It's back on! Scout24 has added a challenger! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

[run4jc]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

When I saw that in my email updates I thought you had them at 200 Celsius!! OK, hot enough though.

Whoa! No melted flashlights, please!

Oven baking now complete, and I'm happy to report that all 3 remaining contenders survived with no issues. They all stayed on throughout their unpleasant ordeal. Some photos and finally another nerdy, geeky video of the 'extraction.'

Oven was set for 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour:




Actual temp in the oven was 210


As I type this, YouTube is still processing the video but it should be live soon - probably by the time you are reading this (and thanks to all of you who have followed this thread!)



So now the final test will take place. Nowhere near as abusive as scout24's torture of HUNDREDS of tosses against brick and time sitting under the wheel of a large truck, but hopefully enough to satisfy my sick curiosity about how much "drop, kick, throw" abuse they can take. Should be posted soon! Will close out my comments with a subjective rating of all of them.

@subwoofer - if I can find the battery that drained to under .3V I'll use it - if not, when the current Fenix/battery combo dies I'll try that battery in the Klarus. Stay tuned!

 

[scout24]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

I'm thinking you could have cooked this popcorn for me with a side of flashlights!!! . Hang in there little lights!

 

[gunga]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

I remember a test where a person dropped/threw an Arc AAA and Fenix E01 off a tall building. You could try that. Just make sure not to hit anyone!

 

[run4jc]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

Well, we have a winner. Since I bought the lights and conducted the test, I am allowed some subjectivity. BUT, the ratings you'll see at the end are mostly OBJECTIVE.

The final test was the brick wall / concrete floor test. Spoiler alert - the Sunwayman didn't get to play because the rock tumbler killed it....the Klarus and the Fenix survived, but on toss #9 (IIRC) the Nitecore expired. There were a few close calls with lights sputtering and your reviewer getting excited, but it was simply due to heads loosening.

If you have nothing better to do, here's a 5 minute video account of the abuse:



So what do they look like when it's all said and done?
Nitecore's (dead) battery had 1.117V left
Klarus .831V (and still running)
Fenix .992

Here are photos of the players after the tests are all completed - and scroll to the end to see my final ratings

Fenix


Klarus


Nitecore


Klarus


Fenix


Finally, all 4 of the original players


So who is the winner? Please review my ratings below - they reveal why I determined:

Fenix #1
Klarus #2
Nitecore #3
Sunwayman #4



This was a lot of work, but it was a labor of love. One thing is for certain, I would be confident going into any tough situation with either the Fenix or the Klarus, but the Fenix is $2 cheaper and comes with a battery. And although in this particular test the Klarus outlasted it, I've seen another Fenix (same version) last 42 hours on a battery allowing some 'off time' for the battery to recover.

Thanks for your interest!

 

[gunga]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

Very very cool. This is a real great test of these lights to determine the best cockroach light! You should make a medal by attaching the light to a live (large) roach or something (yech!).

Now can you throw them off a building to see how they do?

 

[kj2]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

Great challenge and thank you for doing it all

 

[run4jc]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

Very very cool. This is a real great test of these lights to determine the best cockroach light! You should make a medal by attaching the light to a live (large) roach or something (yech!).

Now can you throw them off a building to see how they do?

LOL. Mike,thanks for the kind words, but I think I'm done. Don't know how many hours have gone into this - and about $100 including the lights and the tumbler/media (which, of course, I can use for other stuff), but it was a blast.

I will carry the Klarus and Fenix lights proudly, just like Greg carried the survivor of his original torture test for so long. If these little guys (and the batteries) can take this, then they can take about anything.

One curious note - the Fenix has a tendency to develop internal pressure after really extended run times. The first one I tested for run time did it -so much pressure that the head was hard to remove and there was a pronounced "pfffft" when I did remove it. This second one did it as well after the oven test.

So someone else, please, do the 'drop off the building test'! I'm done!!

lovecpf

 

[Mr Floppy]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

One curious note - the Fenix has a tendency to develop internal pressure after really extended run times. The first one I tested for run time did it -so much pressure that the head was hard to remove and there was a pronounced "pfffft" when I did remove it. This second one did it as well after the oven test.

That suggests to me that the fenix has a better seal. I'm sure that with all the heating and cooling, the battery would be abused to the point of venting.

Submersion test at pressure anyone?

 

[Tac Gunner]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

Reinforces why I am now only buying Fenix lights, they are built like tanks. Thanks for the test, really enjoyed it. If I could afford it I would do one comparing 2AA lights from the big names, Fenix, Olight, Eagletac, Klarus, Nitecore, Sunwayman, Thrunite and Armytek but that would be almost 200 bucks.

 

[Toohotruk]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

Good job on a cool test! :thumbsup:

 

[scout24]

Re: 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge - Sunwayman, Nitecore, Klarus and Fenix duke it out

You talked me into it- the Klarus is going to be one of my next purchases. Good to see the 7 year old cockroach design hold it's own against these whippersnappers though!

 

[nbp]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Fantastic thread, very fun. I'm almost inclined to buy a couple of the other contestants to compliment my E01s. Some very handy and hardy little lights! Thanks for doing this.

 

[Rossymeister]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Awesome thread!

 

[Flying Turtle]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Great thread. Thank you.

Geoff

 

[Derek Dean]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

I'm constantly amazed at what lengths our members will go to in their pursuit of the most rugged EDC. run4jc, my hat's off to you. Well done!

 

[bigfoot]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Awesome thread, thanks for all the hard work and documentation!!

 

[LightWalker]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Thank you run4jc for your contribution, the results are very interesting, the Klarus not only looks like the E01 but has similar build quality and performance at close to the same cost, I may have to get one of them some time in the near future.

 

[yoyoman]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Thank you run4jc - a very interesting and entertaining thread. Decided I needed some cockroaches and ordered the Fenix E01 and Klarus MI02.

 

[run4jc]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

Thank you all for the kind comments. Many have done such tests and threads...I continue to tip my hat to Greg (scout24) for his tests of the E01. He set the bar very high, especially with his extended abuse tests - hundreds of throws at concrete, bricks and the like, plus multiple times running over the light with a big truck!

I thought the 'tests' were done but this has to be added. Just before the 'dishwasher test', fresh US made Duracell batteries (exp 2018) were installed in the surviving test lights - the Fenix, Klarus and Nitecore. this was approximately 6:30 PM CST on Sunday. As you know, these batteries have seen some major abuse - an hour in the dishwasher probably had no effect on the batteries, but 12 hours in a freezer then an hour in a 200 degree F oven certainly did. Then 25 hard impacts against brick didn't help, either.

The photos don't do justice, but the tops and bottoms of the batteries are caved in, and there is a little pin hole that looks suspiciously like a 'vent.'



I decided to let the lights run after the 'test' was over. So this morning I was met with this:


The Klarus is still on, but the Fenix had died. I gave it a few minutes to recover and it fired back up, but for only 5 minutes or so (maybe less). Voltage at .395...Klarus voltage at .865. And subwoofer, no, the battery from the Fenix won't light the Klarus.

But we have to think about this further - the Klarus has been running constantly. Although I don't know for how long, but the Fenix actually shut off for a while in the freezer. Could have been an hour - could have been 4 hours - who knows - but it did shut off while the Klarus ran all night.

And the Klarus still has over .8V left. So I'm going to let it run until it dies - working from home today so I can keep an eye on it - and let's see just how long this battery vampire can go on this seriously abused AAA cell. Still, not shabby at all for the Fenix - I know it had to have run at least 30 hours on that frozen, baked and beaten cell!

 

[nfetterly]

Re: We Have A Winner! 5MM LED AAA Light Challenge

When you are done you can sell the losers on Fleabay....

Great work!! I will probably pick up a Klarus....