Florida and have been told it's a discontinued item but the person on the phone tells me they've never had the item in the store !!! So I ask the obvious how can that be ??? Silence on the other end and no answer of course LOL....so I'm left wondering if we are going to be left out of this wonderful deal for some odd reason or is going to be a case of us getting them much later then everyone else.....heck I was told they have them In GA, Tenn. and the Carolina's but NONE in the state of Florida...if anyone has any insight as to when they'll become available, if ever, down my way I would appreciate a post or private email. Thanks.

 

[MIKES250R]

Mets1p ,

If you want I can send you one. You can pay pal me the price including tax and shipping and I can get it for you next week. I really like mine. Output is quite impressive. I really like the flood feature. The spot is good too, really big hotspot at 100 yards with tremendous output.Takes a lot of AA's though. I have a charger and bought a set of Enloops for $15 to go with it. Let me know.

Mike

 

[wdkingery]

all this and my costco neber had them..:-(

 

[mets1p]

MIKES250R,


Thanks for the offer and I might take you up on it. I want to wait a few more weeks and see if we're lucky enough to get some. I know I'm taking a chance by doing so because everyone else may be sold out by then but it's a chance I have to take right now. Thanks again for the offer !

 

[Canuke]

Turbo: The emitter Is closest to the lens in flood mode, and pulls back from it when zooming into spot mode. I'm not exactly sure how, but when the light is in flood mode, the light emitted to the side -- which also tends to be significantly tint-shifted towards the yellow -- is lost; AFAICT it is simply lost in the black housing. When zoomed in, that light is captured and it forms the hotspot. As a result, spot mode has both a bit more light, and is also a bit less blue overall, than flood mode.

 

[violatorjf]

I bought a Coast HP550 the other day at Costco. Initially my main complaint was the tailcap switch. The light is just too big in the hand to comfortably use the tailcap switch like you would with a smaller 2AA style light. Also after getting my Nitecore EA4 my thoughts of the HP550 have dropped even more, for the following reasons...

- EA4 is rated at 860lm on turbo and the HP550 is rated at 1,000lm on high, yet it appears the EA4 is slightly brighter than the HP550 - so the 1,000lm claim is probably a couple hundred lumens off?
- the HP550 takes 9AA's and the EA4 only takes 4AA's - it's also less than half the size
- the EA4 was only about $10 more and considering it's available for sale online it's much easier for anyone in the world to get than finding a Costco or buying one online at an inflated price

The only reason I still have the HP550 is the flood mode. As some said, it does create a wall o' light, it's pretty neat. My backyard is about 45' x 45' and it literally lights up every square inch of it from my back door. The quality seems good so if it had a side mounted switch my rating would go from a 6/10 to a 8/10.