Overall, this is an very good, interesting and unusual flashlight. It isn’t a budget flashlight, but Tmart has had this old model at a more or less budget price. I take off one star, because, as is, the XR-E LED limits the output. It out throws a well regarded C8, but the spot size is not what one should expect from this optics. The combination of output in the central spot and run time is excellent, perhaps unique for a light that doesn’t require lithium cells. The unusual 4 x AA configuration, with nominal voltage of 4.8 or 6 volts, gets a lot out of the old XR-E and calls for bigger LEDs and less resistors. Reliability problems have been common with these POP lite and LED Lenser lights. (Switch problems were also reported with a full price warrantied Lenser.) I like them anyway, because I am idealistic and I have been able to fix them. The use of standard batteries, YAAAAAHHOOOOOOO, A cheap to run light that actually performs very well finally!!! A first for my collection. The thing that make the construction of this torch not excellent is #1 the slop in the head that can cause the beam to be off center & #2 The

I'm not arguing pros and cons of regulation at all, I'm just trying to make sure people are clear about facts. A poster above said "it's semi-regulated", and a major web retailer is claiming it contains a microprocessor controlled digital regulation circuit. Well either it does or it doesn't. I have no beef either way, I'd just like the facts to be straight. Metal housing - aircraft grade aluminium provides strength and durability whilst being corrosive resistant There is a 100 ohm & about a 1.5 ohm resistor. The 100 ohm resistor controls the low setting & 1.5 ohm resistor the high position. All you need to do is bypass whichever resistor for the brightness level you want to give up by soldering a piece of small wire around the resistor.

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I connected it, trimmed things to fit and added a 1 mm. x 16 mm. star as a spacer. Now it works only on turbo and has no intermittent. There is room in the head for an FET driver, but that is another job. all my previus attempts to get decent performing torches that used AA or AAA batteries were for naught. The only reasonable performing one used The reliability record of these lights reflects their innovativeness more than their build quality. The boost setting offers an impressive 800 lumen output on its highest setting with a 350 metre beam distance. The P14 includes innovative light focus technology for improved performance and range.

focus mechanism does not stop perfectly at the best point for the smallest spot. It over shoots it by a slight amount. that I need to do. I also use rechargables wherever possable to cut down costs & reduce the trash that you get with throwaways. Like the P7.2 it has two resistors attached to the switch to limit high and low modes and one in the head to limit turbo. Having three levels of brightness is a very good thing indeed. I just wished they had made the max setting one that youbut it is still better than the alternatives that I have seen. The spot is very tightly focused & as a result this torch has excellent thow.

For radical modification, the battery tube measures 30.5 mm. diameter. One 26650 would leave a lot of space, but two would seem to require shortening the tail or the pill. Three AAs abreast does fit, but not the 3 x AA battery carrier that I tried. the heat build up on the star was quite high compared to the heatsink that it was attched to which to be honest was also inadaquate on that torch as well. The tail cap unscrews from the battery holder, leaving the switch attached to the battery holder with four small tight phillips head screws. I also wanted a light that used standard everyday size battery that has good safety when using rechargables.I see no value in a bright light if itfirst off the focusing prism. The prism is definately this torches calling card I.E. its numero uno feature. It is not without its problems Extensive use of O-rings to keep water out. Note however that due to the focusing mechanism this torch is not dunkable. As in the Lenser P7.2 and the POP lite T34, the three mode driver is a mechanical switch and resistors. Pressing the switch part way unconditionally engages an intermittent turbo mode. Pressing it all the way and releasing it cycles between high, low and off. No blinky modes or pulse width modulation, because there is no active electronics to make it blink. To change the modes one solders resistors, rather than re-writing firmware. This uses both the LED and the battery more efficiently than most electronic drivers do. I have had a lot of reliability problems with Lensers and POP lites, but like them anyway because I am an idealist. Maybe Lensers sold for full price with warranty have better quality control, but I doubt it. The battery holder is similar to that of the Lenser P7.2 https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/29466, except for the arrangement of the cells.

Once the switch is out you will have to make a decision which brightness mode you want to give up, the low or the high. I gave up the high position but really wished that I gave up the low as its really to low for any of my purposes. There are two resistors there that are in series with the batteries when activate It is quite sturdy too. It uses 2 methods of securing it to your belt. Heavy duty snap & heavy duty velcro. You won't be losing this torchI am proceeding with the LED change, rather than testing it without the resistor in the head but still with the XR-E, probably the best configuration for pure throw. CR123a batteries. The CR123a batteries have about 25-50% more energy than 3 AAA NiMH batteries & about 2/3rds the energy of 3 AA NimH batteries. Most In this century, one expects electronics to be more reliable and easier to fix than mechanics, and unfortunately this has been an example. The three way switch stopped going into turbo direct drive while pressed. For an ordinary user, that would not be much of a problem, because high is plenty bright and turbo was only intermittent anyway, but for a flashaholic it had to be fixed.