The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

diy

Ssc p7 is about 700 lumen after warmup. The p7 is a much bigger led so it floods more. The t6 is whiter and spotier. Each led is about the same output as the p7 but the output per mm is much higher. It's also about 20% more efficient

phy2sll2

How do you attach one of these to the bars? What about the battery pack?

http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t6-led-high-power-bicycle-light-for-3-cree-xm-l-t6-4-mode-led-bike-light-kit

andyrr

Those 3600 lumen lights are just like the various other Magicshine-type lights - Bracket is shaped to sit on the bars and then you attach the appropriate-sized rubber O-ring to hold it on. These can have a slight tendency to move aroudn when really bumpy but they are also nice, in my experience, in that they allow a quick rotation of a small amount to point down or up if a car is approaching.

phy2sll2

andyrr wrote:

Those 3600 lumen lights are just like the various other Magicshine-type lights - Bracket is shaped to sit on the bars and then you attach the appropriate-sized rubber O-ring to hold it on. These can have a slight tendency to move aroudn when really bumpy but they are also nice, in my experience, in that they allow a quick rotation of a small amount to point down or up if a car is approaching.

Hmm... That'd be fine for riding on the road, but I think cross will need something that doesn't move when you bash it while shouldering the bike. Any suggestions?

101_North

The Hope universal bar mount will fit most of these lights. I use it and it's very good although not the cheapest mount at £8.

phy2sll2

101_North wrote:

The Hope universal bar mount will fit most of these lights. I use it and it's very good although not the cheapest mount at £8.

Oooh, that looks rather good. Can anyone confirm whether it'll fit?

Proutster

Proutster wrote:

diy wrote:

But at under 40 quid this has to be the entry level light to go for in the 25-50 quid range.
http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t ... -light-kit

Ordered one of the above this morning, will report back when it arrives.

Ordered 11 days ago, $65.44 including $5.54 for fast shipping (£40.88 at todays exchange rate), arrived this morning.

Very impressed so far, small, light & neat enough to be considered as a helmet lamp - keys shown to give scale:



Seems pretty bright indoors in the day, will compare outside to my "homemade" 3 x cree jobbie (clicky) in the dark tonight.

andyrr

Look forward to the feedback on that light Proutster.

VWsurfbum

andyrr wrote:

Look forward to the feedback on that light Proutster.

snap

Proutster

VWsurfbum wrote:

andyrr wrote:

Look forward to the feedback on that light Proutster.

snap

Here's my (completely unscientific i.e. mobile phone camera out of the second bedroom) attempt at beam-shots to compare:

1. Old Ultrafire C1 Cree used as helmet light:


2. Old P7 used as Bar-mounted light:


3. Converted Fandyfire (3 x Cree XM-L T6 supposedly giving 3000 lumens):


4. New light:


I then did a couple using the two most powerful but shining them a bit further out:

5. Converted Fandyfire:


6. New light:


So my review is it's not as bright as the converted Fandyfire and doesn't give the throw (you can see the power of the Fandyfire by the hotspot in the centre of Pic 3.) - but it does give a bit more spread.

In its favour, the head unit is so much lighter than the converted Fandyfire (132g vs. 290g).

It's even lighter than the old Ultrafire C1 (158g) that I currently use as a helmet light - and as shown above the output compared to that is in a different league - so I think it'll be used as a helmet light, with the battery pack in my Camelback, in combo with the converted Fandyfire on the bars.

If I hadn't converted the Fandyfire, then I'm sure that I would be amazed at the output from this new light, it really is good, seems well made and is light in weight. All for £40?? Beat that.

ilovedirt

Hmm not bad, bright enough for a decent helmet mounted lamp on its own? I need a light for this winter and that looks ideal. I'm confused about the helmet mounting though, do you need to buy one separately?

diy

The biggest challenge with doing beam shots is trying to keep the camera settings the same. Typically as the camera (on auto) has more light it will increase the speed of the exposure ruining the comparison. But that light seems pretty good compared.
A couple questions:
1. What is the clearance around the LEDs like is any light - any LEDs too close to the reflector requiring modding?
2. What DC amps were drawn by the light
3. What input voltage

Proutster

ilovedirt wrote:

Hmm not bad, bright enough for a decent helmet mounted lamp on its own? I need a light for this winter and that looks ideal. I'm confused about the helmet mounting though, do you need to buy one separately?

Ha! It just so happens that I've just fixed mine on the helmet ready for my next ride - all I had to do was slightly loosen the screw that holds the mount onto the head unit and rotate it by 90 degrees, then retighten and then loop the O-ring through a vent on the helmet and onto the mount.

It's then changed from being at right angles to the beam (i.e. in line with the handlebars) to being in line with the beam so that it'll fit onto the ridges in my 661 helmet:

Proutster

diy wrote:

The biggest challenge with doing beam shots is trying to keep the camera settings the same. Typically as the camera (on auto) has more light it will increase the speed of the exposure ruining the comparison. But that light seems pretty good compared.
A couple questions:
1. What is the clearance around the LEDs like is any light - any LEDs too close to the reflector requiring modding?
2. What DC amps were drawn by the light
3. What input voltage

That's why I admitted my beam shots were unscientific

Answers:

1. Look OK to me (but see No's 2 & 3 below)
2. No idea, I'm no techie
3. As No. 2

Sorry

ilovedirt

Proutster wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

Hmm not bad, bright enough for a decent helmet mounted lamp on its own? I need a light for this winter and that looks ideal. I'm confused about the helmet mounting though, do you need to buy one separately?

Ha! It just so happens that I've just fixed mine on the helmet ready for my next ride - all I had to do was slightly loosen the screw that holds the mount onto the head unit and rotate it by 90 degrees, then retighten and then loop the O-ring through a vent on the helmet and onto the mount.

It's then changed from being at right angles to the beam (i.e. in line with the handlebars) to being in line with the beam so that it'll fit onto the ridges in my 661 helmet:

Ah cool, thanks for that. I have a Fox Flux which is essentially the same helmet I think. It comes complete with the mount as well as o-rings then? Looking at the photo, you don't have the battery pack on the helmet, does it go in a top pocket in your riding pack?
If you could let me know how stable it is during the ride that would be great (presumably you're using it off-road?)

EDIT: just been looking at the photos etc and figured out the mount thing and how it works. Is it particularly sturdy?

Proutster

ilovedirt wrote:

Ah cool, thanks for that. I have a Fox Flux which is essentially the same helmet I think. It comes complete with the mount as well as o-rings then? Looking at the photo, you don't have the battery pack on the helmet, does it go in a top pocket in your riding pack?
If you could let me know how stable it is during the ride that would be great (presumably you're using it off-road?)

EDIT: just been looking at the photos etc and figured out the mount thing and how it works. Is it particularly sturdy?

Yes, the mount comes fixed onto the head unit and O-rings are included. Battery pack will go in my Camelback.

The mount seems pretty sturdy and the O-ring seems to hold the light onto the helmet quite firmly.

Of course it'll be used off-road and if it can cope with The Peak district it'll handle anything - unfortunately I won't be able to confirm that for a couple of weeks as off on hols on Tuesday and won't ride before then.

ilovedirt

Fair enough! Well I'll not be looking at getting one for a few weeks yet anyway, but if you could post up how you get on with it that would be great

VWsurfbum

Cheers Prouster, its as scientific as i like to get! Pictures make it simple for simple people! Well done.

Right off to order yet another light

Proutster

VWsurfbum wrote:

Cheers Prouster, its as scientific as i like to get! Pictures make it simple for simple people! Well done.

Ha! Ha! Yes - my level too, none of this current, voltage & amps cr*p for me!!

Right off to order yet another light

Go ahead, I'm pretty impressed with it and I don't think (I hope) that you'll regret it.

One 80

i ordered the suggested 501b s by DIY and am very very impressed with them. but i fancy getting another torch that has a bit more distance beam. what do you guys suggest please for hopefully no more than £20 and running 1 18650 cell.

also i read somewhere in these threads about swapping lenses to change beam. could someone please give me some more info on these and what lights are they for. iv looked but cant find.

thanks for help

supersonic

There is nothing with a more focused beam than the xml torches really. You'd need to find one with a higher output, or larger head. larger heads focus the beam more.

One 80

thanks super. i was thinking a larger head. what about the cree c8 here
http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-c8- ... ht-1x18650

would this have more distance?? its not that im unhappy with the ones iv got, far from it but im getting a little obsessed with these lights so fancy another.

supersonic

Looks perfect - higher output than the standard 501 as well.

One 80

thanks. order has been placed.

Jimx26

Hi Guys,

Another lighting noob

How does this look for lanes and towpaths?

2 x http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-501 ... ht-1-18650

Charger http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf- ... 00-charger

Now I am confused about what batteries to go for, protected, un-protected? Can anyone recommend some from light malls suitable for the above?

Thanks

Jim

diy

charger and light are fine, most of these cells are ok.

http://www.lightmalls.com/18650-battery

In a single cell application, protected cells are not really needed as long as you remember not to run them down below 3.6v The risk is really that the cell will be damaged if you run them flat. Protected cells are more appropriate for multi-cell applications, where there is a risk of one cell juicing a failed cell.

Or find an old laptop battery pack and harvest cells from there.

Don't forget mounts.

Ouija

Your better off getting unprotected as the extra length of protected batteries sometimes give trouble with the end cap. Hard to screw on and the light can cut out sometimes unless you unscrew the cap a little as it's crushing the battery (one of three things than can damage the battery). Doesn't affect all 501's , but i have four (two old 501, two 501b) and i've noticed two have a slightly shorter body than the others (hence the problem). Maybe the later revision 501b's fixed this but i've mixed and matched the various parts from the four and no longer remember which belonged to which to be honest.

Jimx26

Thanks for the help guys.

How long does delivery usually take from lightmalls?

jairaj

It can vary, but I think Proutster recently ordered a light and took 11 days to arrive. I think the average is around 10-14 days.

One 80

Jimx26 wrote:

Hi Guys,

Another lighting noob

How does this look for lanes and towpaths?

2 x http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-501 ... ht-1-18650

Charger http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf- ... 00-charger

Now I am confused about what batteries to go for, protected, un-protected? Can anyone recommend some from light malls suitable for the above?

Thanks

Jim

i have both these lights and charger. protected cells fit light no problem but are a little tight in charger but still works fine.
i paid for fast delivery and it took 8 days which i was happy with.

question for other chaps. when using unprotected how do you know not to let the battery go too low when in use. is it guess work or will the light dim. ??