Gold Novatac Storm with N219b 4500k 9080

Received Gold Storm!
Super Happy :slight_smile:

did not need factory reset, the light had been set up for double click to be 84 lumens and maximum is 95 lumens on my meter, so they looked the same. (my stock Novatac max is 74 lumens on my meter) The light was already previously unlocked, so it is programmable. I was able to lower the double click to 30 lumens… All is good.

fwiw, I really like the flat knurling on the Gold Storm, my delicate hands dont appreciate aggressive knurling. And, the Gold Storm has the reflector I prefer, with no rings. It even has the AR coating I prefer, with blue reflection, instead of green reflection… how picky am I? lol
more aggressive knurling on the right:

Then I had a problem, the light turned itself on when I tapped it on the table to tailstand… replaced the spring, not solved, I could still slap the light and it would turn itself on. Cleaned all the threads and contacts… Problem Solved!
The Gold Storm has the wimpy 4 gram spring, but it works, and I have spare 6 gram springs if I get the urge to upgrade…

On this light, with the N219b mod the lowest low is 0.23 lumens (3 steps higher than stock),

Preset A is maximum of 95 lumens
Preset B is now 10 lumens
Preset C is now 30 lumens
Preset D is now 0.23 lumens

the only thing I cant do yet, is a battery detect reset to LiIon, but thats OK cause I use Protected 16340
the light also works with CR123 Primary, even at 2.7v, which would have triggered LiIon protection if it was enabled.

I may do a factory reset at some point when I feel like doing the 250 click hack again… just to get the light setup as LiIon enabled, so the built in Low Voltage detection will be active. The LiIon program would step down at 3v, and the 2.7v primary would shut the light off… but Im not worried about overdischarge atm, since I dont use UnProtected LiIon…

all is good… in fact, all is Fantastic!

fwiw, Im in the market for a pocket clip, if anyone has one available, please PM me.

Im absolutely ecstatic with the N219b 4500k 9080 already installed, saves me a trip to the modder…

this is what high CRI sw 45, and Low CRI stock LED look like under UV… Love me some orange Phosphors:

fwiw, the Gold Storm weighs 9 grams less than my Pewter model with black bezel.

Very nice. I like the flat tail.

I like the flat tail a lot!
And I Love the 219b :slight_smile:

It took a little while to get comfortable with the flat tail, as I was accustomed to the raised button.
I prefer the flat button as it is less likely to turn on in my pocket, and allows tail standing.

Much brighter then my gold one. Sweet light jon_slider

Yes! a Grail LED for me, otherwise I would have tipped you off to the sale, except I started drooling and hyperventilating, when I saw it had the SW45, and no one had beat me to the buy…

it is by far the very best deal I have ever had on a Novatac, or any other light for that matter
most of my lights are modded to Nichia, and I dont do my own mods… my lights have been to modders in Canada, Washington, Texas, Michigan, Florida, and even Bali, in pursuit of my obsession with High CRI

finding one already modded to sw45 felt like the Karma Bunny really got my number
Im absolutely ecstatic!

I wish you similar good fortune :wink:

Lego HDS EDC Basic 42 tail works on the Storm too

updated impressions after using the light for the last 5 days:

I love the LED and Im really enjoying the UI and Ergonomics of the light

a couple peculiarities have surfaced

  1. the light flickers at 3.8x volts, for no good reason… once it gets below 3.8 it stops flickering
    For now, I decided to just switch to Primaries and skip those flickers altogether

I tell myself that maybe as a cost cutting priority, Novatac did not bother to calibrate the light properly for LiIon usage, because they were marketed as being “Suitable for any military mission”, and in the Military the preferred batteries are Primaries… fwiw, the Storm and the 120T have only one difference in mode presets, on the 120T preset C is 10 lumens instead of 30. The rest are the same, and the 120T was also sold with programming Locked out.

2. I cannot access 2 modes that are supposed to be between the 30 lumen and 85 lumen levels, ie, 42 and 60 lumens are not there. Actually, I discovered that they are simply not calibrated, they produce 69 and 72 lumens respectively…

I tell myself that the light still does what it was originally made to do. It can achieve all 4 of the Factory presets for this model.

I have heard of other 250 cracked lights that did not have evenly spaced ramping… I suppose for Novatac it could be less expensive not to program modes that are locked out anyway. The Storm sold with 4 fixed presets, not as a Programmable.

I ran through each mode on the storm, with a full Primary, this is what I got, compared to factory specs for a 120P:

the highest 4 modes are so close together it is very difficult to tell when they change, during ramping. Plus the nubers are different depending on the voltage of the battery… so just take that chart as the best I could do, for this particular Storm… ymmv (oh, and fwiw, my meter is just a homebrew job, Im amazed it gets as close as it does to the spec values)

I do find it peculiar that when voltage goes lower, the minimum mode goes higher… but then… these lights are not that well regulated, and sometimes they change brightness, or flicker. Good enough for Govt work, maybe… LOL

Are the variations in output your getting noticeable to the eye? I had a Special Ops that I swear I could see get brighter then dimmer, like it was jumping up a level and then going back down.

Most of the variations are not visible, for example a change from 81 to 83 and then back down is not visible

down on the lower levels around 13 lumens, the swing is from about 12.4 to 13.1, that is not visible, its just a constant change on the light meter, within a narrow percentage, less than 5% mostly, which is not visible, and is an HDS target not to exceed

it IS a bit tricky when I post a number, and then upon recheck the number is different, the battery is different, but I cant see the difference between 25 lumens with one battery and 29 lumens with another battery

what I do see with my eyes is that 3.8x volt flicker that I find so peculiar, I had also reported it earlier on another light at 3.59v… there is some sort of mid voltage range flicker, that seems to have a narrow phase of action… sometimes it can be defeated by running high mode and drawing the battery down below that voltage by a few tenths

I dont really notice when my high mode goes from about 95 to about 85… its not visible to my naked eye, only to my meter

Since I started running the Storm on Primaries, using Battery Reset Detect for Primary:
I do see a visible flash once every 2 or 3 seconds, but it is not a consistent interval pattern. The Flashing happens when I turn on the lowest mode with a Primary at 2.98v, iow essentially full,

but I have not had any of the Flickers at 13 lumens like I was getting w LiIon @3.8v, since primaries dont reach that voltage… :slight_smile:


latest news
After discovering the Flashing, clearly visible with the naked eye, on lowest mode using Primaries, I have gone back to LiIon. They do not make the Low mode Flicker Visibly, and they hold steady regulation without flashing visibly on other modes, as long as the Voltage is above 3.84v or below 3.79v

Even though I am now using LiIon, I have left the Battery Detect enabled for Primaries, so I have the option to switch back and forth, without causing Low Voltage Warnings… I use Protected LiIon, so I dont expect any issues with overdischarging.

Read plenty of stories like this about the novatac storm on the other forum. Seams the novatacs have the HDS looks, but not the famous quality.

Very nice Jon. This is what this flashlight obsession is all about. What we like and enjoy as individuals, I always enjoy reading about other’s enthusiasm

But, about those “delicate hands”. I could hook you up with a serious yacht racing crew in CA. You’d get those hands callused up in no time… lol

Yes, that is the popular belief, however HDS lights also have flickers.
otoh
HDS lights are Calibrated, to meet the specified maximum output for a given model.
None of the Novatacs Ive tested were Calibrated, they did not reach the 120 lumen spec.

thanks for the kind words
I will have to take a pass on the yachting, I get seasick unless Im driving…

FlickingFrustrating at times, but certainly entertaining and educational, I am enjoying my Novatac experience for many reasons, not the least of which is that they cost less than 1/3 as much as an HDS…

.

the biggest lesson learned for me, from this whole HDS Clicky Mode Programming experience, is that I want a Rotary so I can Quit Clicking around! LOL

.

Stay tuned for the next episode of The Slider Report
Featuring the Legendary and Revolutionary HDS Rotary!
coming soon to a Forum near You!:wink:

Once again very interesting read. It really appears your Storm is un calibrated, and maybe it doesn’t have all the programming some other Novatacs have.
For example with my classic, if you switch from primary to rechargeable without doing a battery detect reset, it will set it up iself to Li-ion, and you can’t switch back to primary batteries without a battery detect reset.
I admit I never counted nor measured the different levels…this is interesting.

Looking forward to the next episode with the rotary! Haven’t have time to compare low voltage handling on mine.

I think LiIon detection is not automatic on my Novatacs.

Will know in a few days, as im doing a runtime test @ 0.3 lumens w liion installed but battery detection set to Primary.

Because i do not want the blinkies at 3v (liion detection). I want to trip the Low Voltage Protection of the Liion battery.

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