Ikelite C8 versus eLED light

[DrSteve]

I'm trying to decide between an Ikelite C8 (uses 8 D cells ironically) which I know is good as my wife has one, versus one of the vaired LED options out there. I know Princeton Tech sells an LED light which also takes 8D cells. Has anyone any experience with these lights in action?

Cheers!

 

[yknot]

So far, I haven't seen an LED that would make a good primary. This doesn't mean that one doesn't exist, just that I haven't seen it. For what LED's are, don't expect anything resembling the sun underwater. I have a new Pelican that uses a single LED suspended from a cross bar upsidedown. This is supposed to focus and collect all of the light into the reflector. The light is OK considering that it only has a single bulb (uses 3 'C' cell batteries), the color is very white but the beam is fairly narrow and focused. It will not illuminate a very large area at one time. What is incredible about the LED lights are the burn times from a set of batteries and the life expectancy of the LED elements (10,000 hours +). I was in a quarry last week when something caught my eye. Turned out to be a small Princeton Tec light. This one has 3 LED's and uses 4 AAA batteries. The light was pointing up and was partly pushed into the silt bottom of the quarry. No telling how long this light was there. There was some silt on the light itself, indicating at least a few days. Amazing thing is that the light was still on. On shore, I noticed some condensation on the lens. When I disassembled the light, enough water had leaked in to visably be poured out. All I did was dry everything off and reassemble the light and it works just fine. I doubt that a traditional bulb light of the same size would have still been working under the same circumstances.

 

[DrSteve]

I have heard that there are some LED lights out there which use 8 D cells. So I guess that LED lights are neat, but still not "all that." I guess I was hoping that a 4 D cell LED would be as good as an 8 D cell conventional. Smaller and lighter is always desirable.

 

[yknot]

Basically, the LED's deliver very white light, long burn times, great lamp life (from what I've seen, the LED's themselves are just more durable than conv. bulbs). I don't think you'll get the amount of light output, measured in lumens or candle power (or whatever they measure LED's in) that a comparebly powered bulb light will. I don't know if current LED technology or usage allows for different outputs for an individual diode. The manufacturers just add more LED's to increase light output. The best light I've seen from anything has been from the HID light- either a UK light cannon (at 8 'D' cells) or any of the canister lights. These are just going to cost more money.

 

[GoBlue!]

yknot- As someone in the market to pickup a primary light & backup (for rec night diving, poking around structures in quarries, etc.....NOT a wreck or cave diver here), why do you suggest that you haven't found an LED light that would make a good primary? Just curious, since your other post suggests very white light, long burn times, great lamp life, more durable, etc. etc. Is it just the amount of light output?

(Budget not going to allow me to purchase 2 canister lights at this point, and my wife would promptly steal the canister if I only bought one.... ).

Jim

 

[caveseeker7]

So far, I haven't seen an LED that would make a good primary. This doesn't mean that one doesn't exist, just that I haven't seen it.

How about the German MAL HLD3 tank light?
http://www.tech-blue.com/en-us/DATA Sheet HLD3 BASIC.pdf

MAL even makes a single cell HLD back-up light as well as an HID
http://www.tech-blue.com/en-us/dept_1.html

I would love to try the HLD (High-output Light-emitting Diode?), but at those prices ...

Has anyone ever had a chance to try or seen one in use?
Here a pic from TechBlue's website:

 

[DrSteve]

Or how about any cannister light for that matter? Not in my price range!

 

[yknot]

yknot- As someone in the market to pickup a primary light & backup (for rec night diving, poking around structures in quarries, etc.....NOT a wreck or cave diver here), why do you suggest that you haven't found an LED light that would make a good primary? Just curious, since your other post suggests very white light, long burn times, great lamp life, more durable, etc. etc. Is it just the amount of light output?

(Budget not going to allow me to purchase 2 canister lights at this point, and my wife would promptly steal the canister if I only bought one.... ).

Jim

I'm not trying to suggest that these LED lights are junk, just don't expect the performance of a canister light. I paid less than $50 for my light. The color is great but it just lacks the total power of a canister light. I don't know how dive lights are measured, be it candle power or lumens but rest assured that a $50 light, using 3 "C" cells, regardless of the lighting element, will not compare to a $500 light using what amounts to a motorcycle battery and a HID bulb. If you are in the market for a light, buy it for what you really need it for. I don't night dive regularly. Alot of live aboards have bottom lights and you could night dive there without needing much of a light yourself. If you aren't cave diving, diving in very turbid water or in need of a light as a team dive signaling device, why spend the money. The smaller LED lights are fine for illuminating the underside of a dark ledge and aren't a great imposition to drag along for those "just in case" times. Also depends on what constitutes a "primary" light, in your opinion.

 

[AtomicWalrus]

The UK C8 eLED is as bright as the standard C8 with 13 W bulb. I bought one a while ago to give it a try and have been fairly impressed with it. Bright enough for recreational diving, nice white light (comparable to HID), great battery life (so far, ~8 h on the original set of batteries in cold water), and relatively inexpensive. LEDs keep getting better and better, but this is the first one I've seen that can compare to a conventional dive light. Maybe in another 5 years they'll have one bright enough to compete with HID, but for now the best they can do is match a mid-sized halogen.

 

[Wristshot]

My buddy has a C8 light that he recently converted to LED and we will be trying it out this next week. I will let SB know how it works.

W