PELICAN MITYLITE 3N LED

Pelican MityLite 3N LED, retail $14.97 (www.worklights.com...)
Manufactured by Pelican Products (www.pelican.com/)
Last updated 11-18-06




Wel, thay kant spel "mighty" or "light", but Pelican does produce a very good little flashlight, in the form of their new 1990 MityLite 3N LED flashlight.

The MityLite has a brilliant white LED in its business-end, powered by three ordinary N cells inside the Xenoy plastic barrel. The light is operated with a rubberised switch on the tail, so you can use it with just one hand. Constant-on and momentary operation are both available from this switch.

The MityLite is Class 1 Division 1 certified for use in hazardous areas. I am not qualified to answer questions about hazard ratings, so please do not ask. I only quoted what was on the packaging and in the instructional material.


SIZE



To use your new MityLite, first remove it and its three included batteries from the package. Cutting the package back with a knife appears to be the most effective removal method. Feed your MityLite (see below), and then you can go paint the town red.

Push the red rubberised button on the tailcap until it clicks and then release it to get light. Press and release it the same way again to not get light. This is continuous mode.

Push the button less firmly (before it clicks) and hold it there as long as you need light. Release it to not get light. This is momentary or signalling mode.

There is no lockout function on this flashlight; please do not look for or expect to find one.



To change the batteries in the MityLite, unscrew and remove the bezel (head), throw it in the toilet, and flush it away...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead. ;-)

Tip the three used N cells out of the barrel and into your hand, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Insert three new N cells in the barrel, flat-side (-) negative first. Screw the bezel back on, and be done with it. If the LED module falls out of the bezel, put it back in before screwing the bezel back onto the barrel.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that bezel now? ;-)

Due to the way the MityLite is constructed, I am not able to obtain a current usage reading.
Advertised battery life is 100 hours.

I'll start a battery discharge analysis on the MityLite within the next several days.

As of 9:42pm PDT on 07-26-04, I started the battery discharge analysis on the MityLite. Assuming I don't somehow manage to queer the test, I should have a chart ready in a few days.

As of approximately 8:00am PDT on 07-27-04, the MityLite has dropped below the 50% intensity point.

Here's a shot of the battery discharge analysis as of 10:14am PDT:

Note that it has a typical alkaline battery discharge curve; I'm still waiting for it to plateau.
As of 2:14pm PDT, it looks like it's just starting to level off.

And here's a shot of the battery discharge analysis as of 8:01pm PDT:




And here's the chart.
Runs for about 10 hours 30 minutes to 50% intensity, and 34 hours 20 minutes overall (test stopped at 5.5% intensity).

As of 7:07pm PDT on 08-02-04, the MityLite is still running, but it is VERY dim. You could probably find the keyhole with it if your eyes were adapted to darkness and you held the flashlight no more than several inches from the doorknob. I turned it off and will get rid of the batteries, just so they won't leak in my MityLite.




Photograph of the MityLite's business-end, showing the LED and the clear plastic window that protects it.

The MityLite appears to be a durable and well-made instrument. I struck it sharply against a steel rod ten times (five on the tailcap, and five on the bezel), and did not damage the flashlight except for some very minor scuffing, and no electrical or optical malfunction was detected either.
I ran over the MityLite with a 400 pound electric wheelchair (the rear drive wheels) four times, and did not damage the flashlight in any fashion that I can detect. This "run over" test was, as usual, conducted on carpeting with a height of approximately 0.08" and no backing or padding, laid over a linoleum floor.

The MityLite appears to be waterproof. When I removed the bezel, relieved the flashlight of its batteries, and then performed that dreadful suction test, the MityLite held a vaccume (vacum, vaccuumn, vaccuummnne, vaccumn, vacuum, etc.) even when the tailcap switch was activated and deactivated several times. There is an "O" ring on the top of the barrel that engages the bezel when the bezel is screwed down.

O o, the bezel itself leaks. So, weather-resistant, yes. Submersible, no.
I removed the LED module from the bezel and then suctioned the bezel again just to be sure, and yes, it still leaks. It leaks somewhere around the window (or lens, if you are more comfortable with that term). It could probably be sealed with some silicone caulking compound, but the end results probably won't be very pretty.

There is a platinum catalyst pellet mounted on the side of the LED module; it is there to absorb hydrogen gas from the batteries. Since this flashlight isn't airtight though, hydrogen buildup inside the flashlight body would not be an issue, catalyst pellet or no catalyst pellet.

There is a "STATIC HAZARD" warning in the instructional leaflet; it advises you to only clean the flashlight with a damp cloth. This is probably due to the plastic body and the fact that LEDs don't like static electricity.



Beam photo at ~12".
Measures 21,100mcd on a Meterman LM631 light meter.

While this is not a terrible brightness for a single LED,
the flashlight itself seems a bit large for that output.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LED in this flashlight.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from TWO-CUBED.



TEST NOTES:
Test sample was purchased on 07-19-04 because a Candlepower Forums member wanted it evaluated, and was received late on the morning of 07-26-04.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:
Durable construction
Batteries aren't that expensive or difficult to find
Feels decent in the hand; tail switch allows for one-hand use in an overhand grip


CONS:
Not waterproof - leaks at lens-end
For its size, it could have been brighter
Overall battery life appears to have been misrepresented


    MANUFACTURER: Pelican Products
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small handheld flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm white LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Narrow flood; hotspot with dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off/momentary on tail
    BEZEL: Plastic; LED protected by plastic window
    BATTERY: 3x N cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: 3 batteries
    SIZE: 5.8" L, 0.8" D at widest point
    WARRANTY: Lifetime

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Pelican MityLite 3N * www.pelican.com/






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