ChrisA
Contributor
offroaddiver:
Dosen't it have a lifetime warenty? Have Princeton replace the case.
LED vs. the other one
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Dosen't it have a lifetime warenty? Have Princeton replace the case.
bonklers
Registered
http://www.divesports.com/mall/princetec_lts_shockwaveLED.asp
Well from this review it's obvious SW LED has more output than UK C8 eLED. But how about the comparison with SW II (Incandescent bulb, top picture). SW II has two output, 7.5 and 15 watt. And if you have the rechargeble version it's 12 and 20 watt. This review doesn't mention on what wattage the SW II was. If the comparison with SW II only wat 7.5 watt then i'ts a bit an unfair comparison considering SW LED is on 9 watt probably. Any idea's how to get this information? And if anyone has found a review about SW LED, could you mention the url here please? It's been hard to find them, other than the review above I have only found this (needs to make a review yet).
My choice at the moment is between UK D8 and SW LED. The downside of UK D8 is it's huge dimensions and for the SW LED is it's (in comparison) poor output. I gave up on LC100 because I don't want to worry about breaking an expensive HID bulb. I'm just starting with diving so this will be my first primary light. No doubt the LC100 has the best lumen/$ ratio with his 450lumen/160$.
@ david.tolan
How do you like your SW LED so far? Can you compare it with your previous diving lights? A beamshot would be nice
. With what kind of batteries are you using it, alkalines, nicad or nimh? If you're using alkalines does it decrease in output when you're about at 2 hours divetime when diving on full power (9watts)?
I was considering using the light with AA->C adapters so I can use it with rather cheap AA nimh batteries. The runtime will probably be at 2 hours on full power when using 1700 mAh AA's. Using nimh's will supposedly give a constant output instead of vanishing one like with alkalines.
Well from this review it's obvious SW LED has more output than UK C8 eLED. But how about the comparison with SW II (Incandescent bulb, top picture). SW II has two output, 7.5 and 15 watt. And if you have the rechargeble version it's 12 and 20 watt. This review doesn't mention on what wattage the SW II was. If the comparison with SW II only wat 7.5 watt then i'ts a bit an unfair comparison considering SW LED is on 9 watt probably. Any idea's how to get this information? And if anyone has found a review about SW LED, could you mention the url here please? It's been hard to find them, other than the review above I have only found this (needs to make a review yet).
My choice at the moment is between UK D8 and SW LED. The downside of UK D8 is it's huge dimensions and for the SW LED is it's (in comparison) poor output. I gave up on LC100 because I don't want to worry about breaking an expensive HID bulb. I'm just starting with diving so this will be my first primary light. No doubt the LC100 has the best lumen/$ ratio with his 450lumen/160$.
@ david.tolan
How do you like your SW LED so far? Can you compare it with your previous diving lights? A beamshot would be nice
. With what kind of batteries are you using it, alkalines, nicad or nimh? If you're using alkalines does it decrease in output when you're about at 2 hours divetime when diving on full power (9watts)?I was considering using the light with AA->C adapters so I can use it with rather cheap AA nimh batteries. The runtime will probably be at 2 hours on full power when using 1700 mAh AA's. Using nimh's will supposedly give a constant output instead of vanishing one like with alkalines.
liberato
Guest
See post #11 above.bonklers:
david.tolan
Contributor
The plan is to go diving this weekend.
It'll be a day time dive, but in Irish conditions a lamp is still handy.
My previous, and now backup light is 4 C Cell PCLite which is brighter, but has a beam like a light saber.
I'll let you know what I think on Monday.
The SWII in the bram shots you referenced was at full power.
Incidently, there does not seem to be a huge difference between half and full for the SW LED on the surface. A difference yes, but not HUGE.
It'll be a day time dive, but in Irish conditions a lamp is still handy.
My previous, and now backup light is 4 C Cell PCLite which is brighter, but has a beam like a light saber.
I'll let you know what I think on Monday.
The SWII in the bram shots you referenced was at full power.
Incidently, there does not seem to be a huge difference between half and full for the SW LED on the surface. A difference yes, but not HUGE.
bonklers:
ChrisA
Contributor
I dive at night every week with any of the others in my dive club, so I see how many differentlights compare to mine. I mostly use a UK C8 eLED. First off those focusable canister lights are far away the best but we are talking $800 to $1,300 price tag. So ignoring the expensive options.....
In general the prinston and UK lights are very comparable size for size. Buy the one you like as no one will notice much difference under water. The D8 is the brightest light of all, The LED lights are "bright enough" and have a bluer color that cuts through the water. Don't discount color temperature when selecting a light. Some people like the orangeish light of halogen but most like the pure white of LED or HID. Don't just think in terms of brightness, color matters too.
Also I would but up with some minor faults to gain more burn time. Having to cary around 16 spare C or D cells and changing them frequently inconvient and expensive. One thing to concider is that you can't get the advertized burd time with halogen. The light fades as the batteries are used up so you have to replace batts at about half thier life or you'll be diving with a dimm light.
Rechargablecells sound like a good idea. They might be but there is one drawback. All rechargables will self-discharge if not used. After just a few weeks of non-use they need to be topped off. So they are not good for a light that is kept in storage, like some backup lights.
So you will need to "fiddle" more with your lights. Alkalines have a very long shelf life.
Also if you light floods with rechargables inside you loose almost $100 worth of batteries.
It's good to be very carfull with your o-rings
You WILL need a spare. I recommend turning BOTH lights on before you enter the water.
Not only is lit spare is easy to find after your primary fails but. I've seen my buddy's backup light fail. He tested it in the parking lot then turned it off. Over water his primary fails he goes for his backup and we find out it is flooded. Had he left it on he would have noticed it flooded sooner.
If you want to dive with the backup on then
In general the prinston and UK lights are very comparable size for size. Buy the one you like as no one will notice much difference under water. The D8 is the brightest light of all, The LED lights are "bright enough" and have a bluer color that cuts through the water. Don't discount color temperature when selecting a light. Some people like the orangeish light of halogen but most like the pure white of LED or HID. Don't just think in terms of brightness, color matters too.
Also I would but up with some minor faults to gain more burn time. Having to cary around 16 spare C or D cells and changing them frequently inconvient and expensive. One thing to concider is that you can't get the advertized burd time with halogen. The light fades as the batteries are used up so you have to replace batts at about half thier life or you'll be diving with a dimm light.
Rechargablecells sound like a good idea. They might be but there is one drawback. All rechargables will self-discharge if not used. After just a few weeks of non-use they need to be topped off. So they are not good for a light that is kept in storage, like some backup lights.
So you will need to "fiddle" more with your lights. Alkalines have a very long shelf life.
Also if you light floods with rechargables inside you loose almost $100 worth of batteries.
It's good to be very carfull with your o-rings
You WILL need a spare. I recommend turning BOTH lights on before you enter the water.
Not only is lit spare is easy to find after your primary fails but. I've seen my buddy's backup light fail. He tested it in the parking lot then turned it off. Over water his primary fails he goes for his backup and we find out it is flooded. Had he left it on he would have noticed it flooded sooner.
If you want to dive with the backup on then
bonklers
Registered
ChrisA:
Are we talking about the high power output luxeon LED's here or the normal 3/5 mm leds in groups? Too bad I've never seen LED diving lights IRL.
ChrisA:
Besides the drawback with nimh cells self-discharging, with this light (SW LED) I think the option of using AA->C adapters, does not have any drawback you mentioned above. Flooding the lights will only costs you about 20$ with AA nimh. SW LED can take 8 batteries, so you can get about 2 hours with 1700 mAh AA cells. And it's constant output because nimh has a rather flat discharge pattern. Ofcourse new cons appear: with AA this light can be slightly bouyant and because of the nimh you get no warning whatsoever when the power is low, light will suddenly go from full power to 0 output. So having a backup is not such a bad idea.
*waiting impatiently till monday*
ChrisA
Contributor
bonklers:
mossym
Contributor
bonklers:
I'll let you know next week, i'm loaning my SWII to a friend, and her buddy is using his new SW LED, we're going on a liveaboard so i'll be able to see both..I'll be using My light cannon...
bonklers
Registered
Mail was sent two days ago about using nimh on SW LED, I haven't received anything yet.....
.
Thanks mossym. I'd also like to know if it's also suitable for daydiving. Are you using your LC100 with alkalines? I've seen a nice topic about someone using AA nimhs on his and getting great results. Oh and have a nice tripmossym:
.
Based on earlier posts in this thread we got a pair of PT Shockwave LEDs. The LDS discounted them reasonably so he got he sale, he knows the deal, I didn't even have to ask.
We have yet to do a night scuba dive so we started the other night with a skin-dive going in at dusk. We had probably 10 feet of visibility based on our evenng skindive of an hour before. Some impressions:
*The Off/Hi/Lo switch scares me a bit. Getting the lens cap back on with and engaging with the switch linkage was a bit weird, just pay attention. This is the first thing you need to do to remoce a battery protector cardboard sheet. The switch is a little stiff and feel a little strained but does operate fine with gloved hands.
* I did get to see the obvious headlights in the snow storm effect but have no basis of comparisson.
*I was on the fence for pistol vs lantern and was pleased with the balance of this pistol unit.
*The padded and cinchable lanyard is nice.
*Both units completed the dive without incident.
*When watching my wiife I was surprised to see the size of the pool of light it actually created beyond the usable visibility, should be great on a clearer night.
* When we got out of the water the first thing my wife said was "I wasn't scared at all", so I guess it worked well enough!
*Will post an update as needed when we take them down.
I made the choice for LED reliability, battery life and higher output than the UK LED product. I'm happy.
Pete
We have yet to do a night scuba dive so we started the other night with a skin-dive going in at dusk. We had probably 10 feet of visibility based on our evenng skindive of an hour before. Some impressions:
*The Off/Hi/Lo switch scares me a bit. Getting the lens cap back on with and engaging with the switch linkage was a bit weird, just pay attention. This is the first thing you need to do to remoce a battery protector cardboard sheet. The switch is a little stiff and feel a little strained but does operate fine with gloved hands.
* I did get to see the obvious headlights in the snow storm effect but have no basis of comparisson.
*I was on the fence for pistol vs lantern and was pleased with the balance of this pistol unit.
*The padded and cinchable lanyard is nice.
*Both units completed the dive without incident.
*When watching my wiife I was surprised to see the size of the pool of light it actually created beyond the usable visibility, should be great on a clearer night.
* When we got out of the water the first thing my wife said was "I wasn't scared at all", so I guess it worked well enough!
*Will post an update as needed when we take them down.
I made the choice for LED reliability, battery life and higher output than the UK LED product. I'm happy.
Pete
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