Pelican L1 at Botach

Botach has another sale on LED lights, apparently for 2 days only: http://www.botachtactical.com/micolights.html

Included is the Pelican L1, $9.70 regular/$7.70 sale. Looks to be about the size of an Infinity, but uses 4 LR44 button cells. Any comments on this light?

The light just came out. No one else has them in stock yet, I am sure they soon will (maybe Botach doen't actually have them yet either ). I will get when they come out, but I can't support Botach.

Does anyone know if it has an on/off switch or just push to light?

Brock

I should know something more about this light not too long from now. The battery arrangement doesn't sound very good - but I could be mistaken. Won't know until I get them and try to run the batteries down.

Could be just another Sceptre or Photon knock-off, but if it's by Pelican, it should hold up well in crappy environments and in watery areas.
http://ledmuseum.home.att.net

Hey Brock, what was the final straw that made you swear off Botach? So far they've been ok wit me...
By the way, I found a 'switch' to use with the Emissive Energy light ($6 on sale at Botach) -- remove the flat spring clip that comes with it, and slide the light into it! Perfect fit, perfect tension to keep the light on! viola!
(dare I mention the batteries are easy to change???)

It is just the third time I have had problems with orders from them, I gave them three chances. I have had about a dozen order but three have been bad. I can understand things getting mixed up and mistakes happen, but 1 out of 4 and then it takes 10 phone calls to get the problem resolved? I still haven't got a refund on my streamlight Baton I ordered on Dec 10th, but never received. I canceled the order when after 3 phone calls and found out they didn't have it in stock and didn't wouldn't give a date. 5 phone calls later and still no credit? I am not saying people shouldn't buy from them, it just isn't worth it for me to deal with them anymore.

Brock

sounds like a nightmare brock! i"ll look about anywhere else and take a chance? good tip for constant on with e energy. it works, but scratched the case nicely the way i did it? good to know when you really need "constant" light.

do I get a star?
*THANKYOU*
(this post ediTed after the stars came out :>)

I just received my L1...and it's a bright little light, prob. equivilent to a 2AA minimag. It has a little rubber switch on the rear that enables constant or momentary on with a push of the little button. The buttob cells are housed in a small cage, which is accessable by removing the head of the flashlight. Overall, it's a good little light.

--dan

I guess Feb. 14th is St. Pelican Day - I just got my L1 today, as well. I would concur with Dano that it's a nice little light. It's very slightly brighter than a brand-new (narrow beam) white Photon II, perhaps due to its reflector, which throws a bit more light forward.

It's somewhat close to the CMG Infinity in size - slighly wider around the back of the head, and wider on one side due to the clip. But it's about half an inch shorter and MUCH lighter. Like the photon II, the L1 is also significantly brighter than the CMG.
It's not as bright as a PAL light, though it has a more pleasant beam (since I put the reflector back in my PAL). If I compare it to my "Eternalight-meter", it fits between brightness levels 3 and 4 (if we call the brightest setting 1).

This should be a pretty cheap flashlight to run.
I snooped around the web and found LR44 batteries for about $0.40 ea. in packs of 10. So, if I can refill an L1 for $1.60 and get the nominal 100 hours out of a set, then this light is costing only 1.6 cents an hour to run - still more than the infinity, but way less than the photon, and close enough to free that I wouldn't worry about it much. (f we work the math on a Photon: if it costs me $3.00 to refill a photon light with two CR2016's from Fry's, and it runs for 12 hours, that's about 25 cents an hour).

The rubber-covered switch in the tailcap is pretty easy for momentary lighting, but takes a fair amount of pressure to click into constant-on mode. Accidental turn-ons should be unlikely.

All in all, I like it a lot.

-- Jamie

Phone calls and polite emails don't work with web merchants. they have their authorization number and the purchase needs to be atleast $50 for your credit card company to get involved. Try sending them an email threatening to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. I have found this to be generally effective, since this can actually hurt them. I haven't bought from Botach, but it may very well work with them too.

I got mine today also. I agree with what mcjamison said.

I would guess it is brighter than the Photon II because it is using a higher voltage, and probably pushing the LED's harder. It is interesting to note they say the LED will last 50,000 hours instead of the normal 100,000 hours. Is this because they know they are overdriving the LED? I am not complaining about the L1, just found that interesting companies are finally admitting it

It is a nice little light and since it is relatively inexpensive I think it will catch on. I am surprised it isn't truly waterproof however, being made by Pelican. When you take it apart the switch comes out with the little battery sled so you can see how water could get in. I am sure it could take some rain or mud without many problems.

I just metered it and found it pulling 135mA with 4 batteries and interestingly enough if you only use 3 of them it was pulling 60mA. I could hardly tell the difference in brightness. So I bent the two clips that hold the batteries just enough and now I am using just 3 cells without a problem.

Overall I would recommend this light.

Brock

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
I just metered it and found it pulling 135mA with 4 batteries and interestingly enough if you only use 3 of them it was pulling 60mA. I could hardly tell the difference in brightness<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

135mA is an awful lot to ask of LR44 cells.
That 100 hour figure must be until the light becomes too dim to be usable; at this kind of current, the batteries would last less than an hour.

I just metered the Sceptre, a light that uses 4 LR41 button cells (these are very tiny batteries) and with 4 cells it read 54mA, with three cells it dropped to 26mA.
These batteries have already had a fair amount of use, so the readings are probably a little low. Nobody I know of has the little LR41 cells, so after they go, that's gonna be about it.

http://ledmuseum.home.att.net

So where is everyone geting there Pelican L1 lights from anyway?

And where's the best site to get a bunch of LR44 batteries?

Scott

Craig, I found this on BG Micro's site. Did you check with them? This seems to be a great price.
<img src=http://members.bellatlantic.net/~edraucik/lr41.jpg>

I got my L1 at Brightguy http://www.brightguy.com/detail.html?cart=3065175872338226&sku=PEL1930010110
That price from BG Micro on the LR44's is really good.

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm

Nice that B.G.Micro sells BOTH
LR-41s AND LR-44s in 10 packs..
-that's where I get mine
-NEW battery thing:
RECHARGEABLE Nimh button cells
(same size as LR-44) -they work
just fine in all my keych. lites
They are from All Electronics
Cat.#101-pg.39 order #NMH-11 for
only $1.50 for 6 batts...
BTW-a great charger for them is available from www.mcmelectronics.com -item #28-1415 ($13.50)
Even though these little squirt
batts. are only rated at 40mah,
they seem to last a long timr on a charge...
batteryman
available from MCM Electronics www.mcmelectronics

Begging a thousand pardons for
accidental QUINTUPLE post...
-Site acting strangely....
-my browser maybe??

You all got a better deal on the L1 than I did! I got mine at Frye's Electronics for $14.95. Nice little light though. I think I'll try Brock's idea about reducing it to 3 cells. There's no way it will go 100 hours anyway.

Could someone post the URL for BG Micro? That battery price is attractive!

Thanks,

John

BG Micro's site is
http://bgmicro.com/

They also have a good price on 2016's for Photon's. The easiest way to order is "Shop Online" then go to Batteries. Otherwise it is on page 9. The L1 uses the LR44's

Brock

Thank you to Brock for posting that link. Well, I've played with my L1 now and I like it better with 4 cells. I'll have to do more checking though. I used the index card and foil method I saw posted here for the first time and I only got 65 ma with the 4 batteries installed. Maybe the foil? I used 1/4" wide and two sheets thick of really heavy foil. I'll have to use a more conventional method and see what reading I get. Also I guess I should test the batteries. But I definitely noticed a brightness difference with one battery out.
John