tiny review: Led Lenser P7.2

LED Flashlights – General Info Multiple AAA Flashlights
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Led Lenser P7.2

Hi my friends!

today i want to show you one of my first “real” LED flashlights: the Led Lenser P7.2
(i compared it with my Zeusray $7.99 light)

since i used it a lot it has some signs of wear - but due to its superb quality not much of them!
( it survived a 50m roll/jump down a cave :wink: )

it has a pretty red circled tailswitch with a simple UI:
half press for turbo (320lm)
1st klick HIGH (250lm)
2nd klick LOW (40lm)

the size is very nice to operate the zoom with one hand - but geting to the switch is another story (like ALL tailswitch lights!)
you have to use the “tactical grip” or both hands (which is PITA if you want to use the turbo)

lets have a look into the bright end: (P7.2 on the right)

flood:

zoom:

the Zeusray uses a plastic aspheric lens (cheap²) while the P7.2 has a TIR Lens…
the TIR has less loss in brightness - but is more expensive.

a gif from the zooming…

beamshots taken 1m from the wall:
(P7.2 left on “my” high ;))


Led Lenser always “miss”adjusts the focus so it stays blurry - i tweaked it a bit to get a sharp image of the emitter (Cree XP-G2)

okay - lets open the beauty!

the battery carrier carries 4 AAA batteries:

one plus / two minus - batteries are in series

i love to disassemble things!

the spring loaded contact-”pins”

PCB Contact side

PCB Swich side

the switch - it only circles direct drive / left and right set of limiting resistors
veery “simple” for a “high end” light :frowning:

there is NO! regulation at all! just direct drive with resistors in Series to the batteries to limit current which resuts in different brightness levels.

lets open the head:

removing the plastic ad carrier gives free vision of the LED on a custom copper PCB

that ARE flat contacted wires…

the pill:

the contact side of the pill:

the inner side of the contact PCB with one of the two current limiters

I DO NOT LIKE limits…

i hardly remember the numbers - but turbo went from 0,8 A to around 2A :wink:

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Nice breakdown. You see, with such simple circuitry modding is easy, I kind of like this mechanical mode switching :-)

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To be fair, Lenser don’t claim regulation with this model. So not exactly unexpected. Also many other lights are direct drive.

Curious though, what exactly do the resistors in the pill do vs the ones in the switch? Would it be easy to fit a Qlite 3.0amp driver in there?

4

Thanks for sharing. Very nice to see the teardown.

Chicken D, to me it seems like this:

Turbo: Current goes through resistors in pill

Mode 1: Current goes through resistors in pill and one set in the tail

Mode 2: Current goes through resistors in pill and the other set in the tail

Im assuming the body is plastic, the emitter is an XP-E2(?), and the 4 batteries are AAA. None of which are good for 3A.

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Body is aluminium…

how can i be sure about the LED Type?

i get 2A DD… 3A seems far away

( and i don´t wanna try to use a LiIon cell )

6

Love how your $8 light smashes this $70 light.
God I hate Led Lenser…seriously, a light that big with only a single XPG2 emitter, just wow…

Nice tear down, cheers mate.

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Walking past the flea market where some guy is selling these lights for $80 - “breathe man, breathe. Just keep walking…….”

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What are the chances of them being fake at a flea market? lol

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mod this with a copper pill, an imr 26650 and driver
and this will outthrow flashlights twice its size
and price?

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I have the first P7 version, and also the P5. Despite them being unregulated, I really like them. P7 has a very good throw, and I love the zoom feature.
But nothing beats my Powerlite XRE in throw. I throws better than C8 XPE, and it has variable brightness. Push & hold the tail switch, it will starts dimming progressively to the lowest level and going back up to the brightest level. It can shine a building approx 250m away although it’s quite dimmed. The spot is too tight for close-range use though, so I hardly use it.

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Use the info CRX posted here: LEDs & OTHER STUFF - (Reference)

I’d say that unless the LED measures 5mm long on one side it’s an XP-G2. The die size appears to be too large for an XP-E2 and the little mark in the corner is a square, not a circle like the XM-L2 has.

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Thanks for sharing that! I am a flashaholic but have never really been mechanically inclined like my Uncle/Cousin/Brother[engineers] and like a lot guys on here who can take these lights apart and modify them!

I can take many of my lights apart[smaller/midsize ones]…then have no clue as to how to improve them! :~

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Why does it seem to me visually that the guts of this led lenser appears to be like a garbage $2 flashlight? So unesthetic when compared to flashlights like sunwayman, fenix etc let alone the spik sk68/clones.

Disclaimer: I have no knowledge in circuitry/electronics.

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The flashlight is DD w/ resistors because it’s meant to be run on crap cells purchased at supermarkets. This is probably the most sane way to extract the level of performance they do without increasing the risk of leaking cells. The alternative would be a 2s2p carrier and a boost driver - almost guaranteed to cause cells to leak, especially once people realized that they could leave two spaces on the carrier empty (causing double the current draw from the remaining cells).

From what I’ve seen and heard the build quality is around or above the level of a good Convoy, consistency is very high, and engineering is superior. Fit and finish should be in the “very good” range. Take a closer look at the pictures - the battery carrier appears to be in a whole separate league from the stuff you are comparing the light to. The switch is a 3-stage or 2.5-stage or whatever forward clicky! Limiting resistors at the tailcap seem to be something “big,” like 1210 - especially considering how low current this thing is. Very conservative (eg safe/reliable) component sizing! I can’t see what size those 2R4’s are but I think they are even bigger. The MCPCB is copper, although who knows whether it’s DTP. Maybe M4D M4X could do a quick electrical test for us - probe for continuity from the overflow pad on the side of the LED VS the copper portion of the MCPCB. Also + and - connections to the MCPCB are done with tabs so that they can get the blanking plate really low.

Aesthetics are a matter of perspective, but LED Lenser’s style is not my favorite one either.

If you get a chance to hold one of these things in hand you’ll probably feel a little bit embarrassed for some of your other lights. I know that’s how it works for me. Don’t worry: turning it on and seeing the conservative output will help ameliorate those feelings.

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it’s a simple light but imho very good made!

I measured 3,4mm in square at the LED

and Amps :
LOW 0,087 A
HIGH 0,95 A
TURBO 1,86 A

with good used eneloop

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So I think it’s a Cree XP-G2 LED.

Can you measure electrical resistance between the exposed copper of the MCPCB and the little overflow pad next to the LED? I’m talking about the pad between “2012523” and the LED, not the + or - pad.

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Nice review. Judging by the die size in the pictures, the led does indeed look like XP-G2.
These are available from Fasttech for ~$33, but I do not know if they are genuine or not. Fasttech has photoshopped branding off the pictures for some reason.

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nvm

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sorry - I forgot to write it above (had to bath the baby)

yes - it’s DTP!

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i fully charged my white eneloops and meassured again:

LOW 0,22 A
HIGH 1,4 A
TURBO 2,6 A

my meter gives 30 kLux @1m 8)
the zeusray reads ~10 kLux