Guys first off this is my first ever review so please go easy on me. This is also only a "mini-review", I had this light in my possession under 24 hours, just enough to totally strip it down and send the body out to my machinist buddy to have the headsink made (since there isnt one in stock form). Also the light will not be reassembeled into anything that resembles stock so I wont be able to do any further testing either. (this will become the production version of PukeLight). BTW there is no way to strip this light / get the driver out and reuse it, the emitter could be changed (or swapped to DTP) but you cant get the press-fit emitter shelf out to access the driver without literally cutting it into bits so unless you're up for a huge project making a new heatsink / emitter shelf this will NOT be a suitable mod host.
first up I'll list Spec's from nitecore:
- Light Source: CREE XM-L2 T6
- Runs On: 4X AA batteries (Not Included)
- Output Mode / Runtime:
- Turbo: 960 Lumens / 1 Hour 45 Minutes
- High: 510 Lumens / 2 Hours 45 Minutes
- Medium: 120 Lumesn / 12 Hours
- Low: 40 Lumens / 30 Hours
- Micro: 1 Lumen / 400 Hours
- 315 Meter Beam Distance
- 25000cd Peak Beam Intensity
- 1.5 Meter Impact Resistant
- IPX-8 2 Meter Waterproof and Submersible
- Dimensions:
- Diameter: 1.57" (40mm)
- Length: 4.6" (117mm)
- Weight (without batteries): 5.33oz (151g)
and some other crap they list about it:
- 'Unique Integrated Technology' offers a sturdy, lightweight body
- Utilizes a CREE XM-L2 T6 LED
- Maximum output of 960 lumens
- 'Precision Digital Optics Technology' provides extreme reflector performance
- Peak beam intensity of 25,000cd with throw distance of up to 315 meterse
- New dual switch design for friendly interface
- Eight separate lighting modes
- Power indicator light displays remaining battery power
- Reverse polarity protection
- Stainless steel retaining ring protects vital electronic components
- Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with anti-reflective coating
- Constructed from aircraft grade aluminium alloy
- HAIII military grad hard-anodized coating
- IPX-8 waterproofing (submersible up to 2 meters)
- 1.5 meter impact resistant
- Tail stand capable
- Includes:
- Holster
- Lanyard
- Spare O-Ring
Pro's:
- Perfect SMO Al reflector
- Nice AR glass
- trapozidal threads, threads and o-rings lubed
- near perfect fit and finish
- flawless Ano
- light weight (tho when you consider the heatsinking aspect this could be a negative)
- very simple UI, the only multi click needed is for strobe, also no press-hold's required (except for shortcut's from off). Click for on, click for off, click other button for modes.
- Good mode spacing
- no glue, unscrewed the bezel the first time by hand
- no visible PWM on any levels
- great holster like the original, I sold all my EA4's long ago (I've owned 3t) but I still have all the holsters around and use them quite a bit
- what appears to be a truely randomized strobe, atleast there was no pattern I could discern
Cons:
- Zero heatsinking (but somehow output doesnt suffer, atleaset up to 1min)
- never found how to enter SOS or the 8th mode and no english instructions
- some people complain about how the tail cap works, you do have to take time to line the pin's up but not a big issue at all, will take some time to get a fell for it before its possible in the dark / in a stressful situation)
- no lockout (there is an electronic lockout)
- no access to driver (tho it does have 2 nice big 1206 sense resistors just begging to have more stacked)
So right off the bat EA4 owners will notice 90% of the physical features are the same, the only real changes come in the form of the switch, there are now 2 buttons and the switches are only single stage. After inserting cells (which are in a 4S configuration) the light is activated with a short press of the lower (power) button and comes on at the last saved mode. You can also turn the light on directly to high by holding the top (mode) button for 2sec, directly in low by holding the power switch for 2 sec or activate strobe from off with a double tap of the top mode button (strobe will latch on, you can exit by turning it off with the power button). There were no english instructions and I was never able to activate SOS with any combo of clicks / press-holds nor could I find another 8th mode. There is an electronic lock out activated by pressing both buttons at once for 1sec from on, to re activate the light hold both buttons again or break battery contact.
The light has 5 normal output's, from moon (which I would classify as a "low low", not a true "moonlight" but still WAY better than the original) threw turbo. The level is memorized (didnt test if it was saved threw a battery change). The light can be switched off from any level with a single click of the power button, no timed hold required.
Upon opening the box the first thing I did was test for thermal sag, the light leveled off after just 10 sec and maintained a rock steady output threw 60sec at which time I stopped the test, it never fluctuated which is extremely surprising for the horrible heat path this thing has!
Here you can see the properly centered emitter and the very good (low profile) centering ring
Off, glowing (under royal blue light) and lit on the lowest level
The AR lens has an o-ring between it and the reflector (the black one) and a clear plastic isolator between the glass and the bezel so the bezel wont scratch the coating
Perfect ano (any speks are dust) I went over this with a fine tooth comb and there isnt a single uneven spot, run or flaw
great threads (o-ring already removed in this pic, o-ring and threads came lubed)
I dont trust the interconnection here at the hotel so I'm going to post this edit then edit some more in. Interior pic's and the reason this light is NOT a good mod host coming...
driver (C2 and U2 were damaged in removal) Notice the pair of R050 sense resistors make .25ohm total.
switch daughter board with the blue LED in the middle
Since the switch was the main issue with the old one here are several shots of it along with the switch daughter board and the blue indicator LED
completely stripped body (switch still installed)
now the bad part, this is the entire heatsink (had to be destroyed to remove it), sitting under this was a thin piece of plastic
Well guys thats pretty much all I got, Lumen numbers were dead on, throw was over spec at 28kcd, the emitter seems to be at the proper height to not need much focus after a dedome and with this heat path that (and a DTP board) are probably all you'll want to do. Also if you do plan on trying a resistor mod know that I literally had to cut the emitter shelf in half to remove it, its pressed in pretty well, the body tapers at the bottom to apply more pressure to really lock it in there. I tried everything I could to get it out before resorting to destroying it. I did intent to save the driver and make a direct fir oshpark driver with my needed 3Ch components for the Pukelight because it was such a good working driver but I took that one component out during removal so I just decided to go the easier (and cheaper since the board was smaller) route and create a 28mm board I could piggyback on this one after stripping it.