Advance Auto Parts "Task Force 2C"

[SuperTorch]

I bought 3, One was perfect(the first one) the other 2 one had electronic problems and both have lenses that I can't get to spot, its like they are made to be more of a flood, but I know thats not realy right because as I turn the bezel I can feel the plastic lens seating grinding and when I take it off I see micro plastic shaving from where the lens was getting cut/grinding on the two Brass contacts on the star(that are the real contact that kind of have a half bend in them). I noticed on the good ones that half bend contact is nice and round and on the stars where it grinds the lens seat they are sharp and pointed, I have combined them and now have 2 good ones and the other went back, but I guess thats just the $19.88 maybe they are geting stars that are acceptable working but not the very best, I don't know but it appears the really good ones are just about a 50/50 shot. The TaskForce almost always has a great White LED and seem to be more exacting in their builds. Could just be my luck, and I have 2 I own and like but it was more trouble than I would have liked. Since I love the C Cell factor and these from a caseing stand point are what I love and I'll be moding them to Cree XR-E I'm happy, but I hate it when others here go and get it and wind up with a average light, seems to all be the luck of the draw. The ones that I have that work don't ramp up they just click on. If you look at every one thats bought one it like some got a perfect unit right off the bat and other wound up with odd things going on. If you got one you love I'd keep it if you thinking about returning and trying to get another your better off buying a second unit and combing the parts for one killer unit, and then the one you return is really return quality. I would have bout a few more because I LOVE THE SIZE AND THE BEAM when its right, but I hate returning stuff and it appears a real 50/50 crap shoot. So I got 2 killer ones and I'm happy.

Also if you look on the side of the Lenses(once out of the bezel) you will see a little plastic dimple from where it was cut from the manufacturing plant, sometimes this is more than a little bump and you should file it down to where it doesn't touch the treads in the bezel and make the lens tilt. I think its a combination of the lenses and the stars because I put the lenses in my TaskForce and they where more flood even on the nice TaskForce Star. All I know is I hate the flood look but I'm sure thats not what they intended as it kind of oval.

If you are going to buy one look down the lens in the package, there should be a perfect circle look with the brass contacts insight for the most part. If it looks tilted just move on to one that looks more uniform in the way its seating the LED. You can tell alot by looking at the lens, the electronics is a crap shoot, but I don't think ramping up is a big deal it did that on the TaskForce review unit(Mine has like once) but as long as you have fresh batts it should put out a very high throw.

Congrats Bozzlite sound like you got a good one. If they were 95% in the build quality I buy a few more, and I may still buy one more but it was wierd fighting the 2 I got today.

 

[entendu]

Picked up another one today. Beam is fine with slightly more blue tint than my other one and no fluctuations in output. Will make a fine spare . Not sure why but at this AAP store they gave me a $2.00 discount . $17.98 even better. Yeaaaaah !




Heading to the Furture at Light Speed

 

[MojoLight]

Hey Bozzlite, thanks for the tip on the AAP battery sale. I won't feel so guilty burning up some lumens in this light.

Do everyone's lights do this "ramp up" to full brightness? After straightening out the optic, that is my only reservation about it. I'd hate to see it dim back down.

Geoff

Yep, mine "ramps up" also. In fact, on the FLR site it's mentioned about the TF model. My TF doesn't do it but the AAP does. Doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't get stuck on the ramp....

 

[Frank_Zuccarini]

Based on this thread, I bought an AAP-3W today. It is very nice, indeed. Great throw and spill, white light without a hint of blue to my eye.

In my humble opinion, it is $20 well spent. Identical performance to the Task Force 2xC cell (AAP is a more attractive torch, to my eye), and a much more powerful and usefull light than the River Rock 2xC 1.5W light, which was my previous bargin of the decade light.

Frank

 

[lightinsky]

Doing a runtime test on the AAP 3 Watt and so far it's been running for a little over 2 hours and it's at about 1/2 the brightness it started it from the naked eye. It was non diminished for about 1 hour and 15 minutes from visually looking at it in a dark room. Will see how much longer it will run for ? Seems to me that this light is very well regulated for the first 1 hour and diminishes slowly thereafter. I don't have any real time equipment to do the proper testing but I'm very pleased with it's performance and it's price point.





Inova T3, AAP 3 Watt, G2 with p60 and FM 35 filter, 9P with P90, Minimag with niteize led and Inova 24/7 kit.

 

[tvman]

Lightinsky,

Are you using nihm's, alkies, or the endurance batts with your test?

 

[lightinsky]

I'm using energizer alks and the light went on to 5 hours but alot dimmer of course but enough to pick up something on the ground or to navigate a few feet in front of you. Not bad.

 

[Bozzlite]

Third day (night) with this light. I am still really impressed. The "WOW" factor is definitely there. And I have some of the new Mag LEDs. 2AA, 3 AA, and 3 D cell drop in. But this one..... bright white light and lots of throw. It is just a pleasant beam all around. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Maybe I got lucky. No problems with it. Mine does not ramp up, its just on like rat now.
Thinking seriously about buying another one but sounds like about half you guys are having some sort of issue with them.

Has anyone had any probs with the Lowe's Task Force version? I would be willing to pay the extra 10 bucks to get this quality of light output.

 

[SuperTorch]

The TaskForce is known for having a killer white beam, My Task force has the best beam color of all. The AAP3W has seemed to have a few that are just a tad bit more blue than the TF3W, all three of mine where bluer than my TaskForce and I've heard others that own a TF3W talk about how perfect the color of light is. Its not going to be dramatic but if you don't care about the $11 and since you own a perfect AAP3W you might give the TF3W a try, it should be a tad tougher light. If my TF3W is the best then I'd say my AAP3W is 90-95% as good but all this boils down to what they call the Luxeon lottery sometimes you get the perfect tint and sometimes it is cooler(Blueish) or warmer(yellowish) sounds like you got a killer tint on your first AAP3W you just got to roll the dice but if you get another AAP3W I'd bet you'd be happy too. Just from recall it seems the TF3W has more consistanly produced a very white light. Decisions Decisions.

 

[CANDLE]

I have bought both the Advance Auto and the Lowes 2 C cell lights and in both of them the luxeon seem to "float". For proper heat disapation I think the LED should be firm against a metal heat sink. I suspect that neither of these ligits are properly heat sinked.

 

[cobb]

Thanks guys for making up for my short comings. I thought this light was too good to be ignored by our community and is the best bang for a bright led light for the bucks that uses plain old batteries. Lets not forget it comes with a holster too and is available locally.

This light makes my 3 aa mag led light look like a single squeeze led keyring light when the two are shined side mby side. Its like comparing a squirt gun to a fire hose.

 

[SuperTorch]

Glad to here more and more are geting them with the True Spot Beam sounds like they just may had a bad run with a few. With the Spot its the best light for the money I know of. $19.88 and it uses every bit of the Luxeon 3, I'm going to get another one in about a week. A lot of people here don't really know what were talking about till they get it and then go WHHOOAAA thats a killer beam.

 

[sawmill23]

How hard would it be to put a Cree in these lights? Just solder the connections?

 

[Flying Turtle]

I wondered how it compared with the 3AA Mag. Thanks, Cobb, for mentioning how it rates. Been tempted by the Mag, but might skip it now.

Geoff

 

[SuperTorch]

SKIP IT(the MAG 3AA that is) there is no comparision in throw.I played with my Mag 3AA 3wLED for 2 minutes before I knew it was headed back, kinda lame and SADLY reflects badly on the 3Watt LED in the 2/3/4D Cell sizes that are very nice even if they are not the cream of the crop.

 

[cobb]

Maybe I am in the dark here, but I thought the mini mag was pretty good for what it is. Is the advance auto light freakishly bright or is it average for a light of its capacity?

Man,this light out shines mycabelas xpg 3 watt led light recharagable that was brighter than anything I owned.

 

[SuperTorch]

And thats why we continue to tell people JUST GET ONE at $19.88 what do you have to lose, and what you have to gain is the best light you own or at least the rare satisfaction feeling of GETING MORE THAN YOU PAY FOR.

 

[cobb]

You are correct sir in that respect, its brighter than a 80 dollar light i own. Infact its on par with the 10 wat hid light I own to tell you the truth. Same purplish tint to it as well. Rather freaskishly bright for something of its size and such a low power requirement. Id expect something like this to use 12 cr 123 batteries or some lithion battery that weights a few pounds.

Now if we can just use multiple of the light modules in a single body, evil laughs.

 

[russtang]

Well, on the pic it looks much bigger than the MiniMag.

It falls into that category, too big to pocket-carry (belt possibly, but not an option for me), but if you need serious lumens and run time, I would go for a 2D or 3D --- well D cell-based unit anyway..

I don't have any C cells. I standardize on D and AA cells only to keep things simple.

It seems like a nice lite but I don't see any real advantages over anything. For me, it would complicate things logistically.

You can use AA batts in practically any "C" sized light. I have about 4 C batt lights including the AAP 3w and taskforce and I am using AA in all of them.
It makes them noticeably lighter.
I use a 5/8 pvc pipe and wrap tape on both ends until it fits snuggly inside the flashlight battery tube.
On some lights you may have to bend the spring some.

 

[cobb]

Err? I rather use those parallel adapter to allow me to use 3 2500mah aa cells in place of a C cell than shimming it up for aa use. I like to get a few comfortable hours out of a light if I use it for an extended power outage, for the car incase of an emergency or being stuck in the elevelator.

I bet this would make one wicked aa cell light if you could use the led, reflector in an aa body or single cr 123 cell unit.