PeakLED Eiger 10180 (level 3) key chain flashlight - REVIEW

Ice

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Eiger 10180 Level 3 Review

The reviewed Eiger 10180 is a small (only 5.3cm long) key chain LED flashlight manufacured by PeakLED.

rev1eiger10180black24CTH.jpg


Note that Eigers are available in different configurations:

  • brightness configurations ranging from 12 to 100 lumens
  • battery compartements for different kinds of batteries:
    • one or two "normal" 1.5V-micro-batteries
    • 10280 lithium batteries (1/2 the length of a micro battery)
    • 10180 lithium batteries (1/3 the length of a micro battery) (used here!)
  • available colours: black (anodized aluminium), siler (stainless steel) or brass
  • three beam configurations ranging from wide to a narrow spot
  • two colours: warm and neutral white (warm white is rather yellow on my lights!!!)
  • with or without lug

Test configuration is a Level 3 light (20 lumen) with medium beam width using a 10180 lithium battery.

The light is a "simple" twisty with just one brightness stage.

The design is a little "old school", however I actually like it a lot! The only thing I personally would change is that the head is slightly larger than the body of the light, whioch somewhat interrupts the otherwise smooth lines… J
Actually that is the reason I never got interrested in the Lummi Wee (which also is about the same size), since there the body seems to be considerably larger than the head…

Also (as opposed to some other lights as the Draco) the Eiger has a centered lug on its end, so it should be great for neck chains (but of course it won't tail stand).

Built quality is (as far as I can tell) very good. The twisty is very accurate, the knurling is deep and provides a very good grip and the tolerances are minimal.

rev2eiger10180hand2HE1FQ.jpg


I like especially that the bezel turns quite hard and that there are at least two full turns necessary after the light has been switched off till the head will come of.
I also have a Draco light (which is similar in size even though it uses a slightly larger 10280 battery) and even though that one is somewhat more sofisticated I just can't use it, since the head nearly falls of by itself! I was constantly afraid to loose the head of the light!

Every Eiger light can run with different voltages, even though only a 10180 battery will fir in the tested configuration.
I did try to find some other battery or maybe a few coin cells that would fit as well, and whil I did find a few working configurations, all of those had some space left and none did really fit well. I think PeakLED should consider offering an additional body for e.g. 3 coin cells.

Unfortunately the light seems to be not regulated, but since lithium batteries have a rather flat discharge curve that is not really a problem:

rev3runtimeplot2eiger10180level3IWD3Y.jpg


As you can see, the level 3 Eiger takes about 3 minutes to 90% of its initial brightness and another 10 minutes to 80%. It provides usable light for about 1 hour. At that point the 10180 battery measured about 3.4V (which is far from the 3 Volts that are said to indicate over discharge.)

I measured a curent of 70mA on one of my Level 3 heads and 80mA on the other (at 4V battery voltage), so runtime is consistent with a standard 10180 battery advertised at about 100mAh.

The body did get slightly warm to the touch, but really far less than I expected, so heat should definitely not be an issue!

Measurements (brightness, power consumption and efficiency/efficacy):

An Arc-AAA Premium is said to have about 11 lumens and I measured a current of 240mA at about 1.6V, meaning a power consumption of about 0.38W.
A LedLenser V9 Micro draws about 60mA at 6V meaning a power consumption of 0.36W (or about the same as the Arc-AAA).
The Eiger 10180 draws about 80mA at 4V meaning a power consumption of 0.32W (a little less than the other two).
Nevetheless the Eiger seems to be a little brighter (with equal throw but more spill) and if PeakLED tells the truth it should put out about 15 lumens at 80mA.
And finally I measured the well known Fenix LD01-Q5 (middle brightness setting) at about 0,4A at 1,5V meaning a power consumption of 0,6W while putting out 27 lumen (according to Fenix so take that with caution!).
If that holds true (which I believe) the Arc-AAA has an efficiency of 30 lumen/W whereas the Eiger has an efficiency of about 45 lumen/W (as does the Fenix), meaning that the Eiger has about a 50% higher efficiency compared to the rather famous Arc-AAA and is about equally efficient as the Fenix LD01 with a Q5 LED.

One final word about the beam colour:
I ordered two warm white heads and one of them is just great but the other one is too yellow and even a little green to me. I ordered a neutral white head Level 4 by now, which should be the ideal light to me!

Conclusion:

The Eiger is not the perfect light, it could need better regulation and actually the head could be a little smaller, too.
However I am not aware of any light that fulfills its purpose anywherer near as good as the Eiger!
In my oppinion the two other lights that are similar in size (Drake and Lummi Wee) have quite some disadvantages (complicate to operate, head too loose, no center lug or just not designed as I like it), and larger AAA lights like the Fenix LD01, the Liteflux LF2X or even the Arc-AAA are just too large for me to put on my key chain.

So for me the Eiger 10180 is THE key chain flashlight!!!

The worst thing about theese lights was that I had to wait a few weeks for the delivery. Boy, that was hard... :mecry: :D

Copyright C. Krebs​



PS: Sorry I posted here and not in the review subforum, but somehow that didn't work. Feel free to move this thread!
 
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Ice

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Great review!
Thank you! Actually all those technical terms were not easy for someone whose first language is not English, but I did my best... :)

What beam configurations did you choose, and what is your impression of the beam characteristics other than tint?
The beam is absolutely flawless, no rings at all.
The Eigers use an orange peel reflector which might cost a few percent brightness but if you're a "white wall hunter" that light is definitely the way you want it! :D
Both my lights have the medium beam angle. With this the lights have no real hot spot, the brightness diminishes gradually and almost linearly from the center to the edges.

Edit: You might also want to have a look at RobynS nice beam shots here!
 
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Zeruel

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The Eiger is not the perfect light, it could need better regulation and actually the head could be a little smaller, too.

Actually, there's a smaller head for the wider beam head.

lugn.jpg
 
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Ice

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Interesting! Is this head only shorter or also a little less in diameter?
In the picture it looks like it's got exactly the same diameter as the Eiger body!?!
 

KeyGrip

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Very nice review and pictures! The Eiger is the first light in a long time that has made me seriously consider replacing my Arc on my keychain. The only thing stopping me is choosing the configuration.
 

defloyd77

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The Eigers use an orange peel reflector which might cost a few percent brightness but if you're a "white wall hunter" that light is definitely the way you want it! :D
Both my lights have the medium beam angle.

Orange peel reflector? Did they stop using the frosted optics for the mediums?
 

Ice

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Orange peel reflector? Did they stop using the frosted optics for the mediums?
I did have a closer look, and what seemed to be an orange peel reflector might in fact be a window with a fine honeycomb pattern. Thanks for the hint! :)
 

Zeruel

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Interesting! Is this head only shorter or also a little less in diameter?
In the picture it looks like it's got exactly the same diameter as the Eiger body!?!

It's the same diameter, but the height is halved. :)
 

gorn

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I have carried a 3 LED Matterhorn with the 10180 body for years. Love it. I also have a Wee that is a superb light but the total flood beam of it isn't my favorite.

peak10180.jpg
 

bedazzLED

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Just one quick question.

What charger do you use to charge the 10180 batteries?

I've just purchased one of these (currently in the mail) and am having all types of fun trying to find out what charger to use.

I purchased the 10180 batteries from Lighthound.com. I noticed that the Lummi Wee uses 10180 batteries and they use the Nano charger, but there are two versions, 3.7 and 3.0 volt.

I ended up getting the 3.0 volt charger but was curious what you use.

Regards,
bedazzLED.
 

Ice

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Just one quick question.

What charger do you use to charge the 10180 batteries?

Good question! :D

Actually there are a few lithium-chargers out there, e.g. the nano charger or the one from ultrafire.
However most of them provide quite a lot of current, since they are meant for larger AAA size lithium batteries!

The nano uses a rather low current of around 100mA which should be fine, but unfortunately it seems harder and harder to get. Luckily I still managed to get one from lighthound. :)

Anyway I'm rather sure you should have gotten the 3.7V version instead of the 3.0V one! (Sorry to say that!)
Those 10180 lithium batteries reach up to 4.2V when fully charged so 3.0V seems awfully low.
Also I have used the 3.7V version several times so far and it did exactly what it should do, the cells came out with about 4.1V when the green light came on, which is quite ideal...
I believe the 3.0V version is for those "fat" CR123 rechargeable batteries that max out at 3.0V?!
Please feel free to correct me everyone!!!
And you can give yours a try anyway! Do you happen to have a volt meter to check the battery afterwards???

Also there are quite a few lithium coin cell chargers which use very low currents (30mA), but you would have to solder on a few cables to make them suitable for the 10180 size.

If you use any charger, you should not leave it unatended and check if the batteries get too hot!
You should wait till the cells are charged and take them out of the charger thereafter!
 
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Ice

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One more thing:
I really tried hard to find out something about the self discharge rate of those 10180 batteries, without much success!

My findings range from "neglible" to "less than 2% per month (!)" (or about 20% a year), which is awfully much in my oppinion!.
Also some said it would loose 10 percent in the first few days and afterwards 1% per month.

Can anybody shed some light :D on this matter?!?

Or does anybody know something about the chemistry used in those 10180 batteries (lithium-ion, lithium polymer or something else)? That would help a lot in finding further information!!!!!!
:poke:
 

Dances with Flashlight

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I am not aware of any 10180's that are not LiIon. From my experience with 10180 Eigers the self discharge rate seems to be insignificant for all practical purposes, though I have not attempted to measure it.

There are other threads on the charging of these batteries. It would be best to do a quick search and review all that's been contributed by others because there are some decent options for charging. I still use a coin-cell charger which offers a proper charging rate and which, though serviceable, really is less than ideal.

Despite battery and charging issues, the 10180 Eiger remains one of my favorite lights - because it's so beautifully made, and because it's incredibly small yet very capable.

ScratchandhisEDC.jpg


Scratch & his 10180 Eiger

 
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Ice

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@ Dances with Flashlight: Great picture! :D
@ Zeruel: Thanks for the information!

A little update:
Today I got my level 4 head and it draws a current of a little over 100mA at 4V, which is quite what I expected!
Also the neutral white colour is great, so this kind of head is definitely my most favourite.
Well, at least till I'll try a level 5 head sometime. Sometime soon I guess... :whistle: :D

Edit: I'm still searching for more information on 10180 cell cehmistry and/or self discharge rates... :(
 
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RAGE CAGE

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nice review. The shorter head was originally for the wide output only- I had an HA one on a 10440 body- power level 8 cool tint- the spill was friggin amazing!

Shorther head was definately an advantage.
this was the SS medium optic with knurled 10440 ss body
th_DSCN3064.jpg


this was the wide optic prior to Curt making the metal press fit trim rings- this light had spill like no other AAA form factor light I ever owned.
th_DSCN2801.jpg


wide optic above beamshot
th_DSCN2813.jpg


testing aparatus at 50 ft.
th_DSCN2816.jpg


peak baltic luxeon for comparison
th_DSCN2814.jpg
 
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ElectronGuru

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This thing is way better than the 123 it replaces:


ff8mtf.jpg


The medium with level 6 is intense. Even with the 50 minute runtime, I would go with a level 4 or 5 next time.

Very well built. This is the pocket light to have.
 
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