LED Lenser P14 review

I have to agree that manufaturers pull people in and mislead you with fancy words and claim theres is the best. I hapen to like Led Lenser but hate most of their marketing tactics. They remind me of a website claiming that Leatherman blades are carbon steel, or whatever that hard steel is, and then selling the leatherman squirt, leading customers on to think that it was hardened steel when it isn't its acually stainless steel. But I still love mine, its like a third hand.:naughty:

Mr Happy said:

I'm not arguing pros and cons of regulation at all, I'm just trying to make sure people are clear about facts. A poster above said "it's semi-regulated", and a major web retailer is claiming it contains a microprocessor controlled digital regulation circuit. Well either it does or it doesn't. I have no beef either way, I'd just like the facts to be straight.

Honestly I also have no problem with you liking the light. If you are happy with it then good for you. Don't let me take away from your enjoyment.

What I am arguing is that at the $100+ suggested retail price, this light is seriously overpriced. It claims a brightness on the package of 172 lumens, but does not tell you that this is not the normal output and is only available with a momentary click of the tail cap. What's worse is that the "try me" on the package does this momentary click. That's badly misleading.

If the light just has resistors in the tailcap and has no electronic regulation circuit then it isn't worth $100 (or even $70). It doesn't matter that it seems to do OK on NiMH, it is too much money for what you get.

If it were priced at $35 (or maybe even $50) I would be happy to buy it. But at $72 or more, I won't be. I have nothing against how the light performs, it is just too expensive for what it is. Manufacturers should not dress up basic engineering with cute buzzwords and then hike up the price tag in a cynical marketing exercise.

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Sonic Blast said:

I have to agree that manufaturers pull people in and mislead you with fancy words and claim theres is the best. I hapen to like Led Lenser but hate most of their marketing tactics. They remind me of a website claiming that Leatherman blades are carbon steel, or whatever that hard steel is, and then selling the leatherman squirt, leading customers on to think that it was hardened steel when it isn't its acually stainless steel. But I still love mine, its like a third hand.:naughty:

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Maybe I jumped a little too hard on that & I apologize. Anything though that has new technology that trumps the competition for a time at least may seem overpriced even if there is areas that short cuts were made such as the lack of regulation in this torch.

My pesrsonal feeling is that they made a wise choice here. If this has only been a 3 AA or worse yet a 3AAA battery torch I myself would have completely ignored it as it doesn't have regulation but with 4 AA batteries that really changes the picture a lot for me as there is enough overhead with the battery voltage that the battery voltage under load does not sink below the rated forward voltage of the LED until the batteries are technically dead. With only 3 AA batteries that would happen in short order, long before the batteries were technically dead without some sort of boost regulation.

For this reason I will not be buying the P17. It only uses 3 D batteries without regulation so the same issues apply just not to the same degree due to the size of the batteries. The P17 does not offer enough extra light either campared to the P14 to warrent the huge size increase. The P14 would probably maintain near full brightness just as long with NiMH AA as the p17 would before it's batteries start to dip below the rated VF of the LED with 3 D size alkalines. The amount of usable light after going below the rated VF would be much longer though with the P17 due to the voltage characteristics of size D alkaline batteries.

Higher voltages from using more batteries would require higher value resistors that would in turn waste more of the power. Using four AA batteries is the best compromise to be able to run without regulation as this still only requires modest value resistors to prevent LED overload. This reduces the amount of extranious heat generated from things other than the LED & allows the torch to run cooler.

Interesting comments on this light...

I have one and like it a lot. The focusing mechanism works very well, and I think the battery carrier is very sturdy; it's definitely a lot tougher than most battery carriers found in cheap import lights.

I bought it from a U.S. vendor and paid ~ $110. I don't regret the purchase, and will put the light to good use, but it isn't worth what it cost.

I have Energizer lithium batteries in it, hopefully their slightly higher voltage doesn't do any long term harm to the light. If designed properly, it shouldn't matter.

It won't harm it and increase runtime to 4:30h.

mrmike said:

Interesting comments on this light...

I have one and like it a lot. The focusing mechanism works very well, and I think the battery carrier is very sturdy; it's definitely a lot tougher than most battery carriers found in cheap import lights.

I bought it from a U.S. vendor and paid ~ $110. I don't regret the purchase, and will put the light to good use, but it isn't worth what it cost.

I have Energizer lithium batteries in it, hopefully their slightly higher voltage doesn't do any long term harm to the light. If designed properly, it shouldn't matter.

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It does have excellent heat sinking & you would probably be ok if you don't use the max output for any lenth of time. That would put the current well past the current rating for the LED chip. That limit is a hard limit that no matter how good the heat sink damage can be done over even a relative short period of time at the max output.

If you do use the max output use it only for a couple seconds at a time with Energizer lithium batteries. My serious recommendation though is not to use max output at all with energizer type lithium batteries. My mod on this light precludes any such use of energizer lithium batteries. I use only NiMH batteries.

Supposedly this light is on sale for $32.99 right now at Fry's. There is a thread someone started over on slickdeals about it. Maybe someone here can go find out for sure.

Mr Happy said:

Manufacturers should not dress up basic engineering with cute buzzwords...

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Wait a minute... are you insinuating that Lenser stoops to using cute buzz words in their marketing? Never!

Has anyone been able to confirm if their local Fry's is selling these for $33.

adirondackdestroyer said:

Has anyone been able to confirm if their local Fry's is selling these for $33.

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If that was the case, it must have been a before-Christmas deal. I was at Fry's yesterday, and they were nearly double that price.

hello just read your views on the led lenser p 14 regarding water resistance . I myself use a led lenser p 7 and they claim its water resistant to 10 minutes @ 1metre depth ,same for the p14 as well hope that clears it up . The torch performance is superb its lights up my canal tow path like you never seen . Cheers cliff

This is a great thread, i bought my P14 without having read this but did a search to see if there were any reviews as i was recommending the P14 to someone who wanted a bright AA light.

I have the P14 and love it to bits, its too big to EDC, but its definitely coming fishing with me (especially since i now know that there is some level of water resistance) along with my P5.

What truly astounded me was the output of the lights (P5 and P14) using eneloops, the output is nowhere near what their packaging says.

Have shown off the lights and the focus ability is what triggers the "i want it" factor, till i tell them prices :D that is when they try to steal my light, haha. So i carry other lights as loaner lights, no one knows how to treat a flashaholics light except another flashaholic.

But i just wanted to say, great review and i will try to contribute to this thread with some pictures of the P14. I have some pictures of the P5 with beamshots here.

I am now an LED Lenser fan!

germanium said:

Those holes do go through to the point of letting air in & out of the head to allow the focusing mechanism to work properly. Wherever air can get through so can water with few exception & this is not one of them. If this torch falls in water get it out immediately & make sure you do not move its focusing head while in the water as that will draw water into the head assembly. This torch is only rated splashable by the manufacturer for a reason.

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There are many vids on the tube showing the LL lights submerged in water. I have a K3 & V2 among others with the holes in the bezel, but guess what the holes are covered. No air can get in, and I'm sure the other models are the same going by the videos showing the bezel completely underwater.

P.S My k3 also has the focusing bezel.

All Led Lenser now have the focusing system from flood to throw which is a nice feature. Even their small K3 has focusing system. Except for their early models.

I've had a problem with the Led Lenser P14. I had a battery leak that led to the battery carrier crumbling and the torch no longer functions. I cleaned the contacts but the plastic housing the internal electronics are now falling apart. Is this a problem others have had with the internal battery carrier - it doesn't seem as well constructed as suggested in the review - or is it user error on my behalf for allowing a battery leak? Or both?

Dizzyvision said:

I've had a problem with the Led Lenser P14. I had a battery leak that led to the battery carrier crumbling and the torch no longer functions. I cleaned the contacts but the plastic housing the internal electronics are now falling apart. Is this a problem others have had with the internal battery carrier - it doesn't seem as well constructed as suggested in the review - or is it user error on my behalf for allowing a battery leak? Or both?

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First up, welcome to CPF! You can actually purchase parts to replace the crumbling metal parts inside that P14, if you try and twist the plastic carrier, you will notice it can be removed. Try and scope how much damage the acid has done. Did it reach the metal leads on the top of the battery carrier? Anyways, no matter, that entire battery carrier which you unscrewed out can be ordered, you'll just have to contact Led Lenser (or Coast i think) for the replacement part.

Try also and check if there are other parts that are affected as those will have to be replaced too.

Lastly, learn from this. If you must use regular batteries and alkalines, leave them out of the light until you have to use them. This way, you can avoid the ones that do leak over time.

Another way is to go rechargeables, as you can see in this forums, eneloops are the popular choice for rechageable batteries.

Good luck having your Led Lenser repaired! Its a solid light! I own one too! :)

Hang around here in the forums, you just might pick up a thing or two. :)

Oh yeah, you'll probably have to replace your O-rings too...but not really so critical, as Led Lenser lights can't get wet anyways. hehehe :)