Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and more!

[WhoDaresWins]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

After carrying the Preon P0 for about a week, here are my 2 cents.As everyone has mentioned, this is one tiny light! Despite its size, the P0 is performing well as my primary keychain light. OPERATIONI was anxious to see how its small size would affect operation. It is operating well for me. Due to the P0's small size it's actually MORE comfortable to operate with ONE hand vs. two. Again, this is just my opinion. Also, because it is usually attached to a key chain, you have more to hold on to than simply the light. As SelfBuilt describes in his more thorough review, my P0 had strange flickering/jumping between modes upon first turning on the light. I followed his advice and tightened the "pill" inside the head of the light (located underneath the foam "donut" washer). At first, I had ZERO idea of what I was looking for. Pill? What the heck is a pill!? I'm still learning so I looked up the details online and it's the green-ish platform that the circuitry is mounted to just underneath the foam donut (super scientific explanation, I know :shrug Anyway, I used the blunt edge of an old exact-o knife to slowly tighten this green-ish platform... perhaps 1 full rotation. I put the donut back in and reassembled the light. Works PERFECTLY every time now. Thanks for the pointer SelfBuilt! :bow:AESTHETICSUsually, I get suckered into the "tacti-cool" colored lights/knives. You know, ...black, gunmetal, smoke, and ....more black of course. However, I'm realizing the value of having brighter colors/materials throughout my EDC. This is especially true on my keychain. The silver P0 makes it easier to find in my bag. I do not doubt the durability of this light, but after a week of riding on my key chain, it is shows scratches well. I guess that is to be expected when it lives in a pocket full of metal. In summary, it's serving its purpose well. However, I feel that this light serves a very specific purpose and role- a keychain light. It performs well as just that, however, outside of that more firepower is needed.http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/dsc05895s.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/dsc05880wh.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/807/dsc05882e.jpg/

 

[tobrien]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

After carrying the Preon P0 for about a week, here are my 2 cents.As everyone has mentioned, this is one tiny light! Despite its size, the P0 is performing well as my primary keychain light. OPERATIONI was anxious to see how its small size would affect operation. It is operating well for me. Due to the P0's small size it's actually MORE comfortable to operate with ONE hand vs. two. Again, this is just my opinion. Also, because it is usually attached to a key chain, you have more to hold on to than simply the light. As SelfBuilt describes in his more thorough review, my P0 had strange flickering/jumping between modes upon first turning on the light. I followed his advice and tightened the "pill" inside the head of the light (located underneath the foam "donut" washer). At first, I had ZERO idea of what I was looking for. Pill? What the heck is a pill!? I'm still learning so I looked up the details online and it's the green-ish platform that the circuitry is mounted to just underneath the foam donut (super scientific explanation, I know :shrug Anyway, I used the blunt edge of an old exact-o knife to slowly tighten this green-ish platform... perhaps 1 full rotation. I put the donut back in and reassembled the light. Works PERFECTLY every time now. Thanks for the pointer SelfBuilt! :bow:AESTHETICSUsually, I get suckered into the "tacti-cool" colored lights/knives. You know, ...black, gunmetal, smoke, and ....more black of course. However, I'm realizing the value of having brighter colors/materials throughout my EDC. This is especially true on my keychain. The silver P0 makes it easier to find in my bag. I do not doubt the durability of this light, but after a week of riding on my key chain, it is shows scratches well. I guess that is to be expected when it lives in a pocket full of metal. In summary, it's serving its purpose well. However, I feel that this light serves a very specific purpose and role- a keychain light. It performs well as just that, however, outside of that more firepower is needed.http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/dsc05895s.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/dsc05880wh.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/807/dsc05882e.jpg/

thanks for all that man!

the pics you posted are helpful, too!

 

[Mr Floppy]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/807/dsc05882e.jpg

Thanks, that's just the image that might make me consider this for my keyring. Have the same swiss army knife. Still would have preferred to have it start on high ..

 

[GarageBoy]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Is the magnet removable? I'd hate to have to separate it from my keys frequently

 

[Streamer]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Is the magnet removable? I'd hate to have to separate it from my keys frequently

A simpler solution would be to "kill" the magnet. High heat kills magnetism. Make sure head and battery are removed, then hold magnet over a lit butane lighter. Good idea to wear safety glasses and a glove just in case. A few applications will render the magnet useless.

Done this way, you don't have to remove the magnet and risk a possible failure in waterproofness. Also, original appearance is maintained.

 

[budynabuick]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Yes, thanks for that. I just ordered one for the wife (got me one as well HeHe). Perfect!!!

Keith

 

[Theatre Booth Guy]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Thank you for the great review! I couldn't resist and one showed up a couple days ago. I really love the small size and that the light is so weightless along with being stainless steel - it should be perfect on a keychain. Good floods seem hard to find and this light makes a great addition to my very lacking flood collection.

One word of warning - the light really is floody and easy to shine in your eyes by mistake. After putting the battery in, the light looked great on low when aimed past my face but the "double twist" to get high mode left me seeing spots for quite a while

 

[Etsu]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Is the magnet removable? I'd hate to have to separate it from my keys frequently

It doesn't seem to stick to any of my keys. The only thing it will stick to is the steel ring that I keep my keys on. Magnets only stick to ferrous materials, like iron and steel. I think most keys are made out of brass or some other non-ferrous material. If you don't use a steel ring to hold your keys, I think you'd be fine.

I'm sure there are rings made out of brass or copper or aluminum or some metal that isn't iron, if that bothers you. Personally, I don't find that it sticks to the steel ring to be much of a problem, since the base is right next to the ring the way it attaches anyway.

The magnet is very handy when using the light, it would be a shame to remove it or deactivate it. Trust me... you'll quickly find a use for the magnet.

The glow-in-the-dark reflector is another matter. It's okay, but I really don't see much purpose for it. Yes, it will glow very faintly for several hours, so you can locate the light in total darkness with perfectly dark-adapted vision. But the light must be pointed towards you and in the open, for you to see it. So, I'm not sure that feature is very useful. It doesn't hurt anything to have it, but if they really wanted to make it useful the whole flashlight should glow.

Overall, it's a fantastic keychain light, or very small pocket light. It makes my Solitaire look too big, by comparison. And, of course, the moonlight mode is great. I'd never buy an EDC or small pocket light without a moonlight mode.

BTW, they must have fixed the issue with Eneloops. It works fine with them. Perfect fit.

 

[Got Lumens?]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

BTW, they must have fixed the issue with Eneloops. It works fine with them. Perfect fit.

Hi Etsu, Yes they did fix that and also ajusted few other things as well. I posted some details on the upgrades/fixes in another thread. This little light is still my favorite AAA mule . Thank You Selfbuilt for a very fine review
GL

 

[Etsu]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Sanyo Eneloop: battery fully drained between 36 and 44 hours (i.e., a little over 1.5 days)

I realize yours is only one sample, but I thought I'd throw in my own 2 cents with a more recent version of the Preon 0.

I'm running a long-duration test on low, and I'm seeing very different results than yours. Currently at 80 hours with a Eneloop, and still going strong. I'm also not seeing the large drop-off-in brightness that you noted several hours into your test. Output may have dimmed somewhat, but I still rate it somewhere between 0.1 and 0.2 lumens, which is the same range of output when the Eneloop is fresh. I'm only using my eye to estimate it, so it's quite possible it has dropped in brightness by 50%, but in the dark at night it still casts a "moonlight"-like beam, and I can still read by it (although on low it's really too dim to read for long, whether the battery is fresh or not).

IOW, so far, the run-time seems to be operating as 4sevens claims. But I agree it's nowhere near 0.25 lumens (as claimed), except perhaps on a fresh alkaline which they use for their testing. The output on low may not be regulated. It seems the brightness of it may be related to the battery voltage.

I wonder if you either had a bad version of the light, or your battery was bad, or perhaps they've improved the run-time since the early versions? (The latter is probably unlikely.)

 

[selfbuilt]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Currently at 80 hours with a Eneloop, and still going strong. I'm also not seeing the large drop-off-in brightness that you noted several hours into your test. ...
I wonder if you either had a bad version of the light, or your battery was bad, or perhaps they've improved the run-time since the early versions? (The latter is probably unlikely.)

It's common for manufacturers to "tweak" the circuit over time. There is also a lot of variability in runtime at low levels (due to variation in circuits, emitter Vfs, etc.). Based on what you report, it sounds like your sample has a reduced drop-off phase (either due to a circuit change, or natural variation). Note that if the light were run more consistently at the lower regulated level, I would expect much longer runtime (as you seem to be finding).

 

[Etsu]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Okay, that makes sense.

Update with final run-time. Approximately 107 hours. I stopped the test when I noticed the light was flashing, rather than a steady beam. I'm not sure if that's a feature, or just what it does when the voltage or current drops too much. Probably the latter.

The light is rated at 120 hours, which it should be easily able to do on an alkaline cell.

Popping in a fresh Eneloop after the test did show it is significantly brighter (moonlight setting) on a fresh battery. So it does dim over time, perhaps by 50% or so.

 

[GarageBoy]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Thanks, my key ring is steel alloy based, and there's also a pry bar and multi tool in there

 

[carrot]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Thanks, my key ring is steel alloy based, and there's also a pry bar and multi tool in there

My key ring is steel also and the P0 just sticks to the key ring itself and nothing else, despite having plenty of goodies attached.

 

[selfbuilt]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

My key ring is steel also and the P0 just sticks to the key ring itself and nothing else, despite having plenty of goodies attached.

Yes, the only other thing on my keyring that the magnet can stick to is my Canada Post mailbox key (seems to be made of stainless steel).

 

[georget98]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Nobody has mentioned that the battery is hard to get out because the magnet holds it in. Hold the light negative up and slowly slide the battery in, at about 3/16 inch it gets sucked in the rest of the way.

 

[georget98]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Another use for the magnet -- find your way in both the dark and in space: use it as a light, use it as a compass.

 

[4sevens]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

^^ Nice!! Do you take out the battery so that it's even more lightweight?

If I recall the light without the battery is lighter than the battery itself!

 

[tobrien]

Re: Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and mo

Another use for the magnet -- find your way in both the dark and in space: use it as a light, use it as a compass.

holy cow!

 

[reppans]

Foursevens Preon P0 (XP-E, 1xAAA, SS, "Flood") Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and

Another use for the magnet -- find your way in both the dark and in space: use it as a light, use it as a compass.

Great idea, although people should test it out at home first. My P0 tail happens to point South - I guess it depends on orientation the magnets are glued in.