Longbow Micra....guess I got a good one!

I really like the form and design of the Micra, but was concerned about the posts of flaky converter behavior and short runtimes. Today, as I was in the middle of PM'ing Chop back and forth about building me a Longbow McCapsule, I was also doing a runtime test on my Micra. On a fresh SF123, this one ran a solid 115 minutes before it started to take a nosedive. This seems much better than some have reported. It also has great tint. Right now, I'm switching between a Fraen and a reflector, can't decide which I like better yet......I probably could have left this light box-stock, but I'm sure I'll like it even better with a Nexgen500 module from Chop!

Dan C

Congratulations! 115 minutes is something.

I recently had a Long Bow Micra, but the LED was a nasty shade of green. The build of the body, fit and finish were quite good though.

My greenie Micra (then one with the worst yucky green tint I've ever seen) only runs for 25 minutes before falling out of regulation.


My whiter tinted Micras run about 40 minutes. I love the exterior fit and finish, but I'm NOT impressed with the circuits on any of mine.

I've got a good one to, white, bright and well focused.
The luck of the Longbow lottery.

I've got a good one too.

357>>>your dealer should be willing to repair/replace both lights, after all they do have a lifetime warrantee, and fair is fair.

[ QUOTE ]
Unregulated said:
I've got a good one too.

357>>>your dealer should be willing to repair/replace both lights, after all they do have a lifetime warrantee, and fair is fair.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think there is anything to repair. A poor tint is just the luxeon lottery. An inefficient regulator could be due to too much current, but isn't necessarily something that needs repair. These were all bought a few months ago, so I doubt I could return them for (non-warantee) related work.

357 I had the same problrem with my ECO, I contacted LB
and sent them the defective capsule they replaced it
with another one, my LB ECO is now perfect no more
green and heaps of run time.

I just got one very recently from bugoutgear on ebay but it is the first pea green LED light I have seen and it is very green. I'm going to contact Longbow to see if they will do something with it. The optic also looks like someone took sandpaper to it inside. Other than that the case, workmanship on the case and size are very nice. Too bad they don't do a little quality control on the LED's.

[ QUOTE ]
matrixshaman said:
I just got one very recently from bugoutgear on ebay but it is the first pea green LED light I have seen and it is very green.

[snip]

Too bad they don't do a little quality control on the LED's.

[/ QUOTE ]

This isn't so much a QC issue as it is the nature of Luxeon LEDs.

Even SureFire U2s are subject to the so-called "Luxeon lottery."

I just ordered a 2310 which should be here by Friday, got my fingers crossed! Glad to hear LB will take care of things if needed. This will be my first Longbow, Battery Station's price was too good to pass up.

Have IMS + UCL on way also. It's been a while, the wait/suspense is killing me.

Mark

[ QUOTE ]
WallaceD said:
[ QUOTE ]
matrixshaman said:
I just got one very recently from bugoutgear on ebay but it is the first pea green LED light I have seen and it is very green.

[snip]

Too bad they don't do a little quality control on the LED's.

[/ QUOTE ]

This isn't so much a QC issue as it is the nature of Luxeon LEDs.

Even SureFire U2s are subject to the so-called "Luxeon lottery."

[/ QUOTE ]

I think Ken's point is that, with some QC, the really green LEDs would have been eliminated.Also note his comment about the scratched up optic.
You might attribute this to the Luxeon Lottery if, say, the LED's changed their tint after the light left the factory. Of course, this isn't the case.

Cheers.

[ QUOTE ]
Canuckle said:
I think Ken's point is that, with some QC, the really green LEDs would have been eliminated.

You might attribute this to the Luxeon Lottery if, say, the LED's changed their tint after the light left the factory.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, but then we get to the "what is defective?" quandry. A Luxeon LED that emits light is, by definition, not defective.

Would a flashaholic consider a greenish Luxeon undesirable? Of course. But is it defective? No.