My new Fenix P3D Premium Rebel 100 LED, WOW!

Spence

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A brand new, fresh to the market sweetheart of a flashlight and mine came in the mail yesterday! The "FENIX P3D LUXEON REBEL LED, PREMIUM 100, 2XCR123", ($64.50). I think I submitted my order before Lighthound had finished posting on their website! It has six modes...11,50, 112 and Turbo 200 Lumens, with strobe and SOS. It only comes in black for now, but I'm ordering the P2D, single CR123 body tube and it's black, as well.
Along with the flashlight, I received an Ultra charger and a fistful of rechargeable, unprotected, RCR123a Lithium batteries that John, at Lighthound assured me, are completely safe in the FENIX P3D. I wanted a P1D REBEL LED but they haven't come out with it yet, so I'll be satisfied using the P2D body with my P3D and make it my EDC (every day carry) for now. I am really enjoying it and I'm thoroughly happy with its' performance. This new REBEL LED is super bright. The useful throw is about 75 feet but it floods the area with tons of light (no tight spot).
It's the costliest of the P3 line-up, but at $64.50 you are definitely getting your money's worth compared to alot of other similar lights on the market.
Reply and tell me what you think, this is my first FENIX purchase.
wink2.gif
 

mchlwise

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Congratulations on the P3D. :thumbsup:

I have one also, and it's a great light.

Let us know if running it on the P2D body works out. My understanding was that the bodies weren't compatible, and that the P3D head needs more than 3.7volts a single R123s will give it. :(
 

Patriot

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Very nice! I'm jealous but I'm going wait for the LOD Rebel and order them both at the same time. Nice to hear that you like yours so much.
 

d123

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Just 2 points, the P2D wont run very well with a P3D head, you'll be lucky to get any runtime on Turbo mode.
And the P3D Reb100 only costs $63.94 from David at www.fenix-store.com with the "cpf8" voucher code.

Dave
 

WadeF

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The P3D Rebel 100 is a nice light. I'm running mine with AW's Protected RCR123. Running two unprotected lithium cells can be risky, so make sure you take proper care when charging them, and monitoring their voltage through their discharge, and never mix a fully charged and partially charged set together.

I got my P3D Rebel during the first week of August from fenix-store, and I also had my old P3D Cree P4 modded to a Q5 bin by fenix-store and it's brighter than the P3D Rebel 100. :)
 

Spence

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To: Dave and Wade,
Thanks for the response and tips. I now realize the P2 body won't work out with the P3 head so I'll probably buy a P2D Rebel or Cree variation.
I went with the unprotected rechargeable RCR123a's mainly, because John at Lighthound recomended that choice specifically for the P3D Rebel. I am very wary of them (I bought six of them at $2.99 each) and have read what I could find about them. Besides the Fenix, I am going to use them in my Sure Fire 6P. Any monitoring and management tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Spence

:twothumbs
 

Patriot

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BSCOTT1504

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Am I wrong Spence, or are you a little excited about your new P3D?! It's good to see someone so excited about a new light. I hope you enjoy it!! :wave:
 

Patriot

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To: Dave and Wade,
Thanks for the response and tips. I now realize the P2 body won't work out with the P3 head so I'll probably buy a P2D Rebel or Cree variation.
I went with the unprotected rechargeable RCR123a's mainly, because John at Lighthound recomended that choice specifically for the P3D Rebel. I am very wary of them (I bought six of them at $2.99 each) and have read what I could find about them. Besides the Fenix, I am going to use them in my Sure Fire 6P. Any monitoring and management tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Spence

:twothumbs

Spence, are those RCR123a that you bought 3.0v or 3.6v?
 

jmoney16

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I'm a bit confused...I'm planning on ordering a P3D RB100 in the near future so this is of great interest to me.

I was recently educated about digital regulation (which the P3D has), but how do protected/unprotected cells differ...I thought they were two sets of terms referring to the same thing. Originally I thought regulation was within cells, but it was pointed out to me that it is within the flashlight itself.

So...what are protected cells? Above, Wade says that running two unprotected lithium cells can be risky...I was told that Energizer E2 Lithium batteries were the best choice for the P3D...are these protected?
 

Dr.K

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P3D rebel was my second "high end" light, and I am very impressed with the tint, or lack of, above all. I know now that lumiled rebel is the way to go, for me anyway. Have any of you shined them against a Cree, and thought the same thing I did?
 

BB

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I'm a bit confused...I'm planning on ordering a P3D RB100 in the near future so this is of great interest to me.

I was recently educated about digital regulation (which the P3D has), but how do protected/unprotected cells differ...I thought they were two sets of terms referring to the same thing. Originally I thought regulation was within cells, but it was pointed out to me that it is within the flashlight itself.

So...what are protected cells? Above, Wade says that running two unprotected lithium cells can be risky...I was told that Energizer E2 Lithium batteries were the best choice for the P3D...are these protected?

I am certainly not the expert on this... But I will take a chance...

First, you are correct, there is a regulator in the P3D (and other lights too--99.9% of them are LED--ignoring HID and others). More or less, the regulator provides a fixed voltage (or current) to the emitter for a constant output light (and many lights can also adjust the output).

Technically, a regulator has feedback to monitor the voltage or current of interest.

There are also converters that can boost the voltage up, or drop the voltage down. These may or may not have regulator function too (i.e., as the battery voltage falls, the light output falls).

There are also switch mode and PCM regulators which are pretty efficient at controlling the light output, and there are linear regulators that just burn off the excess voltage to control light levels (same thing as just adding a variable resistor in the circuit).

Now, to the batteries. Various Lithium (and others too) chemistries have issues that make them unsafe if used incorrectly.

Some protection is just placing the equvalent of a PTC resistor (positive temperature coefficient resistor) on the end of a Lithium **** cell to limit the maximum amount of current through the cell--in some cases, exceeding current limits of the cell can cause internal failures that will, basically, cause the internals of the cells to generate more current an heat)--basically thermal run-a-way and can cause fire and overpressure conditions.

As I understand it, a "Protected" Lithium cell is usually a rechargeable cell where there is literally an electronic circuit and FET (Transistor) switch that monitors a single cells voltage (and perhaps current?)--and if that voltage goes over a certain level, or drops below another level, the electronic circuit will "open" the FET and prevent the battery from further operation in out-of-spec territories. Used primarily in Laptop computer battery packs.

Without knowledge about the rechargeable Lithium cells you are using (and being very careful about using them), it is not hard at all to create fires/explosions (of some sort) by abusing an unprotected Lithium rechargeable cell. If you are in the parking lot and your flashlight or R/C battery catches fire--probably not a big deal. If you are on an airliner and if an unprotected battery fails (or it is in checked luggage)--you may be lucky if all you have to do is give explanations to a group of very unhappy people.

The rechargeable Lithiums, if over or under charged, some chemistries can create dangerous conditions (like plating out pure lithium) or other failures where batteries can catastrophically fail (with or without loads).

Lastly, as I understand, there are also some CR123A sized Lithium rechargeable batteries that have an internal regulator (probably linear?) that can take the output voltage of a nominal 3.6 volt chemistry, and drop it down to a 3.0 volt output that matches the "standard" primary CR123A cell voltages. Only use this as a "last resort" if the light (or camera/etc.) cannot tolerate the 3.6-4.2 VDC or so output voltage of the rechargeable lithium. These "regulated" cells are typically a bit larger in size than a standard CR123A battery (because of the extra components) and also probably don't have the current or energy capability of standard (unregulated rechargeable or primary) cells because of their design.

Does this help?

Try the Batteries Included forum here if you need more information (there is also a thread or two with pictures of the regulated/protected batteries disassembled too).

-Bill

PS: I should probably add that the P3D is perfectly able to use the non-regulated RCR123A cells. It is designed to operate from roughly 4.2 vdc to ~8.4 volts (and has been tested one time up to 16 VDC) and will perform just fine for you.

However, if you use a non-regulated CR123A in a P1D or P2D (single CR123A light), you may loose some modes (i.e., light may only turn on in high/turbo mode and flashing--low modes may not work until the battery has discharged (to near dead) down to ~3 volts or so).
 
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cat

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P3D rebel was my second "high end" light, and I am very impressed with the tint, or lack of, above all. I know now that lumiled rebel is the way to go, for me anyway. Have any of you shined them against a Cree, and thought the same thing I did?

Yes. I got mine yesterday and I was still at work last night (with about 10 browser windows on cpf) and I put 2 new Energizers in it and played with it outside. (And found out how to put the lanyard on, with a paper clip.) ok, I haven't played with my P1D Cree much - it lives in my bike jacket, but the Rebel LED is way better to me.
And now a few minutes ago I found something else to spend money on - the 4sevens 3x123 body for the P3D. - Which costs as much as another fenix. This light obsession is going to cost me more than my knife one did. :devil: :shakehead :thinking:
 

DanielG

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Yes. I got mine yesterday and I was still at work last night (with about 10 browser windows on cpf)

I'm glad I'm not the only one :cool:
Mine came in yesterday and I was out checking out the back yard.
 
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