New Princeton Tec Miniwave versus UK C4 eled thread

[edtang]

Hi all. I've been doing some homework between the Princeton Tec Miniwave and the UK C4 eled pistol grip lights. It appears most of the reviews I've found between all the scuba store forums and obviously here, are based on an older generation of LEDs. If there's a post I haven't seen please point me to it. But has anyone had any real world diving comparisons between manufacturer sites 337(PT) and 205(UK) lumen ratings? Most of the older reviews I see have ratings <200 lumens for each of the 2 lights in question. Also has the switch problems been fixed with the PT light?

As far as my usage, predominantly a day time torch to peek between all those Monterey rocks but bright enough to serve as a strong primary light for night diving. I'd like to keep cost to <$100 and stick to LEDs. I'm open to entertaining other torches but these seems to fit my criteria best.

Thanks.

 

[300bar]

My wife has the new UK eLed C8 and it makes my UK lightcannon DIMM
And the eLed has way better burntime.

 

[RAWalker]

I own the PT and a dive buddy has the UK with the 2 lights side by side the PT is brighter. The Miniwav uses the same head as the Shockwav LED it is rated for 9 watts output on high. The UK on the otherhand is only rated at 6 watts. Because of this difference battery life is as would be expected with the PT draining the batteries faster than the UK.

 

[sucnip]

Princeton Tec torches do not use any kind of regulation... The LED's are connected directly to the batteries- 3 3 watt LED's connected in series. Its important to understand how LED's work: their brightness is controlled by the CURRENT running through them -- NOT the voltage (as in a regular incondecent bulb). PT torches are bright with fresh batteries but will dim proportionally to the batteries.

Regulation circuitry (in the UK lights) provide constant output for the entire battery life. I believe the UK C4 eLed (old version) uses a single side emitting 5W LED. The spot is brighter than the PT torch, but considerably smaller. Since the PT has a larger hot spot it will put out more light, but only for a limited time on fresh batteries.

UK has changed the eLed design to include a dual-led with integrated heat sink in the middle of the lens. IMHO this is the way to go. Heat is the enemy of high power LEDs and these torches will burn even brighter in the water.

David

 

[edtang]

A quick jaunt down to the dive shop proved to be an absolute disaster! I now want either of these lights AND a day time light . Not an equal comparison but the UK C4 eled and PT Shockwave have different characteristics. UK's hot center with lighter halo versus PT's more spread center and a smaller halo. I don't think I can lose with either light; I prefer the PT spread over the UK light and I prefer the regulated UK over the PT light.

Hijacking my own thread....Now I also checked the intova 4.7W cree wide and that's a thing of beauty on land. Smoothest spread I've ever seen, bright, and solid. I'm wondering if that would suffice in the often low vis and murky Monterey Bay. I'd consider giving up the bulk of either of those lights above if this light could cut it.

 

[sucnip]

Hi Ed. One thing to consider with lights in low vis situations is the amount of back-scatter. Think about driving in fog with your high beams on... the light will illuminate the cloud of crap in front of you. The light will work great for viewing things close up, but not have the focus to cut through the muck and spotlight something at a distance. Also, my experience has been that wide-angle lights are less useful for signaling at night and pointing out critters.

Have you considered a Ikelite PCa LED or an UK SL4 eLed? I just purchased a $20 SL4 (non-LED) and will modify it with a $12 drop-in module from dealextreme.com that will make it brighter than the stock SL4 eLed... This will be my daytime under-rock torch. At night I use the UK eLed C8 PLUS.

You won't be dissappointed by the UK or PT. Both are great companies. Go with what feels right in your hand and try your best to ignore the hype.

David