LEDs dont shine well in the rain

Just observed it two nights ago. After a full 24 hours of rain, the moisture content in the air was high and all surfaces was damp.
I used my M3T with SSC P4 and the resulting beam was very disappointing.
Normally, I was able to illuminate the big tree in my local park but last night, with the dampness in the air, the usual big bright round spot was reduced to a dim spot.
I switched out the P4 tower module and installed the M16 and it lite up the tree just fine.
I was very surprised at this but it goes to show, dampness and high moisture in the air can affect the beam of an LED.
Fastfoward to last night, with a full day of sunshine and high winds to dry everything, the P4 was back to normal again.

The SSC is fairly floody, not as throwy as a Cree. It's more to do with the beam and the intensity of the beam when trying to penetrate rain and fog. Does your M16 put out more lumens and a more focused beam?

Reflections from wet, glistening vegetation and pavement make flashlight use on rainy nights more difficult, too.

The emissions of the LED are more heavily absorbed by the darkened surface of wet vegetation than the incan, both loose effectiveness when the surroundings are wet, but the incan will win lumen per lumen..

Keep in mind, this isn't the fairest of comparisons, as the MN16 is a substantially brighter bulb than a P4. (Surefire may only say 225 Lumen, but in bulb lumens it's around 400 give or take. Where the P4 is probably around 150-200ish I'm guessing?!)

parnass

yes, thats exactly what i found out, wet or damp surface dont reflect LEDs well, i think its to do with the color of the LED

mdocod

yes.. sheepishly, comparing the P4 and the M16 was unfair
i was really surprised how damp surface rendered my P4 impotent lol
i guess even with the KT4 head which has a big reflector, the throw
is not usefull as the quality of the LED light is a factor.
I will have to try to experiment with warm white LEDs as well as putting in
either more LEDs or a bigger LED P7 .

WadeF

I will have to look at other LEDs in the future, maybe warm whites or P7 or multiple LED emitters but i really like the KT 4 head for throw.
I dont want to go back to incans because i really like the long running option of LEDs and convertors.
Maybe i should keep a separate incan solution for throw on wet rainy days.

The green chlorophyll absorbs more blue than yellow/red, and LED puts out mostly in blue while incan in red/yellow. So most of your LED light is absorbed while incan is reflected.

you should try the one with Rebel RB100 or SSC USVOI or the new K2 TFFC emitter,it is not bad at all in wet surfaces.
I know - I've tried