Streamlight Task light 3AA Luxeon - still CPG?

Hi,

I was searching for information on the 3AA Luxeon task light by Streamlight last night. A thread about six months old that described the horror of some owners who received this flashlight which projected a nasty "Cat Pee Green" light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

To anyone's knowledge, has this problem been addressed by Streamlight in the 3AAs they currently sell?

BTW - this forum has helped me to become a budding flashaholic. I now own many "torches", carry an EDC flashlight, and can't get out of many stores without cruising the flashlight section. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks.

I have 3 SL 3AA Luxeon tasklights, none of them are Cat **** Green, although one of the first two I got had a slight green tint to it.

The one I got yesterday is bright and bluish.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Well, it really wasn't a "problem", just a case of the "luxeon lottery". They can't always (or at least couldn't always) guarantee tint color due to variation within the batches they received from the supplier.

Mine was nice and white.

http://flashlightreviews2.home.att.net/reviews/streamlight_tasklux.htm

mine's also nice and white..

when the batteries get drained the sidespill is indeed a greenish tint tho.

but the main beam is always nice.

Jeff, here's a beamshot of mine next to a KL1 from ~8ft.

I really like the beam except for the color.
Got the 3AA about a month ago, and started to send it back to brightguy, but decided to keep it, since it wasn't "that bad" in use around the house. After using it outdoors some more, now I want something with no green in it, because comparing it to other lights that are white or have a blue tint, it really is that bad. Details just don't stand out with a yellow/green tinted beam.
Greg was not surprised when I said I wasn't happy with the color, so they must have had several returned, or at least alot of negative comments about it...
Color aside, I love the light, but am not happy about having to change out the LS to make it right.
I could probably still send it back, but don't feel right doing that after carrying it at work, and getting it dinged up. Besides, the lights are packaged in China, and even if you sent one directly back to Streamlight, there's no guarantee you'll get a better one, 'cause they're just going to send you another NIP one that could be just as bad.
That's another reason I didn't send it back to the dealer. This could turn into a vicious circle if you didn't get a good replacement, with the dealer losing time and money sending you light after light until you get lucky.
I'd like to say it's great, go buy one. But I can't.

Mod it with a Q3J (like i did) or get cookin' with a direct drive Luxeon III. Mine is nice and white, I'm sure the L-III would be great. Very east to do yourself, all you need is a slodering iron.

Owen, I was in the same boat with mine--you pay money for the dang thing and it's green (mine wasn't quite as bad as yours, but I actually contacted Greg about returning mine and then decided to drop in a Q3J HD LS--used a Fraen to replace the refletor cuz' I didn't like the beam and now it's pretty impressive

edit--actually it's REALLY impressive as only a directdrive 4.5 V Q3 can be (with fresh battteries)

there is no guarantee on the next one you'll get /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif--if you don't want to mod it, you might upgrade to a SL TL-2 LED as I think the LS's seem to be more consistently white on them and it's a great light

hideo

Don't these use LD's too? That would add to the chances of having one with a bad color. Plus LD's always tend to have a halo of yellow/green around the edges..

I have just ordered in 5 streamlight task light 3aa luxeon
stars for christmas presents. I will tell you what I will
turn each one one and check color for you and then send you
that luxeon star if you want. I'm modding them with luxeon
III's before I send them out to the family on the east coast. So I will have 5 1watt stars that are ld's. Let me
know. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Hideo- The first TL-2 LED I received from Brightguy was worthy of a Craig %$#@&* review. That baby was greener than grass. At that price, I returned it, and have a nice white Lux by chance.

It seems NO one is immune to the lottery.

At some point, the manufacturers will get the message (probably from the OEM people) that we don't want NO stinking green Luxeons. A lack of sales to SF, SL, Pelican, etc. will I hope, resolve the problem. Maybe a few years down the road.

Hideo
What fran optic did you use and how hard was it to install I would like to do the same thing to my wifes light.

[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
Don't these use LD's too? That would add to the chances of having one with a bad color. Plus LD's always tend to have a halo of yellow/green around the edges..

[/ QUOTE ]
My TL2-LED uses a high dome, and has none of that abysmal "rotten cat urine green" color to its beam anywhere.

I don't have a SL Task Light 3-AA, so I don't know what kind of LED is in one of those things.

Good input from all of you. I have learned that the quality of a 1W Luxeon light is a crap shoot. Maybe it is best if I learn how to do some of the mods that many of you are adept at.

Besides reading numerous posts, any tips on how a newbie can get started with doing mods to the 3AA? Some site with pictures or drawings would be helpful, if it even exists.

Craig-I thought the 3AA Lux had a high dome; I was corrected by a knowledgable CPF member that had dissected his.

He says it is a low dome (side emmiter).

[ QUOTE ]
JohnK said:
Craig-I thought the 3AA Lux had a high dome; I was corrected by a knowledgable CPF member that had dissected his.

He says it is a low dome (side emmiter).

[/ QUOTE ]
I've never seen a 3AA Luxeon, so I don't know what's in there. I can tell you that there's a HD Luxeon in the TL2-LED, but I have no idea of what's in the 3AA.

My 3AA luxeon had a N rank low dome batwing before I took it out. (edited, I accidently said P rank instead of N)

My stock SL 3AA luxeon is indeed a low dome - and rather yellow/green (skunk squirt? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif). Like Owen, I flip-flopped on returning it - and ended up keeping it, for the same reasons. Great light with a mediocre tint - still very useable, tho.

Because of a HD's generally better overall tint, I'm thinking of swapping it, but am wondering if a HD would work well with the stock reflector?

Geode - a few months back (around July-August, maybe?), some of the guys in the Mods forum were showing how to disassemble a Nuwai light that's pretty much identical to the SL 3AA. I think PercaDan was doing some mods on a 3AA around that time, too. A search might pull those threads up.

Bob

I just posted a couple of pics on the SL 3AA mod thread already existing here (gotta scroll down aways):

mod thread

(edit) LED Muse, read the thread again, ignore previous note

Clifton, got the Fraen from Wayne at Elektrolumens and it was a perfect drop-in (well, jiggle-and-shove-in)--the hardest part was getting the ##@!!$ white tripod base off the optic)

JohnK, I bought my TL-2 secondhand and it was nice warm, white as stated--guess it's still a lottery with all the big guy's products /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

hideo

posted a few beamshhots on the mod thread above

hideo

Well fellows and Ladies I got all 5 of the sl tasklight 3aa
tonight and turned them all on and checked the coloring.
And low and behold not a one of them CPG! But before you folks congratulate me on winning the luxeon lottery I should
tell you that all 5 of them are a nasty shade of purple! If
I was not modding them I would send them all back! I feel
bad because I told a guy that I would send him the whitest
one of the bunch as I did not have a use for 1 watt low domes at this time. Somebody needs to do this to lumileds
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif