Enogear AA Stainless Steel (AA/14500)

Stock it has L-M-H-Strobe-SOS like most Chinese lights. Makes around 780 lumens on an Efest 1000mAh 18500. Very compact build, brass pill with a very thin retaining ring for the driver. The brass pill is hollow, has a wider shelf than most of this type though, so I re-flowed a copper MCPCB with DTP directly to it and it works quite well.

I think the material is a type of bronze as they don’t really blacken like brass would, my wife has carried the 18650 version in her purse for years now and it still has a golden look to it, so all in all it’s a pretty nice light that holds up well. It’s also a favorite of ToyKeeper’s. :wink:

This is one that would fare well with a Biscotti driver from Simon…

Pulled the trigger and bought one. Now for the wait… Will report back when I get it….plan to run it on NiMh first (IkeaLoop 2540 mAh).

I think you will be happy with it. Still works very well on NiMh.

Received my copper AA light two weeks ago. However I’ve been sick with flu so I will need time to do a review this coming weekend.

stay tune and be patient :smiley:

Are you going to try putting in a 14500 cell? My genuine Sanyo 14500 fried it in a few seconds.

Maybe people should post some pictures of the driver.. Maybe we can see a difference between the ones that can handle lithiums, and the ones that can't...???

I can do that. Kinda bound up today with stuff to do but, this evening I will take mine apart for a few pictures.

Apart from some design flaws I really liked the little light. The head is screwed to one side of the pill, and the body to the other side of the pill. The PCB can not be fixated on the pill. A loose centering ring around the LED has no control over the TIR lens. One could say that things are pretty wobbly on the front side of the light. So it was quite possible that the LED was already damaged when the light was assembled. Caused by a misalignment of LED and TIR.
I wanted to give it one more shot. So I ordered some LED’s from FT. These arrived three weeks later. This time I put in a XP-G3 S3-1A and glued the centering ring over the dome. Then is was time to screw in the pill. I made slots in the pill, and put a drop of glue on the threads on the frontside in order to screw the pill really tight into the head. All trial and error, of course. Gave the threads at the backside of the pill an ample dose of grease. Put in an XXX Eneloop. And presto, fiat lux! So the driver was still OK. After a few minutes I put in a 14500. And that also went OK!
ATM the light is on (medium), with a 14500, tail standing on my desk. And it is getting luke-warm. That’s all.
I think the LED was pretty much DOA when I fired it up first time. Let’s see how things work out from now on.

It’s beginning to appear as if we are basically buying a nice stainless steel AA host rather than a actual light at the rate of these reported failures or bad QA/QC in the light engine department (LED, Driver, head assembly).

Seems like luck of the draw . Mine has been ok with 14500. Hasn’t been used much though .

Gave my enogear some colouring, posted it in the “what did you mod today thread”. Think I will get some more to play with.

It’s been two months already and I still haven’t received the replacement head. Jackie just ignores my emails now. :cry:

Update: Got this email from Jackie:

_I must appologize that we forgot to send out the head part.

Now we will send you a new flashlight registered post . Sorry for my carelessness.

Do you like to use 14500? If so , we can send you 14500 USB version to try. It’s good_

Jackie really is good people. I think he gets overwhelmed at times and has a hard time with shipping. I in no way think he would do you wrong. I understand it’s quite aggravating at times with the speed of the transaction. I hope you are eventually happy with your purchase.

Finally received mine in the mail on Friday. Photos don’t do it justice. It feels good and looks good in hand. One of the best tail switches I have used in a while (Good job Jackie at Enogear). It is the shortest AA light in my collection.

Almost looks like it is a Poor man’s version of a Haiku (it is a budget stainless steel light, afterall)…. I was hoping the head screwed into the body a little more (like another 2mm, or at least another 1mm). The exposed brass could compromise the moisture proofness of this light.

Overall I like this light and think it is a nice light for what I paid for (less than $15).

Congrats LUTD. It really is a nice light. Still use mine regularly and probably are going to order an other one to mod.

Been EDC’ing mine during the day (IDEAloop 2450 mAh) and using it as a “ambience” night light (joule thief - AA Alkaleaks from kids toys that have less than 1.2 volts) to keep eyes on my two little boys. I’ll wait for more reports and reviews before throwing in a 14500. The knurling is just right aggressiveness (it’s there but doesn’t bite too much??). In comparison, my Eagtac D25A Ti Clicky is on the aggressive side.

Has been my primary EDC ever since I revived it. Four weeks on 14500 batteries, and no problems.

Mine has been fine for awhile with 14500.

Ever since I burnt the driver in my Enogear AA by using 14500 batteries, I requested a replacement head from Jackie Zhang at Enogear. It’s been several months and nearly impossible to an answer from him so I thought it was a goner. However, several months later to my surprise I just received a brand new entire AA flashlight (not just the head) and also a 14500 usb rechargeable version for free. I took lumen measurements with my TA lumen sphere calibrated using Maukka calibration lights:

Enogear AA 163 lumens
Enogear usb recharegeable 14500 259 lumens
Enogear AAA 123 lumens

The AA version has the same nice rosy 4000k tint from the last batch making it a perfect EDC for use inside the house. However, this time the AA version doesn’t turn on when I insert 14500 cells. But I rather it not work with 14500 then burn the driver running on 14500 like the previous one I had. The 14500 usb rechargeable Enogear does not work with AA batteries. The tint is also noticeably cooler and whiter with much more noticeable tint shift and not as rosy. The tint is no where near as nice as the AA version but it’s still not bad. The AAA version appears warmer than the AA version. Probably 3500-3800k and not as rosy as the AA version. However compared with the 4000k 219C Reylight, it is more orange and not as yellow so it is still a decent tint. I’m actually surprised the AAA version can get 123 lumens with such warm tint, which makes this one of the brightest NW/WW AAA flashlights in existence. The only thing I don’t like is that it goes from Hi - Med - Low, whereas the AA version goes from L - Med - Hi.

I highly recommend anyone looking for a budget, yet nice AA light consider the Enogear AA stainless steel flashlight. It also makes for a great gift.

Thanks for this well written post. The links made it easier to follow exactly what you were talking about. Would it be possible to get TA lumen spere measurements on the AA Stainless Low and Med modes? Are you using alkaline, primary lithium, or Ni-MH batteries?

Are the Maukka calibrations lights worth the investment? Thanks!

I'm still waiting on my two Enogear AA Stainless lights ordered a month ago (July 11th)!