Foursevens Preon P0

[gbelleh]

I received my P0 today, and I have to say, I'm very pleased with it. Some initial impressions:
The tint is just fine on mine. Pretty much white with a touch of blue, and a yellow/greenish ring around the very edge of the beam. Not bad at all.

I was concerned about using it as a keychain light because of the magnet, sticking all over things on my keychain, or in my pockets. But, I'm happy to say, that won't be a problem. The very first time I stuck the magnet to something, the magnet stayed put, and the light just pulled right off (and I happily set the magnet aside where it will stay).

This light is very small, and puts out a useful amount of floody light for navigating at night. But, being so floody, it might not be as useful in partially lit areas where a hotspot (or throw) is useful. Because of the huge flood, it actually appears quite a bit dimmer than I expected. IMO, the hotspot of a Fenix E05, or Preon ReVo, is more useful in dimly lit situations, but the E05 is too bright for fully dark adapted eyes. The available low mode on the P0 seems very suitable for navigating a completely dark house with fully dark adapted eyes (I'll try it tonight). I plan to use the P0 as a keychain light for a while and see if the floody light is bright enough for EDC type situations. The intensity of the beam trails off very quickly, and I think I might prefer something with a more definite hotspot in most dimly lit settings.

I also like the GITD reflector. I'm not sure how long it will glow yet, but I will try using it as my nightstand light for a while instead of my tritium equipped Wee. This is where I expect the P0 to really excel, with its floody, low, and GITD reflector.

The main criticism I have, is the threads were kind of gritty and crunchy out of the box. I'm sure re-lubing them will help. They're starting to smooth out a bit now, but I was getting some unwanted mode changes the first few times I twisted it on/off. That seems to be going away.

Overall, it's a very nice little light. It looks good, it's small and lightweight, and seems quite versatile, as long as you're ok with all flood.

Here's a crummy size comparison picture:

[MCN]

I returned my first P0 because of the flaky switching. Today I received the replacement and it's just as bad. It's going back for a refund. I'm sorry but this light is not ready for prime time. I know from private communications that I am not the only one extremely disappointed with it for the same reason. It's got many wonderful aspects, but turning on reliably is not one of them.

[Streamer]

I wonder. What are the odds of getting 2 "flaky switching" ones and in addition "private communications" ?

food for thought...

[Got Lumens?]

I wonder. What are the odds of getting 2 "flaky switching" ones and in addition "private communications" ?

food for thought...

The odds are just that the odds . . .
Private communcations, well they are priceless
Patience, the wheels are turning. Your posts have not fallen on deaf ears
I too have a second one coming.
GL

[dandism]

... By the way the P0's magnet is press fit so it should never ever fall out.

... The very first time I stuck the magnet to something, the magnet stayed put, and the light just pulled right off (and I happily set the magnet aside where it will stay)...

[pjandyho]

Even though I have ordered and is awaiting the arrival of my P0, I don't feel as excited about it as most of you here. I really love my neutral white SS ReVO and it works and looks great on my keychain. 9 months of EDC with my coins and keys and hardly a single scratch on it. I ordered the P0 now just to see what it is like and to decide if I should buy a few more as gifts for my clients.

[Streamer]

I wish my magnet would come out so I could apply a drop of super glue.
I give up trying for now.

[AlphaZen]

I wish my magnet would come out so I could apply a drop of super glue.
I give up trying for now.

You want it to come out, so you can make sure it won't come out, but it won't come out?
It is funny that David said it should never ever come out, and two members in this thread have already had that happen.

[4sevens]

You want it to come out, so you can make sure it won't come out, but it won't come out?
It is funny that David said it should never ever come out, and two members in this thread have already had that happen.

I'll need to look into this. The reason why we chose to press fit is that it SHOULD never come out. It may be possible that during the press fitting some of the chrome coating on the magnets flaked off thus reducing the diameter of the magnet. Another thing we ran into was the magnet diameters would vary greatly. The hole for the magnet was machined to precision and is consistently the same size but then the magnets we sourced would not be consistent.

Edited to comply with forum policies

[tbenedict]

I need to try one of these. I bet a little makeshift tube slipped on the head might be an easy way to narrow the beam for "covert" use.

[Mr460mag]

Got mine today and it looks good. Threads are a bit gritty, but with some lubrication and time, I think they will be fine. I have been EDC`ing the Fenix E05 and love the beam. Maybe the preon 0 is a bit to floody, but I have to test it some more. There is a big chance this will be my new EDC. The biggest problem was that there is no spare O-ring, and the one on the light was broken.

[Flying Turtle]

After re-pressing the magnet on mine it hasn't tried to come out again. I'm sure just a wee bit of superglue around the edge of the magnet would assure it stayed put. I'll be doing that eventually.

Geoff

[sassaquin]

Got mine today and it looks good. The biggest problem was that there is no spare O-ring, and the one on the light was broken.

A few days ago, I emailed 4Sevens Customer Service requesting back-up spare O-Rings and was told "There are no spares currently available at this time, but if the light is maintained properly, these rings should last quite a long time. When yours does break, please contact us for a replacement."

[AlphaZen]

I'll need to look into this. The reason why we chose to press fit is that it SHOULD never come out. It may be possible that during the press fitting some of the chrome coating on the magnets flaked off thus reducing the diameter of the magnet. Another thing we ran into was the magnet diameters would vary greatly. The hole for the magnet was machined to precision and is consistently the same size but then the magnets we sourced would not be consistent.

Regardless, if you have any issues our customer service department will make it right

Thanks for the reply. I apologize if I sounded surly in my previous post.

[Shooter21]

i completed a runtime test for the P0 on a duracell alk and i got a little more than 2 hours before the output dropped so in total i got about 13 or so hours before it died.

[this_is_nascar]

I purchased (2) of these lights and received them the other day. It's my 1st flashlight related purchase in quite some time. My last last purchase was either an E05 or Revo, I can't recall. Anyway, 2-lights, 2-days later, 2-complete O-Ring failures. Now I've just read above that there are no spares available. If memory serves, every other light I've ever purchased from 4Sevens came with a spare O-Ring and by the way, I've never needed to use the spare. While I'm here, I might as well comment on the P0 light. Personally, I could take it or leave it really. It doesn't fill any gaps of my E05 or Revo. Considering the differences between low and high, the low is set to low. The spill/flood of this light is too much in my opinion. It's so broad, this light is pretty much useless if there's any existing ambient light. There's been a debate as to what's causing the tint, but I don't care what's causing it, it simply is horrible. This reminds me of the yellowish/greenish tint that was expected several years ago. The magnet gimmick and the GITD coating gimmick doesn't do anything to excite me. The GITD doesn't last for more than a couple minutes and the magnet is more of a pain in the a** than anything else. To end on a positive, the size is great and the cost isn't bad either. That's still doesn't change the fact that I have 2-brand new lights here that have a complete O-Ring failure with no replacements available.

[davidt1]

this is nascar,

Thanks for the mini review. It sounds like the beam of this light might be even bigger than that of the Zebralight H501. The problem of a pure flood beam is the bigger the beam the dimmer the light. This light, I think, holds the record of being the smallest AAA light. I can't wait to buy version 2 should 4Sevens improve on it later.

[Streamer]

this is nascar: If I felt about it like you, I'd post the same. Get the right tool for the job. The P0 has it's own agenda.

[ragweed]

I think David is getting taken advantage of with the company producing these lights. I guess I will pass on this one & just get another Revo from 4Sevens. I wonder if the Revo is made by a different company??

[jorn]

I think David is getting taken advantage of with the company producing these lights. I guess I will pass on this one & just get another Revo from 4Sevens. I wonder if the Revo is made by a different company??

The revo is discontinued.

The DQG chews o-rings like it's cookies, and you can buy 10 packs of o-rings for them. The lights are ~same size, i bet the o-rings fit. Can check when my P0 arrives.
A fix for the DQG is to unsharpen the threads closest to the o-ring a bit, use some fine sandpaper. Dunno if something like this is needed for the p0, if pepole are shredding o-rings, then maby.

[RedForest UK]

Ok I got mine today. My impressions are that the design is nice, and that if it genuinely wasn't 'inspired' by the DQG it is well thought out/designed so credit to them for that.

Unfortunately QC wasn't the best, acceptable I suppose for $25 yes but not impressive. On mine the LED appeared off-centre as the rubber GITD ring was wonky perhaps and there was some very thin black strands of something and other small particles of dust behind the lense. On the plus side the machining and finish is very good, and I have had no magnet or O-ring problems. Beam pattern and mode levels are based on opinion so I won't comment on them as a positive or negative.

There is a small foam ring to protect the back of the electronics by the way so no need to worry about that.

Anyway it was very easy to dissasemble, no glue on the threads at all. So I did that and removed any debris behind the lense and as the GITD ring is silicone or some other easily bent material I tucked a bit of the centre circle behind each corner of the XP-E's ceramic base and now it fits snugly and looks well-centred with all the LED and it's base showing which is a plus for me as I like the look of the square base on all XP/XM series LEDs.

The one real problem I'm having is it's behaviour on eneloops, it seems fine on primary cells but with eneloops if I tighten slightly after it's already lit up the light goes off again and sometimes flickers on and off.

Also, more worryingly, around 50% of the time the light will not turn on when tightened (using eneloops) and the top of the head heats up to almost burning hot very fast with no light at all so I think that it somehow short-circuits. I'm thinking this must be due to the physical sizes of the eneloops as it doesn't happen with energizer lithium, alkaline or zinc-carbon ones I've got lying around even if over-tightened. Still it is worrying.. Has anyone else experienced this at all?

Ok, now over tightening seems no problem even with eneloops but I still get the short-circuit with them around 50% of the time. This is weird as it seems to depend on the battery's orientation in the tube as it can turn on/off 20 or more times no problem but then if removed and replaced next time it will only short-circuit and refuse to light up.

[GuyZero]

Unfortunately I have to agree with This_Is_Nascar's general thoughts. I love the wide, smooth, flood beam on my Zebralight Headlamp, but a flashlight serves a different purpose and needs more focus. I absolutely love the beam of my E05 and I think it's about perfect for an AAA EDC; a large, smooth hotspot that will still throw out 10-15 feet in front of you. But I don't EDC it because it doesn't have a long-running low mode, and I want that capability in case I find myself in an extended emergency situation. So for now my Revo is me EDC.

I know it's important to differentiate your products, and the premium flashlight market is already fairly crowded. But I would have bought a bunch of P0's and given them to my whole family if they were basically the same but had a beam more like the E05.

That said, the P0 is tiny, affordable, tiny, attractive, has the versatility of multiple modes while still remaining very simple to use, tiny... It's an absolutely brilliant design. I'm still a huge fan of 4Sevens.

[RedForest UK]

Ok, I've worked out the problem. As the eneloops and other Ni-mh AAA cells have slightly wider positive nipples than primary ones they have worn off a tiny amount of the black plastic covering one of the components and slightly exposed some metal on the inside of it. They then sometimes touch this when the head is screwed down and this causes a short circuit. Hopefully this is rare and the component had an extra thin wall on that side or was closer to the centre than normal, otherwise it could turn out to be a problem for others too..


.. And I have now been able to fix it by dropping a small blob of solder onto the positive contact point in the head of the light, this means that Ni-mh cells can make contact without having to press down far enough to touch the now exposed sliver of metal in the component. It would be very nice of someone from Foursevens to let me know that on this occasion I haven't voided my warranty by doing this simple fix. After all it has saved them an RMA already just now.


Oh, and on another note, I'm not a big fan of cool tints (especially at lower outputs/intensity), but my tint seems perfectly acceptable and will do fine.

[Flying Turtle]

Just broke my o-ring. I'll have to check if I have one that will work. Wish we had gotten a spare.

Geoff

[ragweed]

Another broken O ring again? I though most of the reports were just isolated incidents. Do you know what caused it? I have never had a broken O ring on my expensive & cheapo lights even! Even the original O ring on my Arc AAA is doing fine after years of constant use!!

[Flying Turtle]

I was just opening it up. This is not a problem I've had often. Only once before on a EZAA. I tried a replacement (from my ThruNite Ti), but it was too thick. Guess I could sand it down some, but I think I'll wait a bit for some replacements from 4Sevens. I'm assuming this problem will be addressed shortly.

Geoff

Just made a temporary fix with teflon plumber's tape. I'll have to tweak it some with maybe more layers, but this may be a good solution. It's certainly easier to turn now.

[my#1hobby]

Just used my Preon for a repair job at work and all it is doing is flickering, I put another eneloop in it and it's still doing the same thing. I'm puzzled.
I just spent the last 5 min cleaning it and still nothing but flickering.

[BarryH]

Probably the sharp inside edge of the head is cutting into the o-ring upon re-assembly.

[TheCleanerSD]

I don't have any problems with the flood beam pattern, or color. The magnet I could take or leave. What does irritate me is the gritty feel of the threads (after multiple cleanings and lubes), and the inconsistent activation. Anything less than bottoming out the head with a full, forceful twist will only generate flickering. Forget trying to activate this light one-handed. It's two hands or no-go. Kind of feel like these lights aren't ready for primetime. Disappointing because up until this point, I've had nothing but love for my 4Sevens lights.

[RedForest UK]

Just used my Preon for a repair job at work and all it is doing is flickering, I put another eneloop in it and it's still doing the same thing. I'm puzzled.

Try an alkaline/zinc-carbon/L91 or anything with a smaller positive nipple in it and see if that works any better. That was the first sign of mine playing up on eneloops due to wearing down the plastic on one of the components.