Heat resistance of Inovas

I want to take a few of my inova lights into structure fires. Does anyone have an idea as to the temperature rating of these lights? I specifically own an XO, a T3 and a T5.

The bodies are pretty tough. I'd worry about the effects of heat on the emitters and the batteries, tho'.

The o-rings, if any, might make a mess.

Woah, cool avatar Arkayne! Those red/orange luxeons in a tri setup? How did you get to add an avatar? Did you join right before the software change?

I don't have anything else to add. The points made are about all I can think of!

IsaacHayes said:

Woah, cool avatar Arkayne! Those red/orange luxeons in a tri setup? How did you get to add an avatar? Did you join right before the software change?

I don't have anything else to add. The points made are about all I can think of!

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Thx Isaac! I just took a pic of my precious SF A2 w/red LEDS (night photography thing) and made a nifty 3 frame animated .gif out of it w/varied contrast. I think it came out pretty cool eh?

Yup. I like how the angle that it's rotate isn't perfeclty level or square if you know what I mean. I can tell its an A2 now that you mention it. Looks like some part on a UFO mothership

Allow me to further clarify. Firefighters usually use the streamlight and pelican line. What is making those lights more durable, if anything. -P.

me thinks that you (people) will have a far lower temperature rating
than most lights? (even under the fire protection) :sweat:

ie. I would think that most lights would work for sporadic use in heat - which is different than if you wanted to try to use it after you had lost it in a fire!

most of the streamlights and pelicans used (in firefighting) are plastic after all?

This is true. I think in this case it may be a function of beam/bulb type rather than durability under fire. If you want to penetrate smoke/fog/mist/etc, it's hard to beat an incan, especially when tightly focuesed like a lot of Pelicans (and I assume Streamlights, tho' I don't have any of their incans). The throw, focus, and blue-weighting of most LED lights may cause them to underperform by comparison.

Which is when yellow LED's are added to the array.

Wyeast said:

If you want to penetrate smoke/fog/mist/etc, it's hard to beat an incan, especially when tightly focuesed like a lot of Pelicans.. The throw, focus, and blue-weighting of most LED lights may cause them to underperform by comparison.

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Im actually inclined to disagree.

The main light of most fire departments is the pelican sabrelight. It is issued to every firefighter at my station. It is the second largest portable light we operate. The largest is the streamlight lightbox. It is a beast and usually stays in the truck. The sabrelight as far as tube-style lights go, is freakin huge and has slightly less spill than my XO. I know this because I have compared it to my XO, side-by-side. The saberlights are about as bright as an XO or a T2.

My XO is 1/3 the size, thus I can mount it on my helmet. Imagine, the power of the saberlight, the large light that individual firefighters are issued, mounted on a helmet... and the XO is actually small enough to do that. This ultimately leaves me room to carry a T5 by hand! Heck yes!:rock:

I imagine that the tight beam of the Inovas will provide much penetration compared to an incan... but I cant be sure I dont own any bright incans to do a comparison. I only know that if the sabrelight uses a single led bulb inverted into a orangepeel dish, then LED's must be better. That would be an awesome study someone could do on here. Maybe I'll do it.

Ok listen up. Structure fires heat up to 1000-2800F.:sweat: I dont know how the hell a pelican would stand that. Would my inova stand that? I have no clue. Im asking CPF before I go bother Inova. Inova products fascinate me, and the company is darned tired of hearing from me via email.

The metal case might, but you'll blow the batteries and emitter well before you hit 1000F. CR123's will leak and burn at like 500F, IIRC.

Based on info on Bullards Site, it seems to suggest that most of the time you're looking at heat exposure around 250F or less, although standards for protective apparel require 500F for 5 minutes. Not to suggest any expertise on my part to actual fire protection standards, just the view of an amateur attempting to answer your question.

Under 250F, the plastic case on a Pelican Light (if of the same material as their hard cases, rated at 350-ish or so) will survive. At 500F you lose the Pelican, but the Inova will probably also sustain enough damage to retire it. If you look at the data sheets for Luxeons, it appears that you'll lose the emitter (or at the very least, you lose the illumination because of loss of forward current) well below 350F as well.

So really, you're looking at primarily the performance of the light itself as your criteria rather than durability. As such I cannot speak of the X0 or T2 since I don't own either. The throw tables at FlashlightReviews suggests that both would underperform in throw compared to a good xenon light.

I don't know the exact beam pattern on 3C Sabrelights, but I do have a 4AA Stealthlite and it throws pretty well for being rated only 25 lumens. Closest comparison to it on the throw tables would be the UK4AA or Streamlight ProPoly Incan. The Sabres are rated 46 lumens, so unless the beam is much more "floody" than the Stealthlite, I have to imagine it's even stronger. Which is possible, but I think it'd be worth being dive rated if all it did was light up a wall of murky water right in front of your face.

I do think that the TIROS optics can do a better job focusing the light into a tight beam than the reflector on the Sabre. But you're still battling a shortage in lumens and the color weighting.

As for LED's comment, yes you can add yellow or RO to the mix to offset the blue-weighting, but for the moment I'm assuming that modding the Inovas are not being proposed.

But I'm sure a lot of folk here would be interested to hear any reviews if you want to take a T2 and Sabrelight side by side during a training exercise and gives us the real skinny about LED's and smoke, and put this baby to rest.

I'm not a firefighter, and run out of burning buildings, not into them...

But I am a heavy user of both Inova and Pelican products - I dive Pelicans, and use them on boats as a (potentially) hazardous-atmosphere light, especially when working on fuel systems.

Here's my amateur feedback - the 3C Saberlight is a fire department standard, all over the world - it's been proven as a solid, dependable light for firefighters a thousand times over. I think it automatically gets a nod just for being a proven entity. Add in 3C's worth of battery life, (7500 milliamp-hours each), a non-sparking, non-conductive body, and a very simple, fully enclosed switch, and you've got a winner.

I love my Inovas, and a T3 might turn out to be a great helmet light, but it's clearly an unknown - I'd take a VERY close look at the following:

1) Inova's metal body conducts heat inwards very nicely, and since the body is part of the heat sink for the emitter, it's also a direct transmission path for outside heat TO the emitter. The emitter and board are VERY sensitive to heat, with known failure points within the range of possible temps you'd encounter. Plastic can melt, but it also insulates, and it doesn't bring outside heat INTO a temperature-sensitive component.

2) Inova's tailcap switch - I've never taken one apart, but it seems like a likely location for low-temp plastics, thin metal fittings, and of course the flexible button shroud, all of which appear to me to be possible failure points at temps well under 500*F for five minutes.

3) Shock resistance - the Polymer bodied lights absorb a TON of shock, and keep on kicking, where the metal-bodied lights tend to transmit it, with potential for killing the switch/electronics - probably a minor matter, as enough shock to your helmet to kill an Inova will make your flashlight a minor concern, but especially coupled with the possibility of heat-stressed internal components, that might make the shock situation more relevant.

4) In some sense it's a minor matter, but Pelican will replace a light if you trash it in a fire, and I don't know what Inova's policy is.

All of that is kind of a long way of saying that from my armchair, a metal-bodied, LED, electronically regulated light with a clicky switch in the tailcap is just about the LAST thing I'd identify as a 'natural choice' for a piece of survival equipment in a high-temp environment. A polymer-bodied, direct-drive incandescent with an internal twisty would be my 'natural choice'.

My thoughts, worth what you paid for them!

Deanster said:

4) In some sense it's a minor matter, but Pelican will replace a light if you trash it in a fire, and I don't know what Inova's policy is.

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Dean. Im glad some people are taking interest in this matter. Like I said. I want more lumens on my head, but I cant mount a sabre. It's just too danged big.

I wonder if inova would replace a torch I trashed in a structure fire by wearing it on my firedome. I also wonder if it would melt the composite helmet light clamp. I will find this out and at some point I will do some smoke comparisons.

I dont have a problem buying a new light to fit the criteria I need... BUT IT NEED MORE LIGHT FOR MY FIREDOME DANG IT! GOSH!

You might check out Pelican's 2410 LED - it's a 'Recoil' style LED in the Pelican 4xAA Stealthlite housing, which is often used as a helmet light - also available in a rechargable version.

All the Pelican fire-ready goodness, 7.5 oz to the Inova's 6.1 (you can probably get the weight down to par by using Lithiums instead of Alkalines), and best of all, Pelican offers a Helmet clip designed specifically for this light and fire helmets.

http://www.pelican.com/lights.html

then choose 'medium lights'