Not much knowledge

[eaglemax]

Hi Guys

Could do with a little help for my day job for inspecting loft space.I do not require a high power light as our utility vans are all equipped with a Led Lenser P7.2 and Head Lamps as the standard toolkit.

My choice is down to a Fenix LD02 or Fenix E12 both of which seem ideal.Your user experience would be very gratefully received.

One thing please I am only interested in these two lights.

 

[jonnyfgroove]

Get the E12. The AA cell has about three times the capacity of the AAA so you will get much longer runtimes with only a slightly larger light.

 

[MX421]

My wife loved her E12 until she got an alkaleak stuck in it.

 

[light_noob]

I have had my Fenix E12 for a long time. It is a great light for a great price.

 

[Brasso]

Never use Alkaline's.

Lithium or NiMh only.

 

[eaglemax]

Never use Alkaline's.

Lithium or NiMh only.

What is wrong with Alkaline, please ? Our company buys bulk cases of AA...AAA for several battery devices around the works and for the tools like torch-laser distance equipment kept in our Utility vehicle,s.I have worked for them near on 18 years and have never known of a problem.Should I be telling my boss there is a danger ?

 

[Parrot Quack]

Inspecting loft spaces with a 100lm light. Just saying, a hundred lumen at thirty or forty feet, after being busted up by obstructions, ain't much light and a 130lm light ain't much better.

I won't give you anymore recommendations as you said you were only interest in these two lights but I spent a career crawling under and over living spaces and to get light to wrap around shadowy obstructions at thirty or forty feet, just saying, you need more than what you're asking about.

The best with your light hunt.

 

[eaglemax]

Inspecting loft spaces with a 100lm light. Just saying, a hundred lumen at thirty or forty feet, after being busted up by obstructions, ain't much light and a 130lm light ain't much better.

I won't give you any more recommendations as you said you only interested in these two lights but I spent a career crawling under and over living spaces and to get the light to wrap around shadowy obstructions at thirty or forty feet, just saying, you need more than what you're asking about.

The best with your light hunt.

Thanks for your information but the loft space is for domestic dwellings here in England and many are very small,need it to check whether the customer has adequate loft insulation,we have more powerful light in the van if needs are.When working in loft space we use mains operated lights and air fed respirator protection.

 

[Kudzu]

Alkaline cells aren't dangerous. They're just prone to leak and ruin things, especially if you leave drained cells in a light. If you're going through them rapidly there's less of an issue. They're also among the less efficient chemistries currently available. (FYI, a certain member will probably be along soon to insist that they're the best things in the world and never leak )

If you're buying your own light, I'd buy a pack of Eneloops and a charger for peace of mind.

Oh, and the E12 is great.

 

[Parrot Quack]

Thanks for your information but the loft space is for domestic dwellings here in England and many are very small,need it to check whether the customer has adequate loft insulation,we have more powerful light in the van if needs are.When working in loft space we use mains operated lights and air fed respirator protection.

Good luck.

 

[monkeyboy]

If you're using the light regularly and therefore changing batteries regularly, then the chances of an alkaline cell leaking out and ruining your light are non-existent. The real problem with alkaline is that it is unsuitable for high drain applications such as high powered flashlights. You end up getting a few minutes of bright light, followed by a long tail off of dim output.

Look at Energizer lithium AA/AAA or Sanyo/panasonic eneloop rechargeables.

 

[eaglemax]

If you're using the light regularly and therefore changing batteries regularly, then the chances of an alkaline cell leaking out and ruining your light are non-existent. The real problem with alkaline is that it is unsuitable for high drain applications such as high powered flashlights. You end up getting a few minutes of bright light, followed by a long tail off of dim output.

Look at Energizer lithium AA/AAA or Sanyo/panasonic eneloop rechargeables.

Thanks but we use a battery called Pro Cell and have been for years,they seem to last for ages,change them in laser distance finders fairly infrequently.The field staff has no facilities for battery chargers and as the company is buying 100+ lights Pro Cell will be fine thanks.

 

[BLUE LED]

I would choose the Fenix E12. You should get a good disount for that quantity.

 

[tops2]

I'd choose the E12 as well. Perfectly adequate light with a nice pure white.

 

[CelticCross74]

E12. Alkalines are okay but Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA's have twice the capacity and crank 1.5v until they flat out die. For your purposes no need to invest in expensive Eneloops and a charger. Store bought Alkalines and the Energizer Ultimate Lithiums are easily found everywhere

 

[Mobileschoney]

I like the E12 as well, just wish it had a clip. I still have two of them though. As for those darn Energizer Lithium Ultimate batteries I have one in my Maratac AAA and have been waiting for it to die so I can try an Eneloop in there but that darn Lithium Ultimate keeps going and going and going!

 

[monkeyboy]

Thanks but we use a battery called Pro Cell and have been for years,they seem to last for ages,change them in laser distance finders fairly infrequently.The field staff has no facilities for battery chargers and as the company is buying 100+ lights Pro Cell will be fine thanks.

Duracell Procell is pretty much the same thing as the regular store bought Duracell alkaline batteries. It will work with the Fenix E12, but it will dim down very quickly on high mode.

 

[MX421]

Never use Alkaline's.

Lithium or NiMh only.

Tell that to my wife. I didn't, but let the still not fixed light speak for itself. I shifted from alkalines a long time ago, but do have some outside of devices that will be used for emergency.

As for the OP, we also have alkalines provided to us here at work (although probably not as frequent). I usually take a few for emergencies, but would stick them in a device for awhile and leave them. Sounds like you are a frequent user though so should not be any issues.

 

[mcnair55]

Duracell Procell is pretty much the same thing as the regular store bought Duracell alkaline batteries. It will work with the Fenix E12, but it will dim down very quickly on high mode.

Indeed, they are Mr Monkeyboy but have you seen the price compared to retail Duracell,sold in a box of 10 for half the price of 4 in retail blisters.From the experience of selling batteries as part of my day job not one of my customers ever enquiries about rechargeable and I just sell them standard preferably in a box of 40.(Our company own brand not Duracell).

 

[KeepingItLight]

Did somebody ask what is wrong with alkalines?

This is a runtime chart for one of the flashlights you are considering.

As was pointed out above, the E12 starts out bright when running on an alkaline battery, but begins to slowly dim almost immediately. Compare that with the long period of nearly flat, continuous output you get when running a NiMH rechargeable. You can see why folks around here don't like alkalines.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that Eneloops don't make a gooey alkaline mess on the rare occasions when they do out-gas.