Good video; thanks for sharing,
Chauncey! Using the golf ball to show outputs is a great idea that I'd like to see in more flashlight videos.
Anyone else used their P1 enough to run down the battery yet? The one that came with it lasted me a couple days of experimenting with it and using it for just about everything, though not much extended use. When it reached the end, I'd been using it for a while on 15lm when it flickered a little, then strobed for a moment, then briefly started a sequence of four flashes (like the indicator for configuration 4, which is what I use), before stepping down in output. I turned it off and ran it back through the levels and found that it’d go back to a higher output than it had dropped to on medium, but high immediately faded a bit when activated. I wanted to see how it’d behave, so I kept using it on low. I got maybe another 10 minutes of low output before it shut off. After that I was able to turn it off, let it rest a moment, and it came back on at a very low level. Ended my test there.
I’m very pleased with this! Maybe this has been standard behavior with Preons, I don’t know. The reason I was interested in seeing this is because the Beta isn’t graceful at the end of battery life: it’ll turn on at 15lm and give no hint of a problem, but trying to shift up to high, or turning it off and then back on too soon after, will often result in it not having enough power to re-fire, so you can be left in the dark until the battery recovers enough. This is my only real complaint about the way the Beta functions, and it’s why I almost never carry the Beta alone. (This is a generalization; the Beta has been through a number of iterations on its internal electronics, so I'm just describing what I have.) But it looks like the Preon gives a clear warning when it’s done, and will still give some light for a while after. As much as I love the Beta, I must say the P1 scores some major points on it here, for me.
However, while observing levels on the depleted battery, I discovered that the light was now in configuration 6, with all the flash modes present. My assumption was that in running through levels to see what outputs were still available, I must have accidentally hit it ten times in three seconds (though I don't know how, I wasn't hurrying through levels), cycled it twice more to C6, and then turned it off, all without realizing what I was doing. It's possible. But I didn't remember doing any of that, and the fact that at battery's end it was briefly giving those four flashes like the C4 indicator, while simply latched on, made me wonder if some other oddity was responsible. But I assumed that was a coincidence and I did it accidentally.
At least that's what I thought while writing this post...
But then, just now, I turned on the Beta and Preon, side by side, at 15lm and left them for a few minutes (to test observation below), and found I was again at the end of a battery on the P1 (this time a straight-out-of-package Eneloop, so again don't know actual charge). When it started doing its flickering and flashing routine, I recorded a video of it, in case anyone's curious to see for themselves.
After a few minutes of that without stepping down to a solid lower level, I turned it off and on, checked for other levels, let it sit a moment, then let it run a little longer. At one point it either appeared to be in C1 or just didn't want to switch levels, and wasn't able to switch configurations. Eventually I turned it back on and it dropped to a very low level. At that point I put in a fresh battery, configured it to C3, checked to make absolutely sure it was in C3, and put the dead battery back in. I clicked it on without messing with momentary or any clicking through levels, and just let it run until it did the flickering routine and dropped to a low level. I then clicked it off, put the fresh battery back in, and it had reconfigured itself to C6. So I didn't want to believe it the first time, but I've now confirmed that it has a reconfiguring bug when it reaches the end of a battery.
I switched batteries, changed configuration from 6 back to 4, and it was back to normal.
I can't comment on runtimes at this point. I've only run down two brand new batteries, and I don't know what state of charge either arrived in. I used it mostly on low and medium, with occasional runs on high and burst that would be measured in seconds. I still haven't run burst long enough to get through the 30 second timer. And I would guess that my mostly momentary uses over a couple days totaled far less than ten hours, so I was surprised when it gave out as soon as it did. But again, I have to stress that this was on initial charge, and I would not expect the battery to ship anywhere near full, so this is nothing but an initial note. I hope some patient scientist will do a proper runtime for us.
That said, I did observe something I found odd: The Beta and Preon run at about the same medium output, but the Preon is supposedly more than twice as efficient at this level, and yet it also gets noticeably warmer than the Beta. Maybe this could be an indication of better heatsinking transferring more heat to the body, but I'd be surprised if it had not only an advantage in that regard, but one large enough to feel while running at such a moderate level. So I do wonder, how does the P1 generate about the same light and more heat on much less power?
A note on Beta and P1 generating about the same output on medium: After getting a fresh battery in, I again ran the P1 against the Beta at 15lm for a few minutes. P1 got noticeably cozy feeling, while Beta remained barely above room temperature. Looking at them side by side, I started to wonder about the outputs, and I had my 60 year old Weston Master light meter nearby, so I pointed the lights into it and consistently got a higher reading from the Beta. No surprise; it's more concentrated, so it's measuring the higher spot intensity. Then I cupped my hand around the meter like a makeshift lightbox with an opening to stick the lights in, directed the lights into the palm of my hand, and moved them around to get a sense of the reading range of both, depending on where they were aimed. This is a very imprecise method, but the Beta achieved a higher reading in every attempt I made to measure it. Not by a significant amount; both lights look like practically the same output, but with slightly different beam patterns. It's only interesting in that it seems the 219C light is definitely not brighter, but it's generating more heat. I'm curious to hear an explanation of that. Maybe it makes perfect sense due to some difference in driving the emitters, but I don't understand it.
Those are my observations after using it for a few days. Overall, loving the light! Great design, great clip, great interface, great outputs, great emitter, and it even looks and feels nice.
Great post! Love the details!
:thumbsup: That's why I post these rambles! Figure someone will find interest in the little things that sometimes get overlooked. Nice to see an old face.
:wave: Hey, SaturnNyne. So glad you're back. Thank you for posting a great re.... er, your thoughts and reactions.
Thanks; feels good to stop in here again.
BTW, clear battery tube is a wise decision. My Zebralight SC5c has already destroyed one pocket with its super strong clip...
Same. I carry my SC5c in rear left pocket, and knives mostly on the right. The lip of that pocket on my favorite jeans, at the outer edge where the Zebra sits, is the only one that's come unstitched where it folds over. I really like how secure the clip is, even after bending it outward a little, but it grabs so hard that accessing and putting away the light are too cumbersome for EDC. That's a lot of why I want to move it to more occasional use and replace it with the Preon for quick uses. In comparison, the smooth way the P1 slides onto a pocket feels downright luxurious!
It doesn't look like the tail is removable.
I wonder the same. (not sure how the clip was attached otherwise) I wanted to remove the pocket clip (I don't use them - I just drop it in my pocket.) I was unable to 'loosen' it and it being aluminum additional pressure could distort or mar my new favorite EDC.
Yeah, this part doesn't thrill me either. The switch is the most likely part to fail, the only part that's already making me nervous on my light, and it's not user serviceable. I've been through this with HDS and don't want another light that needs to have its whole back half mailed in for warranty repair twice a year. I'd feel a lot better about it if I could just request and install a new mechanism.
As far as I can tell, it looks like the clip is placed on the barrel, then a collar surrounding the switch is secured above it somehow, with the actual plastic switch protruding from within that, and then the tailcap section (just the rubber boot in the metal tailpiece) screws down onto that collar. It looks like the threaded section would have to be either heated/pried off or removed with some special tool to either remove the clip or service the switch. :/
