Princeton Tec Surge 8AA Xenon FlashLight (Yellow)

This light is onsale on Amazon for 20 clems with free shipping.

Is this light any good? only reviews on Amazon I've read so far is pretty good. At 1/2 off, seems good deal !!
3 1/2 stars on Flashlight review.

Would some1 who has the light give this newbie some advise?

Happy hollidays to you all.

That's a good deal for such a great light. Super bright, relatively small and dive rated. PT cusomer service is top notch too. Just be aware of the battery carrier issues and instaflashing bulbs with fresh alkalines. If you use it often then NIMH batteries work best. For ready storage put alkalines in it. Pay close attention to polarity. This is in my top 5 for stock lights with high lumens per dollar.

I think the Princeton Tec Surge is an ideal light. Can't beat the $20 price at Amazon.

Cool light. A PITA in loading and unloading batteries. Be aware that the light is turned on in the battery carrier by means of a small switch on the top to the side of the carrier, which makes contact with the on/off switch. When changing batteries, avoid hitting the switch or you will wind up instant flashing the bulb and blowing it. I have done so myself a couple of times.

I am not sure if it is safe to use with rechargeables. I have heard that it is too much for the bulb to handle, but do so at your own risk. Once everything is loaded and ready to go, a great light.

hmm i never instaflashed a bulb in my surge, everything else went wrong with it but no bulb issues.

Whoa, why does it instaflash? Also, how many lumens is that thing supposed to put out?

I really like my 2 Surge lights. I have one in yellow and one in black. While it is a hassle to load the batteries into the carrier (not something you want to attempt to do in the dark), it is an extremely bright light, and the $20 price at Amazon is about the best I have seen on it in quite a while. I used my 2 Surge lights quite a bit in the past week as I was without power at my apartment for 7 days, and the Surge lights pointed at the ceiling proved to be better at lighting up a room than my 20 led lantern, or my Energizer flourescent lantern. The Surge also is great for lighting up objects at a distance with a small handheld light. While it is not quite as good as some HID lights like the Thor, or modded lights like a MAG85, at lighting up distant objects, it is much smaller and easier to carry. For a $20 price, I really doubt you will find a better value.

GarageBoy said:

Whoa, why does it instaflash? Also, how many lumens is that thing supposed to put out?

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i believe some where around 130? i dont use mine anymore but i always remember being in awe of its beam. (days before surefire, ignorance is bliss)

Can NIMH cells be used in this light? I'd pick one up in a second if they can.

I use Nimh cells in mine, but not fresh out of the charger. I let the cells sit a couple days after they get charged before using them in a Surge, and they work just fine after that.

The PT Surge is one heck of a light. It is compact, light weight, rugged, waterproof and puts out a great deal of light when you need it. Yes, some care is required in changing batteries and an occasional bulb and in avoding accidental activation but many other lights suffer the same issues. That aside, the surging lumens that burst from this light when you need to illuminate something is awesome!

It's a bargain at retail. If you get it at half-off, grab it.

I'll venture to guess the instaflashing issues are mostly coincidental and related to battery carrier installation technique. If the carrier is forcefully inserted and the switch is accidentally activated, the jarring MAY distort the lamp's filament enough so it breaks. I use the switch to test that both banks of cells are making good contact BEFORE placing the carrier into the body.

Any lamp, even $25 SureFires, may fail if hit hard enough while on. My Surge has hit hard floors from eight feet up without damage - only if the light was off.

rookie said:

...When changing batteries, avoid hitting the switch or you will wind up instant flashing the bulb and blowing it...

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This makes absolutely no sense. How can the lamp possibly blow by hitting the switch. It's designed to be turned on by hitting the switch!

rookie said:

...I am not sure if it is safe to use with rechargeables. I have heard that it is too much for the bulb to handle, but do so at your own risk. Once everything is loaded and ready to go, a great light.

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I use nothing but rechargeables in mine. Just a *very* slightl underdrive of the lamp but gives a more constant output due to the flat discharge curve of NiMH's.

For $20 shipped, it's a good deal.

so is this a better value than the SL 4AA Luxeon?

CM said:

This makes absolutely no sense. How can the lamp possibly blow by hitting the switch. It's designed to be turned on by hitting the switch!

I use nothing but rechargeables in mine. Just a *very* slightl underdrive of the lamp but gives a more constant output due to the flat discharge curve of NiMH's.

For $20 shipped, it's a good deal.

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Hi Cris,

Hope you are having a great Christmas so far.

What I meant about hitting the switch, it was when I accidentally brushed against it for a split second. The light flashed on for half a second, and the next thing I noticed was the bulb had blown. This happened to me twice and at both times, I was loading in the last battery in the carrier. In normal use, the switch would be turned on for more than half a second. YMMV.

Great to hear that it's ok to use rechargeables. After searching for the replacement bulbs, I decided not to chance it.

Enjoy!

rookie said:

Hi Cris,

Hope you are having a great Christmas so far.

What I meant about hitting the switch, it was when I accidentally brushed against it for a split second. The light flashed on for half a second, and the next thing I noticed was the bulb had blown. This happened to me twice and at both times, I was loading in the last battery in the carrier. In normal use, the switch would be turned on for more than half a second. YMMV.

Great to hear that it's ok to use rechargeables. After searching for the replacement bulbs, I decided not to chance it.

Enjoy!

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I think a plausible explanation is that cold filaments have very low resistance and complicating that is that you were probably loading fresh (hot) cells. You should have called PT customer service. They would have probably replaced your bulb for you. I hear you on replacement bulbs. They're somewhat difficult to find at times. Would be nice if there was a WA bi-pin equivalent for the PT.

I would not say it is necessarily better in value than a SL 4AA Luxeon. It is quite a bit brighter, but you do need to change bulbs every so often because it is incandescent. Also, it goes through batteries much faster than a SL 4AA. A lot depends on what you would be using the light for. I love both lights, but they serve different uses. The SL 4AA is a great general purpose light, and is much easier to carry. The Surge is better if you need to see things at a distance, or if you are diving.
At $20, I would say that the Surge is a great value. That is about half off the regular price. I haven't ever seen the SL 4AA Luxeon at $20

I would love to see a rechargeable Surge.

It would be nice to have a replaceable NIMH bat pack (with good capacity), and the ability to drop it into a smart charging cradle.