I got my 1st Arc LS "First" today.
First the bad news:
Well, I was really hoping for a 400mA version because of the short runtimes I've been hearing about with the 500mA hybrids, but the version I got has the brown board so I assume it's a 500mA version.
The HA has some slight wear on one side on the knurling. The other side has a small spot of what looks to be bare aluminum showing. Not on the surface of the knurling but in the groove itself. Although not very large it is noticeable and odd, since I don't have a clue how this could have happened.
The 2 seperate 123 packs I already have don't really work at all, as soon as you try to screw it on the light comes on. The 123 pack it came with works ok but barely screws on as has already been reported and soon to be fixed by Peter so it's not a big deal, just an observation.
Battery rattle is obvious with both 123 & 2 AA battery packs. Has anyone tried doubling up the foam rings to see if this extra thickness helps? The new foam ring is so short that it doesn't seem to do anything. Shaking the LS in the off position you get momentary contact and sometimes it lights up completely on it's own. It does turn on easier than the older versions though.
Now for the good news:
I tested the brightness against the KL1. Using a solar cell and a digital multi-meter I tested the voltage produced by the solar cell when shining the KL1, LS 500mA Hybrid & SLS ver1 independantly at it. The KL1 was brightest, producing ~1.04v max. The LS Hybrid was not far behind at ~.92v max and the ver1 SLS measured ~.40v max.
I was impressed, the KL1 was barely brighter and it is hard to see the difference with the naked eye. The KL1 also had a bigger bluish hotspot with very little corona. The LS Hybrid had a smaller hotspot but a larger corona. The hotspot was white, with subtle hints of blue & violet. The corona was slightly greenish/yellowish & brownish simultaniously. Very pleasing to the eye compared to the KL1's intense blue and the pea grean LS emitters I have seen in the past. The beam was the roundest, best centered I have seen.
To my amazement, I cound measure little difference in brightness between using 1 DL123, 2AA Lithiums or 2AA NiMH (1600mAH) rechargeables! They all measured approx: .92v to .94v (Note: The solar cell is sensitive enough to measure the brighness difference between the KL1 w/1 123 & 2 123's)
I didn't expect that! I bought this light mainly to be used with rechargeables, maybe I got lucky getting the 500mA version, since it seems to like NiMH batteries.
Fearing short runtimes (with this 500mA version) using 2AA NiMH batteries I set up a runtime test. I used 2 AA Energizer 1600mAH batteries that were charged about a week ago. Testing the brightness every 5 minutes I got 1 hour & 15 minutes of continuous runtime with brightness holding steady (measured voltage from the solar cell only dropped from .91v to .89v in 1 1/4 hours. Then it dropped to .45v and continued to fall into moon mode. My testing stopped there. I was surprised to see how flat the regulation was! (as a comparison, the KL1 on the E1 measured 1.02v initially, dropping to .97v after 1 hour, .94v after an 1 1/2 hours and .69v after 2 hours and dropping way down after that.)
Update:
I've just completed a run-time test with a single DL123A. The brightness started at .92(v), dropped to .90 after a few minutes and at 1 1/4 hours was still at .89. That's were it started dropping. At 1 hour and 20 minutes measured output dropped to .57 and I stopped the test. Pretty amazing that I got the same run-time from 2 NiMH AA's & 1 DL123A. Nice job Wayne & Peter!
I can live with an 1 1/4 hours, especially since I don't need to buy 123's anymore. I'm hoping to maybe get a bit more on freshly charged 1800mAH batteries.
Here are some beamshots: