UPDATE April 2006: The Element
now supposedly includes a regulator circuit - see the
bottom of the review for updated information and a detailed
analysis which has resulted in a decrease in the rating
for this light.
UPDATE October 2006: I have heard
of many reports of the battery carrier breaking in these
lights. You will need to contact the company if you
have this problem.
1-800-248-6657, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM,
Mon-Fri. Allied International, Sylmar CA 91342 (this
is all that's on the package.)
UPDATE December 2006 from a reader
to help prevent broken battery carriers:
Just an update about this Allied flashlight.
I (the reader supplying this info.) has been
found if you take the spring out of the tailcap and
turn it around so the wide part of the spring is on
the battery holder it spreads the force of the spring
around the bottom of the cage where it is much stronger.
I think that should keep the holder from ever breaking
again.
UPDATE April 2007 from reader Dale
L.
I bought a pair of Element flashlights
some time ago, and I thought I would send you some information
on my experience with them.
First, the battery carrier. It is a cheap, brittle
plastic and both of them are broken. One is now unusable,
the other has cracked and is still usable. The failure
mode wzs that the center of the bottom plate got pushed
up until it broke away from the ribs that run up the
sides, between the batteries. Thanks to whoever posted
the suggestion to reverse the spring, and thanks to
you for posting his suggestion!
Second, useful battery life. Not good, as you know.
The major problem for me was that (since I carried it
around in my pocket) I continually turned it on and
sometimes would not notice it for hours. I do not like
the button on the side...
Third, water resistance. The Element has O-rings on
all the threaded joints and should be usable in the
rain. However, the pin on the tail cap (to which you
attach the lanyard) passes through the tailcap and provides
an open channel for water to pass through also. One
of my two has never worked again after one rainy night.
The other eventually dried out and resumed working.
Finally, I noticed a couple of days ago that Sam's
Club has replaced the Element flashlight with a new
model. The new model Element flashlight has a Luxeon
III, I believe (at any rate, they say it is a 3-watt
Luxeon LED), and the side button has been replaced by
a tailcap button. The price is about $30 for a pair
(the old model was around $20/pair).
The Element is sold at Sam's club and contains a Luxeon
I LED driven by 3 AAA cell placed in a special carrier.
These lights come in a two-pack and include a wrist
lanyard for each light.
Body: The body of the Element is made of aluminum
with a "clear" anodize which results in a
silver appearance. There is checkering around the center
of the body tube for grip. The tail has short longitudinal
ridges for grip and the head has decorative flutes machined
into its sides. The tailcap has a recessed post for
the attachment of a lanyard.
Bezel/Head: The head of the light contains a
polycarbonate lens which protects the smooth silvered
reflector and Luxeon I LED. The lens is recessed, but
only a little.
Output: The white light produced by the LED
is a very good color temperature and produces good color
rendition. I was surprised that both lights in the package
produced a very sunlight-like white light with a slight
"warm" hint to it. A medium spot surrounded
by a wide corona and spillbeam are produced by the Luxeon/reflector
combination.
Beam at one meter at target center
Runtime Plot: This is about what I would expect
from 3 AAA cells powering a Luxeon I. Essentially, Luxeon
lights are rather under-powered by AAA cells. You'll
get about 30 minutes to 50% starting output, followed
by another half an hour of further diminishing output
before it drops off to almost nothing. Based upon this
runtime plot it appears that there is nothing inside
the light from a circuitry perspective except for a
possible resistor.
Runtime
completed with Energizer brand batteries. More information
on runtime plots is available HERE.
Switch: A rubber covered clickie (reverse type)
rests below the head. Click for on, press for momentary
blinking after it's on. The switch rests in a dimple
to help prevent accidental activation. The switch wiggles
a bit in its cutout, so I don't think it is very water
resistant.
Seals / Water Resistance: O-ring seals appear
to protect the light at the front and rear. I wouldn't
subject it to more than splashing due to the loose fit
of the switch.
If it gets wet inside, just disassemble as much a possible
without tools and let it dry before using again.
Ergonomics: It's an OK size for handling and
the switch operates smoothly.
Size compared to a common 2AA aluminum light
Batteries: Three AAA cells power the light and
they must be inserted into the special carrier first.
To change out the batteries: unscrew the tailcap, drop
out the carrier with the old cells, remove the old cells
from the carrier, place in new cells observing proper
polarity. Reinsert the carrier, reattach the tailcap
and you're ready to go.
Accessories: Batteries included.
What I Liked: Water resistant,
Tough/impact resistant, Very bright (at first), Stands
up
What I Didn't Like: Short battery
life/no regulation, Uses a battery carrier
Picky Little Things: none
Conclusions: A good light, but
nothing spectacular relative to other 3xAAA cell Luxeon
lights out there. Good body, great LED, but tiny little
batteries. NiMH AAA cells may provide better performance,
but no guarantees.
UPDATE April 2006: The Element
now supposedly comes with a regulator circuit.
The packaging is a little different:
The throw and overall output numbers for
the new units are as follows:
The newer Element lights use a low-dome
Luxeon which focuses better - hence the better Throw
number. The older Element lights have a high dome LED.
Here's the new runtime. Note the following
quotes from the new package: "Advanced Digital
Circuitry"; "Provides Consistent Brightness
Throughout Battery Life". To say that I'm underwhelmed
by their supposed circuitry is an understatement. I'm
very underwhelmed. 4 more minutes to 50% output and
that's it compared to the original "non-Advanced
Digital Circuitry" version. Heck, that could be
attributed to nothing more than the different manufacturing
run of the batteries, or a couple less minutes of me
fooling around with the light before putting it in the
runtime rig since I didn't take beamshot pictures, etc,
of the new lights.
Runtime
completed with Energizer brand batteries. More information
on runtime plots is available HERE.
Since the runtime still sucks, I decided
to try to take them apart. It's much easier than I ever
thought it could be. Remove the button switch by prying
it off with your thumbnail and the entire guts of the
head pushes out through the bottom of the head.
One of the newer Luxeons has the following
on the bottom: RYAJW 0099131 1605LXHLMWEC
One of the older Luxeons has the following on the bottom:
RX1HW 0126927 5004LXHLMW1D
The first 5 characters are the most important.
What these cryptic numbers mean is that the newer, supposedly
better Element lights have the same light output (R
vs R) as the old ones, much more purple tint (YA) vs.
the more sunlight-like tint of the older ones (X1),
and require slightly more voltage (J vs. H) to illuminate
compared to the older ones. Looks to me like a significant
step down in the quality of the Luxeon in the newer
lights.
A peek inside at the circuitry reveals
that they are different, with different revision numbers
and slightly different components, but I'm not seeing
the effects of the change at all.
Considering that the Luxeon LEDs they
are now using appear to be lower quality, and the advertised
improvement of having "Advanced Digital Circuitry"
which appears to not exist at all, I am decreasing the
Star Rating for these lights. At least before they weren't
advertising that they had regulation. Now they are,
and it sure looks to me like they have NO regulation
based on the runtime graphs.
New Conclusion: Don't waste your
money.
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