SL Argo

I received my Argo from Bright Guy Thursday after ordering it Wednesday. Very fast!

I took it to work with me last night to see how well it would do against the SL Septor I currently am using.

The Argo uses a one watt side emitter and the reflector is textured only on the lower half. Shinning it on a wall from a foot away produces a very ugly pattern but in real usage that is not noticeable.

The tint is nice and white and compared next to the Septor it makes the Septor look very blue.

The middle setting on the Argo looks about as bright as the high setting on the Septor. That's good because the high setting on the Argo is only good for an hour's runtime.

Now for the bad news.

I used the Argo on high for about 20 minutes last night then switched down to medium for about another 15 minutes. After that 15 the light went out.

I fiddled with it, trying to get it back on but it would not stay on, just kept going out after a few seconds. When the light would come on the middle power indicator light would be on. After two seconds the low power light would come on then the light would go out.

I replaced the batteries and it worked again.

After using it for another half-hour or so on the medium setting the light again went out. Again the power indicators showed the batteries were drained.

I called Greg at Bright Guy this morning and he's going to do a runtime test on one of the Argos he has there. If it works fine he'll replace mine. If it does the same thing he'll refund my money and Stream Light has a problem with their Argos.

I'll update this when I hear from Greg

This light would be so cool if it were 2 123's instead of 3 AAA's.
Gary

I received an e-mail from flashlightsaregreat about the same problem.

He switched over to Rayovac batteries and his Argo worked 100% better.

Greg also used Rayovac's in his runtime test and the Argo ran for just over 1 hour on high then another 15 minutes on low before he turned the light off.

When I got up this evening I turned my Argo back on with the same batteries from last night (Duracell) and it ran on medium for an hour before shutting off.

I then turned it back on in low mode and it works, with the battery life indicator showing the middle position.

That's still only 1 1/2 hours in medium mode when SL claims 2 1/2 hours.

I'll take it back to work tonight and see if it does any better on Rayovacs.

I suppose it could also be that the Argo doesn't like the cold, although it wasn't all that cold last night, mid 20's.

I feel like I've paid Stream Light for the 'privilege' of being one of their beta testers.

Well, before I went to work last night I put some Rayovacs in the Argo, turned it on high, and timed it.

It ran for 70 minutes then shut off. I turned it back on in low and the battery indicator showed yellow for 15 minutes then turned red.

I took the Argo back to work with fresh Rayovacs and used it last night on medium.

It only lasted one hour before shutting off.

So I guess the problem is that the medium power setting isn't working properly. I don't believe the type of battery would matter, especially when using two name brand batteries.

I'll try another one from Bright Guy. I need a new headlight because one of the ears that hold the light to the headband of my Septor just broke off and the super glue didn't work well.

Hello Keith,

The battery data sheets at Energizer indicate that at 20 F the capacity of the battery is roughly down to 85%. That would bring the "claimed" run time down to about 2 hours.

You might want to try the test at room temperature (70 F) and go from there.

Tom

OK, I just did another run time test, hopefully the last.

This time I ran it at medium power in my apartment and it ran for 2 1/2 hours before shutting off.

So I guess that the Argo is a fair weather light. In 20 degree weather it lost 60% of its run time at medium power. I haven't noticed this problem when using my Septor in 0-degree temps.

Until a better Luxeon Star only headlight is available maybe I should run this thing on rechargeable batteries.

What kind of runtime increase can I expect using rechargeable 800mAH NiMH batteries? I don't even know what mAH alkaline batteries are rated at.

Hello Keith,

AAA alkaline's are rated around 1250 mAh.

You will get around 60% of your current run time with NiMh. Also understand that cold weather effects NiMh batteries as well.

I understand lithium AAA's are due later this year. They should hold up better in cold weather.

Good luck.

Tom

Keith, you may get more run time out of NiMH cells because the AAA's 1250mAh is rated under less demanding conditions. Also, cold affects alkys a bit more than rechargeables. Could you run a test and let us know your results?

It would seem that AAA's best use is when size or weight is of primary importance. They are just too small to provide significant brightness with good runtime. Penlights, Arc's AAA, and Pelican's MityLite make good use of those small cells. For a relatively small increase in size & weight, AA's or 123's seem better choices for the majority of lights.

BTW, Keith, it's good to see you still "keep on truckin'" in this forum. Your MM/BadBoy is still performing yeoman's duty. Thanks again for introducing me to Luxeons.

ksbman,

It sounds like you would be MUCH better off with a headlamp that has the batteries attached by a long cable to a separate pouch that can be kept on your person under your clothes where the batteries can be kept warm. Cold weather has a dramatic impact on alkaline efficiency.

You may want to check out the offerings from Petzl or Black Diamond that have this option.