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Detailed
Information:
Lately, Underwater Kinetics seems to have as its goal
to try to outdo itself. They started with their very
popular 4AA and added a thumb-switch for easy activation.
Then they came up with the rugged eLED module for the
light which gives regulated output for over 10 hours.
Now they have built in NiMH rechargeable and boosted
the output by designing a 4 Watt lamp with twice the
power of the normal lamp assembly! The NiMH batteries
produce about 5.42 Volts. As a result, the "high
output" 4 Watt (2 hour runtime), "normal"
2 Watt (4 hour runtime), and 1 Watt eLED (10 hour runtime)
lamp assemblies will ALL work in this light. I'm quite
sure of this because I tried them all and they all worked
great. All of the lamp assemblies will also work in
the normal UK 4AA body and in the UK 2L body as well
- again, I tried all of the combinations myself and
they do work. Put it all together and you have 3 different
output/runtime options (1, 2, 4 Watts) and 3 different
power options (4x AA, 2x 123A, NiMH) depending upon
your particular needs. Talk about modular design!
The body is made of impact resistant ABS. Very solid
construction, advertised as drop tested to 6 ft. You
should be able to beat this light up pretty well without
any problems. On the side are loops formed in the plastic
for straps or a lanyard and on the tailcap is a vent
to equalize pressure in the light. On the tail end are
two recessed gold colored contacts for connection to
the charging station. There is also a slight protrusion
and several detents on the end of the light to prevent
the body from being inserted in the charger incorrectly.
The bezel consists of a rubber shrouded polycarbonate
lens assembly. If placed on its head while on, the
light from the lamp filters between the rubber shroud
of the bezel and the body of the light through the clear
polycarbonate bezel material. This creates a glowing
ring which indicates that the light is on. Removing
the lens allows access to the lamp assembly and battery
compartment. The batteries are not made to be removed.
The lamp assembly consists of a smooth reflector and
a high pressure xenon lamp which is pre-focused in the
reflector to provide a nice round spot. The lamp assembly
also contains four platinum catalyst pellets to remove
any hydrogen that may be generated in the light by the
batteries. If these pellets get wet they become non-reactive
and UK recommends immediate replacement of the lamp
assembly.
As for output, the 4 Watt lamp assembly puts out quite
a bit of light. The overall output is advertised as
70 Lumens. My Lightbox Apparatus gauges its output at
around that of a 4D Mag and an E2e. The beam has a bright
central spot which has very slight swirls that look
like a direct projection of the shape of the filament.
The spill beam around the spot has two wedge shaped
gaps from the pins that support the filament. This brings
up the only problem I have with the UK 4AA lights. I
think they need to either add some texture to the reflector
or the lenses to smooth out the beams. This is my personal
preference and I can understand why they won't - textures
tend to scatter the light and/or reduce the amount of
light that is projected out the lens resulting in dimmer
output or less throw.
Runtime Plot:
More
information on runtime plots is available HERE.
The switch, protected by a ribbed rubber cover, makes
a barely audible spring-type click when depressed and
locked on. The switch allows one-handed operation of
the light. The bezel can be rotated about 1 full turn
to "lock out" the switch, preventing the light
from coming on accidentally in a toolbox or backpack.
Although exposed, the O-ring does not disengage the
bezel when "locked out", so the water resistance
of the light is not compromised.
The head is sealed with a well lubricated O-ring and
the light is advertised as waterproof to 10 feet.
Ergonomics: The light's oblong shape fits in the hand
nicely and the molded-in ridges that run up and down
the ventral and dorsal sides of the light provide for
a good gripping surface. The switch requires more of
a "poke" than a "press" to activate
and this is best accomplished with the tip of the thumb.
Usually after turning this light on I find myself turning
it on its side with my thumb resting on the flat side
panel. The three lower fingers on my hand naturally
gravitate to the space immediately following the lanyard/strap
loops with the thumb directly behind the head. Although
a little awkward, it can be held in a "tactical"
grip (tail toward thumb-side of hand, held bezel forward
at head height) and turned on and off with a firm squeeze
of the pinkie.
Batteries? We don't need no stinkin' batteries! Just
drop it in the charger and you'll be ready to go in
either 10 hours or 1.5 hours depending on the charger
option you selected when you bought the light. This
sample came with the 1.5 hour charger. A blinking green
LED indicates that it is taking a charge and the LED
switches to constant-on when the charge is complete.
It may blink once in a while as it trickle charges after
the primary charge cycle is done. The charger is designed
to be mounted on a horizontal or vertical surface. It
says in the instructions you can run the 1.5 hour charger
via a 12V vehicle accessory port, but no 12V cord was
included. Only the 110V AC to 12V DC adapter was included.
In fact, there is a knob on the front of the charger
that allows you to increase the tension on the light
while it is in the charger. This is specifically so
that it doesn't bounce out of the charger in mobile
installations. This makes the lack of a 12V DC power
cord even more puzzling. Oh well.
All of the UK 4AA accessories work with this light.
You can get various hard-hat mounts, a nylon belt sheath,
traffic wand cone, and any of the 6V lamp assemblies
will work in this light so you can cater it to your
output/runtime requirements.
What I Liked: Waterproof 10', Tough/impact
resistant, Rechargeable, Bright, Various lamp assembly
options.
What I Didn't Like: Beam artifacts
are a little distracting, but not too bad.
Other Things I Noticed: Nothing
significant.
Conclusions: The UK 4AA Rechargeable
is a very solid little light with very good output.
"Industrial quality" is the way it is designed
and way that it functions. The fact that it can use
any of the various 6V lamp assemblies designed for the
other 4AA models is just icing on the cake. Add in the
hazardous location ratings and you've got another winner
from Underwater Kinetics.
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