Lumapower Avenger 1st Impressions

[BigD64]

Just opened the box 30 minutes ago. Craftmanship is pretty good. Ships with twisty switch and clip attached. Threw a duracell AAA in and fired it up. 2 light levels I need to compare it to my 301 and 303 but on high it's pretty bright for a little light. Small diameter op reflector There is a lot of stuff in the box.

1 neck lanyard
2 qwik disconnect wrist lanyards
1 wrist lanyard
2 contact extensions(different sizes)
1 clicky tailcap(with contact for 3 total)
various lanyard rings
the usual O rings
1 pair of tweezers

I changed to the clicky but had to swap out the contacts to the longest one to get it to work. So far so good. It's pretty damn small. Did the usual look down the barrel and blind yourself. On high it did a good job ....still blinking. Not a massive amount of light but with the tiny reflector and AAA battery I didn't expect to light the entire neighborhood. Knurling is good. Black HAIII finish good.

I'd like to hear comments from others or if anyone has more time some beam shots comparisons.

Nevermind Ensanada beat me too it.

 

[Kilovolt]

I received mine two days ago.

I like the size, the finish and the U.I. :kiss:

I don't like the color of the beam, it tends too much towards green for my liking. :sigh:


All considered a nice little light but I have to say it's my fifth Lumapower and the first one that's not totally satisfying to me. :shakehead

 

[half-watt]

IMO, nice light, though a bit on the large side for a 1xAAA light, but still nice none the less.

the classic LumaPower two-output mode UI is quite functional, IMO. the difference in LO/HI and HI/TURBO, depending upon battery type is quite interesting. i'll be running mine primarily on HI using 10440 cells for a Mfr. claimed runtime of 10h.

there seems to be a LOT of twisting necessary to move the light from its initial HI mode TURN-ON position to actuate the TURBO mode. far too much for my tastes (several repeated twisting actions instead of just a 45deg, or so, rotation).

compared it side-by-side with an Original LRI/Photon Proton (6x5mm white LEDs). on MAX o.p. the Proton appeared to my eye brighter than the Avenger on HI using the 10440. however, some of this could be due to the whiter/cooler light color/hue of the Proton as compared to the wamer/more-yellow/incandescent-ish color/hue of the Avenger (i like whiter light personally - so, this could be a factor). a light meter would tell a more definitive tale, no doubt. however, burntime on Proton with 1xAAA is only ~1.5h as cp. to 10h (Mfr. claimed) on the 10440 Li-ion cell.

IMO, the beam pattern is very nice and smooth (spot, corona, & spillbeam).

Avenger seems to be well-made and robust in feeling.


twisty tailcap works flawlessly on my Avenger. however, clicky tailcap does not work properly at all on my unit.

tried all three contact pegs. all were full seated in screw-in peg retainer.

switched checked out fine in ALL cases for continuity with DMM.

light will NOT switch on.

screwing head down further results in light coming ON CONSTANTLY with tailcap switch in either position (i.e. switch OPEN, or switch CLOSED). so, cell must be making sufficient contact with tube and + contact in head when head is over screwed/tightened. loosening head VERY slightly from this position causes light to turn OFF, but tailcap switch will NOT turn light back ON - even with longest tailcap contact peg.

same result with alkalines & NiMH.

have also tried placing tailcap peg retainer at different depths based upon how far it is screwed into the tailcap. again, checked continuity each time and only proceeded with reassembly if switch still operated properly with the peg retainer screwed in at different depths.

as a last resort have tried variously screwing/unscrewing, quarter-turns at a time, the retainer holding the gold + terminal. still can't get tailcap switch to operate, though extreme adjustment of this gold + terminal retainer will cause the TURBO/HI mode to *NOT* function - only run on HI/LO (depending upon battery used).

so, any suggestions?

overall, i still like the light and for the way i would use it, a simple ON/OFF twisty is 'ok' (my main objection to twisty's is when one must change modes frequently or cycle through modes to get to the mode one wants to use - a clicky is definitely easier and can be used one-handed in these case; not so most twisty's). i'll rarely be using TURBO with the Li-ion's, but will most likely just leave it in HI mode.

 

[Peter Atwood]

Decent and fairly bright with alkalines but not the screamer I was hoping for. I need to pick up some li-ion batteries I guess but have been reluctant to go down that road because I just don't know anything about them. They tell you to run a specific one on the BJ website but then none of the ones they offer have the matching voltage and mah numbers....wtf????

I had high hopes for the pocket clip but unfortunately it is very short and does not grip very well so I would not trust this clip to keep the light secure on a pocket. In addition, the sheath that comes with it is waaaaaayyy too complicated and clumsy, would have preferred a simple low profile sheath.

The clickie is great though and I like it. I also like just how low the low setting is.

 

[mudman cj]

half-watt - It sounds like your longest post may be making contact with the battery but not pushing it far enough out to get it off of the light bottom, thus shorting around the switch. The other possibility I can see is that your post is barely contacting the metal where it is supposed to pass through the hole to contact the battery.

If the problem is the former, then a folded square of Al foil could be placed between the switch and the post to allow you to extend the reach of the post while maintaining electrical contact.

In the case of the latter, you will need to check for burrs and consider insulating just the outside surface of the post (but not the top of course) with a thin coat of something like kapton tape or nail polish, or even grinding down an edge to break contact.

 

[half-watt]

half-watt - It sounds like your longest post may be making contact with the battery but not pushing it far enough out to get it off of the light bottom, thus shorting around the switch. The other possibility I can see is that your post is barely contacting the metal where it is supposed to pass through the hole to contact the battery.

If the problem is the former, then a folded square of Al foil could be placed between the switch and the post to allow you to extend the reach of the post while maintaining electrical contact.

In the case of the latter, you will need to check for burrs and consider insulating just the outside surface of the post (but not the top of course) with a thin coat of something like kapton tape or nail polish, or even grinding down an edge to break contact.

many thanks for the reply. if i understand your reply correctly, i probably was unclear in my Post.

let me be more concise as to the problem: the light won't TURN ON with the clicky.

so, i don't think that it's a shunt around the clicky switch. in that case the light would be on all of the time regardless of the clicky switch position (i.e. OPEN or CLOSED).

i can create the shorted condition that you mentioned in your Post by over tightening the head to the body in an attempt to get the light to turn on with the clicky in the CLOSED/ON position. in which case as you mention, the cell is in contact with both the gold + terminal and the bottom of the tube/barrel/body and so a circuit for current flow is completed. in this case the light will remain ON and won't turn OFF.

backing off just a wee bit (i.e. loosening the head) causes the light to turn OFF, but once again, the clicky won't turn it ON.

thanks for your reply, it has renewed my interest in trying again to get the clicky to work (as of now, i've already spent just 'bout two hours between two different days trying to get it to work).

 

[mrmike]

My Avenger came today, and sorry to say this, but it's a piece of crap (and I like Lumapower lights alot).

It was really difficult to unscrew the head; when I finally muscled it off I saw the O-ring was chewed up.

Okay, I swap the O-Ring with the spare, get out the Superlube and lube up the threads real good.

I see on the end of the body (the part that screws up against the emitter/positive post), there's a bit of a gouge in the metal, and it's into the threads too (that' not a good sign).

So I try to screw the body/head back together (hoping it'll fit better now it's lubed)... Nope, I can't. It screws half way and stops. The O-ring is binding up, and bulging out of the gap between the body and the head. A couple tries to work the threads don't help either.

So I take off the head again, and the lubed threads are now full of aluminum dust.

Remove the O-ring, and I can finally screw the head on, but it binds up at some point (obviously where the defect is in the thread machining).

This is sad. Even if the threads were okay, there's no reason for the O-ring squeezing out from under the head like putty when you try to screw the body/head back together. Sloppy, really sloppy. I've got a nice $50 paperweight.

 

[MikeLip]

This is all really disappointing! I was hoping for better for my first Lumapower. Well, maybe I'll luck out when it finally arrives!

 

[mudman cj]

half-watt - OK, you're right, I misunderstood the problem.

Ricky mentioned that some folks are having problems with the rubber washer at the '+' battery contact not allowing their battery post to make contact. If you have that issue and your post is not quite long enough, then when you tighten the head very tightly the light is pressed against the post and the bottom of the flashlight body (at the '-' side, creating the short) and the rubber washer is squished enough for the battery to make contact at the '+' side. This turns the light on and it stays on because of the short. Now, when you loosen the head slightly the '+' battery post loses contact because the rubber washer is too thick for your battery and the light will not turn on.

So, if this is the problem then your solution is a combination of the new washer Ricky is offering for free along with a slight extension of your post vis a vis the square of Al foil. Hope this helps.

 

[half-watt]

Ricky mentioned that some folks are having problems with the rubber washer at the '+' battery contact not allowing their battery post to make contact. If you have that issue and your post is not quite long enough, then when you tighten the head very tightly the light is pressed against the post and the bottom of the flashlight body (at the '-' side, creating the short) and the rubber washer is squished enough for the battery to make contact at the '+' side. This turns the light on and it stays on because of the short. Now, when you loosen the head slightly the '+' battery post loses contact because the rubber washer is too thick for your battery and the light will not turn on.

So, if this is the problem then your solution is a combination of the new washer Ricky is offering for free along with a slight extension of your post vis a vis the square of Al foil. Hope this helps.

yes, Muddy, that helps. it sounds exactly like the symptoms that i'm experiencing could be caused by the washer. i'll see if BatteryJunction, where i purchased the Avenger, can get a new washer to me.

many thanks for your help.