New Icon Irix Headlamp

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Looks nice, but the PWM is a deal breaker for me.. 🙁

My H501W functions perfectly so no real worry..

Thanks for the pics and impressions:thumbsup:
 
beamshots eh, ok Ill try. My cam is not the best, but these turned out pretty much exactly like what Im seeing. Hope these help.

Here is one inside the garage, Im about 10 feet from the door.

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Here is one looking down with it on my head, Im 6' 2"

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And tree leaves about 8 feet away.. The color of the leaves is actually pretty accurate.

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Definitely going to pick up one of these. Icon lights seem a very good value at the price-point. The PMW isn't a big deal to me unless it's overly obvious. The loose swivel is a bummer though. I can see the plastic-on-plastic being a big problem. Maybe a wide but thin o-ring on one or both of the contact points or a small bumper glued in back would work.

Regardless, digging these new Icon lights of late.
 
Vesper said:
Definitely going to pick up one of these. Icon lights seem a very good value at the price-point. The PMW isn't a big deal to me unless it's overly obvious. The loose swivel is a bummer though. I can see the plastic-on-plastic being a big problem. Maybe a wide but thin o-ring on one or both of the contact points or a small bumper glued in back would work.

Regardless, digging these new Icon lights of late.
Click to expand...

At $26 to my door, I believe its the deal of the year for me. The PWM is not overly obvious. Its not anywhere near as bad as my maratacs are on low.

Yeah Ive been thinking of solutions to the loose swivel. It shouldnt be too hard to fix. As far as a "small bumper glued in back", there already is one but its not big enough. It has two round little raised rubber bumpers on the inside of the plastic holder. Youre right, something bigger there may do it.

Here is a pic of the "bumper"
IMG_0348.jpg


I do have one final concern for longevity of a certain part. Behind the plastic mount, there is a very thin foam rubber piece that is to cushion the forehead. It is very thin and held in place by four small slits in it that go over little plastic forks. I am cocerned that this piece may tear, or just wear down, especially if sweating a bunch.

It looks like this:

THis is it in place
IMG_0349.jpg


This is it removed from the forks on one side:
IMG_0350.jpg


This is with it removed completely. Is it me, or does it look fragile? It also seems like they should have had two "crossbars" instead of just the one. Save weight perhaps?

IMG_0351.jpg


Any way, I wonder if Icon would have replacement "forehead pads" for sale in case these wear through and get ripped up.
 
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Captain Spaulding said:
Any way, I wonder if Icon would have replacement "forehead pads" for sale in case these wear through and get ripped up.
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Mine came with an extra forehead pad. Check your packaging, in case it's still in there.

I wore my headlamp for about 20 minutes last night. I found it a little uncomfortable. Someone upthread asked about glare on glasses. At the lowest point of the swivel there is glare with or without glasses. I did a little testing of the mount. Hold the headlamp by the strap, it didn't take much force to snap the light out of the mount. Until I figure out a good way to secure it, I'm going to have to be careful. On the other hand, I really like the beam, just a nice, even flood and the UI is great. I think for me this will be a gateway headlamp to a Saint Minimus.
 
edc3 said:
Mine came with an extra forehead pad. Check your packaging, in case it's still in there.

I wore my headlamp for about 20 minutes last night. I found it a little uncomfortable. Someone upthread asked about glare on glasses. At the lowest point of the swivel there is glare with or without glasses. I did a little testing of the mount. Hold the headlamp by the strap, it didn't take much force to snap the light out of the mount. Until I figure out a good way to secure it, I'm going to have to be careful. On the other hand, I really like the beam, just a nice, even flood and the UI is great. I think for me this will be a gateway headlamp to a Saint Minimus.
Click to expand...

Mine doesnt seem to by quite as loose as yours. Mine wont snap out that easily... Still needs something to keep it from rotating down on its own though... Im not really a headlamp aficionado, and have only had a few, but this one is the lightest most comfortable one I have had. Oh yeah, thanks for the extra pad tip, i missed it!


defloyd77 said:
Thanks Captain, you're the man!
Click to expand...


Happy to be of service to the community!
 
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Got my Irix II and here are my impressions.

1.) Came with an alki battery inside. Didn't expect it.

2.) The light does rotate easily but I didn't think it will be an issue for me personally. The amount of force needed to make it rotate on its own while wearing it was more than the force needed to make the headband come down. So I'd have to have the headband on rather tight and be running for this to be an issue. I don't like wearing tight headbands anyways which is why I use hand held lights when night running.

But if this is an issue for some, I think the easiest fix is to add electrical tape or duct tape around the section of the light that slips into the holders.

3.) I like the form or size of the light but I do notice it shinning my nose when pointed down to work on something close. Though I'll probably won't have it on high when I do so this isn't a big issue for me.

edit: Also if you flip it so the power knob is on the bottom rather than the top the lowest it can go puts the light output almost level. But operating the knob is more difficult this way.

4.) PWM, even on low I don't notice it but then I rarely do on other lights. I guess I'm just not sensitive to it.

5.) The tint. This is among the most blue'ish lights I've ever had. Ranks up there with the worst DX lights I've had. Real deal breaker here for me. It's so blue I don't think I'll be using it much if at all.

The front face with the LEDs is silicone or rubbery plastic which is glued on. I'll probably change the LEDs eventually, though finding good NW leds is a challenge.

edit: 6.) The packaging sucks. It's impossible to open without damaging the package significantly.
 
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Thanks for all the reviews and thoughts. :wave:
Sounds like a winner for me. The headband wont matter since I will mount it to the front of my helmet with a couple zip ties. Time to go find one in stock.
 
Solution for both issues. The too-easy rotation as well as the too-easy pop out. A couple O-Rings on each side.

Now it is much more solid. Still rotates, but wont rotate on its own. It is also now roughly twice as hard to remove it. It definitely wont fall out of the clip on its own.

DSC01809.jpg


:twothumbs
 
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Guess our eyes are different as I can't imagine these things varying in tint that much... To me cool side of white but not too blue. Definitely not nearly as blue as the cheap 15 led shower head lights at rite aid. Outdoor colors aren't all washed out. Greens look green browns look brown. Definitely not neutral or warm but I find this very usable.
 
Re: swapping LEDs

The silicone grill around the LEDs actually pulls off. Below the circuit board is held by 2 screws. Unfortunately the power wires soldered on the other side are not long enough to remove the board from the casing to desolder the wires. Looks like final assembly and soldering was through the left knob, now glued shut.

The solder points for the power wires are located vertically directly below the top middle LED in between the two lower LEDs in the pic below. If one were to cut the power wires (board does extend long enough for this on the right side), add extensions and route them over the board as there is space above the top middle LED and then solder the power wires on the front it should work fine. This would allow for swapping the LEDs.

Sorry for the blurry pic. Camera batteries are dead so just grab my cell phone.

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FWIW, the voltage on High is 3.2v and the lowest Low is 2v. Can't measure current without cutting one of the power wires and given the narrow space won't be possible. Perhaps if I actually do the LED swap.

edit: duh, was able to measure current since there is metal tube inside. High = .7A and Low = 25mA.
5043397166
 
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Here are two pics. One on the white fridge, and one on a white wall.

The left one is a cheap shower head from rite aid, the right one is the IRIX. This is exactly what I am seeing with my eyes.

The fridge

DSC01811.jpg


The white wall


DSC01812.jpg
 
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Mine's not too blue, pretty much what I was expecting. If anything, it's a tad less blue than my PT Quad.
 
I forgot I had a cheap 9 led light I got for free at harbor freight. Yes, the irix isn't has blue as that. My earlier comparison with DX lights were P7 lights, not LED lights.

I guess we can all agree it isn't too blue but is on the blue side of things.
 
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Hey has anybody gone through a battery yet? I thought I would do a run time test on a fresh eneloop with the Irix on HIGH.

Not impressed. 2 hours 20 minutes... The specs say 100 hours, I am sure that is on low, but I cant believe I got less than 2.5 hours on high.

All my 'loops are pretty new too. Im going to try another run with a different eneloop and see... damn.

playing around... you can see a bit of nose illumination going on... weird how reflection of the 5 lights ended up on my mouth :grin2:

IMG_0354.jpg
 
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I got my Irix Is and IIs Friday but was so busy I didn't open it till today. Very impressed with the design and comfortable fit. The variable dimmer is easily the "Why don't all lights have this" no brainer! I used both tonight outside and the low seems lower than 5 lumens which is a good thing for me. Seems lower than the low on H01 by iTP even. The high on the I is 35 lumens and that still way higher than I generally use. The II goes to 50 lumens and is noticeably brighter than the I but I doubt I'll be using either light near the high end as I prefer runtime over brightness. I'll be doing runtime on low starting with the Irix I. Stay tuned to the link in my thread in my signature. I also have extra for sale in the marketplace. These are going to be good sellers for sure and beats the pants off most 3AAA headlamps for runtime. This will be a hit!
 
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