PEAK 1xCR123A 7xNUV LED FLASHLIGHT

Peak LED Solutions 1xCR123A 7xNUV LED Flashlight, retail $39.95 (http://peakledsolutions.net...)
Manufactured by Peak LED Solutions (http://peakledsolutions.net/)
Last updated 10-28-06




(IMPORTANT: The Peak LED Solutions website is currently under construction)

This is the Peak LED Solutions 1xCR123A 7xLED flashlight.
It is labelled as coming from the McKinley Collection.

Ths unit comes in a black body, treated with a Type III hard anodizing ("HA-III" as us flashaholics know it).

There are 7 near-UV LEDs in the head, and a CR123A lithium camera battery inside the barrel powers them.


SIZE



The light came to me ready to use, with a GE/Sanyo brand CR123A lithium cell already installed.

To turn the light on, twist the bezel (head) clockwise (as if tightening it). And to turn the light off, turn the bezel counterclockwise (as if loosening it) about 1/4th of a turn from the fully tightened position.



To feed your light, unscrew the bezel (head) until it comes off (don't worry about losing parts or bulbs) throw it in the commode, and flush it away...O WAIT, YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead. ;-)

Tip the barrel into your hand so the used CR123A cell falls out. Dispose of or recycle it as you see fit.

Drop a new CR123A cell in the barrel, flat-side (-) negative first, so the button-end is showing. Screw the bezel back on, and you're finished. Oh, and unscrew that bezel slightly when your Peak springs to life. You don't want to waste a brand spanken new battery ya know.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that bezel now? ;-)

Due to the way the flashlight is constructed, I cannot obtain a current usage reading.
I would not expect it to be much lower than 350mA though.

As of 10:37am PDT on 08-13-04, I'm running a battery discharge analysis of this flashlight. When the machine poops out a chart, I'll post it here. An anonymous benefactor sent 12 Streamlight brand CR123A cells specifically for this purpose, so that's the battery type I'm using for this test.

The half-intensity point was reached at approximately 2:00pm PDT, and at 3:29pm PDT, it was at 8% of its starting intensity. By 3:44pm PDT, it was at 7.5%. When it drops below 5%, I'll stop the test and publish the chart here on this page.


And here's the chart the machine crapped out.
Runs for 3 hours 30 minutes to 50% intensity, and 6 hours 20 minutes overall.
At 3 hours 30 minutes, the output falls off like somebody slammed its head in the toilet seat.
But the voltage boost dropout appears to occur at 3 hours 20 minutes. It's a steeper fall-off at 3:30.




Photograph showing the business-end of the flashlight.

The Peak is very durable, and ordinary flashlight accidents (dropping it, whapping it against a doorframe or car door in alarm, sitting on it, stepping on it, sucking it up the vaccume cleaner, etc.) will not damage it. I hit it against a steel rod 12 times (5 against the tailcap, 7 on the bezel), and did not damage the flashlight in any way I can see, and it still works correctly too. Very few flashlights are damaged or destroyed by this test however; maybe I need to come up with something even more punishing.

My wheelchair is plugged in right now, so I can't do the wheelchair run-over test tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning (08-05-04).
As of the morning of 08-05-04, I did the wheelchair test, and much as I expected, no damage was found after four back-and-forth trips over the flashlight with the rear drive wheels of a 400 pound electric wheelchair.

The Peak has an O-ring that seals the bezel against the barrel, so it should be fully weatherproof, and maybe even submersible to at least a foot or two. Let's try the bathroom basin test and see what happens...BRB...ok, after submerging it for three minutes in about a foot of water at 73.5°F (23°C) (to simulate a user dropping it into a creek), I dried the outside off with some bungwipe, unscrewed the bezel, and there was no water inside. So yes, weatherproof and submersible to at least 1 foot.
I also tried suctioning the bezel by itself to be sure no leakage occurred around the LEDs, and no leakage was detected.
If it falls into water, just shake it off and keep going. If it falls into seawater or if something pees on it, douche it off with fresh water, shake it off (or dry it off) and it ought to be good as new.

There is a light knurling (texturising) present on the barrel of the Peak; this helps to aid in retention (the ability to hold onto the flashlight when your hands are cold, wet, or oily). This knurling is not aggressive (sharp), so it won't cut a hole in your pocket if you carry the Peak that way. The bezel (head) has what I believe is a 12-sided shape machined into it. Although this does not function as an anti-roll device, it does help a bit to aid in your grip when you turn the flashlight on and off.

The Peak is equipped with a small split ring on its tail, so you can affix it to a keychain and carry it that way if you desire.

The very tail end is removeable (by unscrewing it), to allow the flashlight to be affixed to a large and sturdy magnetic clamp assembly that you can get from Peak LED Solutions.


This clip has a large, heavy-duty clamp with very strong jaws, a large ceramic ring magnet in its base (under that shiny metal thing at the bottom), and a flexible arm that can be positioned pretty much anywhere.
Once the flashlight's very tail end is unscrewed and removed, the flashlight can then be screwed onto the end of the red arm (a Peak brass flashlight is shown in this photograph), and pretty much aimed wherever you need light.

You can also stand the Peak on its tail end when this piece is unscrewed; you can stand it on a dresser, counter, table, or other flat surface and let the light reflected off the ceiling light up the entire room.

There appears to be a regulation circuit inside the bezel (head), potted in a black epoxy compound. This circuit feeds the LEDs constant power until the battery can no longer provide that power, then the intensity of the LEDs rather quickly falls off. This is your cue to change the battery. You aren't just plunged into instant darkness, as can happen with some other regulated flashlights.

The flashlight uses seven near-ultraviolet (NUV) LEDs, emitting a dominant wavelength (where you would point to on a color chart) of approximately 408nm. The output appears to be a very deep violet when shined on something that does not fluoresce (glow); but the light will cause fluorescence of "day glow" objects, and objects sensitive to longwave ultraviolet (long UVA) radiation.



Beam photo at ~12".
Wavelength is too short for me to measure.
The LEDs appear to emit mainly around 408nm.
Color is not that magenta you see in the photograph; it's a deep royal purple to the eye.


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



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent by MJ of Peak LED Solutions along with twelve of their other flashlights, and was received on 08-04-04.


Here's an example of the retail packaging these flashlights come in.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:
Durable construction
Waterproof, submersible to at least 12"
Knurled, to aid in retention
Tailcap can be removed to allow flashlight to stand on-end
Battery rattle problem has now been solved - no battery rattle is present


CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Peak LED Solutions
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small handheld flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm near-UV LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 7
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot, with dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Twist bezel on/off
    BEZEL: Metal; LEDs recessed into individual cells to help prevent damage
    BATTERY: 1 CR123A cell
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Yes, to at least 12"
    ACCESSORIES: 1 CR123A cell
    WARRANTY: 1 year

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





Peak LED Solutions 1xCR123A 7xLED Flashlight * http://peakledsolutions.net...






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