CR2 Ion comments

Hi guys,

Some initial impressions of this light -

It's smaller than I expected, the same diameter as my Raw NS, and onlya cm or so longer (it's a head taller).

The brightness is not bad at all, though even w/ the whole 'flood v/s hotspot' thing factored in, the overall output looks (at least to my eyes) to be noticeably less than my raw ns.

Speaking of hotspot, don't believe the reports on here that it's a pure flood w/ no noticeable hotspot - there is a noticeable hotspot, but it's smaller than on other lights, and the contrast b/t hotspot and spill is less. but it's not an even flood throughout - so if you were looking for that (which I was) adjust your expectations accordingly.

Another thing is, is that from low to high, you need to turn it more than 180 degrees around, about 220 or so from my rough measure. In hand, twisting it w/ finger tips while holding w/ palm, that means for me three normal twists, or two big twists. This doesn't have to do w/ the tight o-ring, but just about how many times around it needs to go. Personally I like the tight o-ring, b/c it feels more sturdy and probably better sealed that way.

Finally, I haven't had this issue on any of my other lights yet, but I like to turn off my twisties 'just so' - i.e., stop turning just when it turns off. But on the Ion, when I do that, I think b/c of the two-stage mechanism, when it jiggles around on my keychain it turns on and off. so, I have to turn it off a good full single twist past the 'off' point. I'll get used to it I'm sure, but it's a noted point of difference from my Raw NS as well as my clone AAA.

How does this compare w/ the rest of you guys out there who have Ions?

As for me, jury's still out on whether I like this guy or not. If it had been a true full and even flood, I would be all over it. But (as Enrique confirmed to me yesterday) that's not what the Ion's beam is like. He suggested I put some diffuser film on the front and I may try that. But, that seems to defeat the purpost of shelling out for an Ion, when I could put diffuser film on my Raw NS. Comments?

I had an Ion when they 1st came to be. My biggest reason for not keeping the light was the short runtime on high. As far as the flood beam of the Ion, it's the best you'll ever see. It's a great task/working light.

I have the alum bronze version and I think it is one of the best lighlts I've got. It's built like a tank and I think both beams are very useful. You do have to twist quite a ways from low to high but it is no problem for me.

I'm wondering if my copy has a slightly different beam, then - i can see a discernable hotspot, and a surrounding ring where it is silghtly darker than the rest of the spill (not a full on 'ringy' effect of course, but discernable). it's noticeable enough when trying to read text, b/c across the beam it varies from light to dark, to hotspot, then dark and to lighter again.

my aaa clone w/ sanded led is much more even and is a 'perfect flood'. so i thought for $150 (well, more since mine's the alu bronze) the ion would be even better. but i'm surprised to find it less even.

this_is_nascar said:

As far as the flood beam of the Ion, it's the best you'll ever see.

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The beam on the Ion is like nothing a Luxeon user has ever expected; it's almost eerie to see. I found low just right for what I do at night, around the house. High seemed a bit lower than my MM+ R-bin sammie, but still plenty bright for a keychain light.

:thanks: to rscanady for letting me borrow his Al-bronze Ion. :wave:

green: you should try sanding (takes 10 seconds) one of your lights that you don't mind doing an irreversible led mod to. it's great =) even w/ a lux.

Good review comments on in the 1st post. This light is awesome. It's built like a tank. At least it feels that way.

As for the flood beam. I think it is a flood IMHO. It does have a bit of a bright spot but in actual use it floods nicely.

The two levels are extremely useful to me. I like to lo for most application and I like the high for many other applications upto short distances, say 20ft or 30ft IIRC. Good for walking on low on a moonless night or high on others.

As for the runtime, I think it's great but using it on high with a primary I'm sure we'd all like more runtime but that the technology right now. I think Endeavor hit the right numbers on this light. If daily runtime on high is a concern to me I end up using the low level LiON rechargable battery. But that primary low is sweet.

I wish it has less rotation when activating from low to high.

I will be comparing it to my new NANO from awr in the coming days. I think it the CR2 Ion will have more output. We'll see.

OH! I forgot to mention, if you want a good quality flood beam have a look at a McLux with a McFlood reflector. That reflector makes a totally smooth and wide central spot with spill. I have a couple different iterations. Also the A19 reflector using a 5w does a nice job of smooth flood. I have beamshots in my sigline (The CR2 Ion has a central spot and a wider ring that give the impression and usability of a flood beam)

PS A McLUX TK just came up for sale HERE about a minute ago.

I think flood is subjective to each person. Unless you're shining it on a wall, I doubt you'll ever notice the hotspot at all, as faint as it already is.

Yeah, I used it yesterday and today outdoors, and it's nice. I still noticed it while shining on the street and a neighbor's house (not a white wall) but it didn't really matter.

It does distract when reading text though.

I'll probably just hole punch a piece of pda screen protector and place it smack in the middle. Thanks guys.

Has anyone had this happen w/ theirs: you turn it to low and it works fine, but you turn it to high (which is pretty much as far as you can turn it, i.e. final contact) and it goes to a lower output.

this happened to me several times. each time i would twist it back from low to 'high' and the same thing would happen, it'd go to an output level lower than 'low'. then something would make the high come back - either i shook the light, or took the head completely off, etc....

just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

I've found two very practical applications that the Ion does best.
1- bedtime reading with the light off.... nice and even flood ligh
2- as a mouth-light for working on the inside of a PC case

mcmc said:

this happened to me several times. each time i would twist it back from low to 'high' and the same thing would happen, it'd go to an output level lower than 'low'. then something would make the high come back - either i shook the light, or took the head completely off, etc....

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Rscanady's light would do that too. I cleaned the contacts and DeOxi/ProGolded the contacts and it seemed to work without a glitch after that. I don't have much more experience with this light, so I'd contact Endeavour for more advise.


BTW, I don't mind hotspots at all - no sanding lights for me, thankyouverymuch. I may be one of the only (and last?) people who actually like the square beam of an NX-05, for example.

I've had this happen along with flickering too. I think it happens when the battery has been drained too much. :shrug:

Also I think progold helps the tendancy to flicker. I'm gussing it's the electrical connection/transmission or available battery current or both.

I like my alum. bronze very much and EDC it on my keyring.

I found there was some battery rattle with the foam-ring so I took
it out and fixed up a little spring (metal insulated) to seat on
the +ve nipple of the CR2 - now there is no battery rattle.
(I made this from a plastic-coated paper clip and it was easy to do)

The Alum-bronze is very hard and doesn't scratch or chip even with the
keys banging into it so I find it ideal as a key-chain metal.

My only slight niggle is that its so stiff to turn that I have to hold
it with my left hand while I'm turning the head with my right hand.
I would prefer a one-handed operation.

It has very useful beams both on low and high and works well with
RCR2's, so all in all its a very functional well-designed key-chain light.

Its not designed to wow with its brightness - so don't buy it for that.

Hi Green,

Thanks - do you clean the contacts w/ a pad or some sort, or alcohol?

Should have bought some oxy/pro gold at the radio shack clearance...didn't think i'd end up needing some =) btw, did you get at the contacts inside the body of the light too? that looks a little more dangerous to me (but perhaps it's okay to get the cleaning gunk on different parts of the inside?)

I did email endeavor about this a few days ago but no reply yet, so thought i'd ask on here to see if others saw this...thanks for the quick replies guys!

Yep, can't miss with the Pro-Gold. Good stuff and will definitly help with the flicker.

Radio shack had it on even bigger sale, so got both (pen version) for under $10...

Wiped the contacts and applied the pro gold - looks like it's working great! Thanks for the advice, guys - cpf comes thru again.

mcmc said:

Has anyone had this happen w/ theirs: you turn it to low and it works fine, but you turn it to high (which is pretty much as far as you can turn it, i.e. final contact) and it goes to a lower output.

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Yes! Same issue here... :candle:

mcmc, the Ion I was using was a loaner from rscanady. I did a full clean-up cycle on his: wipe all residue with paper towels (dry, then with alcohol, dry again), repeat, swipe all contacts (body, head, (+) pin) with alcohol and cotton swabs, apply DeOxit to all contacts, finish with ProGold on all contacts. As far as I could tell, this solved the flickering problem, but I haven't asked rscanady how it's holding up.

Well, for me, it's still happening, turns out. The frequency dropped by about 50% though. I'll have to try one more pass w/ cleaning...

Enrique said that other ppl who had this issue also were able to clear it up w/ DeOxit and ProGold...