Xtar D01 Review. 100m waterproof dive light w/ an electrodeless magnetic switch
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OP
RonzoTheGreat
Contributor
Hi everyone,
I'm coming to the close of the first burn test and one would be unlikely to give me comfort in a cave blackout but the other is still bright enough to warm my spirits if I had no other source of light ... so far is is almost exactly 5 hours. judging from the cycle of the dimmer, i'd say the second one will probably knock off at almost exactly 6 hours. going to head to sleep soon. when i awake, ill charge both batteries and do another burn test.
jake, i'm actually just really happy we agreed on the dual. imagine if i only received the dim one? whew.... glad we chatted.
I'm coming to the close of the first burn test and one would be unlikely to give me comfort in a cave blackout but the other is still bright enough to warm my spirits if I had no other source of light ... so far is is almost exactly 5 hours. judging from the cycle of the dimmer, i'd say the second one will probably knock off at almost exactly 6 hours. going to head to sleep soon. when i awake, ill charge both batteries and do another burn test.
jake, i'm actually just really happy we agreed on the dual. imagine if i only received the dim one? whew.... glad we chatted.
OP
RonzoTheGreat
Contributor
Good morning.
So last night when i went to turn off the light that was still on, i moved the switch down and the light stayed on. i moved the switch up and down once more and nothing. i ended up backing off the threaded tube for the night.
Jake, im sure you are 100% correct about the diodes being fine and the battery being under question, which is a major issue for a new diver who may only purchase one of these and not be able to use it reasonably until you replace their battery (since they are proprietary and cant just run to radioshack or walmart to grab another). secondly, they may not even realize the light is supposed to be brighter and just stay disappointed. for the next burn test, ill switch out the batteries and post more feedback. theres no doubt in my mind that you'd stand behind the product, but imagine the diver buys it for their AOW the following weekend and this occurs... what do they use?
So last night when i went to turn off the light that was still on, i moved the switch down and the light stayed on. i moved the switch up and down once more and nothing. i ended up backing off the threaded tube for the night.
Jake, im sure you are 100% correct about the diodes being fine and the battery being under question, which is a major issue for a new diver who may only purchase one of these and not be able to use it reasonably until you replace their battery (since they are proprietary and cant just run to radioshack or walmart to grab another). secondly, they may not even realize the light is supposed to be brighter and just stay disappointed. for the next burn test, ill switch out the batteries and post more feedback. theres no doubt in my mind that you'd stand behind the product, but imagine the diver buys it for their AOW the following weekend and this occurs... what do they use?
Ronzo I think there's some miscommunication going on here
First you say one of the units is bad, now you say that it is one of the batteries? Could you clarify this for me.
Also Ronzo, 18650 lithium ion cells are the staple for high power flashlights. AA batteries can corrode easily or lose power if sitting for lengthy periods. I have seen another flashlight manufacturer make a different 8xAA flashlight with horror stories. The AA batteries being installed the wrong way causing catastrophic failure even serious injury from explosions.
First you say one of the units is bad, now you say that it is one of the batteries? Could you clarify this for me.
Also Ronzo, 18650 lithium ion cells are the staple for high power flashlights. AA batteries can corrode easily or lose power if sitting for lengthy periods. I have seen another flashlight manufacturer make a different 8xAA flashlight with horror stories. The AA batteries being installed the wrong way causing catastrophic failure even serious injury from explosions.
OP
RonzoTheGreat
Contributor
well if thats the route you'd like to take jake, fair thee well. the fact of the matter is that diverite has been producing these for quite a number of years and believe it or not (from your posts it seems the latter) they actually get a true 300lumens out of 8AA batteries with a burn time "no less than 12 hours" according to diverite directly with little no no "problems" like the "catastrophic failure" you mention. another side note that the penetrators are a Dorcy product (pretty big manufacture whose line is carried at walmart) and run off simple AAA batteries with little to no problem ... can Dorcy afford "catastrophic failure?"
i am posting one last picture for everyone to see the truth since you decided to take a negative insulting stance via private message...
ok everyone. please see picture for a side by side comparison of Jake's Xtar DO1 (claimed to be 350 lumen) next to DiveRite's LED300 Handheld. Xtar are the two dimmer lights while the DiveRite is the one lower right that (according to Jake's words that the Xtar puts out 325lumens after warm-up) puts out less lumens. you should have simply accepted the truth and not pushed this jake. also, this is actually the same picture noted in an earlier post, just larger.
one last thing. when i took the batteries out to recharge them, the charger stayed red for less than 20 minutes and than turned green which supposedly means they are fully charged. clearly these are not lights for someone looking for a dependable piece of equipment.
i am posting one last picture for everyone to see the truth since you decided to take a negative insulting stance via private message...
ok everyone. please see picture for a side by side comparison of Jake's Xtar DO1 (claimed to be 350 lumen) next to DiveRite's LED300 Handheld. Xtar are the two dimmer lights while the DiveRite is the one lower right that (according to Jake's words that the Xtar puts out 325lumens after warm-up) puts out less lumens. you should have simply accepted the truth and not pushed this jake. also, this is actually the same picture noted in an earlier post, just larger.
one last thing. when i took the batteries out to recharge them, the charger stayed red for less than 20 minutes and than turned green which supposedly means they are fully charged. clearly these are not lights for someone looking for a dependable piece of equipment.
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OP
RonzoTheGreat
Contributor
Final thoughts as per Jake's request:
For the price tag of $62.99 plus another $10 for a single light, propreitary batteries, and charger that clearly malfunctioned during testing, I would go to Piranhadivemfg.com and purchase a penetrator 220 for $49.99 and stick with the simplicity of the readily available AAA batteries. The penetrator 180 was an extremely similar level of brightness with a very similar hotspot (see earlier post for picture) and the 220 is even brighter. Piranha even offers a better deal if you purchase two lights at the same time. The penetrator 220 also has been updated to NOT cut through wreck line like this Xtar DO1 will.
LED Lighting Products Piranha Dive Manufacturing
Jake's argument is that I know nothing about lights and I contradicted myself earlier. Maybe he's right, maybe the pictures do not speak for themselves. Maybe I can't tell if the defects were the fault of the battery or the light (if you were purchasing this light would you care what the problem was or would you want a light that works)... so if you would like to go ahead and purchase one of these lights for yourself, feel free to take that chance. Hopefully for Jake's sake, I am very wrong. (he seems to think so)
best wishes everyone and dive safe.
For the price tag of $62.99 plus another $10 for a single light, propreitary batteries, and charger that clearly malfunctioned during testing, I would go to Piranhadivemfg.com and purchase a penetrator 220 for $49.99 and stick with the simplicity of the readily available AAA batteries. The penetrator 180 was an extremely similar level of brightness with a very similar hotspot (see earlier post for picture) and the 220 is even brighter. Piranha even offers a better deal if you purchase two lights at the same time. The penetrator 220 also has been updated to NOT cut through wreck line like this Xtar DO1 will.
LED Lighting Products Piranha Dive Manufacturing
Jake's argument is that I know nothing about lights and I contradicted myself earlier. Maybe he's right, maybe the pictures do not speak for themselves. Maybe I can't tell if the defects were the fault of the battery or the light (if you were purchasing this light would you care what the problem was or would you want a light that works)... so if you would like to go ahead and purchase one of these lights for yourself, feel free to take that chance. Hopefully for Jake's sake, I am very wrong. (he seems to think so)
best wishes everyone and dive safe.
Ron. I do not mind constructive criticism, the world is not perfect and there are flaws that need to be fixed. I never said you know nothing about flashlights but I don't think your expertise lies in flashlight technology, just like my expertise does not lie in diving.
For example: You can not take a quick snapshot of 2 different flashlights and immediately declare one flashlight is "brighter" than the other. The right camera settings, exposure fstop etc need to be accounted for. It is clear to see that the hotspot on the D01 is washed out, and the only way to see it more clearly is to step down the exposure. The only official way to measure the hotspot is using a lux meter and the only real way to determine "brightness" is to use an integrating sphere.
I have tried to be polite and mature about your situation, asking for clarifications and wanting to make sure things were made right but you seen to want to slam my products and be immature. Thank you for your input, it is unfortunate that you got a bad battery. I will move on to different reviewers.
Thanks
Jason
For example: You can not take a quick snapshot of 2 different flashlights and immediately declare one flashlight is "brighter" than the other. The right camera settings, exposure fstop etc need to be accounted for. It is clear to see that the hotspot on the D01 is washed out, and the only way to see it more clearly is to step down the exposure. The only official way to measure the hotspot is using a lux meter and the only real way to determine "brightness" is to use an integrating sphere.
I have tried to be polite and mature about your situation, asking for clarifications and wanting to make sure things were made right but you seen to want to slam my products and be immature. Thank you for your input, it is unfortunate that you got a bad battery. I will move on to different reviewers.
Thanks
Jason
Jake I have to agree with you that the world isn't perfect and respect you for testing this product hopefully before going into production. You acknowledge the flaws and welcome the constructive criticism, so now you compile all your information and fix the flaws you know of. Once in production it's a whole new ball game. Ronzo's advice should be welcomed advice and to call someone immature because they may have given you something that you didn't want to hear just isn't fair to the individual and in this case, someone that many on the board look to for his honest and unbiased opinion. Take his and everyone's advice and fix the flaws you know of before production and all should run smoothly. If your intent wasn't to have the constructive criticism good or bad then why are you doing this testing in public view of everyone on the board; doesn't make sense to me but only my opinion?
jenkinskc
Contributor
Jake, take things with a grain of salt. There are many of us willing to put your product to work and test it. I look forward to testing your product on an upcoming trip and completely understand that issues are bound to arise. I have owned many lights from low end Pelicans to high end DiveRite and have nary had a time that within 6 months something did not arise. To be honest, I have had a lower cost of ownership for the lower end lights than the higher end ones and usually the customer service has been better with lower end products.
While I respect Ronzo's opinions, at this point they are just that "opinions". As everyone knows, running tests in the real world are hard to bring back to the lab and really analyze because there are to many variables that affect realworld testing when you do not have the tools to properly analyze what is going on. Like Jake said, without proper testing equipment these underwater tests are hard to rely on.
Jake, again, I look forward to testing your lights in Bonaire and hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Brad
While I respect Ronzo's opinions, at this point they are just that "opinions". As everyone knows, running tests in the real world are hard to bring back to the lab and really analyze because there are to many variables that affect realworld testing when you do not have the tools to properly analyze what is going on. Like Jake said, without proper testing equipment these underwater tests are hard to rely on.
Jake, again, I look forward to testing your lights in Bonaire and hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Brad
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