I dropped mine off with UPS on Saturday, Just a couple hours later, I got an email from Brett saying that he sees the RMA package is on the way and he initiated the replacement process at Drop. I guess they have some kind of UPS receipt trigger service to the RMA originator. Seriously impressive customer service!
One of the advantages of being outside the USA. Drop considers the shipping too costly so customer gets a freebie. In USA, it’s a different story… we get a swap.
I also ordered the Nichia version but unfortunately I received the Cree version. I contacted Drop customer service and they said they had limited inventory of the Nichia and asked me to provide a shipping address so they could start an exchange. I sent them my address and then they responded that they no longer had any inventory of the Nichia. Very frustrating…
Mine finally arrived. Literally sat in a warehouse 15 minutes from my house for a week and now apparently it’s too late for an exchange. Really pretty frustrating, but I guess for the price I can live with the screw up.
What I don’t get is that it’s clearly marked Cree. So when these are opened up are the items as marked?, or has anyone opened one marked Cree and found it’s actually Nichia or vice versa? Also thinking about gifting this light so don’t want to open it if I did receive the wrong emitter.
If it’s clearly marked Cree in the packing and the light is actually Cree, how did the “mix-up actually happen?
ALERT: I realized I had a spare email account I could use for this, so I signed up. Got the $20 off coupon. There’s an asterisk… I check it. Coupon requires a purchase of a product over $50 now. Raised up from the prior $30. I guess too many people were taking advantage of it. Oh well…
Btw, if you select an item less than $50, you can increase quantity until you’re over $50 to qualify for applying the $20 coupon.
Yeah, I was able to order 2 lights earlier, one copper and one titanium. I wasn’t going to get any more, actually — had my eye on something else from Massdrop brand. Btw, I should clarify, that the “more than one item” is only quantity. I can’t see any way to “add to cart.” Each item is treated as an order, with the option to increase quantity.
I also got a Cree instead of a Nichia version yesterday. This is my first copper torch, so I’m going to keep it. I will probably just apply a Lee filter to the lens to warm the tint. I already swapped the inadequate stock clip with one from a Streamlight Stylus Pro, so now the torch rides deep in my pocket.
received XP-G3 after 21 days
the return address says
CVG Returns
Hebron KY
that was never one of the locations given by tracking
….
inserted a partly depleted Eneloop pro at 1.22 volts
.5 lumens max on start, for all 3 modes
after 10 minutes low is 3.8 lumens, medium 31.6 lumens, and 40 lumens maximum
after 20 minutes low is 3.8 lumens, medium 31.6 lumens, and 70 lumens max
after 30 minutes low is 3.8 lumens, medium 31.6 lumens, and 77 lumens max
I wonder if my eneloop is too discharged
inserted a partly depleted eneloop @ 1.29v
produced 102 lumens max
after 40 minutes 112 lumens max
end test…
===
lumen specs
CREE XP-G3 LED
• Low mode: 5 lumens
• Medium mode: 32 lumens
• High mode: 110 lumens
=== tint observations
typical XP-G3 yellow/green corona around the hotspot
negative R9 CRI makes red things look brown
Cool White, guesstimating 6000k, looks greenish blue compared to my pink sw45k
=== conclusion it takes 40 minutes to charge up the SuperCap so it can fire maximum mode
at 1.22v there is not enough power to exceed 80 lumens max
at 1.29v there is enough power to achieve 112 lumen max
My replacement Cu AAA Drop flashlight finally arrived. Yes, it is Nichia now! Gorgeous warm tint. I am so happy I went through the return process. For a close task light such as this, I abhor cool white tint. Warm feels so natural. It’s well worth sacrificing some lumens to get it.