matrixshaman said:
I've been carrying my P1 a couple weeks now and using it a lot every day. Very bright and a great light. Interesting though today it went from what seemed near full brightness to almost completely off - not even as bright as the lowest setting on an HDS - in just about 2 seconds or less. I turned it off and back on and it came up in brightness a bit for about 1 second then back to nothing. Put in another battery and it was fine and fully bright again but I was surprised at how fast it went from full bright or nearly full brightness to almost dead. Within about 1 minute I had the battery out and it measured about 2.7 volts with no load - non-rechargeabel CR123. I guess my P1 basically shuts down or nearly so when it reaches a cutoff voltage. This would probably be great if you are running rechargeables but I think that primary could have still put out useable light if the driver was setup to use it. Either way the P1 is a great light and a serious user light.
The battery may have been what shut you down. Protected cells will shut down do you don't get them below 2.4 volts and permantly ruin them.... lights have that too, but the P1 won't shut a light off till 1.7 volts.
You could go "Unprotected cells" and run down as far as you dare to the 1.7 volt limit, but you would kill its life and they are dangerous should you short one out in your pocket. You could have a small M-80 go off in your pocket!
Here is some good reading if you have never seen it.
It sounds like you drained the battery till shutoff "by the battery", then the voltage creeped up "without a load" that it allowed itself to reset again to come on, but only breifly before repeating its cycle.
Thats the negative to protected cells, they will leave you dead in your tracks and if you don't have any spares you are screwed.
You see the P1 has regulation with cells below 3.0 volts "like primaries" and so they run at full brightness until it looses regulation "not sure what voltage that is".
If you want more predictable power... either have spares handy to pop in, or use a recharable.. they are 3.6 volts and will burn brighter. YOu will get a bit less runtime since they are brighter and the recharables typically are less Mah rated.
I elected to but two rechargables and a charger for non serious use like home and work etc.
But on hiking trips etc when I want longevity, I just have primary spares.
You can buy primary 1300mah for 1.00 a piece
here, and If you elect, you can buy the waterproof pelican case that comes with 15 for 25.00.. .there are other options too. If you drift off that page, you must come back to order there, or your price will be higher.. mention your cpf name too when ordering.
Yes, I have an L0P, and a couple LxPs, but the P1 beam output vs size is what surprises people.
