Defective ARC LE?

[bcwang]

Hi, I've got 3 ARC AAA flashlights, a white, green, and LE. The LED in the LE sticks out more than on the other two. On the regular AAA's the bulb seems to only expose a half dome. On the LE it seems to stick out 1-3 mm more than on the other two lights and looks like a waterdrop shape. The problem with this is the focus seems to be off, and the LE doesn't look as bright as the white AAA when shined against a wall farther away. If you shine it about 1 inch from a wall they look about the same.

Actually, I'm surprised the LE isn't brighter than the AAA at all either, isn't it supposed to be noticeably brighter? Compared to my photon II white, both arc's seem much dimmer. Is the arc aaa, especially the LE supposed to be brighter than the Photon? I'm using brand new alkalines and comparing against a month old photon.

Does anyone know if the bulb position is supposed to stick out and if the LE is supposed to be not as bright as the photon?

Thanks!

 

[vcal]

Welcome to CPF

How does the beam of your reg. Arc white compare to the LE at say..12" from that white wall?
-Should look pretty much the same, except for the LE being a little brighter...
p.s.-a good LE should look almost as bright as the Photon II.

 

[bcwang]

At 12" the brightness is about the same as the regular aaa. But the beam isn't as good, it's layered with a smaller bright ring and a darker ring around it while the aaa is a solid bright circle.

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bcwang:
At 12" the brightness is about the same as the regular aaa. But the beam isn't as good, it's layered with a smaller bright ring and a darker ring around it while the aaa is a solid bright circle.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds like you might unfortunately have a funky LE

 

[cave dave]

Actually the new AAA and LE are the same brightness, both are S rank LEDs. The LE has a less blue tint though.

 

[bcwang]

The white aaa I have is not the new one though. The tint and brightness of both the aaa and LE seem identical. I wonder if I got the wrong LED in mine.