The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

KokaKona

Coogie wrote:

These are a couple that was looking at. Are these OK, or better to go for a lower quoted lumen? No watts information supplied?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300786161200? ... 1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330815266552? ... 1423.l2649

They both have zoom - can't quite see the point in that, when the non-zooming ones have such a useful blend of throw and spill without having to dick about, but maybe there's a benefit to pointing a throwier one a bit further up the trail and a floodier one a bit closer. Dunno, never tried it. The 2nd one doesn't have a middle power mode, so that's probably a poor choice since the mid-level is often the best compromise between flat-out lumens and run-time.
As for quoted lumens, just ignore it, you can see from other posts on the thread what an XM-L T6 is capable of at the realistic drive currents.
Re: the watts question, they don't state a max setting current but if you assume 2.5A at 4V you're talking 10W.

Ouija

Coogie wrote:

These are a couple that was looking at. Are these OK, or better to go for a lower quoted lumen? No watts information supplied?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300786161200? ... 1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330815266552? ... 1423.l2649

Yeah.. avoid zoomable ones. The beam patterns tend to be a bit iffy.

Look for a Ultrafire 502b with T6 emitter for a good 18650 based torch. Or a Ultrafire A8 for a identical torch designed around the bigger 26650 batteries (80% longer runtimes).





502b

A8

diy

or the 501b which the same as the 502b (albeit cosmetically different)

danbrum

Is there a reason why people are recommending torches over the built in lights.

This comes with all the chargers etc and will ship much quicker than ordering those ones from the USA.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L-T6-LED-1200lm-Cycling-Bike-Bicycle-Head-Light-HeadLamp-HeadLight-/181007055416?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item2a24dc7a38

Probably going to order one anyway as I need a light quickly and don't want to spend loads of money but was just wondering if there is any reason why this wouldn't be any good for my journey back from work down unlit country roads?

concorde

All I need now lads is a cheap as chips red one to clip on to my bag for the minimal road riding I do during a night ride. Also may stop a mate ploughing in to the back of me on the trails, in the fog.

Any reccommendations?

bartimaeus

I have at least 3 of these - ... one on my pack, one in my pack and at least one spare.... and I always use them in flashing mode.

Cheap (the cells inside cost more than the lights), effective, and they stay clipped to my pack.

But it depends what you want them for - I use these for the short sections of road when I'm mountain biking. If I were a commuter I would attach more (one on my bike, one on my pack, and one in my pack), but I might also go for brighter as some motorists seem to have great difficulty in picking riders out.

Neal_

danbrum wrote:

Is there a reason why people are recommending torches over the built in lights.

This comes with all the chargers etc and will ship much quicker than ordering those ones from the USA.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L-T6-LED-1200lm-Cycling-Bike-Bicycle-Head-Light-HeadLamp-HeadLight-/181007055416?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item2a24dc7a38

Probably going to order one anyway as I need a light quickly and don't want to spend loads of money but was just wondering if there is any reason why this wouldn't be any good for my journey back from work down unlit country roads?

They come from China or Hong Kong rather than USA but if you can get the same gear for the same price from UK seller with guaranteed UK stock then that's obviously better to save time. Torches are recommended as they are very simple to strip and fix when/if something goes wrong, as you need a few of them you don't have one point of failure, you can make sure you are using decent quality cells/charger and charging cells individually is better than charging a 4 cell pack which can become unbalanced.

Concorde wrote:

All I need now lads is a cheap as chips red one to clip on to my bag for the minimal road riding I do during a night ride. Also may stop a mate ploughing in to the back of me on the trails, in the fog.

Any reccommendations?

RSP Astrum or the On One version, really effing bright, well made and waterproof in all the grot I've ridden in.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/LIPHBPDRL/p ... rear_light

MrGrumpy

Well my 502b's turned up today and the good news is they at least work, don`t think they are the super dooper high current driven ones but tbh it won`t matter as this for road use and longer burn time is beneficial. However I bought the holders in the picture above here, excuse my stupidity but are you guys cable tying these on? Just there is no chance they fit over OS bars with the supplied screw and plastic nut! Or are there larger ones out there for OS bars?

danbrum

Neal_ wrote:

They come from China or Hong Kong rather than USA but if you can get the same gear for the same price from UK seller with guaranteed UK stock then that's obviously better to save time. Torches are recommended as they are very simple to strip and fix when/if something goes wrong, as you need a few of them you don't have one point of failure, you can make sure you are using decent quality cells/charger and charging cells individually is better than charging a 4 cell pack which can become unbalanced.

So basically in terms of functionality there is nothing wrong with using one of those lights while I am waiting for torches to arrive? It will be bright enough for dark roads?

diy

Yep - it should be OK. It has the same LED that is be recommended in torches. The pack probably wont last long term, but you should get at least a few months use out of it and if the pack fails there are plenty of options to replace.

Neal_ summarised perfectly the benefit of torches. I have been using them for at least 5 years and have upgraded regularly just to stay on the latest LEDs. Only costs a couple of quid for drop in each year and I can use the best cells I can source.

coursemyhorse

Hey guys,

I tried out those Redish/Pink 18650 batteries from a laptop cell over the last day or so. I started with the same 6 from one pack. They were all at about 3.5v before I did anything with them. I then charged them using my Xtar WP2 charger and they all went up to 4.18v each on the first charge. They all hold the charge relatively well. Over 24 hours sat in a drawer they went from 4.18v down to about 4.12v. I also just hooked them up to my 501b which I measured as having a 2.39 current on HIGH mode, and I came back to check them at 1hr30mins and it had dimmed a bit so I called there as having 1.5hours runtime. By my calculations the cells capacity are (2.39amps x 1.5hours) = 3585mah
That cannot be right surely? They can't be that good?

Also what is a safe voltage to take them down to? Is it ok to go down below 3.5v?

Cheers

EDIT: I suppose it's possible (since I was only testing these on a bench) that the torches dim to be significant enough to be not usable on the trail, after a shorter amount of time than when I called it at 1.5hours. Maybe it was more like 1hr 15 mins which would be 3000mah capacity. Is it possible I have measured the current draw when on HIGH mode wrong? Does it sound right.

I measured my 501b as the below when using a freshly charged battery at 4.18v:
Low 0.26A
Med 1.25A
High 2.39A

I know this will drop as the battery drains, so is that why you cannot measure amp/current draw accurately and it should be thought to more like 2.0A on high on average?

supersonic

What current was it drawing at 90 mins?

-Archie-

coursemyhorse wrote:

By my calculations the cells capacity are (2.39amps x 1.5hours) = 3585mah
That cannot be right surely? They can't be that good?

Surely can't. You've measured the current from freshly-charged battery, but at the end of test voltage drop casused its decrease.

Also what is a safe voltage to take them down to? Is it ok to go down below 3.5v?

This topic was recently discussed here...

Psychotext

Quick question. Does anyone have any storage advice for my 18650 cells? Should I be storing them in a particular way? Should I recharge them every so often? Is it a bad idea to keep them in the torches?

Thanks.

-Archie-

Take them to the approximately 3.8 volt and put into refrigerator.

diy

Unfortunately the driver/buck in the light is not that sophisticated. As the voltage drops the current will drop too. You needed to measure the current at regular points during your test. Importantly you need to tell us the end voltage.

Voltage has been covered and everyone agrees on the key points. IMO its ok from a safety point of view (down to 3v) but not if you want your cells to last (as in life) a reasonable amount of time. Taking the cells which would have been normal at around 3.7v to 4.2v will put quite a load on them the first few times, running them down to 3v IMO is not good for their long term life. but back to my first point..

As the voltage dropped from 4.2v down to say 3.6v as the light drained the cell, the current drawn would also have dropped. Hence by the time your are done your LEDs were probably only sucking 1A on the cell

coursemyhorse

supersonic wrote:

What current was it drawing at 90 mins?

0.92A

coursemyhorse

diy wrote:

Unfortunately the driver/buck in the light is not that sophisticated. As the voltage drops the current will drop too. You needed to measure the current at regular points during your test. Importantly you need to tell us the end voltage.

Voltage has been covered and everyone agrees on the key points. IMO its ok from a safety point of view (down to 3v) but not if you want your cells to last (as in life) a reasonable amount of time. Taking the cells which would have been normal at around 3.7v to 4.2v will put quite a load on them the first few times, running them down to 3v IMO is not good for their long term life. but back to my first point..

As the voltage dropped from 4.2v down to say 3.6v as the light drained the cell, the current drawn would also have dropped. Hence by the time your are done your LEDs were probably only sucking 1A on the cell

Current at 90mins was 0.92A approx.
Also when I first took them out, I thought I measured them at only just over 3v, but I just tried them now (an hour later and they are sitting at 3.45V. Is this because they have "recovered" from their trauma so to speak.

ta

diy

Some quick sums say you used about 2.5A ?

MrGrumpy

how are we measuring the current? Want to work out what my torches use?

Ouija

danbrum wrote:

Neal_ wrote:

They come from China or Hong Kong rather than USA but if you can get the same gear for the same price from UK seller with guaranteed UK stock then that's obviously better to save time. Torches are recommended as they are very simple to strip and fix when/if something goes wrong, as you need a few of them you don't have one point of failure, you can make sure you are using decent quality cells/charger and charging cells individually is better than charging a 4 cell pack which can become unbalanced.

So basically in terms of functionality there is nothing wrong with using one of those lights while I am waiting for torches to arrive? It will be bright enough for dark roads?

They're ok (got 4), but they don't really have a medium mode for longer runtimes (just full beam and a not too useful low beam), tend to be a bit on the spotty side (don't really light much outside of the spot, if you know what i mean), blind oncoming motorists due to the big open reflector design, require twice as many batteries to run due to the 8 volt current (but only puts out about 15/20% more brightness than the 4 volt torches), have a nasty habit of letting the batteries get out of sync since you can't charge them seperately and, lastly, do require a lot of faffing around trying to find some where to mount the batteries and route all the cables.

The torches are simpler, giving more light for less weight in batteries and are easier to fit on the bike.

Ouija

Concorde wrote:

All I need now lads is a cheap as chips red one to clip on to my bag for the minimal road riding I do during a night ride. Also may stop a mate ploughing in to the back of me on the trails, in the fog.

Any reccommendations?

You want insane brightness in a rear flasher... I'll give you insane brightness.....



the worlds smallest T6. Pull a red (dimmest), orange (brighter) or yellow (brightest) balloon over that little thumb sized torch, leaving a nipple of rubber dangling off the end (so it looks like a candle bulb), dangle it from your keychain or backpack (or just leave it in a mesh pouch if your backpack has one) then switch on the manic 900lumen flash mode............

Because it's pointing at the ground/sky and not directly at drivers it doesn't melt their eyeballs, but believe me, it lights up the ground and everything around you like the worlds most insane christmas fairy light...

Link
link
link
link

concorde

Ouija wrote:

Concorde wrote:

All I need now lads is a cheap as chips red one to clip on to my bag for the minimal road riding I do during a night ride. Also may stop a mate ploughing in to the back of me on the trails, in the fog.

Any reccommendations?

You want insane brightness in a rear flasher... I'll give you insane brightness.....



the worlds smallest T6. Pull a red (dimmest), orange (brighter) or yellow (brightest) balloon over that little thumb sized torch, leaving a nipple of rubber dangling off the end (so it looks like a candle bulb), dangle it from your keychain or backpack (or just leave it in a mesh pouch if your backpack has one) then switch on the manic 900lumen flash mode............

Because it's pointing at the ground/sky and not directly at drivers it doesn't melt their eyeballs, but believe me, it lights up the ground and everything around you like the worlds most insane christmas fairy light...

Link
link
link
link

Haha, brilliant!!!

Cheers

Ouija

Yeah it also has the advantage that you can yank the balloon off and use it as a ordinary T6 torch if you've dropped something on the trail and don't feel like yanking one of your lights off your bars.

Cheap too.

diy

MrGrumpy wrote:

how are we measuring the current? Want to work out what my torches use?

With a test meter that does dc amps

Psychotext

-Archie- wrote:

Take them to the approximately 3.8 volt and put into refrigerator.

Moisture not an issue if I do that? Would I need to store them in a container with some silica?

MrGrumpy

diy wrote:

MrGrumpy wrote:

how are we measuring the current? Want to work out what my torches use?

With a test meter that does dc amps

Doh! Spot the faux pau :oops:

-Archie-

Psychotext wrote:

Moisture not an issue if I do that? Would I need to store them in a container with some silica?

It won't hurt, but I don't think it's mandatory. Mainly, moisture will appear when you'll take them out into warm room air...

Psychotext

Thanks.

wishitwasallflat

Hi - I bought one of these torches about three weeks ago -

http://dx.com/p/ultrafire-th-t60-ha-ii- ... 8650-57007

Very pleased with it but today I noticed when looking down through the lens what looked like a bit of crumpled up metal lying over the emmiter. I took off the bit that screws down to hold on the lens -



and then removed the reflector and there was a tiny little bit of what looked like crumpled up tin foil (but very very thin - gold leaf level thinness) lying over the emmiter. I flipped the torch over and it fell out - it was really tiny like a 2-3 mm wide at most. When I re-assembled the torch it wouldn't work when I tightened up the lens cap bit. It worked fine until the very last turn of the screw. I tried it with that bit off and it worked until the back of the reflector pressed up against the bit it sits on - this bit



It seems like the contact with the back of the relector was stopping some connection so I put a little bit of blue insulating tape on the back of the reflector to try that -



and it works fine now.

Is this ok to leave as a solution or should I do something else? Have I buggered this up?

I remember a tiny little bit about electricity from getting Scottish Higher (like an A level) Physics (many many years ago!) - as a result anything other than simple answers will probably be wasted on me (sorry!).