Manker LAD, a new 219c option, alternative to the Tip?

[jon_slider]

interface is intuitive

Congrats and thanks for your comments. Im looking forward to receiving a Red LAD I ordered recently. I am hopeful that the interface will be easily adopted by my college student, for whom I "claim" I bought the LAD. I wanted a simple interface with a single button, that would not require a lockout strategy..

So far no reports of accidental activation of a LAD.. I hope yours serves you well.

Regarding the Red LEDs, I will be curious to test them as a middle of the night, wake to pee light. The long narrow focus is not what I thought Straw Hat would be, I expected floods, but apparently a little sanding can make that happen.. will share my impressions once the light arrives.

probably 6-7' away… If you were pointing it on the floor a few feet in front of you walking you basically could see nothing but what's in that small circle of red rings…. I would not want to use it for walking around the house at night...

I've found that you can scuff up the ends of the emitters easy enough with some sandpaper….
NOTE: this is irreversible....

...I was able to flatten the emitters close to flush and now I've got pretty much artifact-free red flood….

 

[jon_slider]

Received a N219c LAD today. Compared it to the N219b in the head of a Lumintop Worm. All lumen estimates are from my "calibrated" light meter. The Manker has been fully charged, it took 1 hour 20 minutes. (out of the box the light worked at 1/3 less brightness)

first mode on LAD:

second mode on LAD:

third mode on LAD:

4th mode on LAD (red):

here is high mode on the Wrom: (spec is 80)

first impressions
I like that the LAD is small, and a single click from off always starts on its 1st mode, of about 10 lumens. Likely to be useful to a college student that is not interested in flashlights, nor in buying batteries.

N219B Wrom:

N219c LAD:

LAD on left:

imo the N219c has a yellow tint, it does appear to be about 4000k, I prefer the N219b, in these specific samples

disclaimer
the values Im getting are about 50% of LAD specs.. its possible my measuring device is not able to account for the TIR, which lacks a hotspot that the reflector on the Wrom has.

about the beam:
the lad has a nice broad beam with no hotspot. It is wider than the hotspot on the conventional reflector of the Wrom (Lumintop Worm AAA)

Red Led example standing in front of the toilet, I can easily spot the target zones:

 

[jon_slider]

About LAD PWM
I cannot detect dots when waving the light really fast.
I cannot detect scan lines in closeups of the beamshots.
There IS some kind of PWM interference on extreme closeup, both still photo and video:

by contrast here is the extreme closeup of a Lumintop Worm w Nichia

and Worm video



regarding LAD risk of accidental activation:
I think it is impossible to have a LAD turn on by accident in pocket. The button is very hard to push, and is recessed. Here is a video, not mine, about the LAD having no Accidental Discharge:

 

[wacbzz]

So, after an almost uncountable number of posts that about went on and on an on about PWM, and then finally a purchase because the LAD "didn't" have said PWM, and now this?

About LAD PWM
....
There IS some kind of PWM interference on extreme closeup, both still photo and video:

*SNICKER*
*SNICKER*
*SNICKER*

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Slider chose to make his picture public.
Hopefully, virtually no one of sound mind and body will make a purchase decision based on these 'photos' and just know that there is no apparent pulse width modulation in either of these two decent flashlights.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

SHOT Show 2017 as reported by CPF member Nichia!:

Armytek Zippy 200 lumen rechargeable, similar sized to these flashlights.

 

[jon_slider]

I was looking for the lumen specs for the LAD w Nichia and found this

Output & Runtime:

• Red: 1 lumen, 100 hours
• Low: 23 lumens, 5.6 hours
• Medium: 86 lumens, 1.5 hour
• High: 230 lumens, 0.5 hour
• Strobe: 230 lumens

imho, those lumen specs are about Double what I measured. I have not seen any lumen test to confirm the specs for TIP CRI.

I still think the LAD w Nichia has several useful features, light weight, as bright as my AAA and AA lights with Nichia, simple one button interface that does not turn on by mistake in pocket, small size, good CRI and Tint...

the PWM is not visible when waving the light, similar to the TIP, it can only be detected with special photography skills..

I do think the LAD is a good keychain option, and a good alternative to the TIP, whose protruding buttons are prone to accidental activation. (there are even reports of TIP accidental unlocking)

regarding the red Super Hero LEDs, Im testing the bansuri method, on one LED, I did not take the bezel off.. will know more tonight, but here is a preview.. can you guess which one got sanded w 600 grit?

my preliminary impression is that sanding makes a dimmer beam of the same diameter, with less throw and less Super Hero artifacts. imo these are not Red Hat, Floody style LEDs, they are very narrow beam and a conventional domed shape.

fwiw, I cannot detect any PWM on the Red Mode.

Here is Dragons Breath PWM

 

[jon_slider]

Yesterday I sanded the other red LED, so both red beams are now more diffused, and tested the light when I woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom run.

The red mode worked very well to see the floor and the walls. imho, the sanded LEDs definitely work Better, and make navigation in the dark easier.

kudos to bansuri for sharing the sanding trick.

 

[bltkmt]

The blue light never did go out, which is no big deal, but would be nice if it stopped charging completely at some point.

Love this light, but this behavior bugs me. Why not have it so the blue light goes off when the light is fully charged? How can you tell otherwise?

 

[jon_slider]

How can you tell otherwise?

When the light stops blinking it is charged.

fwiw, I gave my college kid a choice between my LAD and an Astrolux M03 for keychain. She picked the LAD. Seemed very impressed with the feature set. I did not mention the strobe features, that I cannot click fast enough to get into.

Im expecting a contact after she discovers that after charging, the Lad turns on in Strobe mode on the first click.

those two lights weigh exactly the same. The LAD is much more newbie friendly imnsho.

 

[bltkmt]

When the light stops blinking it is charged.

Yet, isn't it still trickle charging? Again, it would make sense to have a clear indication when the light is fully charged.

 

[jon_slider]

isn't it still trickle charging?

my guess is no, but I have not tested it
maybe you could find out by using one of these cute inline meters
it might be useful for estimating remaining battery life between charges too

Maybe consider adopting a charging strategy that does not leave the unit plugged in while unattended for long periods

Here is how I deal with the LAD battery.
The charge cycle takes an hour, I usually just plug into my laptop while online, and take the LAD with me when I leave. For those who dont know, it is not necessary to discharge LiIon completely between charges, it is fine to top it up any time.

For safety, I dont walk away from LiIon during charging, and I dont leave it plugged in overnight.

 

[bansuri]

Yet, isn't it still trickle charging? Again, it would make sense to have a clear indication when the light is fully charged.

My LAD would draw .03A when indicator showed charging complete.
My TIP draws .01A when done.

I got rid of my LAD or I would check the battery leads to see if any of that current was going into the battery. I hope and doubt it's trickle charging, the response from Manker makes me think it's not.
Sorry I didn't check when I had it, someone else is gonna have to dig in for the team. It could just be powering the cutoff circuit and indicator LED, just speculating.
I've got a few TIPs so I"ll check what's going on in there and post in the appropriate thread.

Don't fall in love with your LAD or TIP, I get the feeling we're gonna be seeing a flood of these CLLs from now on. No complaints here! Old-timers remember the valiant efforts by custom makers to build something like this, now we just click and wait!
Great time to be a flashoholic.

 

[samgab]

claims to use constant current (so does the Tip but its not true)

They made a typo/mistake in their original marketing slide which is where this rumour of PWM came from. There is NO PWM! It's constant current. I can both hear and see PWM (high frequency whine and when moved quickly it can be seen by the naked eye as well as in photos). TIP HAS NO/NIL/ZERO/NADA/NONE PWM, confirmed. (In the current generation, at least, which I have).

The corrected marketing slide.

This is my TIP 360: NO PWM!

This is a 4Sevens Preon2: PWM Visible!

Here is the Preon2 on the left and the new TIP 360 on the right. Note the PWM on the Preon2, but the smooth output with NO PWM on the TIP on the right!!

 

[samgab]

Here's another picture with 4 of my lights, 2 with PWM, and 2 with constant current, all set to the lowest mode:

So they are, from left to right:
New Nitecore TIP 360, 4Sevens REVO with Constant current, 4Sevens Quark mini with PWM, 4Sevens Preon2 with PWM.

You can see that the two on the right have PWM, but the two on the left, including my TIP, do NOT have PWM.
Maybe the early models of the TIP did have PWM, explaining those early pictures which appeared to show it, but current generation TIPs definitely do NOT have PWM.

 

[WigglyTheGreat]

I just bought the Manker Lad 219c to replace my Nitecore Tip cool white keychain light. I like the Nitecore tip, but the accidental activation is really killing it's usefullness for me and I am not a fan of the cool white. I bought the tip on preorder and no hi cri version was available at that time or I would have bought that instead.

The Manker Lad is not perfect, but overall I still am impressed with it. I too wish they had a firefly mode instead of the red leds. I plan to sand the red leds to smooth out the rediculous beam pattern like others have done here so thanks for the info. Minus the firefly mode, I really like the spacing of the other modes and I love the warmer tint of this light. I am hopeful that the coating on the Manker holds up better than that of the Nitecore as the Nitecore is quite chipped up from being in my pocket with keys. The manker definitely seems far less prone to accidental activation so that is a big positive. I only received my Manker a few days ago so time will tell how it holds up, but I feel good about my purchase right now.

 

[jon_slider]

I also like the 4000k CCT of the Manker. And I really like the UI, so does my college kid, who now has it on their keychain.

I sanded my red LEDs, but they were from the first batch. there is a new batch of red LEDs that are actually what they were supposed to be.. floody, without the spot beam and artifacts of the first run. So, does your red LED look like the top one in this pic, or the bottom ones? (pic is a link to the thread)

Red lights are a little different.

Nice! Those might be the real Straw Hat LEDs, the beam looks twice as wide as the first batch, and less artifacts.. Probably no need to sand those down.

 

[Streamer]

FCOL....so now, it looks like a V1 & V2 version of the Manker exists? A repeat of the TIP? I won't be buyin' anytime soon that's for sure.

 

[jon_slider]

FCOL....so now, it looks like a V1 & V2 version of the Manker exists? A repeat of the TIP? I won't be buyin' anytime soon that's for sure.

most lights change and evolve.. some start out with PWM, then go to NoPWM, then go back to PWM
or they have different CCT LEDs in different runs, or they change the box, or the mode sequence, or add a pocket clip, etc etc.

The LAD is not a repeat of the TIP, but they both have several versions and have changed over time. They each have different strong points and weak points.

The flashlight thing is just another consumerism, manufacturers pump out a bunch of gizmos, run a bunch of free Social Media reviews, a bunch of people buy the stuff.. and the a new batch comes out.. always new, always better.

Maybe youre lucky, not tempted, dont need more lights, are happy with what you have.. thats a good place to be.. Dont worry, Be Happy! Im going to copy you, and not buy any more lights.. LOL

(no disrespect intended, I know your Tip Saga, but these are not the LADs youre looking for. We don't have any Accidental Activations or Excessive Discharges here. The LAD IS the alternative to the Tip in those regards.)

 

[WigglyTheGreat]

I also like the 4000k CCT of the Manker. And I really like the UI, so does my college kid, who now has it on their keychain.

I sanded my red LEDs, but they were from the first batch. there is a new batch of red LEDs that are actually what they were supposed to be.. floody, without the spot beam and artifacts of the first run. So, does your red LED look like the top one in this pic, or the bottom ones? (pic is a link to the thread)

My Manker Lad is definitely like the top pic. It must be the earlier version. Shouldn't take much to correct it though when I get a chance.