Ra Clicky Part 7

[paxxus]

In the past (a couple days ago) that would have been defined as working 100% normally, no un touched triggers of the light (which I why I got a new tail cap from Henry, my previous one did that anywhere) now, its graduated to with a button locked light, doing the triple flash to indicate a press when locked, and not operating at all when fully screwed in. I should also mention that when the button is unlocked and fully screwed in, the light behaves like the button is fully depressed, (jumping and staying to my set click press hold level that Henry designates as high from the factory) Rather odd. :shrug:

This sounds like the switch contact wire shorting to the body when the protruding part of the wire is pressed hard against the battery tube, as when the battery tube is screwed all the way in. If this is the case then replacing the switch alone will not help.

This were my thoughts about the design from a while back:

"Looks like a solid design for the switch signal, much better than the spring used in the HDS/NT lights. Only slight concern one could have is that the isolating anodize might eventually be rubbed off thus creating a false switch contact. But anodize is very hard anyway."

Maybe you have missing anodize in the battery tube near the contact wire...

 

[matrixshaman]

Took my Clicky for a walk in the woods tonight and took some beamshots down a path. The beam shape is great for lighting down a path as well as seeing stuff on either side.

prime77 - Which model do you have? Burst looks bright! Thanks for the real world beamshots.

 

[orcinus]

I'm happy to report the battery chemistry detection seems to be working as advertised and without a hitch.

I've tried swapping between a primary CR123 and a rechargable AW RCR123 a few times and there were absolutely no hiccups.
After one of the swaps the Clicky did the gradual step up to the highest level (once) but that was it. I've actually expected much more fuss about it.

 

[prime77]

prime77 - Which model do you have? Burst looks bright! Thanks for the real world beamshots.

I have a 140C

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Alright folks, my 140Cn came today. So I now have a 140C-GT, a 140Cn, and my precious: All Ti 85Tr.

I bought both (140Cn and 140C-GT) from www.uniquetitanium.com to see which I like better. BTW: If you need a Ra, I highly reccomend these folks @ UT for quick shipping and great service!!

Hands down, if I could only have one, it would have to be the Cn for the following two reasons.

>>>Tint: The tint is better on my Cn, it makes my GT look cooler to my eyes.

>>>Beam: The beam on the Cn is more "punchy", throws better while maintaining the same amount of flood. As a matter of fact, the beam on my Cn is one of the best I have ever seen. These GD emitters are very nice!

 

[HoopleHead]

That's right baby, Cn crew holla!

 

[turbodog]

I just got another clicky today, and I think Henry's found his solution to the slightly off center SS bezel. He's made it about 1/100" smaller. So *IF* it's not centered, you really can't tell since there's a small lip all the way around.

 

[shomie911]

Alright folks, my 140Cn came today. So I now have a 140C-GT, a 140Cn, and my precious: All Ti 85Tr.

I bought both (140Cn and 140C-GT) from www.uniquetitanium.com to see which I like better. BTW: If you need a Ra, I highly reccomend these folks @ UT for quick shipping and great service!!

Hands down, if I could only have one, it would have to be the Cn for the following two reasons.

>>>Tint: The tint is better on my Cn, it makes my GT look cooler to my eyes.

>>>Beam: The beam on the Cn is more "punchy", throws better while maintaining the same amount of flood. As a matter of fact, the beam on my Cn is one of the best I have ever seen. These GD emitters are very nice!

When you get a good tint the Cn emitters are awesome.

I love my 140-Cn and I'm glad to hear someone likes theirs better than the 140-CGT.

I still can't believe my Clicky gets 72 minutes on high on an AW RCR123. It almost makes primaries obsolete, except for when you need the extra bit of low level runtime.

 

[:)>]

I just ran a runtime test on level 21 and my 140CGT ran for 2 hours and 26 minutes. I did this against one of my Novatacs set to the 85 lumen level and it ran for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

The clicky destroyed it.

I will have a 140Cn inbound early next week.

 

[Russki]

I just ran a runtime test on level 21 and my 140CGT ran for 2 hours and 26 minutes. I did this against one of my Novatacs set to the 85 lumen level and it ran for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

The clicky destroyed it.

I will have a 140Cn inbound early next week.

Actually it is not fair comparison.
Level 85 Lm on Novatac must be compared to level 22 on Clicky.

 

[Kid9P]

I just ran a runtime test on level 21 and my 140CGT ran for 2 hours and 26 minutes. I did this against one of my Novatacs set to the 85 lumen level and it ran for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

The clicky destroyed it.

I will have a 140Cn inbound early next week.

That is some serious run times
Thanks for taking the time to do this :thumbsup:

 

[paxxus]

When talking run-times, we have to keep in mind that "high" on the Clicky is lowish by todays standards. So, when someone excidedly posts that their Ra ran for xx minutes on "high" I simply don't know if that's impressive or not. We need more comparisons to other lights which outputs about the same amount of lumens, before we can truly appreciate the Ra efficiency. Preferably the lights should have the same emitter type also, so we're comparing the efficiency of the Ra itself.

Goatee's comparison to the NovaTac is interesting in this respect, provided we're absolutely sure that they ran at the same lumens level during the experiment.

If someone could compare against a regulated China light (maybe Fenix), that would be interesting too.

Although the emitters aren't the same type, I will see if I can find a set of closely matched levels and then make a runtime test head-to-head with my NovaTac and Seouled HDS.

 

[shomie911]

When talking run-times, we have to keep in mind that "high" on the Clicky is lowish by todays standards. So, when someone excidedly posts that their Ra ran for xx minutes on "high" I simply don't know if that's impressive or not. We need more comparisons to other lights which outputs about the same amount of lumens, before we can truly appreciate the Ra efficiency. Preferably the lights should have the same emitter type also, so we're comparing the efficiency of the Ra itself.

Goatee's comparison to the NovaTac is interesting in this respect, provided we're absolutely sure that they ran at the same lumens level during the experiment.

If someone could compare against a regulated China light (maybe Fenix), that would be interesting too.

Although the emitters aren't the same type, I will see if I can find a set of closely matched levels and then make a runtime test head-to-head with my NovaTac and Seouled HDS.

100 lumens is still around the brightness of a Surefire E1B and L1. So I wouldn't say high is all that low. Plus it has the capability of going up to 140 lumens as needed.

But I understand your point, we need to compare the Clicky to more lights before we can really determine how efficient it is.

With that said, I've never had a rechargeable last 72 minutes in a light as bright as the Clicky 140-Cn on Level 22.

 

[tebore]

Actually it is not fair comparison.
Level 85 Lm on Novatac must be compared to level 22 on Clicky.

That would just further destroy the Novatac. Since level 22 is 100lm and lights are averaging over 1 hour. Most are over 1.5 hours it looks like.

When talking run-times, we have to keep in mind that "high" on the Clicky is lowish by todays standards. So, when someone excidedly posts that their Ra ran for xx minutes on "high" I simply don't know if that's impressive or not. We need more comparisons to other lights which outputs about the same amount of lumens, before we can truly appreciate the Ra efficiency. Preferably the lights should have the same emitter type also, so we're comparing the efficiency of the Ra itself.

Goatee's comparison to the NovaTac is interesting in this respect, provided we're absolutely sure that they ran at the same lumens level during the experiment.

Although the emitters aren't the same type, I will see if I can find a set of closely matched levels and then make a runtime test head-to-head with my NovaTac and Seouled HDS.

If you look at a few pages back or was it in the last Clicky thread (#6) there was a direct comparison between the Novatac and SSC P4 EDC. What is really impressive is the EDC's efficiency. The EDC Sustaining essentially the burst(actually maybe even brighter) on the Ra for more than 20 mins and still contining to provide light for hours. On level 2 that was comparable to the Clicky's 100lm the EDC had again essentially the same runtime.

That proved one thing was for sure. When it comes to lights made by Henry under Henry's watchful eye, efficiency is extremely hard to beat. Also when you cut corners efficiency suffers *cough Novatac cough*.

What I want to see is a direct runtime test between the Ra Twisty, Clicky and EDC. With the Twisty running at 100lm (100Tw) depending on the model against the Clicky set to 100lm and the EDC set to a level which provides comparable amount of light (I guess would be level 2) and ran until the batteries are unable to provide power for their lowest levels. That'd be the ultimate survival test. This would be a good test using the SSC equipped Ra's.

 

[Russki]

That would just further destroy the Novatac. Since level 22 is 100lm and lights are averaging over 1 hour. Most are over 1.5 hours it looks like.

If we talking about unmodified light, you definitely right.
But if you put more efficient emitter in Novatac, you will have same or better run time then Clicky. What I meant before: power supplied to Led on level 22 Clicky shout be close to level 85 on Novatac. It is all about Led efficiency.

 

[tebore]

If we talking about unmodified light, you definitely right.
But if you put more efficient emitter in Novatac, you will have same or better run time then Clicky. What I meant before: power supplied to Led on level 22 Clicky shout be close to level 85 on Novatac. It is all about Led efficiency.

Has that been proven? I'm not 100% on the Novatac's regulation. An LED swap could just mean more brightness not increased runtime per the same level.

So lets put it this way if you set the Ra to 100lm and have the Novatac on level 2(85lm) with the latest SSC and only brightness increased. It would be 100lm vs (at best, this assumes U1 vs U2 bin taking the top end of both bins) 100lm for the Novatac. Even then the Clicky would still win over the novatac. Now if you assume an increase in runtime retaining 85lms then you'd be using a Ra 120lm set to Level 21 again the Novatac would get destroyed.

Either way the clicky's going to come out on top, and this doesn't even factor the ruler straight regulation of the Ra to the crappy fluxuations of the Novatac and flickering at the low level which has only been fixed in some. Sure some clicky's have some flickering but reports seem to show Henry taking care of it.

 

[matrixshaman]

Alright folks, my 140Cn came today. So I now have a 140C-GT, a 140Cn, and my precious: All Ti 85Tr.

I bought both (140Cn and 140C-GT) from www.uniquetitanium.com to see which I like better. BTW: If you need a Ra, I highly reccomend these folks @ UT for quick shipping and great service!!

Hands down, if I could only have one, it would have to be the Cn for the following two reasons.

>>>Tint: The tint is better on my Cn, it makes my GT look cooler to my eyes.

>>>Beam: The beam on the Cn is more "punchy", throws better while maintaining the same amount of flood. As a matter of fact, the beam on my Cn is one of the best I have ever seen. These GD emitters are very nice!

Thanks for that bit of info confirming my choice. You are trying to push me over the edge with anticipation while I wait for my Cn to arrive aren't you?

 

[Russki]

Has that been proven? I'm not 100% on the Novatac's regulation. An LED swap could just mean more brightness not increased runtime per the same level.

So lets put it this way if you set the Ra to 100lm and have the Novatac on level 2(85lm) with the latest SSC and only brightness increased. It would be 100lm vs (at best, this assumes U1 vs U2 bin taking the top end of both bins) 100lm for the Novatac. Even then the Clicky would still win over the novatac. Now if you assume an increase in runtime retaining 85lms then you'd be using a Ra 120lm set to Level 21 again the Novatac would get destroyed.

Either way the clicky's going to come out on top, and this doesn't even factor the ruler straight regulation of the Ra to the crappy fluxuations of the Novatac and flickering at the low level which has only been fixed in some. Sure some clicky's have some flickering but reports seem to show Henry taking care of it.

I am really not sure that drivers in original HDS , Novatacs, and Clicky that mach different in efficiency. I am definitely not arguing which light is better. They all good lights, design by same great creator. My point is that Led in this lights playing main role in efficiency, so better Led which consume lees power will give you longer run time, and driver adjusted accordingly.
There are couple pictures for you.
Clicky on level 22 and Novatac120 K2 on level 2 (85Lm original Led)

Clicky on level 22 and Novatac120 K2 on level 3 (60Lm original Led)

Clicky on the left. It look like Clicky change levels, but actually it is not.
K2 just kill that camera.
Enjoy.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Thanks for that bit of info confirming my choice. You are trying to push me over the edge with anticipation while I wait for my Cn to arrive aren't you?

Thats what you get for me having to wait on your Ra Clips! :nana:

Your gonna love your Cn if its like mine.

 

[:)>]

To my eyes, the 85 lumen level on the Novatac and th3 75 lumen level on the Clicky looked identical and when I tested them out on my son, he said that the thought that the clicky was brighter... I know that lumen testing by son is not the most scientific, but he was seeing what I was seeing.

Here is the neat part, the Novatac had dropped to a level below 10 lumens before the clicky dropped from 75 lumens.

All in all, I am convinced that there is a significant difference in efficiency that the Clicky has over the Novatac... and I have been a fanboy of the Novatac since I got it. I still am a fanboy because 1.5 hours on 85 lumens is simply great compared to what was available before the Cree's and Seouls appeared; it is just that the Ra simply crushes it. I mean, if I was to step the Novatac down to 60 lumens, it still may not run for 2.5 hours like the Clicky and even if it did, it would still be running at 25 lumens less than the Clicky.

I have bought another Clicky and I might have to buy even more:twothumbs