The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014
Comments
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Gwaredd wrote:supersonic wrote:It's one of the better 'value' Exposure lights, but still far too much compared to what else is out there.
For less money, yet much brighter with four times the runtime is this:
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/products/MJ-872-ENDURO
That comes with 2 batteries though, not one bigger one. 1 battery version is on offer here & a bargain: http://www.magicshinedirect.co.uk/?gclid=CNen4_6M7awCFbQntAodLFOSNA
I have one of these waiting for me under the tree for the 'big day'.
Had a sneaky play before it was wrapped and is it bright, hell yeah.
Direct from magicshines ebay account at a discount to their main website.
Hoping that my hope1 brackets will fit so I can lose the rubber o rings.
Can't wait to light power her up.0 -
ive got an MJ872. Its not bad, definitely nowhere near 1600L though. Quality is so so and I'm not expecting it to last ages. Good value however even cheaper if you buy it though magicshine's ebay shop.0
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If anyone is considering buying a Magicshine or any bike light they might want to look at some beam shots on this site http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bi ... abase.html it gives direct comparison of many lights and is quite interesting.
Elsewhere on the site shows the differences between various LED's and there are some good beamshots of Cree XM-L T6's in different sized hosts.
He also sells a twin XM-L (on Ebay) similar to the one MS are about to release but slightly cheaper.
I think the site is worth a look.0 -
Just to point out there is no Magicshine direct or Magicshine official seller, its a classic Chinese brand, available to anyone who is willing to place an order. Yes you get UK statutory consumer rights, which is always great, but do not think you are buying from established retailers, they are small outfits.
Don't let that stop you from buying from them, just don't attribute much value to their brand. I'm sure with a few emails I could setup a UK Official Ultrafire or fandyfire outlet without too much effort for example.0 -
Hi all, I thought I might add my 2p having been through the whole LED light purchasing thing for the last few months for the first time. Back in October time I bought my first LED torch. A Lenser P7 LED torch, and a Lenser H7 LED head torch. These were recommended by friends as giving "ridiculous amounts of light" and "you see everything" etc. I listended to them and bought them as a bit of a rush purchased for about £90 total cost including some AAA batteries.
The Lenser P7 was/is built well - the spot to flood zoom was cool, but not really used a lot by me. The first time I used it I thought WOW it is good. But then, the first time you use any LED torch you are kind of blown away by the power in such a small package. Out on the trail it was...okay. I expected more. It faded fast with the AAAs. The H7 head torch LED seemed good but totally unwearable around the head with a Helmet on, which I didn't think about. I ended up wrapping it around the helmet as a bodge, but it aimed down to the ground too much really on my helmet.
Then I started reading up online about LED torches...
I discovered you could get amazing LED performance via the new standard, the XML LED...
I discovered that in the UK we generally get ripped off...
I found that the Lenser stuff although well built was very overpriced...
I did some more reading...
Bit of a mindfield...
Sent my Lenser stuff back...
Did some more reading...
Discovered 18650 batteries, chargers, beamshots and discussions about LED lighting....
Finally decided that the wait for DX and/or foreign sellers would be too much so ordered from ebay in the UK.
I went with 2 x 501B XML LED torches for £22 each which came with "2 x Ultrafire 4000mah batteries". Yes these can be had for half that from Hong Kong, but this seemed acceptable to me being UK, ebay and with batteries and a good seller, or so I thought. I also ordered an Ultrafire WF-139 charger for about £15 from another UK ebay seller.
First problem. I discovered the Black and gold Ultrafire batteries I were supplied are fake. Ultrafire 4000mah batteries do not exist. I then discovered that they were really about 1500mah. I read "torchey the battery boys" blog, candle power forums and got a bit more clued up on how to measure and check stuff.
I read up on the WF-139 charger and discovered these can also be fakes but I took a punt anyway. The one I have been supplied in my opinion is fake. The charge output is advertised as 450mah, although most people find it is more like 400mah. I measured mine as about 150mah, but I think that measurement might be wrong. The status lights seem to be inconsistent and can change when you tap the unit. It does not give confidence. It also takes 5 hours+ sometimes to charge the cells. I emailed the seller and complained about it and the batteries and he said he would send me another 501b new style torch for free for the hassle.
So now I have 3 x 501B torches.
The torches themselves seem fairly well made. I have not had any issues with them vibrating on trail and switching modes. Mine have 5 modes, low, med, high and two strobe modes. I got the torches with two £5 mounts which securely mount them to the bars properly form a UK ebay seller. These work well. I mount the other one on the helmet using simple duct tape wrapped round. Nothing special. Nobody can see at night anyway. You could probably make a better mount using nylon strap and rubber to cushion it.
With a 501B on the helmet, and one on the bars it's enough light to see the trail. They make the Lenser P7 I originally had look like something is wrong with it. They are very bright for the size and weight. What is very bright? I will upload beam shots soon. On high mode, they are very bright. On medium they are still much brighter than the old Lenser P7. I think a good option, is to run two on the bars pointing slightly apart for a great spread, and one on the helmet all on medium. I say medium, because it gives good run times, discussed in a sec.
As for flood and throw. The 501B's I have have good throw and sufficient flood for my needs. Flood could be better, but then they came with a smooth reflector. I have not tried an orange peel one yet. I find with two on the bars pointing slightly apart the spread is really nice from the two hot center areas merging. Lets get one thing clear, these are MORE than adequate for any trail riding if you have one on helmet and one on bars. You could easily get by with one if one failed. With two on the bars and one on helmet even all on medium this gives awesome output. With all on high it's a bit overkill.
Runtimes.
Something nobody seems to talk much about. How much runtime do you get from an XML LED torch with one single 18650 cell? Depends on the cell obviously. My fake ultrafires have about 1500mah each. I have also bought some SenyBor from "torchy the battery boy" who sells batteries on ebay UK and gives proper info on what they actually measure capacity wise when under a realistic load. The ones I got are Senybor protected and give a real 2800mah.
I did some tests and found that my 501B torches current draw is on average as below:
low = 0.26 amps
med = 1.21 amps
high = 2.15 amps
So with my fake poor batteries I would get theoretically approximately:
1500mAh batteries (milli amp hours) = 1.5 Ah (amp hours)
LOW = 1.5/0.26 = 5.8 hours on low = 5hrs 48mins
MED = 1.5/1.21 = 1.2 hours on med = 1hr 12 mins
HIGH = 1.5/2.28 = 0.7 hours on high = 42 mins
With my Senybor I would get about:
2800mAh batteries (milli amp hours) = 2.8 Ah (amp hours)
LOW = 2.8/0.26 = 10.8 hours on low = 10hrs 48mins
MED = 2.8/1.21 = 2.3 hours on med = 2hr 18 mins
HIGH = 2.8/2.28 = 1.2 hours on high = 1hr 12 mins
So medium gives the best bang per buck so to speak. But, it's not that much hassle to carry a couple of spare 18650s. For my rides, I could use medium and get a full ride in with no changes on the good batts. The above is only theoretical and I need to test I actually achieve those times. I do not notice the torches get excessively hot but they do get warm. On the trail being cooled at night the temp is not an issue. There are mods you can do like adding foil and stuff to improve performance. Different reflectors. For me, the above stuff cost me about £60 and the only bit I regret is the charger and batts. I would recommend getting the Xtar charger or a Pila. My WF-139 DOES fit the longer 18650 batteries - there is some controversy as to whether they do - but some don't. The Xtar does. If I had done it all again, I would have gone straight to torchey the battery boy on ebay, and got batteries and charger there, and my 501Bs and mounts probably still would have stuck to the original "rambos" ebay seller. You can also pick up cheap £5 rear LED red light from torchey guy which I did. These sellers mostly buy in bulk from DX anyway so they are just selling on for profit in UK.
The reason I went for SenyBor 2800mah protected cells, was because they are good value. The panasonic 3100mah are much more expensive for little more capacity.
I know it is a mindfield and almost too much info out there for people new to this. So I think it can be summarised by saying if you want to get a cheap light setup that is small and portable with no external battery packs, then get the stuff below which will ship in a few days max, all from one UK ebay seller. Although I cannot directly state the torches are the actual ones I got, the 501B's are a bit of a lottery and all seem much of a muchness as to which ones the sellers have at one time. I have two types and they are both fine.
Charger
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XTAR-WP2-II-14500-14650-17670-18500-18650-18700-10440-16340-3-7V-charger-/120827167167?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_Batteries_SM&hash=item1c21dc41bf
Batts
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-SenyBor-2800mAh-18650-3-7v-batteries-case-/120824362827?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_Batteries_SM&hash=item1c21b1774b
Rear light
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-LED-rear-light-superbright-model-/120824796686?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item1c21b8160e
Mounts
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-mount-Fenix-Led-Lenser-Xtar-torches-/290642632389?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item43aba69ec5
Helmet assist mount if you want it (I just use tape)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velcro-mount-gun-scope-bike-helmet-torch-laser-/290637426269?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item43ab572e5d
Torches (the beam pattern shot makes them look poor imo but they will be fine)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000-Lumen-rated-CREE-XM-L-T6-Ultrafire-501b-brighter-than-900-Lumen-/120824857369?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item1c21b90319
The ACTUAL torches I got however, were from this seller and he has a newer type 501B: RambosUK
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/RAMBOS-UK?_trksid=p4340.l2563
He is a helpful guy but I would stick to just the torches with him if you buy there.
Hope this helps someone. I will post up beam shots another time.0 -
Good write up and good recommendations, shame you got there the hard way but it's not easy with so much choice from so many different sources. I've got the same torches and the same Xtar WP2 II charger which (IMO) is a big improvement over the no name chargers from DX. Those Senybor cells are very good but I went for the Xtar 2600mAh protected as they use Sanyo cells and maintain a higher voltage during use resulting in brighter output at the expense of a few minutes less run time.0
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Coursemyhourse - welcome to the 501b club. I run the orange peel verson and have a large collection of 501bs including XRE, XPG, MC-E and XM-L versions.
"2 x Ultrafire 4000mah batteries" LOL, still chuckling about that one. If you need more batteries I would hunt around for some old laptop batteries and watch my video on how to turn say a Lenovo 47+ battery in to 6 x 2800mAh @ 1-2A cells which will be as good if not better than your Seybors.
I did a test run of one of the above at 2.5A down to 1.9A (501b XM-L-T6) from 4.2v to 3.6v with a run time of 85mins which supports my 2.8Ah estimate.
You can get cheap chargers from ebay torchythetorchman sells them and they are reasonable for the cash. They will charge a 2.9A to 4.2 in about 3 hours from nominal. They also switch to stage 2 fairly well, though they don't cut out past stage 2, so a timer is a good precaution. They are a little sensitve to over discharged cells and tend to ignore anything with 3.2v or below, which is probably a good thing.0 -
Neal_ wrote:Good write up and good recommendations, shame you got there the hard way but it's not easy with so much choice from so many different sources. I've got the same torches and the same Xtar WP2 II charger which (IMO) is a big improvement over the no name chargers from DX. Those Senybor cells are very good but I went for the Xtar 2600mAh protected as they use Sanyo cells and maintain a higher voltage during use resulting in brighter output at the expense of a few minutes less run time.
Thanks. Yes, the Xtar looks a good buy. An update on the Senybor 2800mah cells; my WF-139 kicked off with two of them at 09:45am and is still going now at 17:04pm as I write this. That's what, 7 hours and still not charged. I think it is a fake to be honest. I need to get something better. Glad you found some good cells.
Yes, Sanyo, AW and Panasonic seem highly recommended. Also some Sony stuff.diy wrote:Coursemyhourse - welcome to the 501b club. I run the orange peel verson and have a large collection of 501bs including XRE, XPG, MC-E and XM-L versions.
"2 x Ultrafire 4000mah batteries" LOL, still chuckling about that one. If you need more batteries I would hunt around for some old laptop batteries and watch my video on how to turn say a Lenovo 47+ battery in to 6 x 2800mAh @ 1-2A cells which will be as good if not better than your Seybors.
I did a test run of one of the above at 2.5A down to 1.9A (501b XM-L-T6) from 4.2v to 3.6v with a run time of 85mins which supports my 2.8Ah estimate.
You can get cheap chargers from ebay torchythetorchman sells them and they are reasonable for the cash. They will charge a 2.9A to 4.2 in about 3 hours from nominal. They also switch to stage 2 fairly well, though they don't cut out past stage 2, so a timer is a good precaution. They are a little sensitve to over discharged cells and tend to ignore anything with 3.2v or below, which is probably a good thing.
Yeah, just to say I didn't really believe they were 4000mah ones and just took them to be that they would "do" for now whilst I got into 501B ownership atleast. Certainly it is quite ironic that companies tend to recycle cells and "fake" Ultrafire, who are infact not a premium and well regarded brand anyway normally.
I have seen either your video or one similar before. Yes, I am infact in a fairly good position in my line of work to come accross laptop batteries that have been disgarded and are due to be disposed of. I have already aquired a couple of what I believe to be 6 cell ones. I will look to take them apart and see how I get on.
I am not a big electronics guru by any stretch of the imagination and only do basic soldering tasks etc, but I read online how to do basic measurements like for the batteries using a multimeter and to measure current draw of them in use. I am not sure if my reading of the 150mah output of the WF-139 is accurate, but it seems to match the performance of it so far as terrible as it is!
Maybe you could point me in the right direction of an orange peel reflector for my 501B's in the UK I can try? I know some people pack the internals with foil...is this to better transfer heat and light energy forward out the front of the torch rather than to lose any internally back into the barrel? Is it worth doing anything like this? Any other mods worth doing?
Something else I find a bit concerning is threads where people talk of not running the cells down too much or overcharging. Surely there is nothing to worry about if you buy protected cells since they manage all of this preventing both things occuring? Correct? So I can use my 501B's till they start to noticeably dim (some say they should not do this really and should remain constant until charge is lost, but I think this is dependent on each host/torch body and driver) with no damage?
Thanks for the help. 0 -
diy wrote:You can get cheap chargers from ebay torchythetorchman sells them and they are reasonable for the cash. They will charge a 2.9A to 4.2 in about 3 hours from nominal. They also switch to stage 2 fairly well, though they don't cut out past stage 2, so a timer is a good precaution. They are a little sensitve to over discharged cells and tend to ignore anything with 3.2v or below, which is probably a good thing.
OK. That looks good. 1000mah per channel. Nice. Only thing, does it fit the sliiiightly longer 18650s? I think my Senybor ones are very marginally longer than 65mm, probably 68mm. The whole "use a timer" thing concerns me. I just want to be able to use it without worrying - is this not for me then? What do you mean when you say "They will charge a 2.9A to 4.2 in about 3 hours from nominal." Do you mean 2.9volts? Sorry like I say, new to this and probably not understanding. As I understoof it, anything that goes under 3.2v shouldn't really do anyway for a normal Lith ion 18650. The range is normally 3.2v to 4.2v fully charged. Why are they said to be "3.7v" lith ion then in that case? I know i have much to learn still! Doh.0 -
coursemyhorse wrote:diy wrote:You can get cheap chargers from ebay torchythetorchman sells them and they are reasonable for the cash. They will charge a 2.9A to 4.2 in about 3 hours from nominal. They also switch to stage 2 fairly well, though they don't cut out past stage 2, so a timer is a good precaution. They are a little sensitve to over discharged cells and tend to ignore anything with 3.2v or below, which is probably a good thing.
OK. That looks good. 1000mah per channel. Nice. Only thing, does it fit the sliiiightly longer 18650s? I think my Senybor ones are very marginally longer than 65mm, probably 68mm. The whole "use a timer" thing concerns me. I just want to be able to use it without worrying - is this not for me then? What do you mean when you say "They will charge a 2.9A to 4.2 in about 3 hours from nominal." Do you mean 2.9volts? Sorry like I say, new to this and probably not understanding. As I understood it, anything that goes under 3.2v shouldn't really do anyway for a normal Lith ion 18650. The range is normally 3.2v to 4.2v fully charged. Why are they said to be "3.7v" lith ion then in that case? I know i have much to learn still! Doh.
I bought that charger from the same ebay seller and it became faulty after a few weeks, it would only charge one cell at a time as when you inserted another cell the first slot LED would change to green even on discharged cells. At least I've got a back up in the WP2 II fails. The reason I liked the look of the WP2 II is it also charges at 1Ah per cell but it maintains maximum charge for longer before gradually reducing the current, apparently the DX style ones start reducing the current straight away. More importantly the WP2 completely stops charging once the termination voltage is reached where the DX style ones keep "trickle" charging which is bad for cell life but can cause overheating which is unsafe. I've had a quick look for the review that compared them and showed the graphs but can't find it, if I do come across it I'll post it.0 -
If a charger is only charging at 150mA then its junk and best not to use it at all on quality cells. 18650s need two stages minimum. Stage 1 is a high amp charge at 4.2v to get them up to voltage and will take about 1 hour to charge the cell to around 4.2v. However it wont hold that voltage for long. Stage 2 is the low amp phase where the cell takes on the energy. This is 2-4h depending on the Ah of the cell. most chargers drop to about 1-200mA for stage 2, some will even cycle the voltage.
Protected cells are fine to leave until they run dry as the protection circuit will switch out when the cell is over discharged. I only use laptop batteries which are unprotected, so I don't have that luxury. In any case some of the discharge cut offs are set a bit low that you could be damaging the cell. It is good practice to swap your cells before they go below 20% power. They will last longer and charge quicker and will be less likely to overheat during a charge.
My advice is get a charger that is capable of at least 500mA, a 150mA charger is only charging in stage 2 and will take around 15 hours to charge a 2.8Ah cell.
Neal the problem with your charger is two cells and different charge states (e.g. one at 70% and one at 20%) it confuses the charger. Stick the lowest charge cell in 1st, wait a few mins and then stick the highest one in. Its not great, but it means you can still use your charger.
Heat sinking. For high amp lights 2A+ It is worth wrapping foil around the brass pill to better connect it to the body of the light and improve heat sinking. I personally don't bother, because its normally cold when riding and moving anyway.0 -
So to confirm, the Xtar WP2 II charger seems the best bet? Does this also charge at 1000mah per channel? I need to get one as my WF-139 Ultrafire took 8 hours to charge my 2800mah batteries and they were still on red. I hence have given up charging them with that and will send it back.
Thanks for your help guys.0 -
diy wrote:Neal the problem with your charger is two cells and different charge states (e.g. one at 70% and one at 20%) it confuses the charger. Stick the lowest charge cell in 1st, wait a few mins and then stick the highest one in. Its not great, but it means you can still use your charger.
Thanks, that makes sense as it been charging fine with two equally discharged cells but the problems were with cells that had been used for different durations. At least I know it's not completely knackered and will work as back up or when I need to charge more than two cells.coursemyhorse wrote:So to confirm, the Xtar WP2 II charger seems the best bet? Does this also charge at 1000mah per channel? I need to get one as my WF-139 Ultrafire took 8 hours to charge my 2800mah batteries and they were still on red. I hence have given up charging them with that and will send it back.
Thanks for your help guys.
For around the £15 mark it the WP2 II does appear to be the best bet, there are better chargers (e.g. Pila) but they are expensive. There's a switch on the WP2 II to alter the current: "2" is 1000mAh per slot, "1" is 500mAh per slot and "0" is USB output (e.g. to charge a phone via the USB socket using a 18650 cell in the charger). The key benefit of it is it switches to stage 3 (no current) once the cell is full so therefore doesn't overcharge the cells if they are left in for a little while after the light goes green.
Product page > http://www.xtarlight.com/en/05-chanpin/ ... tyleid=145
Instructions > http://www.szwholesale.com/xtar/brochur ... 0II-EN.pdf0 -
Interesting, I knew that some of the high capacity Chinese cells were fakes, but I didn't know that they were just recycled laptop batteries with new sleeves and protection circuits on. That is pretty awful. I suspect if people are going to this level of fakery they will recycle dead cells as well as good ones.
The problem with these cheap lights is that it is still a bit of a mine field buying batteries and chargers. One of the advantage of an old laptop cell is you know its origin. There are so many fakes on the market with sony, samsung and panasonic. Having just read some stuff on chargers, I am now revising my advice on charging to include a circuit protected by Residual current device (RCD). That would be any modern consumer unit with resettable switches. However if you have old fashioned wire fuses in your house then consider buying a circuit breaker for charging.0 -
Personally I just use my work mains sockets to charge stuff in front of me so I can monitor it during the day. Plus if anything blows up I can blame something/one else.
I think I will order an Xtar one asap. DIY did you see my reply above? Was wondering where to get an orange peel reflector. Ignore all my other waffle, I think I need to read up more on all this stuff. Or just stop over analysing and buy a decent charger and be done with it hopefully. 0 -
Its not really worth it. about 3 quid from dx, but personally I'd just spend the extra couple of quid on an additional light. see:
http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-501 ... flashlight
then you can order this at the same time:
http://www.lightmalls.com/xtar-wp2-char ... 00-battery0 -
Thanks for links but lightmalls I assume would take a week or so? I will probably just get the charger from ebay UK as I don't really need another torch - have 3 already. I will post some beam shots up eventually and shots of my setup. Also will let you guys know how I get on with laptop battery pack extraction.0
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I've now added to my collection of two ~ 1.7a XML-T6 502b's on my Roadie - a nice ~ 3a Ultrafire C8 - listed as 1300 lumens (but its doing around ~ 750 - 775 lumens) - so I've now got 3 torches pumping out around a total otf 1500 - 1650 lumens with massive flood from the 502b's and massive throw from the C8 - buzzin, thankyou Cree heh
- the C8 is stunning ''throw-wise'' (45mm ref) (destroys the 501/502b) and it still gives great flood - I mix and match mine usage-wise on my early morning 35 milers (now doing 200 - 225 k a week ready for next year...): for lit parts - one 502b on Med, the other 502b on low (cycled throughout) - for pitch-black unlit parts, the C8 on High with the 502b's both on Med. Not sure what the C8 would be like mountain-biking-wise (augmented by a pair of P60's) but I can see it creeping into the ''Big-lights'' recommendation soon.
Recently got an Ultrafire C3 running on UF 14500's for the helmet - very-lightweight, 15 metre floody beam, 900mah batteries don't last long so its used sparingly on the unlit bits (I take another 14500 as backup) - good for seeing at 45-90 deg along those spooky hedgerows at 4.30 am :oops:0 -
1.7A vs 3A is really the main difference between the C8 and the 502. Though the larger head means less light bounces to flood.0
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That 1000 Lumen looks a beast. But what about the 1300 lumen 501b?
And what's a u2 emitter? It's £13.50!
Would it be twice the light as my current 500 lumen 501b xmlt6? Is that how it works?0 -
The u2 is the latest/most powerful version of cree's xml led. The difference between a u2 and t6 bin would probably be difficult to tell by eye in terms of brightness. What makes more of a difference is how well the led is driven-a t6 driven at 2.8a will be noticably brighter than a u2 driven at 1.7a.
Your current 501b probably gives off around 450 otf lumen. A T6 501b driven at 2.8a probably gives off around 650-800 otf lumen(not the 1000 claimed). A U2 501b, driven at 2.8a will probably give off another 50-100 lumen than a 2.8a t6.0 -
So would one 1300 lumin XML torch give as much output and two 500 lumin XML torches?0
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As above, depends on what the actual driver is doing. Often stated lumens are exaggerated.
For further info: what do you actually have?0 -
paultownsend wrote:So would one 1300 lumin XML torch give as much output and two 500 lumin XML torches?
No - P60's (501/502b's) that are listed as 1200/1300 lumens are usually driven at ~ 2.8 - 3.0a - this results in ~ 700-775 lumens - whereas two P60's that are running around 1.5-1.7a will give out a 'combined' ~ 900-925 lumens (and the 'total' beam-profile will be better given that there's two of them) - if you've already got one ''510 lumen'' 501b, then get another - two of them make a great combination - tons of light and great versatility - or alternately, get a C8 to compliment your existing 501b - the C8 will give you massive throw (and decent flood) whilst the P60 will give you great close-up flood - a perfect combination.0 -
How do you read the amp draw on a torch?0
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Here's a nice graph of lumen output against current for an XML T6 LED from this source. As you can see any claims over 1000 lumens is BS and it's a case of diminishing returns over about 2.8amps.
paultownsend wrote:How do you read the amp draw on a torch?
This should help > http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/8699/currentdraw.jpg0 -
Two XM-L T6 leds driven at 1.5A are better than 1 XM-L T6 driven at 3A. Its not really down to efficiency and current it just works better having two lights set 4-8" apart. That is unless you only have one eye.
I'd also hazard a guess that given most of these Chinese shippers will happily ship a t6 labeled as a u2.0 -
just received a second trustfire 801 cree q5 for my helmet. wowzers! outstanding value at £9.00
as im a cheap git. am i ok greasing my o-rings with rock'n'roll red devil? i cant find if its lithium or silicon based?0 -
motor oil, washing up liquid etc.0
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OK, so I got a hold of a laptop battery (7.8v, 7800mAh) and stripped out the 6 cells. On checking them all with a meter all of them were showing very low voltages i.e 0.4v to 0.75v. I know the laptop the battery pack came from is probably a good few years old and the user would likely run it dead on occasions, but on other occasions leave it plugged in for long periods.
I suspect all the cells are pretty much knackered but I stuck 2 of them in my Xtar WP2 charger. This normally shows red LED, then green for a few secs, then back to red while it charges. When the battery is charged it turns green again. With these cells it turns from red to green then stays there. Despite that I left the cells in the charger for a while then checked them again with a meter. The voltage was creeping up slowly, I think I got one up to 1.8V last night before I turned the charger off (I assume the charger is trickle charging them). I checked the cells again this morning and the voltage had dropped a bit overnight.
Is it worth me pursuing charging these cells? I suspect the answer is 'no' but I thought I'd seek a more expert opinion. For now I'm going to leave them on charge here at work and check them every so often.
WilliamMTB Trails - The user created Mountain Bike trails resource for the UK0
