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Detailed
Information:
Among alkaline powered lights, nothing comes close
to the output of a Surge in a light this size. About
the same size as a common 2-D cell flashlight, the Surge's
output rivals that of 3 cell 123A lithium tactical lights.
In fact, when you turn it on it's like holding onto
a fire hose from the pressure of the photons bouncing
off of the reflector and shooting out the front of the
lens! Perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit... OK, a lot. When
you turn it on the only thing that happens is the switch
makes a "click" and that's it. It is very
bright though, no two ways about it!
The thing that makes the Surge unique is the battery
configuration and the fact that it has to use a special
holder/carrier for the batteries. You see, alkaline
batteries this size (AA) don't like to give up much
of their energy very fast. The Surge bulb, however,
wants to draw a lot of energy. Normally a manufacturer
would either reduce the wattage of the bulb which would
allow the alkalines to keep up with the bulb's demand,
or they would switch to lithium batteries which like
to supply lots of energy very quickly. Princeton Tec
decided to go a different route. Instead they decided
to run the 7.5 watt bulb on two banks of 4 AA batteries.
It can run on only one bank of 4 AA batteries at reduced
runtime and brightness, but with two banks of 4, the
alkalines can supply the energy the bulb wants and the
result is a very intense light.
It's sort of like jump-starting a car. One battery
can't do it alone, so the second battery helps out.
One set of four AA batteries can't quite deliver the
energy needed, so the second set of four helps out.
By sharing the load, the two banks of batteries can
deliver a lot of energy, and as a result, a lot of light.
All of this is accomplished by the battery carrier
used in the light. To get to the carrier and load up
your new Surge, first you remove the bezel/reflector.
You are then faced with a BI-pin bulb on a circuit board
and two black plastic tabs.
Squeezing the tabs inward releases the
mechanism and you can pull the carrier out. This may
be a little more difficult than it sounds because the
tabs are not textured in such a way to make gripping
easy. They really should have deep horizontal grooves
on the sides where you pinch them together.
The carrier is then loaded with 8 AA batteries - four
on one side, and four on the other. Note the polarity
indicated by the cutouts in the plastic. Double check
it when you are done to make sure you have them all
inserted correctly! Duracells come with the light, so
make sure the copper top is toward the (+) indicated
on the carrier. Inserting batteries can be a little
tough. You may have to be a bit rough with it until
it breaks in.
Once the carrier is loaded, insert it back into the
light the way it came out. It can be inserted the wrong
way. There is a little tiny switch just under the circuit
board platform that needs to line up with the switch
on the body of the light. Putting it in the other way
will simply result in the light not working until you
correct the situation. Replace the lens/reflector and
don't look at the front of the light when you turn it
on!
The switch is a little strange in that it is a thumb
switch lever that actually pivots a small tab inside
the light that contacts the real switch. There are little
nubs on the body that engage the switch when it is pressed
all the way to one side or the other. The switch does
not have a lock out feature, so if you will be packing
it in luggage and don't want your socks to be singed
accidentally, remove the carrier, turn it 180 deg. and
reinsert it. This disables the switch.
The body is a tough polymer and can take a beating.
The lens is polycarbonate and the reflector is textured
to provide a relatively smooth beam. When focusing to
a wide spot, rings and holes do appear in the beam,
however I personally find I rarely need to use a light
on anything but a tight spot.
Runtime Plot
Runtime
completed with Varta RedCell batteries. More information
on runtime plots is available HERE.
The bulb is a simple bi-pin that can be pulled out
an replaced if necessary.
Batteries are included and a lanyard equipped with
a spring cord-lock is included as well.
What I Liked: Completely waterproof,
tough body, exceedingly bright, runs on cheap alkalines,
and has a comfortable form-factor.
What I Didn't Like: Battery carrier
can be tough to get out of the body. You may need to
squeeze the tabs until the release (click) and then
shake the light to get the carrier out since there is
no easy way to grip the tabs. Either that or use the
Leatherman tool to grip the tabs after releasing them.
Inserting the batteries the first time requires considerable
pressure and attention to detail. Double check to make
sure the batteries are flat in the carrier and the polarity
is correct before reinserting the carrier in the light
body.
Other Things I Noticed: The manufacturer
recommends alkalines. I woud not recommend any battery
type other than alkaline AA be used. Lithiums have been
documented as causing meltdowns, and rechargables produce
lower voltage which can cause the bulb to burn out prematurely.
Conclusions: A very bright alkaline
light which should be great for divers, campers, boaters,
or anyone else for that matter. It stomps on all of
the 2 x 123A lithium lights I have in regards to output
and either beats or essentially ties with the 3 x 123A
lights. Changing the batteries is a bit of a pain, but
with cheap AA batteries available at $0.25 each or less,
for about 2 bucks you can get between 3-5 hours of very
bright light.
Note: I have had some folks contact
me about issues they had with their Surge. These issues
were with earlier purchased product and included battery
contact issues, the bulb socket solder melting, and
leakage around the switch. Current information communicated
to CPF members by PrincetonTec states that these issues
have been resolved in currently shipping product. The
unit I am testing does not seem to have any of these
problems. Further testing is needed. If you receive
a Surge and have any of these issues, or any others
for that matter, return it to PrincetonTec for repair
or replacement. Aren't lifetime warranties great?!
UPDATE Nov 17: Failure! The Surge
has undergone a critical failure. While positioned over
my meter hanging by the lanyard in clear air at room
temperature, after 10 minutes the bulb socket solder
melted and the bulb, with the sockets still attached,
fell into the reflector. This problem was supposed to
be resolved in the current revisions of the light. I
will be in touch with PT for a replacement.
UPDATE Nov 19: Problem Diagnosis!
I have been informed that this unit was older stock
and that a new unit is on its way from Princeton Tec
for testing. Brightguy.com also let me know that all
of their stock of Surges have been returned to PT for
replacement by new models, so you should get new ones
with all the updates from Brightguy.com.
UPDATE Nov 26: Problem Resolved
and More! A new unit was received from PT in less
than 10 days from the time the problem was reported
to them and it survived a 15 minute upsidedown runtime
with no effect on the bulb socket. The new units appear
to be up to par. Everything else about the unit is the
same, so the review rating of 4 Stars is reinstated.
Brightguy.com has all new units now, so if you want
to be sure to get the best current version, get one
from them!
Another possible way to tell that the
unit you received is the newest one is by the inclusion
of a yellow "Warning" card in the box with
the instructions which tells you what not to do with
the Surge. This card was in the box of the replacement
unit I received.
I should also mention that the battery
carrier was much easier to get out of this unit and
the batteries were also much easier to insert and remove
from the carrier. Some nice improvements that really
bring this light up to snuff.
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