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I have heard good things about their backup lights and bought one. I opened up the package and couldnt figure how to turn it on. Come to find out the switch was missing. Took it back and got another one and opened it up right there and pushed on the switch while saying "mine didnt have one of these" and the piece of crap fell off in the floor. I realize in a pinch I could activate it with a magnet and from the looks of it that pinch occurs too often for my likeing.
Sounds like you have bad luck with lights. I have two and have been very pleased using it the last few weeks.
I suspect quality is a hit or miss. I recall reading here or on TDS that Intova provided a fix for that light switch problem.
I bought two of these over a year ago as backups. I did put a rubber band over the switch as a precaution after reading about it. I also wanted to make sure they wouldn't turn on by themselves during dives. They have never failed me (knock on wood) during pre dive tests, the few times I needed a light above land and the one time that my primary died in the back of Ginnie.
My dive buddy just had his light switch fall out of his Intova light this weekend.
Gone to the depth's of our local lake, he had about 30 dives on this light.
And this WAS supposed to be the updated version, the first run all had switch problems from what I was told when buying these latest ones.
Sounds like love em or hate em. Every "screw on" backup I've owned has eventually flooded. I came across these these last year and have had no problems. I'm a huge fan, but my opinion would be different if I had these experiences.
-Tom
They have a new light out now. The switch is on the back. It is a button you push it on once and it is real bright push it again and it is half as bright, if you hold it down it is a strobe. I got 2 of them I like them alot. and they use 3 AAA bats.
Gee Stairman, I seem to recall you flaming me a year or so ago because I posted I had a bad experience with a particular manufacturer's product and service. I won't do that to you. :smt079
I'm pretty happy with Intova overall, having had two "opportunities" to deal with their customer service. First, I bought a camera and housing off of Leisure Pro. After about 8 months of beating it up, I never could quite figure out to how to make a completely dry dive with it. I sent the beaten up housing (I play rough) to Intova in HI. A week later, I had a brand new housing, no hassles.
I have two of the "old-style" Intova lights, silver and black, wide and narrow, with the switches on the side. The silver one has made every dive with me for the last year with no problems. The black one spit out its switch on about the third dive. An email to Intova and I got a package with a handful of new switches a few days later, again no hassles. They didn't even ask for proof of purchase (good thing, since it was a gift!).
Other than that, I have nothing but love for the camera, housing, and lights. They definitely get a lot of use and abuse, and stand tough.
I looked at their newer torch with the switch on the tail end and really like it.
This message is not a paid endorsement for Intova, and YMMV. Remember...I also love 7-11 hot dogs ;)
do you put that awesome chilli and cheese on them from the machine?!Quote:
Originally Posted by sskasser
Yep, plus jalapenos, mustard, ketchup, and relish! But no onions, that would be just too much ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by LiteHedded
Mmmm! Nothing like a dirty water hot dog from a gas station or convenience store - especially at 3 AM when they've been cooking for a long, long, long time. I can taste them now - succulent and wholesome, made of only the finest calf lungs and hog esophaguses!Quote:
Originally Posted by sskasser
(Esophagi?)
I'm a purist - I just put mustard on mine.
Mike
Between me and my wife we have 6 Intovas and have never had a problem with them. But I do have bicycle inner tube around all of them because I heard about the switch falling out. A simple solution that didn't cost anything since I use inner tube to secure them to my harness anyway.
I dont remember doing that Me. I thought a while before posting my dislike for the product. Maybe a bunch of spare switches would have helped.... I guess not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Me
between my girlfriend and I we have 5 of them and all of them seem to flip on and off occasionally while diving... I usally just smack it on my hand it it comes back on... i tried one of the dive rite LED primarys a while back and it would cut on and off.. eventually failing alltogether and i seemed to be turned off to LED technology. Great for backups, but I still use an HID primary.... anyone else having the problem with the lights cutting on and off? I have the hold version on the intova... although I just got one back from being warrantied, but I havn't checked to see if it is different.
-Matt
If it's turning on and off during the dive you must be tripping the switch. Try covering it with some bicycle innertube or something.
The new ones with the pushbutton look nice, but there's no way I believe the published burn time at that draw with 3 AAA's. There's no way it could run at full brightness for very long.
I think it was Pirhana diving that had a similar light with 6 AAA's that might actually get some run time.
BTW - hot dogs are just a carrier for onions and mustard.
I also have four of the older Intovas- I have to say that they are more reliable than my tottering old HIDs which I no longer use, and the burn time was great (CR123s) Not to mention I have a nice supply of CR123s from elsewhere anyway...
I did have an issue with the magnetic switches- Chrissy managed to knock both the switches out of hers. (Big surprise.) I sent them an email, they sent me new switches. No problems since then. I think I may have had it happen one other time, but Edd swapped mine out immediately, no questions asked. So yea, the switches, not so fantastic, but I have never had it happen on a dive- and I don't have problems with them turning themselves on either, but I wear them under my arm DIR style. I love the length and the brightness and have done some extraordinarily long swims out of a cave on them after my HID died at max penetration. (10K+)
(and yes, bad scooter batts and bad HID lights were involved, and it did take two Intovas to exit.)
I would buy the same emitter/battery combination over and over again as a backup light.
"Consumables?" :rollguyQuote:
Originally Posted by rchrds
I bought one a few months back and it failed the second time I turned it on. Never ever made it to the water.Quote:
Originally Posted by stairman
As I recall: isn't this light made in China?
Really sorry to hear of your problem. If you contact us we will give you a new revised light. We had a real problem with switches initially and have corrected it. We do not get this issue with newer production units. Our lights are really good except for this issue. We have developed a new til switch that utilizes a magnetic metal push button. It also allows full and 30 % power along with a strobe feature. Lights are a relatively new area for us and we are working hard to make them the best value on the market. Stay tuned as we have some exciting new models coming out soon.
The only "issue" (not really) I had with my Intovas was the eyelet at the end of it where I added the snap bolt twisted off. I didn't know it did. JB Weld fixed that... I just almost lost it in Mexico. Luckly it twisted in the rinse tank back onshore.
Otherwise, great light and my usual dive buddy has a set and my brother-in-law and nephew both have one.
Michael
Thanks for joining in this thread. It's always good to have a company spokesman to with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Intova
So far, I haven't had any problems with my Intova, and I'm looking to buy a second. How much can the design be changed? It would be awesome if there was a decent lanyard tie-off hole that was easy to access. My intova is sorely lacking this feature.
I have sold many of these lights, and yes they had switch issues that have been revised. Now the eyes come unscrewed. Simply get some Lok tight and problem fixed...