iTP A6 Polestar thread

[travelinman]

It's all good - I just have issues when people say a product has 'issues' because here on CPF that sort of statement has a tendency to snowball.

Unfortunately Matt, most people can't think well enough to understand that all products have a certain percentage of them with "issues". As a matter of fact, some of the most expensive, high end automobiles in the world spend much of their lives in the "shop" trying to fix on-going issues.

It's just a fact of life that most people don't understand this.

 

[MattK]

Exactly - that's why I try to counteract this sort of thing whenever I can.

 

[neninja]

Well to balance things, my A6 is still performing faultlessly

No noise or whine on any level
No problems with the battery carrier or contact (not used the replacement carrier - thanks GG - as the original one works perfectly well)
No problems with the switch - works everytime and scrolls through all the levels and strobe in a couple of seconds
Still don't like the strobe but it's not an issue.

All in all a very happy A6 user. If I lost this one I would buy another without question.

 

[quasar54]

Well to balance things, my A6 is still performing faultlessly

No noise or whine on any level
No problems with the battery carrier or contact (not used the replacement carrier - thanks GG - as the original one works perfectly well)
No problems with the switch - works everytime and scrolls through all the levels and strobe in a couple of seconds
Still don't like the strobe but it's not an issue.

All in all a very happy A6 user. If I lost this one I would buy another without question.

+1. Perfect light for me... purchased directly from a reseller here in Singapore and got an equivalent price to the US Christmas set promo 🙂

This is my first high powered light, and I bought the set including an EOS SS A3 + another standard A3 for my wife. Very satisfied with all 3 lights.

The output on the Polestar is amazing for a novice like me!!! Really goes FAR, and the tint seems nice too.

Rumme, your comments made me buy this light - and I love it! May even use it as my bicycle light if I can make an appropriate holder.

BTW Rumme, did you have any luck with your mods?

 

[Apollo Cree]

Even among people of the same age, there's a LOT of difference in the ability to hear some high pitched noises. When I was younger, there were some "ultrasonic" proximity sensors that would drive me out of the room that other people of the same age could not hear at all.

I had to cover my eyes and let them turn the sound on and off several times to convince them I could hear what they couldn't.

 

[LeifUK]

I have a couple of questions:

1. Does this light switch off, or to a low level, after running on turbo for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature (20C) ? Comments in this thread suggest yes.
2. Is this light tough enough to survive use while running? This means the batteries may be shaken about a bit, and the carrier looks a bit sensitive.

 

[awid]

[*]Is this light tough enough to survive use while running? This means the batteries may be shaken about a bit, and the carrier looks a bit sensitive.

I would like to know this as well. I am debating whether I should grab the iTP Christmas kit(A3 SS and A6 for $85) or grab an A1 SS for now and get a TK40 later.

 

[PerttiK]

LeifUK:
Just had the light on high for 0:30, stays on high all the time.

At the same time tried to hear any whine from it, none heard.
I can here the whine from quark minis and itp equals.

 

[travelinman]

I think my polestar is great! No whine, even when I stuck it almost in my daughter's ear she couldn't hear anything. She does think I'm weird though

Excellent value and I won't have any grief from overzealous security people at airports who hate lithium batteries. :tired:

 

[LeifUK]

LeifUK:
Just had the light on high for 0:30, stays on high all the time.

Thanks. No excessive heat? I would need one to stay on high for 1 hour.

 

[Chevy-SS]

Well, just ordered the iTP A6 from GG. This will be my first 'real' torch. Up to now, MagLites have been my most powerful lights. 😉

-

 

[travelinman]

My son bought me an A6 for xmas and himself one as well. Now his won't light up. He's in Vancouver and so I can't play with it but he's gone through all the "tests" I've recommended.

Batteries are fully charged, second set tried also.
Cells in holder read 8 volts.
Battery holder is in properly.
shorted rear of battery holder against case to take tail cap out of circuit.
front flat plate spring looks OK.
switch makes satisfying click when pressed.

Anything I've missed?

Just a further thought, can the front contact be "sprung" out a bit somehow?

 

[hotlight]

My son bought me an A6 for xmas and himself one as well. Now his won't light up. He's in Vancouver and so I can't play with it but he's gone through all the "tests" I've recommended.

Batteries are fully charged, second set tried also.
Cells in holder read 8 volts.
Battery holder is in properly.
shorted rear of battery holder against case to take tail cap out of circuit.
front flat plate spring looks OK.
switch makes satisfying click when pressed.

Anything I've missed?

Just a further thought, can the front contact be "sprung" out a bit somehow?

this has to be resolved by now......
how was it resolved?

 

[travelinman]

After running it through switching components with another A6, the retailer and myself agree it is a switch issue and he is taking it back for replacement or repair. Nice to have a good retailer to be able to fall back on when something goes wrong.

 

[hotlight]

After running it through switching components with another A6, the retailer and myself agree it is a switch issue and he is taking it back for replacement or repair. Nice to have a good retailer to be able to fall back on when something goes wrong.

not sure where you got it from, but we do have some excellent retailers on this site/cpfmp.
got mine from goinggear recently but nothing was stated about a warranty... Im guessing it's 18months(manufacturers) according to the A6 specs on shiningbeams website. (itp's website doesn't load the entire description on the A6 page, cant see warranty info.)

sweet light.... overall, I like it better than the TK40 I had(can't compare side to side as I sold the tk40). Little smaller than the tk40(feels like a lot smaller), side switch is great. Reason I sold the tk40 was the awkward tail switch-imo.


We'll see how long mine lasts.

 

[recDNA]

Unfortunately Matt, most people can't think well enough to understand that all products have a certain percentage of them with "issues". As a matter of fact, some of the most expensive, high end automobiles in the world spend much of their lives in the "shop" trying to fix on-going issues.

It's just a fact of life that most people don't understand this.

But some manufacturers DO check their products first to minimize faults (ever hear of a Glock not working right the first time...or ANY time for that matter?) although more and more I find customers do the testing for them .. and I'm not just talking flashlights.

BTW, can you use Lithium primaries (L91) in Polestar?

 

[joe1512]

Id like to know that as well. They are 1.5Volts, so I wouldnt think that would be a problem. I have no idea though.

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

Id like to know that as well. They are 1.5Volts, so I wouldnt think that would be a problem. I have no idea though.

Well, not really. Lithium primaries are closer to 1.8V out of the box, and they will not sag as much as alkaline under load.

 

[mitro]

I have run a set of lithiums though the A6 and it seemed fine. I'm not willing to say that I recommend doing it though, mostly because of the cost of 6 lithium AAs. You might as well buy/use LSD rechargables. (or if you are a little bit silly (like me) try making it work on 2 26500s in a sleeve. 🙂)

 

[joe1512]

I have run a set of lithiums though the A6 and it seemed fine. I'm not willing to say that I recommend doing it though, mostly because of the cost of 6 lithium AAs. You might as well buy/use LSD rechargables. (or if you are a little bit silly (like me) try making it work on 2 26500s in a sleeve. 🙂)

Thanks for the info. The itp website lists alkaline and nimh only. Ive seen a few vendor sites that say Lithium is ok.

I thought they were 1.5Volts. According to the specs, this is the case, though is says it can peak at 1.72 volts.


They are about 2 bucks per battery though. My thought was that Id give my dad one loaded up with lithiums so it would last a lot longer than alkalines (with no leakage!).
In fact, that only works at very high current drain though, which with 6 AAs, will NOT be the case. Hence alkalines have 2000maH vs lithium's 2800maH; not very impressive difference for the high cost. Not leaking acid into my 80 dollar light on the other hand....


However, I decided to go with the Eneloops instead since they dont lose charge very fast and I could get a charger, 8aa, 2aaa for 30 bucks.