"cheap" CREE lights of Ebay

kim10

Was looking at getting some decent light for my road bike as I want to be able to do training rides in the evenings through the winter. But as cash is limited was looking at buying one of the cheap CREE XML T6 lights off ebay. I seem to remember somebody recomending these on here. I'm not sure about the claimed 1600-1800 lumens for this kind of light as the LED used should not be able to support this, but I would be happy with less at that price (they sell for about £30 pounds).

Like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1600-Lumen-CR ... 416535206b

Do anybody know how well they work, durability, waterproof? etc. Was keen to hear from people who have bought them. 30quid is not a lot but I would rather save the money if they are not worth it.

Mark Elvin

I have one, it's a Magic Shine, an I'm very pleased with it.

MrGrumpy

pretty good bang for buck however my set broke within 6 months, first was the dodgy battery(they are dodgy) and then the head unit shorted out and packed in! So........ bought myself a replacement 2 weeks ago and on arrival it was broke i.e it was not very bright, was very bright for all of 3 secs before just dieing. So on the whole not had a great experience but others have been more lucky! Take your chance really but I would buy from a UK based supplier at least, just in case you have to send it back.

unixnerd

I run two XML-T6 torches and they're stunning. Long run time and easily enough for 30+mph on unlit lanes. Always have more than one light in case you have a failure or a dud battery.

Recently got two on ebay for a mate with batteries, charger, mounts for 30 quid!

I also run an AA Maglite on a NiteIze head band. A good head torch can be very handy.

MrGrumpy

Got a link to eBay? Browsing eBay now and too many to choose from! Was going to go with the DX option listed elsewhere by another poster but will take a fair time to get here!

Mike39496

MrGrumpy wrote:

Got a link to eBay? Browsing eBay now and too many to choose from! Was going to go with the DX option listed elsewhere by another poster but will take a fair time to get here!

I got two of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251091020942? ... 1497.l2649

And some 18650 batteries (I bought 4 and a charger to have spares). The rear lights the torches come with are handy because they have a clip so you can stick them on a saddle bag.

MrGrumpy

How bright are these? Just I got a MS clone from same ebayer and it was trash? Not very bright at all which made me nervous?

unixnerd

Can't speak for the zoom model in the link above but I've tried the normal XML-T6s and they're very bright. One would be bright enough to go mountain biking in the dark. But I like to run one pointing into the distance and one pointing a bit closer, that setup is superb.

One thing I would saying having bought quite a few of these as presents for friends is that the brightness can vary. One of mine is 10% brighter than the other. But I've seen some maybe 20% dimmer than my best torch.

I also have an older MagicShine MJ-836 with a P-7 LED. It's just as bright as the XML-T6 but uses a lot more power. I get a similar duration from one 18650 battery in my torch that the MJ-836 got with a four cell battery pack.

MrGrumpy

My original ms clone was very bright just a pity it disintegrated in the rain etc! Lasted all of 6 months I reckon, anyway thinking torches maybe a better option now but the choices are huge on eBay, the ones linked to on DX maybe higher powered just dunno?

rdt

Mike39496 wrote:

MrGrumpy wrote:

Got a link to eBay? Browsing eBay now and too many to choose from! Was going to go with the DX option listed elsewhere by another poster but will take a fair time to get here!

I got two of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251091020942? ... 1497.l2649

And some 18650 batteries (I bought 4 and a charger to have spares). The rear lights the torches come with are handy because they have a clip so you can stick them on a saddle bag.

I bought one of these a few weeks back. The charger was faulty on arrival, and the torch broke within a week BUT the sellers swapped both immediately and without hassle - benefit of a UK-based seller. FWIW, the replacement torch is brighter than the original one.

The bar mount looks half-decent (is the same as this: http://dx.com/p/universal-bicycle-mount ... 871&u=8274 ) but does not have a large enough diameter to fit my oversized bars, so the torch is currently confined to dog-walking duties only, which is bright enough to bring cars to a crawl on the dark lane I loiter on with my pooch.

I've ordered one of these http://dx.com/p/universal-adjustable-bi ... eter-31871 to try to mount it instead.

I'm interested if people using torches like this on road bikes are blanking off the top bit of the lens to help prevent drivers being dazzled. :?:

Giraffoto

Well, it can go both ways. As every canny consumer knows,

Sometimes no-name stuff is just expensive name stuff, only without the name on

With that in mind, I stumped up £4 last week for a pair of no-name 18650s off a market stall (one of those "unlock your stolen phone here" places). I charged them up, and took them for a ride the other night. After 15 minutes, the light went dim, which is how it lets me know it's about to go completely. Dash and bother! So I swapped the other one in. Flat. As a bl00dy flounder, not a glimmer.

This is when it goes the other way: as every canny consumer also knows,

Sometimes no-name stuff is cheap cr@p

unixnerd

Try swapping the end cap from the working one onto the dead one. One of mine sometimes flickered if I went over a bump. I took it to bits and beefed up a connection on the end cap with a dod of solder, that fixed it.

Another tip to stop rattles is to put a layer of parcel tape around the battery so it's a tight fit.

Mike39496

rdt wrote:

Mike39496 wrote:

MrGrumpy wrote:

Got a link to eBay? Browsing eBay now and too many to choose from! Was going to go with the DX option listed elsewhere by another poster but will take a fair time to get here!

I got two of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251091020942? ... 1497.l2649

And some 18650 batteries (I bought 4 and a charger to have spares). The rear lights the torches come with are handy because they have a clip so you can stick them on a saddle bag.

I bought one of these a few weeks back. The charger was faulty on arrival, and the torch broke within a week BUT the sellers swapped both immediately and without hassle - benefit of a UK-based seller. FWIW, the replacement torch is brighter than the original one.

The bar mount looks half-decent (is the same as this: http://dx.com/p/universal-bicycle-mount ... 871&u=8274 ) but does not have a large enough diameter to fit my oversized bars, so the torch is currently confined to dog-walking duties only, which is bright enough to bring cars to a crawl on the dark lane I loiter on with my pooch.

I've ordered one of these http://dx.com/p/universal-adjustable-bi ... eter-31871 to try to mount it instead.

I'm interested if people using torches like this on road bikes are blanking off the top bit of the lens to help prevent drivers being dazzled. :?:

I had a problem with the adaptor plug for the battery charger but they sent out a new one no questions asked. Also the mount fits my OS bars, did you take the rubber bit out of the middle? It grips perfectly fine without it.

And for the guy asking about brightness, they are surprisingly bright. Just one is good enough for country lane riding and a battery seems to last around 90 minutes on high. I prefer two so I can zoom one in more for potholes and let the other one flood. Don't point them in your eyes!

rdt

Mike39496 wrote:

I had a problem with the adaptor plug for the battery charger but they sent out a new one no questions asked. Also the mount fits my OS bars, did you take the rubber bit out of the middle? It grips perfectly fine without it.

And for the guy asking about brightness, they are surprisingly bright. Just one is good enough for country lane riding and a battery seems to last around 90 minutes on high. I prefer two so I can zoom one in more for potholes and let the other one flood. Don't point them in your eyes!

I took the rubber bit out, Mike. The centre part of my bar seems to have a very generous girth for some reason.

And I can vouch for the brightness.

Mark Elvin

Just checked mine, turns out it's areal MS, not a clone, that's why it's not fallen apart yet!!

pkripper

have a look on the internet for "18650 exploding"

A lot of these lights / torches are a great deal for the head units / hardware, which are in general well built but not necessarily that waterproof.

Personally the batteries put me off.

What is an alternative option, although about double the price is to pick up one of the DX torch mounts and use something like a Jetbeam pa40 or fenix ld41 (http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/fenix-ld41.html) and some rechargeable AAs. Plenty bright enough for most stuff, more planet friendly too.

Or, splash the cash and get something alternative.

zx6man

I have one of the replica MS ones, been great for a year now. Also have 2 of the zoomable torch ones, newly bought and used once and I now when dogs cross my path they vaporise isntantly..kinda neat.

Mike39496

rdt wrote:

Mike39496 wrote:

I had a problem with the adaptor plug for the battery charger but they sent out a new one no questions asked. Also the mount fits my OS bars, did you take the rubber bit out of the middle? It grips perfectly fine without it.

And for the guy asking about brightness, they are surprisingly bright. Just one is good enough for country lane riding and a battery seems to last around 90 minutes on high. I prefer two so I can zoom one in more for potholes and let the other one flood. Don't point them in your eyes!

I took the rubber bit out, Mike. The centre part of my bar seems to have a very generous girth for some reason.

And I can vouch for the brightness.

Ah fair enough, you could probably cable tie through the two holes and just leave the mount on there that way if you wanted.

Giraffoto

pkripper wrote:

have a look on the internet for "18650 exploding"
. . .
Personally the batteries put me off.
. . .

The topic of the right and wrong 18650s has come up in another thread. As stated there . . .

Back then, I wrote:

The problem with 18650s is that there are two types: some have a set of electronics built into them to prevent overcharging, and some don't. The individual cells in a laptop may not have the protection circuit because it's built into the casing, but this may be quite hard to check.

Second worst-case scenario: you try to charge an unprotected cell. After it reaches capacity it starts to get hot, and eventually bursts. This will spread bits of battery all over the room at quite high speed.

Worst-case scenario: you load your two-cell torch with one unprotected 18650 and a higher capacity protected 18650, both fully charged. When you switch it on the higher capacity cell dumps some of its charge into the lower capacity one, causing it to get hot and burst. Your torch is now a low powered pipe bomb, and will spread bits of battery all over you at quite high speed.

rdt

rdt wrote:

Mike39496 wrote:

I had a problem with the adaptor plug for the battery charger but they sent out a new one no questions asked. Also the mount fits my OS bars, did you take the rubber bit out of the middle? It grips perfectly fine without it.

And for the guy asking about brightness, they are surprisingly bright. Just one is good enough for country lane riding and a battery seems to last around 90 minutes on high. I prefer two so I can zoom one in more for potholes and let the other one flood. Don't point them in your eyes!

I took the rubber bit out, Mike. The centre part of my bar seems to have a very generous girth for some reason.

And I can vouch for the brightness.

Re brightness: first ride tonight using one of these. Plenty bright enough under street-lamps, obviously. On unlit country lanes, I found it wasn't really bright enough for me: easily bright enough while climbing, but not enough throw forward for me when moving quickly, such as descending or if going quick on the flat. Caveat: I have ropey night vision.

I might try a second one; reckon two would be good enough, with one focused on the distance to give the throw I'd like, and one providing a wider pool closer in.

unixnerd

reckon two would be good enough, with one focused on the distance to give the throw I'd like, and one providing a wider pool closer in.

Yep, that's what I do. Works a treat.

rdt

unixnerd wrote:

reckon two would be good enough, with one focused on the distance to give the throw I'd like, and one providing a wider pool closer in.

Yep, that's what I do. Works a treat.

Saw your comment earlier, so reckoned it was the way forward.

Out of interest, do you have an ebay link for the ones you bought?