Salvo 12 Watt LED Umbilical review

[drunkdiver]

Took my loverly new Salvo LED torch for a dive today at NDAC.

Dive 1: 60m, torch functioned superbly. Very bright, great light with a nice spot. Not very bright in the shallows but anywhere dark and it was fantastic. Certainly better than a 10 watt HID I reckon. Nice and compact and seemingly very well built unit.

Dive 2: Go back down to the pontoon where I left my kit. Check through gear, turn torch on and get nothing. Not ammused. Was hoping to compare it to my buddys 10watt greenforce. Im bloody sure I turned it off before stowing my gear, however I assumed that I havent and the battery had gone flat. Even if this was the case, this was only 3 hours after the start of dive 1 so the torch should have 2 hours battery left. Plus after 5 mins operating out of water it should go to a low power mode to stop it getting to hot, therefore battery should last even longer.

However this appears not to be the case. Got it home, put the battery on charge for a bit. Seems to be taking charge ok. Put head back on battery and still nothing. Looks like the heads fcuked. Now im most pissed off.

So its going back on Monday. I just hope I dont have to wait long for a replacement as got a lot of diving coming up and really need it. I also hope this is not a problem with all the torches and just mine as when it was working it was amazing and pretty much my perfect dive light. GRRRR

[Whoji]

Oh dear, A least it you get it sorted!!

Got the spring straps here for you, if you see lee before me give him the dosh.

Cheers for today

[pieater]

Don't suppose you could be persuaded to take some photos of the performance at depth - obviously not right now . I'm very interested as a backup.

[divingniknaks]

For the OP, please email me with the full details of what happened, I'm on the case right now on this.

HTH

Trust me, we and Salvo will get this sorted ASAP.

.

[Howard Payne]

Phill popped over with a 21w LED on Weds and we had a quick look at it and the beam it produces "above the surface". I'm sure these are just small teething issues. HID's on borrowed time I reckon. Not quite dead yet - but not far off I reckon I'm sure Phill will get it sorted for you.

The ballast just went on my 21w HID - first problem in 3 years - largely due to American customs chucking it all round Miami airport It went back to Salvo - Phill lent me a 21w HID FOC for two months and it's cost nothing to get it sorted because Barry felt it shouldn't have gone.

You really can't ask for more than that can you? I'm sure you'll get it sorted. The quality of these LED lights and the compactness of the heads is terrific IMO

[Rob Dobson]

Whilst it is very annoying when new kit fails, you couldn't be in better hands and I'm sure Barry and Phill will whatever it takes to take care of it before your next dive.

Phill - is there any reason why I couldn't stick a 21W LED switch / chord / ballast assembly on my 15.6 Li-ion Rebel canister / battery pack? i.e is the Rebel HiD canister the same as the Rebel LED canister....?

[divingniknaks]

Originally Posted by Rob Dobson

Whilst it is very annoying when new kit fails, you couldn't be in better hands and I'm sure Barry and Phill will whatever it takes to take care of it before your next dive.

Phill - is there any reason why I couldn't stick a 21W LED switch / chord / ballast assembly on my 15.6 Li-ion Rebel canister / battery pack? i.e is the Rebel HiD canister the same as the Rebel LED canister....?

Absolutely nothing at all to stop you putting an LED head on that one.

Want one sending over with the next lot of (replacement) lights ?

Trust me, neither Salvo or we want this with these LED's, it does seem strange that it's failed almost immediately. There's quite a few out there with no problems as you'd expect from Salvo lights.

We're doing all we can to get this sorted ASAP for the OP.

.

[copperband]

I hope you guys can sort this as the next call is gonna be to these guys...


Du de durrr, du de durrrr, dum de durrrr dum de dum du derrrrrrrrrrrrrr (think that's how it went anyway) burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp

[rongoodman]

Mine failed in a similar manner last week in Turks and Caicos. Two night dives without problem, then it wouldn't light the next morning. The battery charged without obvious problem, so I assume the problem is in the head. The unit is very nice, compact for travel, and throws a very clear, white beam. I wish they could attach the head solidly to the handle--it's possible to snag the umbilical and pull the head out while gearing up. I just got home late last night, so I'll speak to Salvo tomorrow.

[Howard Payne]

Hope you get it sorted soon guys.

The irony of all this is that one of the advantages of these LED lights for me is that they have so much less in the way of electronics inside them to go wrong compared to HIDs. Added to the compactness of the heads and the almost limitless life on the LED chip - this really should be the future

What struck me was that this seems to be the first LED light that I've seen that actually has an intense enough, tight white beam for signalling along with a bit more of a halo than HID for general illumination. I'm going to try and blag one from Barry at the end of May when I'm cave diving out in Florida. Reckon this combination of characteristics might be perfect for cave diving?