The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

anthdci

impatience question.. How long has people waited for lights to arrive from china off ebay? My flashlights were posted on the 25th Oct, with an ETA of 5th Nov-21st Nov, which is pretty vague. With it starting to get dark on a night I could really do with them sooner rather than later.

Psychotext

2 / 3 weeks is pretty much the norm for my orders from China.

diy

Max output for a T6 is 910-975 Lumen. That is what it can produce for about 30 seconds with a constant power source and decent heat sinking.

I would say 1200-1500 is more likely for a 3 x T6 config. That is still a lot, way too much for road use and you still have all the light in one direction.

anthdci

diy wrote:

I would say 1200-1500 is more likely for a 3 x T6 config. That is still a lot, way too much for road use and you still have all the light in one direction.

where have the figures for too much light for road use come from? Surely having a dipped beam to full beam (or cycling equivalent) will make a big difference?

jairaj

If you have a well shaped beam with a sharp cut off to prevent on coming drivers from being dazzled then yes its not a problem going for more lumens.

But these lights do not have a beam with a sharp cut off and a lot of light is spilled up into oncoming road users hence the recommendation to keep lumen values sensible.

anthdci

jairaj wrote:

But these lights do not have a beam with a sharp cut off and a lot of light is spilled up into oncoming road users hence the recommendation to keep lumen values sensible.

makes sense. Last year I struggled with a Cateye HL-EL530 that was utterly useless to see by on the country road on my way home, so I bought the 850 lumen rated Gemini Xera. Which was just about enough. Whether this is actually 850 lumen is up for debate. I would have struggled to see with something lower powered I think.

bartimaeus

In my experience one of my XML-T6 torches on Medium is too bright for oncoming cars unless I point it at the ground as the beam is just a cone of light.

For me dipping lights is just that - I point it downwards till the car has passed - this saves cycling through the modes, as a super bright strobe is not at all car friendly.

For what it is worth Medium is about 0.5-1.0 amps on one of these - so going by the CREE datasheets in the order of 200-400 lumens.

diy

You also have to think about the amount of light for the given head size.

I use a couple of t6 501bs on my aero bars for night time road riding and they produce about 600 Lumen at (2A) each on full and around 350 Lumen on medium (1.1A). This is out of a 30mm lens. On full they are too bright for oncoming traffic unless they are pointing right down. In which case the point is almost lost. I do tip the outside light in slightly to reduce dazzle. Even at 30mph I on unlit roads I rarely need the full power mode.

The smaller head of the 501 gives me the ability to reduce flood, but its still a fairly intense light for oncoming traffic.

diy

anthdci wrote:

so I bought the 850 lumen rated Gemini Xera. Which was just about enough. Whether this is actually 850 lumen is up for debate. I would have struggled to see with something lower powered I think.

Sounds about right given the spec and the run time claim. of course the light will have spilled out quite a lot due to the less than perfect reflector shape. Personally I prefer two lesser powered lights mounted slightly apart as its better at reducing shadowing and lights the road better. Not to mention that the set-up I use costs around £20

anthdci

@diy, thanks for your link to the guide to bike lights WIP. I work in IT support and have a stack of old laptops, just pulled a samsung battery apart to get 6 18650 batteries. Need to find the wires for the voltmeter but I'm glad I now have some decent spares! and by the way i now have a nice cut on the side of my figure :oops:

bartimaeus

+1 for thanks to @diy... I've been using his hints and tips for the last 3 years!

diy

I've never managed to pop a pack without a cut.

Kowalski675

Anybody tried this one?

http://www.kaidomain.com/product/Details.S022573

http://jexree.com/list/?7_1.html

diy

1A current - that can't be right. Would be pretty useless if true.

Kowalski675

diy wrote:

1A current - that can't be right. Would be pretty useless if true.

No idea, I now sod all about electricals. Could that be the current draw with just the outer ring marker lights on? Looks like the Solarstorm X2 is a rebadged Jexree:

http://jexree.com/content/?75.html

jairaj

diy wrote:

1A current - that can't be right. Would be pretty useless if true.

why?

Isn't 2 LEDs running at 1A the same as one LED running at 2A which produces plenty of light? Also do LEDs not run more efficiently at lower currents?

john2002

you cant believe anything that those websites say about the spec. this 1 mode torch says 1000 lumen in the title then 600 lumens in the spec????????? pot luck
http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l-t6-1000-lumen-1-mode-led-flashlight-1-18650

Kowalski675

john2002 wrote:

you cant believe anything that those websites say about the spec

Hence my asking whether anyone had tried one. It appears to be out of the same factory as the Solarstorm X2, but with the XM-L2 LEDs, if the seller's site info is correct.

apreading

Kowalski675 wrote:

Anybody tried this one?

http://www.kaidomain.com/product/Details.S022573

http://jexree.com/list/?7_1.html

Got mine a week ago - seriously bright, much brighter than any single XM-L that I have had before. The flashing rings are really good for being seen by traffic but the top of the ring is in your vision which is not ideal on really dark roads - I might fashion something to mask this somehow or maybe not use the flasher in those conditions. I read on other forums that the Jexree Owl is very bright - http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-rid ... 346-4.html

Kowalski675

apreading wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

Anybody tried this one?

http://www.kaidomain.com/product/Details.S022573

http://jexree.com/list/?7_1.html

Got mine a week ago - seriously bright, much brighter than any single XM-L that I have had before. The flashing rings are really good for being seen by traffic but the top of the ring is in your vision which is not ideal on really dark roads - I might fashion something to mask this somehow or maybe not use the flasher in those conditions. I read on other forums that the Jexree Owl is very bright - http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-rid ... 346-4.html

What's the beam pattern like? Which (if any) of these pics would it most resemble, for example?

http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2013/09/1 ... ke-lights/

Ouija

Lol. Notice they didn't do any comparisons against the cheap Chinese lights in those tests.

apreading

Its not so easy to compare given their choice of setting and not being there myself and they are only web pics. There is a noticeable halo but its both pretty wide beam and long reach and a fairly smooth taper off until near to the halo point. The halo is far more noticeable on road I think - and so any halo on those test shots will not be so apparent because of the foliage and mixed terrain and not especially wide angle lens. If I had to say, I would compare it with the Light and Motion Seca but I have no scientific basis for this, just that it seems brighter and more reach than the picture of the MJ880 looks like, and it should be brighter due to the upgraded emittor but thats just a hunch...

Safe to say, I dont think you would be disappointed though...

I may do some beam shots of my own at some point but time is short and not sure I can be bothered at the moment - will see how it goes but certainly not for a few days.

Kowalski675

Cheers. Sounds like it might well be worth a punt for less than £34 (a quarter of the cost of the Magicshine 880 or Bema AS2000.

Kowalski675

Ouija wrote:

Lol. Notice they didn't do any comparisons against the cheap Chinese lights in those tests.

It would be interesting if they did, but obviously there's no UK distributor to blag a review sample from (and the results may well upset a few of them...).

wastegate86

is it a decent sealed battery unit?
also how long does it last on one charge?

very tempted just wish it was a site i recognised!

Maro

I bought one of these (but from a site in Hong Kong for a bit less) based on recomendations from Ouija, cheers buddy.

http://www.trustfire.com/en/lantern-bic ... modes.html

I used it last night and it was awsome, the battery lasted all ride, it was certainly bright enough and the bar mounted switch allowed me to adjust the brightness accordingly.

I used a Coast HP7 on my noggin too, this also worked well.

kingofthetailwind

I bought a couple of Cree Q5 lights from eBay.

The Q5s are cycling through the three modes on their own - full/low/strobe. I'm currently using 3 x AAAs and the wee adaptor. Any fixes for this? I've read elsewhere that it's due to the batteries not fitting quite right, and it can be fixed by folding up some tin foil and stuffing it in at the end. This feels like a bad idea!

jairaj

Yep if the springs are too weak or batteries too short they can disconnect for a moment when going over a bump which makes them change mode.

Padding out the battery compartment with some washers will help solve the problem. Have a read of DIY's signature he has some useful info.

bartimaeus

Electrical tape to make the cell fit more snugly - and a rare earth magnet on the -ve end for a spacer... below is an unprotected cell which is 2.5mm shorter than the protected version, so I am using 2 x 2.5mm magnets. With a protected cell one is enough. If you are using the light on your lid then it won't rattle about so much so one less spacer is needed.

For AAAs in a holder you would need to do something simlar... stop them moving and make them or the holder 'longer'.

kingofthetailwind

Excellent, I'll try some washers and if that doesn't work I'll order some of the magnets. Cheers guys.