Eveready Arc White
Manufactured by Eveready Battery Co.
Last updated: 01-13-08
The Arc White is a compact combination incandescent & fluorescent flashlight. Using 4 "AA" batteries, you can light things up at a distance with its powerful incandescent, or light up your campsite with the bright white fluorescent lamp. All of this power is packed in a small, easy-to-hold package that fits just about anywhere.
Size reference
Install the included Energizer batteries (see below) and start using it right away.
To turn the incandescent torch on, slide the switch forward. To use the slim (but bright) fluorescent, slide the switch back towards you. Placing the switch in the center position turns the unit off.
Sooner or later, the incandescent bulb will blow out and need changing. This light makes it easy: just unscrew the black lens ring and tip the old bulb out. Drop a new one in the round hole provided in the body of the flashlight, lower the lens & reflector assembly over the bulb, and screw it back on. For incandescent lamp replacement, it doesn't get much easier than this.
The flashlight's head is slightly tipped downwards; this gives the light a comfortable, natural feel to it. A rubber grip on the body of the light helps keep it from slipping out of your hand.
When using the fluorescent lamp, be aware that it behaves a little differently from what you're used to. It will start out fairly dim, and warm up dramatically over the next 20 or 30 seconds. If for some reason the light is briefly shut off and then turned back on after it's been in use for a bit, the tube will come up at near full brilliance with no warmup time. If the weather is exceptionally cold, the warmup time may be a little longer.
Before you can use the Arc White, you'll need to feed it. To do this, locate and remove the battery door on the heel of the light by pressing in slightly while sliding it in the direction shown by the arrows. Once the door slides about half an inch, it will just lift right off.
Insert 4 "AA" cells with the polarity as shown on the outside of the flashlight, and slide the door back on until it snaps closed.
Battery life has not yet been measured. Current reports suggest the CCFT fluorescent tube can run for 6-8 hours on a set of batteries; no figures are yet available for the incandescent.
This flashlight uses what's called a CCFT; this stands for Cold Cathode Fluorescent Tube. This is the same kind of light source they use to backlight the screens in laptop computers and small TV sets. Unlike regular fluorescent flashlights, the tube in the Arc White cannot be changed. This is because it has a much longer life than any of the conventional hot cathode tubes that other flashlights use. The reason you have to chage the tubes in other lights so often is that when the battery starts to run down, the tube starts doing strange and scary things which greatly shorten its lifetime. Filaments start to sputter, tube ends blacken, and before long you're out a $4 tube.
This won't happen with the Arc White, because the cold cathode tube design isn't hurt nearly as much by weak batteries, so the tube should last for many, many years even with frequent use. This is why the tube isn't designed to be changed - you probably won't have to for as long as you own the flashlight.
Since I do not have the original packaging, I did not get a chance to read any warranty or figures regarding tube life, but Eveready generally stands behind their products so I'd imagine the light comes with an impressive warranty.
The Arc White does not appear to be water resistant, so care should be taken when used in exceptionally foul weather or around water.
Since the fluorescent portion uses a high voltage inverter, a dunking will most likely kill this if it is on or if it is turned on when wet; however the incandescent should still function and get you back to your home or campsite.
If the Arc White should become wet, dry it out very thoroughly before attempting to use the fluorescent tube!!
Remove the reflector & bulb, remove the battery door & batteries, shake it out well, and set the flashlight in a warm place like on top of a computer monitor for at least several days.
Should it fall in sea water, thoroughly flush it with fresh water (immerse it!) as soon as possible and dry as described above. In most cases, this should save the flashlight.
Left: Incandescent from 16"
Right: Fluorescent from 16"
Spectrographic analysis of the CCFT in this flashlight.
Spectrographic analysis of the incandescent bulb in this flashlight.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from TWO-CUBED.
Beam cross-sectional analysis of the incandescent.
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.
TEST NOTES:
Light will not be thrown or dropped, as it is a loaner and Brock (who loaned it to me in early-2001) probably wants it back in one piece - with no tinkling of broken glass or old rat pellets or yukky dirty toilet water in the battery compartment. :)
UPDATE: 08-11-06
As a "thank you", a long-time fan of this website sent me an Arc White among several other items (a SureFire E1e, a Streamlight TwinTask 1L, seven "3-to-D" battery adapters, an InReTECH HELIOS, and some incandescent flashlight blubs along with the Arc White), so it's only fair that this Arc White make the big time - being published on this web page!!!
PROS:
Extremely bright for its size
Compact and easy to use shape
Readily available batteries.
CONS:
Glass bulbs & tubes are notoriously fragile
Light is NOT water resistant; water and high voltage (300-500 volts) do not mix, so dry it out THOROUGHLY if dropped in water.
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MANUFACTURER: Eveready
PRODUCT TYPE: Handheld flashlight, area lantern
LAMP TYPE: CCFT (Fluorescent), Incandescent PR type
No. OF LAMPS: 2
BEAM TYPE: Moderately defined spot, ~270° flood
SWITCH TYPE: 3-position slide action
BEZEL: Reflector with clear window
BATTERY: 4 "AA" cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown (No longer have sample)
WATER RESISTANT: No
SUBMERSIBLE: No
ACCESSORIES: Unknown
WARRANTY: Unknown, but presumably 1+ years.
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PRODUCT RATING:
DURABILITY: 6
BRIGHTNESS: 9
USEABILITY: 10
BATTERY LIFE: 7
BATTERY AVAILABILITY: 10
OVERALL SCORE: 42
Eveready Arc White * http://www.eveready.com
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