Single AA battery headlamps

[Jesse Anderson]

dang I hate the written word sometimes. I didn't mean in any way to sound contrarian in my previous post, I hope that's not the way it same across.

I certainly understand your frustration. I also understand your desire for a light that puts out some serious lumens. My intent was simply to agree with the idea that when buying Chinese products, having a retailer who will stand behind them is key. I was also simply trying to point out that there are retailers who sell Fenix gear who would be more than willing to assist with an exchange.

I hope you find what you're looking for and get a light you can rely on.

[James holden]

No worries jesse, im just frustrated with these issues in new out of the box gear

I certainly didnt read anything bad in your comments

And you do re-emphasize a good point

For items electronic items (and others) that fail, you may not be able to rely on manufacturer warranties to be honoured in a satisfactory fashion, or even if they do you will be out shipping (20+$ shipping to and from china on a 60$ headlamp with no guarantee the problem will be fixed)

Just buy those electronic items from retailers with generous return policies … It saves the worry if nothing else

I was researching "roof" warranties for shingles … And most of then arent worth the electronic media they are printed on after all the hoops you have to jump through .. I suspect that goes for many of these consumer brands as well

;)

[Jerry Adams]

I've bought some cheap electronics from China

Had reliability problems and it takes a long time for shipping

If it's cheap enough, like $10, I don't care, just throw it out

If it's more expensive, I'll order it from amazon.com that has good return policy

[David Ure]

"If it's cheap enough, like $10, I don't care, just throw it out"

Tsk. Tsk.

[Ryan Smith]

I've had great luck with direct from China electronics (mostly flashlights), but it can be a crap shoot. I've had Yezl, Convoy, Ultrafire, and Trustfire brand products so far, all of them have worked flawlessly and the machining is perfect. All of them were reviewed hundreds of times before I bought them though. If my life depended on a light I would definitely be more inclined to buy a more popular brand.

Ryan

[Miner]

I've owned 7 Fenix flashlights (1xAA, 1xAAA, and 1xCR123 battery models) over the years and they always worked. I use mine for night hiking and around camp; also used them to explore some lava tube caves. The only issue I've ever had was with one from 2009 (used it on a PCT thru-hike) where the switch (when they had a single button do everything from turn on/off and adjust the brightness levels) became a bit unreliable after 2.5 years of heavy use. Might have just been the contacts corroding, but I was too lazy to even try to fix the issue since the newer models were even brighter with longer battery life. I had 2 older ones than that, but they were lost before getting anywhere near as much use.

I normally buy mine from the Fenix-Store.com which does have a decent return policy though I've never needed to use it. But to have 2 fail out of the box, I can see why that might turn someone off to a brand. If it happened to me, I'd likely look elsewhere. Though if I was buying them from the same place, I think I'd change stores.

[Bill Giles]

I have not had very good results from LED flashlights or headlamps with the exception of my Petzl Zipkas. I have carried a small aluminum flashlight on my belt for years, mostly a Mini-Maglight. Since the LED flashlights started to come out, I have carried a number of different 2 AA cell flashlights and have always had problems with them not working. I recently got a Rayovac single AA headlamp that I have been using at work and at night and just started having trouble with it. It has a single button control that cycles through red, blue and finally to white LEDs, then to off. I was using the headlight and switched it off. I soon noticed that the red LED was on and no matter how many times that I pressed the button, it wouldn't go off. I unscrewed the battery cover and the lamp went out. When I put the cover back on, the button worked as usual. I attribute this problem to some sort of microcontroller hanging up in the headlamp. I suspect that the pushbutton is a simple momentary contact and the microcontroller counts the number of presses to determine what LED should be on. This could mean that the headlamp could decide not to work at any given moment or could decide to turn on and run down your battery when the headlamp is packed away. I also presume that there is a switching power supply in the headlamp that steps the voltage up to run the LEDs. All of this leads me to believe that these headlamps and flashlights might decide not to work at any time and at night in the middle of nowhere is not the time that I want to be without a lamp. I like the LEDs and would like to have one that runs on a single AA cell, so that I could quit carrying the AAA cells, but I am not confident that that they will work when I need them.

[James holden]

William,

You bring up good points

One more thing i would add is that it seems like these single battery headlamps have a battery compartment that is not sealed from the innards

If you look at any petzl headlamp you will notice that the battery compartment is separate from the electronics

On the fenix and nitecore ones, its the same compartment

Now everyone raves about how these aluminum lights are more waterproof than petzls, however thats for the whole system when sealed

If you change the batteries in a rain storm better make absolutely sure not to get any moisure inside as it may get into the circuits !!! … And better not drop that cap in the dark (petzls have no cap to drop)

With petzls, you can simply wipe off the contacts, if it gets a tad wet it doesnt matter, the electronics are never exposed

My opinion is that petzl (and other similar designs) are more functionally water resistant than some of these "waterproof" aluminum lights when you need to change the batteries

Its more "idiot proof" … And in the middle or a rain/snow storm when yr wet, cold, tired, hungry and in the dark … Anyone can be an idiot

;)

[James holden]

Well it looks like im not the only one with flickering issues with the fenix hl55

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?390839-fenix-HL55-lockout&p=4520641&viewfull=1#post4520641

;)

[James holden]

Well it looks like they want me to pay for shipping it back to em

I bought this at a dealer with in vancouver, and im willing to go to dealer to demonstrate the issue

However they wont allow you to do a swap through the dealer !!!!!

On this headlamp shipping represents ~1/5 the cost of the lamp itself …. If you bought a HL22 for example it could be 1/2 the cost of the lamp

This is on a fresh unused out of the box headlamp with an issue with which i contacted the dealer and distributer the same day as making the purchase explaining the issue

Fenix offers 15 days from purchase free replacement … Why they dont tell you is that you cant just take it back from the dealer you bought it from … And youll be out shipping costs

http://www.fenixlight.com/Service.aspx

If you have an issue with these chinese lamps straight out of the box, and ive had 2 in a row this past month … All the shipping back and forth will cost you a significant part of the original cost of the light

Ive said it before …. Just buy it from mec/rei

;)

[Pierre Descoteaux]

Ok, thanks to this thread I have discovered the whole new world (to me) of the rechargeable lithium ion 14 500 cells. If and I'm still just saying a big if, I went with a headlamp that needed a 3.7v 14 500 cell, which brand should I go with? And what about the charger? I already in need to upgrade all my rechargeables to Eneloop pro's (AA and AAA) for my regular stuff but what about those 3.7v? Plus, I'm in Canada so returning defective products is most likely not going to happen… Which brands are reliable?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Pierre

[Jerry Adams]

How much does a 14500 weigh?

I saw some that were 1200 mAh. 3.6 V. = 4320 milli Volt Amp hours

AA NiMh is 1.06 oz, 2400 mAh, 1.2 V that would be 2717 milli Volt Amp hours / ounce

[James holden]

pierre …

whats your application ,… what will you be using it for?

dont get blinded by "specs" that flashaholics obsesses over

heres an example of 215 lumens (petzl tikka RXP), 420 lumens (fenix HL55) and 900 lumens (fenix HL55) respectively on a 30m climb … shietty iphone camera but it gives you an idea of the comparable "brightness"

as you can see the Petzl tikka RXP appears brighter with ~200 lumens than the 400+ lumen of the fenix … this is because the petzl has both a close in flood and a spot for longer distances, and auto adjusts depending on the distance of what you are looking at … essentially its two headlamps in one

now the 400+ lumens produces a better flood overall just due to the sheer power … and the 900 lumen turbo mode blows anything else away … but it does this with brute force and unless you are on turbo mode the Petzl holds its own for practical usage despite having half the lumens

now some will say the battery pack is more expensive and weights more than it should … all true … however the difference with 14500 bats aint that great as you can see below and they miss the point … the battery pack is USB rechargeable with a usb port built in, which means you dont need any extra chargers … and it has protection built in while some 14500 "1200 mAh" bats may not

flashaholics will look down on the Petzl Tikka RXP as it has "poor specs" for the price and weight … however having used the headlamp for technical night climbing, its a VERY good headlamp for that purpose … the autobrightness adjust saves both battery run times and fiddling while on lead

and finally you can get it at MEC with a no questions asked lifetime warranty … just walk in the door and swap or return it if theres any issues

however r i wont recommend this light as we dont know what you will be using it for

the devil is in the details, heres an example … as your photo indicates youll be using it for climbing possibly, heres something i found out … when night climbing i frequently adjust the tilt of the lamp especially when belaying to light up the climb for my partner, or when on lead i point it a bit down to see my footwork …

the nitecore HC90 which some folks cheered on certain light forums is VERY hard to adjust 1 handed, the tilt is extremely stiff and when placed on a helmet is difficult to adjust one handed, especially if yr on lead … the fenix HL55 is extremely easy to adjust 1 handed as it uses the "clicky" mechanism, its much more suited for technical night climbing just because of this

;)

[Pierre Descoteaux]

Eric, you are totally right, I forgot to mention that in the end the headlamp will be used for both camping and climbing. I do not plan on night climbing but, early alpine start and getting caught by darkness while on a climb either because of slow progress or injury. Simplicity, lightness, robustness, waterproofness, and lightning capacity + longevity are all to be considered. I will research this Tikka RXP of yours especially since I know Petzl and MEC stands behind their products. Thank you so very much for all the info.
Pierre

[Jerry Adams]

so, from Eric's data, the 14500 rechargeable Lithium ion batteries weigh 50% to 75% as much as NiMh for the same capacity. A flashlight might weigh 1 ounce less.

If you had several devices that used 14500s you could save several ounces.

Another way to do electronics is to have non replaceable batteries. Rechargeable with USB. I would never use up flashlight during one trip. I have a MP3 player and carry a Lithium battery with USB output that I carry to recharge during trip.

[James holden]

If you had several devices that used 14500s you could save several ounces.

i want to take a moment to demonstrate the weight difference between NiMH, Li-on and Li-on power packs when used in a "lumens and runtime intensive" situation … ie, night climbing, night hiking/scrambling and other such situations where youl will be using the light for hours at a time with quite a bit of it on high mode

im going to take 2 examples, the zebralight H52 (popular here) and the petzl tikka RXP which i own and use

both are 200+ lumens, the zebralight is lighter of course, but the RXP has 2 cree emitters as i mentioned above (basically 2 headlamps in one) and is USB rechargeable

as you can see above if you are using more than 5 watt hours, then the zebralight with normal eneloops weights MORE than the petzl (with extra li-on bats or a powerpack) … its not till you get to the eneloop pros or 14500 bats that the zebralight becomes more competitive despite being a lighter headlamp

of course there are differences in efficiencies of the emitter/driver and other such things that influence run tie and output … but the basic point is that li-on bats are the future and have a significant advantage

also be aware that some lights that can take both AA and 14500, using 14500 may not mean better run times, it may just be a bit brighter … it depends on the light

in real life no one is going to go out and buy 5 accucore bats either, theyll buy 1 or 2 and get a power pack

the advantage of the RXPs usb approach is that you can use a powerbank to recharge the accucore, yr phone or any other USB rechargeable device … you can also "top off" your bats minimizing the chances of having to change your bats in the middle of a climb/rappel under nasty conditions

remember that each 3400 mAh 18650 bat (45-50g) that you can use in a powerpack means 12 watt hours … or the same as 4+ AA eneloops (120g)

;)

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