What is ANSI

To ensure Unilite products are suitable for the environments you want them for, they undergo rigorous controlled tests. These are conducted under strict ANSI FL1 standards. ANSI FL1 stands for the ‘American North Standards Institute’ and is an international testing standard. To gain this standard, flashlights are tested against 6 criteria. These are:

• Light Output

Light is shined into an integrating sphere for 30-120 seconds. The 30 seconds gives chance for the LED to get hot and let the battery voltage to drop, which will result in a lower output number.

• Runtime

This measures the amount of time of continuous runtime until the light drops to 10% of its original output.

• Peak Beam Intensity

This measures the light intensity in Lux at the brightest part of the beam. This is between 2m-30m away from the flashlight, depending on its type.

• Beam Distance

This is the maximum distance in metres at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux.

• Water Resistance & Dust Protection

This is in relation to its IP Rating, which stands for Ingress Protection. This covers protection against water and dust particles. Within these tests the flashlights are exposed to various amounts of water sprayed in different quantities. This could be a small sprinkle, up to powerful water jets. The torch may even be plunged into a deep body of water with high pressure, to test if it is submersible or not. Against dust, it also undergoes a similarly rigorous amount of testing, being plunged into a dust chamber to test the torches integrity against fine dust particles and whether any of it will enter the unit and at what level it enters the torch.

• Impact Resistance

This is the height in metres that the light can be dropped onto concrete, without it cracking or breaking and still being able to function. It will typically be dropped from this height about 50 times, to simulate the maximum times any reasonable person could expect to drop their torch. The units are dropped with their batteries.

Although these tests are non-compulsory, they ensure a uniformity across the board and in line with other reputable manufacturers.