Got the AA's--- need the light

[peabody]

I work in AC/Refrigeration repair/install. I use a light every day.
Dark closets/dark basements/attics/outside in bright sunlight looking inside units.
I had a Maglite LED and dropped it last week from less than two feet.
It died. Never liked it though. It was too bright to read serial #'s and would roll around and not stay put. Did not like the fact that I couldn't focus the beam either. Also it would stop-motion spinning fans and squirrel cages. Acted like a strobe.
I have been reading this forum for two weeks now. #1 you guys are nuts.:welcome:
#2 every time I would get close to decideing which one to buy I would read something that would put me off and put me on to another light.
I get free AA batteries at work so I need to stay with that for now.
I am afraid of single mode lights because they might be blinding for the type of work I do.
I am looking at the Quark AA and the Fenix LD20, but I am open to any light that will not blind me but still be able to light up a dark basement and handle some abuse. So my first good light should be ____________?
Can is open, come on out worms!

 

[BarryG]

:welcome:
The first lights that come to my mind are:
Quark 2xAA either regular or tactical
Eagletac p10a or p100a2
Jetbeam Jet-1 Pro V.3
Fenix LD10
ITP SA1

It really depends on your budget and what user interface you like. I would stick with well known brands: Quark, Fenix, Nitecore, ITP, etc.
Check out dealers who have a strong following here: goinggear.com, 4sevens.com, batteryjunction.com, bugoutgearusa.com, etc.

Do a search for "best AA" and read everyone's opinions and pick one to begin with, you are sure to buy more!!!



Barry

 

[choombak]

From your description, it appears that you require a light
* that has a low-mode to read closeup serial numbers. From my experience, this close-up mode should not be more than 5 lumens, else it will get bright.
* Additionally, since you work in dark places, a higher mode is also required.
* And since you are mobile, a smaller light would be much better than a larger/longer one.

So here are my recommendations (in the order of preference):
(1) Quark 1xAA regular for the low mode and high mode. This one also has tail-standing capacity, which is helpful in your job.
(2) Nitecore D10, with a clip.
(3) JetBeam Jet-I V3, for its two way clip

I would highly recommend the Quark AA as it satisfies all of your conditions, and it has proved highly reliable. The USP is the ultra-low or the moon mode. The hyperlink to the Nitecore D10 takes you to the place which has the best deal on it now. I have personal experience with them, and they are reliable (just make sure to add insurance for $2 if you decided to purchase). The JetBeam is a nice light, but costliest among these three.

Ideally, I would have used a 1xAAA light, for a small form factor, and ease of carry/handling. But since you have a requirement of 1xAA, I have given you those options.

Let us know which one do you finally choose.

-Amarendra

 

[tre]

Either would be pretty good. You may want to check run times - I assume you would want a decent run time.

I think of your two choices, the quark has better mode spacing. The LD20's low mode is too high for me. It blinds me when using it at close range. The Quark has two low modes which are both lower than the LD20 lowest mode. The quark also has good spacing between the medium, high, and Max modes. The LD20 high and turbo are nearly the same brightness. I also find the quarks to have a much more pleasing tint (even though they are a little green). The LD20 tint is a very cool, very harsh, blue/purple. You can also get the quark in a neutral or warm tint which may be more pleasing to the eyes when working up close.

I would not get a deerelight Javeling because the hot spot is a bit intense for close up work (my favorite AA light). You may want to look at an EagleTac P20A2 but I think a quark 2xAA neutral is your best bet. (click on "limited run neutrals" on the left side of their web page).

 

[Darkspark]

My vote is for a Quark neutral or warm. This is the light that inspired me to buy a Ra clicky high Cri...that neutral beam is real easy on the eyes...and the lowest mode is really low, yet very useful when in complete darkness.:welcome:

 

[peabody]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your time.
What about the strobe effect I was getting from the Maglite?
Are all LED's going to act like a strobe? I really need to tell what direction a fan blade is turning and I was having trouble with the Mag.

 

[glockboy]

Quark AA, no strobe effect on mine.

 

[peabody]

Great, thanks to everyone, I am ordering the Quark AA Neutral tactical.
Who knows, I might get hooked on these flashlights and have to get another one!lovecpf

 

[tandem]

Are all LED's going to act like a strobe? I really need to tell what direction a fan blade is turning and I was having trouble with the Mag.

No, what you are likely witnessing is the output of a pulse width modulated (PWM) light. If the frequency is low (say under 100 cycles per second) many can easily see the effect, particularly if you have moving parts. Either avoid lights that use PWM, or only buy lights that employ PWM at high frequencies (in the khz range). To be safe you might want to skip lights that employ PWM on any output level.

Assuming you want to have the light on your person at all times (tool box or not), in a coverall pocket or tool belt, you might find a single AA sized light more comfortable to carry all the time. Most of these are under 4 inches in length - basically short enough to sit in the palm of your hand with little or no overhang. They fit into pockets rather well.

Quark MiNi - 1xAA PWM 2.42kHz
Quark AA 1xAA and AA2 2xAA - no PWM
Fenix LD10 R4 1xAA - and LD20 R4 2xAA - no PWM
Nitecore D10 - PWM on low modes but at a fairly high rate
Jetbeam Jet-I V3 - may use PWM, Jet-I Pro did.

There are others of course you can look at. For 50 - 60$ you should be able to find a light that works well for you. You might even consider a headlight, or a light that can do double duty. Sadly the Zebralights which excel at this use PWM on their lower output levels and later versions use a very noticeable low frequency PWM, so it is hard to recommend that line for you.

Somewhere between 3 and 10 lumen output or thereabouts isn't a bad light level for close up work in even a dark environment. You'll probably find that sometimes both are too bright, but that is less about absolute light output and more about the hotspot.

I'm sitting in a dark room writing some software (well, I was until I responded to this post!) and I just flicked on a multi-stage (multiple output levels) light on low - 9 lumens. Let's turn off the monitors. Back in a second.

I'm done reading serial numbers on the back of my phone, three computers, monitors. No problem. I would say that reading tiny ID numbers off integrated circuits on a memory board was slightly difficult if I hit the number with the hotspot of the light, but a piece of cake reading it illuminated only by the light's spill region.

That just goes to show that an all flood light, or a light with a diffuser, is really useful for close quarter working. I have two different styles of diffuser for this light, one a cone shaped unit that is good for lighting up a broad area, and one which is more directional. All of the lights I've listed have some hot spot.

 

[skyfire]

I work maintenance, after my maglite quit on me, i did research and found CPF.

check out zebralight H501 or H51. these are designed to be headlamps. but i use mine clipped inside my chest pocket. Also have the option of using it as a headlamp, or just a hand carry light. the user interface is great. from off, you can turn it on to either low/med/high. give it a soft press for low, a double click for med, or a quick press for high.

I have a couple of magnets expoxied to my ZL h501w and its usefulness more than doubled. especially for hands-free work.

 

[sol-leks]

I was thinking about the nitecore as well but isn't there a D11 now?

Also I feel like a zebralight, either one of their headlamps or their flashlights, could be great for you.

 

[joe1512]

I'd recommend a light with multiple brightness levels. You want a good light, but you don't need to spend 200 bucks on a Surefire military spec one either.

An itp SA2 is a good light in that it has programmable brightness levels, so you set it how you want and can store off that mode.

example link with a video:
http://goinggear.com/index.php?main...id=375&zenid=0d21902dd92165df729e40b2ce7110d9

You can use this site to look at other 2xAA lights too. I recommend 2xAA for less reloading time... the 1xAA smaller size isn't really much of an advantage for you and has half the runtime and less max brightness.


You might also enjoy a Neutral White led which is more like an incandescent. Better color rendetion and might be easier on the eyes.

This is getting expensive but check this light out. It has a better XP-G emitter for more runtime. 6 brightness levels.
http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_43&products_id=1648

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vgQKw_rpw



This is one of the better flood to throw lights. You would use it in FLOOD mode and wont have any distracting hotspot. This is pretty tempting and uses 1xAA. Cheap too. But, it doesnt have but 2 brightness levels and 1 irritating strobe.
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-180/**NEW**-Romisen-RC-dsh-29-II/Detail


Too bad there isnt a neutral white flood-to-throw with 6 brightness levels...

 

[HKJ]

I would suggest a ring controlled light, this way you can preselect the brightness and it will turn on at the selected brightness each time.

The RRT-0 is a good light:

 

[shark_za]

The Quark and the iTP SA series allow you to select the brightness beforehand.
Those and the Fenix can all be recommended by me from first hand experience.

My single most favourite AA powered light is probably my Quark R2 AA^2 tactical.

 

[jaws revenge]

I would suggest a ring controlled light, this way you can preselect the brightness and it will turn on at the selected brightness each time.

The RRT-0 is a good light:

I too like rings. I have the rrt-0 and sunwayman m10a. Recommend both. For aa, I prefer the m10a because it's shorter, both are about the same brightness. But the rrt-0 is a lot brighter on cr123 or 14500.

 

[peabody]

I'd recommend a light with multiple brightness levels. You want a good light, but you don't need to spend 200 bucks on a Surefire military spec one either.

An itp SA2 is a good light in that it has programmable brightness levels, so you set it how you want and can store off that mode.

.

My boss just dropped his Streamlight LED and it broke.(About a 3 foot drop) This ITP looks pretty good for his use. How tough is this one?

 

[HDFF03]

My boss just dropped his Streamlight LED and it broke.(About a 3 foot drop) This ITP looks pretty good for his use. How tough is this one?

I have a Streamight for use at work that broke. I called Streamlight and they quickly shipped out the replacement part.

 

[joe1512]

Most of these lights do conform to some Military spec, so they are reasonably tough. They have no moving parts, except for the switch.

However, excrement does occur. There are very thin wires soldered to the LEDs and they can certainly break if there is a weak joint.

Some lights have a more exposed lens which can get damaged if unlucky.

For the most part they are pretty tough, but you just never know. Another streamlight could be punted multiple times across a football field and still work just fine.


This is a good argument for buying from an american (or your country) company. Not necessarily the light, but the dealer, who can quickly respond to issues and ship out replacement parts as needed. Thats a big advantage over sites like ebay and Dealextreme, as well as improved quality typically.

 

[LEDninja]

If you don't mind twisty operation, 4sevens Quark MiNi AA².
Low: 3.0 OTF lumens, to read serial #'s (twist)
Medium: 36 OTF lumens, for dark closets/dark basements/attics (twist, twist-twist)
High: 180 OTF lumens, for outside in bright sunlight looking inside units (twist, twist-twist, twist-twist).
Pocket clip stops it from rolling too far.
Size a fat penlight.
Preon top, MiNi AA2 middle, MiniMag AAA bottom

Reviews here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=292571
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296756
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296160

-

MagLED can't focus?
If you need flood to throw focus you are limited to LED Lenser or the RC-29 from shining Beam.

 

[peabody]

Hey, thanks a lot for the info. All you guys are great and forthcoming with info. Thanks again for your time.
@Ninja, that Quark mini looks awfully nice.
After I try my Quark out I think I will have a better idea as what I need in a flashlight. Should be here Monday and I will let you know how it works out for me.