Princeton Surge?

[ENikS]

In my opinion it is perfect backup light for non overhead diving.

This light has several advantages compared to other lights on the market. It is the brightest, lightest and smallest light in its category…

The flooding is easily fixed by lubing O-ring properly and making sure it is not bent while head is screwed on. Adding another o ring to the base of thread between body of the light and the head will also help. If you do that you will have to adjust position of reflector to compensate for the ring.

A have added some circuitry to compensate for battery voltage drop over time. Now my Surge outputs bright white light until battery depleted completely. It somewhat shortened burn time but all the time it burns it shines bright. When battery depleted to the point where it is impossible to bust it anymore the circuitry shuts down and lamp powered from battery directly providing another 20 or so minutes of deem light.

With this circuitry I can use rechargeable batteries without any light output degradation. It is as bright as with alkaline batteries. 2200 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries (http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/Index.asp) give me better burn time then regular duracells.

Here is the picture of my light…

 

[jagfish]

Wow
Where did you learn about electronics modification to enhance burn quality?

Do you know what the problem was that disposed the earlier versions to flooding?

JAG

 

[ENikS]

Wow
Where did you learn about electronics modification to enhance burn quality?

I think college might have something to do with it, I have degree in EE.

Do you know what the problem was that disposed the earlier versions to flooding?
JAG

I’ve learned it the hard way, I flooded my light.
I keep my surge clipped to harness all the time. On the trip, after flight, I load it with batteries, lube O-ring, screw head on and forget about it until it is time to fly back. One day I left the light on a table in direct sunlight for whole day and on the next dive it flooded. When I checked O-ring it was dry and a bit deformed. I guess extra internal pressure generated by thermal expansion (air inside the light) did the trick. After I dried internals and lubricated O-ring it never had any problems.

 

[jagfish]

LOL...
Well, for me the EE degree sounds like a lot to go through for enhanced burn!
Thanks for the tip about grease. I'll give that a try...

Do anyone know how the new unit is different?
JAG

 

[UWSojourner]

In my opinion it is perfect backup light for non overhead diving.

The flooding is easily fixed by lubing O-ring properly ...

What are you using to lub the O-ring?

 

[ENikS]

LOL...
Well, for me the EE degree sounds like a lot to go through for enhanced burn!
Thanks for the tip about grease. I'll give that a try...

Do anyone know how the new unit is different?
JAG

If you interested I can post schematics and PCB layout. It takes just a few elements easily found online.

I have new light and one from 2 years ego and as far as I can see they are identical.

What are you using to lub the O-ring?

Just a regular silicon grease found at any LDS. Apply liberally...

 

[illumiGeek]

There were a couple of bad batches of the Surge, and unfortunately the stories from those batches have given the Surge a somewhat sketchy reputation. For the most part the Surge has been a well made, reliable light that is frightenlingly bright for its size, weight and price.

One of the bad runs had the flooding problems mentioned here. The other had the lamp board assembled with low temp solder which caused the lamp to de-solder the socket and fall out. Both of these problems have long since been corrected.

If you're still leary about the Surge but want to stick with AA batteries, you might want to look into the Ikelite PCa light. It's a 6AA powered light that is also scary bright for its size. Run time is not too great (around 2 hours), and the beam is typical Ikelite (not very smooth), but it produces a ton of light from those AA cells. It uses a custome Ikelite lamp, but it is a PR base, so in a pinch you can replace the lamp with a standard PR flashlight bulb.

You might also want to try a Mag Xenon Star lamp in your Tec40. It improves the performance a LOT! I run a 3 cell Xenon Star with NiMh batteries, and it's bright. Not as bright as the Surge or PCa, but a big improvement over the stock PT40. The 4 cell with E91 lithiums is even brighter, and very light weight.

Aloha, iG

 

[jagfish]

I bought my first surge at a place in Florida last summer (Divers Direct). That one flooded. Had it replaced a couple months later. That one flooded, too.

Illimigeek, you seem like you are in the know regarding this problem. What is your information on the batches that were bad? Do you know what the dates were? How do you know it was a "couple" of batches?

Enquiring minds want to know...

JAG

 

[illumiGeek]

I hang out on a lot of boards and have heard about numerous problems with the Surge. The desoldering lamp socket and leaking switch issues were addressed by representatives of PT and some of the dealers involved. Those problems have been resolved in current production.

It is possible that dealers who are unaware of this problem may have old stock - so you may want to ask your dealer or PT about getting the latest version.

I had a Surge for a while and had no problems. Gave it to a friend and she is still using it without problems. I have 3 other friends who also own them. Two have had no trouble, one had the lamp socket de-solder. His dealer replaced it and the same thing happened again. The dealer then contacted PT and they replaced his inventory with newer models and the problem has not repeated.

The Surge is a great light for the price, but it is not a perfect light. There are issues with the basic design that make it a bit more difficult to use than some other lights. The battery holder, for example, can be a PITA to remove and load. The light in general requires a bit more care and attention to detail with regards to assembly and maintenance. A lot of the flooding problems are not related to the bad switch seal and are avoidable with just a little extra care.

Here is a message recieved by a member of another board I hang out on (CPF):

***
Received this info direct from Princeton Tec:

Bruce,

I would not reccomend using anything other then alkaline batteries.

Here is a list of our upgrades on the Surge:

- New switch material
- New switch o-ring and teflon washer
- New battery contact
- New solder for the bulb.

If you have any other questions or comments, please feel free to contact me again.

Thanks,


Jay Harrington
Customer Service Representative

***

As you can see, PT has made several improvements to address the issues with the Surge. It's still a bit of a PITA to assemble, but the reward for your efforts is a small and surprisingly bright light that costs less than the replacement lamps on some other lights.

There really is nothing else I am aware of that can compare to the Surge for size, brightness, run time, and inexpensive (and easy to find) batteries. The only other light that comes close is the Ikelite PCa light. The PCa is a 6AA light that is also very small and fiercely bright, but its beam pattern is not as smooth at the Surge (it's quite irregular, actually) and its run time is about half of the Surge. It is easier to assemble and use than the Surge, and the switch has a safety lock (the Surge doesn't).

The Surge is a light that garners strong emotions from users; you either love it or hate it. There's not much middle ground with this light.

Aloha, iG

 

[illumiGeek]

Oh, and if you are wondering how to identify the new models, they are rated at 7.5W (not 8W) and have a date sticker on the battery holder - which doesn't help much if you're mail ordering it, but if you're buying it at your LDS just ask them to let you have a look inside first (and if they have old stock, tell them to contact PT). Note that the date on the battery holder sticker is not important. The older models don't have the date sticker at all.

The newest ones have an improved battery holder as well. Supposed to be easier to load, and has reverse polarity protection.

I believe BrightGuy has the latest ones.