Just received my Peak McInley Brass

I know that I'm a bit late with purchasing a brass McInley with so many of you guys with them already but I had to post this thread to express how surprised I am by the quality and finish of this puppy.

The 7 led's do produce a pure white "Snow White" beam. The beam produced is nice & round and even shaped.

The light is quite weighty in a good way and feels bullet proof. I bought the UP220cp High Output model and I'm glad I did. Although they aren't making the McKinley in brass anymore, they do still have some in stock.

I will probably use this one in the car for reading maps etc as the brass finish should hold up pretty well to abuse!

However, as many have warned before, the Peak website is difficult to use. Not one single email I have sent Peak as ever answered.

Don't let that put you off though as the light itself is a little ripper!
It's well worth the money.

James.....

I love the beam of the McKinley too. Does the UP model get warm in use?

LED_Thrift said:

I love the beam of the McKinley too. Does the UP model get warm in use?

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After reading your question, I have left the light on sitting on the bench for around 20 minutes. The light body did get warm but not too warm to touch and carry after 20 minutes of runtime.

James....

My UP/200cp McKinley has the RGB option; after several minutes of use it does get uncomfortably hot, but heatsinking by hand alone seems to keep it under the threshold. I'd be afraid to leave it running on its own for extended periods of time, however.

Could the RGB McKinley stand up to use with RCRs?

Guy's Dropper said:

Could the RGB McKinley stand up to use with RCRs?

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I haven't tried it yet. I'll try it will a LiMn cell..

StarHalo said:

I haven't tried it yet. I'll try it will a LiMn cell..

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Thanks, remember notify us of the result.

Also, does it run on spent batteries?

It would appear my first impression was wrong due to the battery I was using - since my McKinley is new, my only experience with it thus far has been with the cheap 123 primary it came with, which I now know was somewhere below 50% capacity and may have been flawed, so scratch the previous post about the light getting too hot.

Now that I know the old battery is nearly dead, it turns out there's an easy way to tell; the light chooses the color red much more frequently as the battery nears death oo:

After running the light ~20 minutes on the LiMn cell, it doesn't get beyond "nicely warm". I'm also not seeing any notable brightness difference between the rechargeable and (fresh) primary cell.

I'll run a more thorough/lengthy test tomorrow, but it would appear the light does just fine regardless of cell type.

I know some lights can have a 5w board as an option for use with rcrs. Be careful Starhalo. I don't want to see such a sweet light ruined. Not until you've posted video at least!:laughing:

I have the old, seven individually drilled LED holes type, which I believe is "high power".

I have run mine on RCRs but it does get too warm for my liking. Mine is aluminum and I'm sure the brass has better heatsinking due to the added mass, but I don't think I would do it regularly. I've handled a brass McKinley and they are noticeably heavier.

I was told by Robyn or Curt that it is ok to run the old ones on RCRs. You can tell by the excess heat that the light was not designed to run on RCRs though. It is brighter, but not that much.

I've also used protected 3.0v rechargeables in mine, but they have such a short runtime [in all lights I've used them in] I normally use primaries now since the McKinley has such good runtime with primaries.

I ran the RGB McKinley for just over 30 minutes on the LiMn cell today; tailstanding in a 73 degree room, it took about 10 minutes before it reached what I perceived as its max temperature of "nicely warm", similar to the max temp of a Fenix on High (not Turbo).

I'm definitely more comfortable about running the light unattended now, Peak obviously did their homework on the appropriate heatsinking per output.

On a side note, I also listened to the Peak's EF noise using a radio tuned to an empty portion of the AM band; it makes some pretty unique noises, as each color being reproduced has its own different sound, and the fading vs instant switch shift between colors also makes particular sounds. The result sounds like a hive of bees being run through a phaser effect during fading, and the sound of channels changing like on an analog TV during instant swtiching.

Congratulations, James! :thumbsup: Your Peak McKinley Brass's pure "Snow White" beam must look incredible! Hope you continue to enjoy your beautiful new torch for a good long time to come. :twothumbs

-Clive

AA6TZ said:

Congratulations, James! :thumbsup: Your Peak McKinley Brass's pure "Snow White" beam must look incredible! Hope you continue to enjoy your beautiful new torch for a good long time to come. :twothumbs

-Clive

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Thanks Clive, she sure is a beauty!! Definately a keeper. Most non-flashoholics marvel over this brass McKinley more than any other light in my small collection which includes a very nice Novatac!

James....

I've had my brass McKinley red for more than a couple years now. It's a neat light, and always feels good in the hand. I wish the camera could capture the red color better...

jimmy1970 said:

Thanks Clive, she sure is a beauty!! Definitely a keeper. Most non-flashoholics marvel over this brass McKinley more than any other light in my small collection which includes a very nice Novatac!

James....

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You're most welcome, James. Your PMB really is a work of art and it's perfectly understandable why non-Flashaholics would appreciate and gravitate toward such a gem of a torch. Artwork constructed from traditional materials such as brass, copper and fine wood never fail to please IMHO. They're truly timeless.

Cheers!

-Clive

Ty_Bower said:

I've had my brass McKinley red for more than a couple years now. It's a neat light, and always feels good in the hand. I wish the camera could capture the red color better...

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Ty -- That's one striking photo! Looks ethereal to be perfectly honest.

I suppose if you wanted to capture the red color with more precision you'd likely have to select the appropriate filter (and lighting). Personally, I'd leave well enough alone ... it's a beautiful shot as is!!! :thumbsup: