SUPERLIGHTS III

NewBie,

Actually, I have a reference shot. It's not taken at daytime, but what I did was take my trusty Ken 4 and did a long exposure with it.
Suffice to say you can see QUITE A LOT.

Anyway, I'll be posting the new shots soon. There was one surprise result of the second shootout.
I'll also post the results for the 24W tests. There was a definite winner there as well. However, none of them could compare with the big boys.

I also wanted to streamline the photos. V.1 of both the Razorbeam and the Razorlight is not available, so I'm wondering how much significance it has to show them with the rest of the group.
So I think I'll just post the v.2 pictures next time. I think that'll be much more relevant.

I would also like to thank Mr. Ted Bear for all his help and effort. Those of you who have read my first review thoroughly know what kind of hell I went through doing that first review all alone (my wife helped me out one time, but I just couldn't ask her to do it a second).
These HIDs are much simpler to do (they don't have a zillion "modes" like the superlights), but it's always better to have a helping hand.

Thanks again Mr. Ted Bear!

cue003 said:

Thanks Jeff. Is the square block on the bottom of the Kumkang attached or is that just the charging base?

Thanks again.

Happy New Year. 2006 here we come!!

Curtis

Click to expand...

Curtis

The block that you describe is where the ballast is located and is an integral part of the unit which can not be detached.

Here is what I wrote up on the polarion six months ago
Introducing the Polarion...

So does this "hunch" about the Rayzors concern the 4100K bulbs? I hope so.

Regarding weather or not it's relevant posting the v1. pictures, it depends on what version the CPF group buy is for. Since most CPFers who are planning on buying the Rayzorbeam/lite are doing so through the CPF group buy you should include the v1. pictures unless you know that the group buy is in fact for the v2. Rayzors rather than the v1. Rayzors.

You know I should be out partying but instead I am here worrying about the new results for the Rayzors and how/if that changes things against the Polarion and the Xeray. Man, I live a pretty boring life... One things is for sure..... one of the aforementioned lights will get purchased for 2006.

Will there be weight info as well on all these lights? I am not trying to create more work for you guys, I just am not sure if you guys did runtime and weight testing on each of the lights. If you didn't then no worries.

Jeff, I saw from your link above (thanks you for the link) that the Polarion has a solid runtime of 108 min vs. the claimed 150 min... that is a pretty solid difference (but still longer than the 70 min runtime of the X990) so was just wondering if the other lights were far off their manufacture claimed runtimes.... and weight.

Lastly on the Polarion does it have the siren that the previous version had? What about hot restrike?

Any of the lights in the test have instant on (as claimed by the Reva NOS RI-2200)?

Curtis

By "instant on" Reva probably means that the RI-2200 produces light from the instant that the button is pressed, as opposed to the older RI-2400 which produces no light when the button is first pressed. So by this definition all of these lights are "instant on", but that doesn't mean that they come on at full brightness. They still take a few seconds to warm up.

All of these lights should also have hot restrike. Well, all the automotive HID based ones should because that is a requirement of all automotive HID ballasts. I'm not sure about the 24W units, they might need a short delay like the 10W WA Solarc units, but if they're well designed they should have hot restrike.

That_Guy said:

By "instant on" Reva probably means that the RI-2200 produces light from the instant that the button is pressed, as opposed to the older RI-2400 which produces no light when the button is first pressed. So by this definition all of these lights are "instant on", but that doesn't mean that they come on at full brightness. They still take a few seconds to warm up.

All of these lights should also have hot restrike. Well, all the automotive HID based ones should because that is a requirement of all automotive HID ballasts. I'm not sure about the 24W units, they might need a short delay like the 10W WA Solarc units, but if they're well designed they should have hot restrike.

Click to expand...

Got ya. I thought I had read somewhere that the Kumkang has a built in safety that will not let you restrike the light too soon after turning it off. You could press the button to turn it on again but you would get no light if it was too soon. You would then have to turn it off again, wait and then retry. This is what I remember reading. Hopefully the Polarion is not that way and will allow for a quick restrike.

Jeff, the Polarion is fixed focus, right?

Curtis


H A P P Y

N E W

Y E A R !!!!!!!!!!!!

That Guy,
The group buy would be for the v.2.

Cue003,
We did the weight and run time tests for all the lights. So you're safe.
The "claimed 150min run time" was for the Kumkang, not the Polarion.
The Polarion has fewer batteries and it has a claimed run time of 100mins. It actually did better with an actual run time of 108mins.
The Polarion has no problem with hot restrike. And yes, it is a fixed focus light.

Oh BTW, I just posted the results of the 24W test. There's a new link that says "24W HID LIGHTS".
Real simple. Only three lights to compare. If only everything else was this easy.....

That Guy

All the 35 watt units are hot restrike... the 24 watters are like the WA SolarARc. The Rayzorbeams even have a "flash mode"

v.1 lights are a thing of the past, being replaced by v.2. The Rayzors have too many inconsistencies (see the differences in runtime), too much variation in output , and a low voltage switching circuit that needs work.

Dual output is good, and they are built very well (I have one Rayzorlight that I have tossed (not droped) down my concrete driveway two dozen times. toss down driveway mp4

Note, I received v.2 prototypes and supposedly these problems have been resolved, but right not I would not recommend these lights.


My hunch was that, will all the problems, would there be variations is output between units of the same model ? What we found was "yes". More interesting was that the Rayzorbeam v.2 that looked pretty good the first time, didn/t look so good the second time around.

There will be a lot more photos showing the differences in v.1 and v.2; changes that have been made, and and some suggested changes.

The XeRay on the other hand is good to go. Little more runtime time than the X990, more lumens, smaller and lighter

Kenshiro, isn't the Polarion and the Kumkang the same light? I thought it was called the Kumkang Polarion? Just making sure I understand your comment in the above post about them being different....

Jeff, thanks for the weight and runtime info.

You guys should be out getting dressed to head out on the town for New Years.

Curtis

Cue003,

The Polarion and the Kumkang are NOT the same light. Mr. Ted Bear wrote a small intro about the Polarion when it was introduced 6 months ago.

Polarion is a new company that is a part of the Kumkang family. It basically is the flashlight brand of Kumkang. Kumkang, therefore does not make any lights any more.
The official name of the light is PXM-35P1, but it is simply called the P1 by Polarion.
The Polarion looks totally different, it has a different battery system, has a new reflector that is smaller than before, more rugged and completely waterproof to 100ft.
The performance, however, is virtually the same.

I'll try to post a group shot of the lights.

Kenshiro... got ya... it is clear now.

Curtis

Here's the group shot:

Thanks sooo much for all the work on this guys !!!! :goodjob:

The Costco HID has a killer throw beam, but its not a very useful one,
plus, heh, its ,,, HUGE.

Overal, I am happy to see my X990 is still among the the very best
But I really like that RazorBeam v2, and think its the best overal light from those shots.
Just to make sure I am thinking of the right one,,,
is it the first one on this pic? http://home.earthlink.net/~mrtedbear/latern.jpg

~John

First I would like to thank both Kenshiro and Jeff for going to all the trouble of doing this for us, and a Happy New Year to everyone.
The Rayzorbeam looks to have a very small area for your hand. It seems that wearing gloves with that light in colder climates like Wisconsin would be difficult. Is that just the photo or is the handle that much smaller than the others ? Larry.

LarryK,
You're probably right. Wearing gloves wouldn't be very good with the Razorbeam.

It's a shame about the problems the Razors are having. I really want these lights to be good. Since I'm in Australia the Razors are the best option because there isn't the prohibitive cost and hassle of importing from overseas, and they have local support. Looks like I'll have to get an overseas light after all.

I would like to hear what Rhino has to say. These lights are primarily designed for the military and would be completely unacceptable in their current state. I find it hard to believe that they could let issues as severe as not starting persist for so long, and their silence on the issue isn't very encouraging.

Larry K

Good observation on the handle... modifications are already in the works, about another 3/4" length, height is sufficient

Jtiice

Rayzorbeam v.2 Prototype does look very nice in the first set . However, once you see the shots from last night, you will likely change your mind. This is the first time as a reviewer that I have had the luxury of mutiple quantites of each model. We discovered significant differences in output between units.

In this set, you can see that the McCulloch X990, the Polarion and XeRay were virtually identical, but the Rayzorbeam v.2 was having a "bad day"

That guy


v.1 lights had simple mechanical switches that were too small and hard to push . They also had several other deficiencies... simple things like rubber feet that fall off, no" gas meter gauge", a so-so beam, seals that could be improved. For the Rayzorlight, it was difficult to swap batteries.... should I go on?

so, with version 2 lights, they incorporated a low voltage switching circuit using micro switches , hard anodized finish, a partially textured reflector, larger switch buttons, batttery gauge, quicklock battery release, enlarge the handle opening and a few more changes

bottom line, they have more work to do...

Do you know if the CPF group buy will be for the buggy v.2, or if it will be postponed until they get the bugs worked out? Do you know if there is a newer, less buggy version in the works, and how far away it is?

I'd be willing to wait for them to get the bugs fixed, but it would have to be all of the bugs, not just some of them, and it would have to be some time soon. If it's just going to continue as it is now with small incremental upgrades fixing some bugs but not others or adding a few new ones then I think I'll give up and just get the XeVision in the CPF group buy. I would really like a Rayzorbeam, but I'm running out of patience.

That guy

I am hoping they will have a fully funtional v.2 light by the end of January, in time for Shot show . They have already solved the switching problem. They need to tighen up their qc so there aren't so many doscrepencies in performance and run time.

I like the light (when it works). I don't always need the full output, so the extended runtime is a plus in my book. I also like the fact I can (have) drop(ed) the light and not have a heart attack