[Closed] eBay Cree XML £20 Torch - out of the box, pics & review

These torchs if anything like as good as the original P7, will be ace.
Though as per your test pic, the focus tends to be very narrow IME (great helmet lights).
Only problem is mounting them, I could never get those rubber mounts to stay completely stable on the bars when the going gets rough. Though they are better on the helmet, maybe with a zip-tie to give them extra support.

Why ppl spend more on the Exposure versions (other than for 24hr racing) I struggle to understand... but everyones allowed free choice.

do you have leprosy?

that hotspot isnt too bad - it's about 600m dia @ 3m, so 11degrees.

eczema. but thanks for the ridicule of my medical condition.
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😉

😳

it just looked like you'd picked a soldering iron up by the hot bit, tbh.

I will remember to use only my photogenic hand in future 🙂

Beadle-esque 😉

Does Stoner do a lot for charity then?

£20, for the whole package is very very good though, hadn't realised they become quite that cheap.

Those bar mounts are rubbish though! If you've got an old quick release light mount, drill a hole in a jubilee clip to bolt to the mount. better directional control and it won't bounce around coming down the rabbit run!

oh and my xml torch with a p7 on the head was great last night. Short sleeved night riding in October - doesn't seem right!

bar mount is a twofish lock block rip off I got off ebay separately (i.e. not with the torch). Will mod it to make it robust enough.

Its been positively balmy out there, hasnt it.

Short sleeve merino top...and maybe a gilet to keep the wind out on the descents.

I was hoping for a metal rule - not a plastic one. The weight weenies won't accept a weight pic without a shot of the torch on the scales. Pot plant needs a trim.

😥

I tried an o-ring in addition to the lockblock, still too bouncy for me, and that was with a p7, i think the hotspot of the xml will be even worse but ymmv.

will have a tinker and see what I can do.

I also have one of these in the shed that works well on a lower power torch which I might be able to use.
[img] [/img]

£20 seems bonkers for a t6 XML with batteries..
Have a smudge XML already but this might just complete my night kit..

If you want to borrow my xml in clamp for comparison purposes let me know, won't be using it this week.

Anyone got a good way of helmet mounting one of these?

joystick mount works well for my p7, not sure on the diameter of the xml, would assume it to be about the same, my p7 is just ok weightwise but my xml is a bit too much for comfort, stoners looks like it might be lighter though? haven't checked the weight of mine.

600m dia @ 3m, so 11degrees.

Heck of a spread going by those figures, how big is your house?? 😯

Nice one Stoner - looks like it'll do a job for my commute so I've taken the plunge.

Any recomendations for a cheap bar mount? Loads on ebay for 4 or 5 quid.

Thats lighter than my p7 by a fair bit, nice find.

stoner - can you try repeatedly hitting it off a wall hard to see if you can make it change mode like the old P7 torches do when barmounted if you ride proper rough trails/jumps or drops ? Ta.

I'm serious BTW?

GW mine was doing that, use a pair of circlip pliers to tighten the light head and switch, fixed mine 🙂

inigomontoya, lot of ppl whine about it with these torches, but seemingly won't take the time (2 minutes) to screw up the internal fittings...

Yeah, I've done that to my two too (but one can still change mode), they also change mode if the battery rattles inside so to try and reduce that I wrap mine are in gaffer tape so they're only just loose enough to get back out the torch.

[url= http://www.dealextreme.com/p/universal-bicycle-mount-8274 ]This is the only mount i buy/sell for bar mounting, you can also get them on ebay for £1 each.[/url]

To make the battery snugglier in the tube, i just use a post-it, trim a bit of the end and it fits perfect.Just curl it up and make the sticky bit go against the tube.
Always make sure the switch and the pill are tight as that's the other reasons why they change modes while going over bumps.
By the way, UltraFire batterys tend to have really high internal resistance, compared to Blue TrustFires (nonprotected, always use in single cell lights) they have around 40% more resistance!

Would it be too heavy as a helmet light, or indeed for running?

Are there any headtorch type systems that it could be attached to?

Thanks, Lightman but what does this mean

UltraFire batterys tend to have really high internal resistance, compared to Blue TrustFires (nonprotected, always use in single cell lights) they have around 40% more resistance!

Ps. I have 2 of the bar mounts stoner posted a pic of and find them much more solid and faff free than the one you've linked to (and cost around the same).

dunc - yeah, I think so.

The exposure joystick is 103g, this is 163g with battery in.

There's a lot of metal in the body of the torch which neednt be there.
There's bound to be one knocked out by another chinese outfit that's lighter somewhere...

EDIT- having said that Ive just taped it to my helmet and giving it a waggle* and it's not that noticeable. That's on a mid-weight MET lid.

* fnar.

Mine were definitely noticable on your head, but weighed a bit more than the one above. Though after a season of night riding, I'd gotten used to it (or my neck muscles "man'd up").

I justed used a twofish lock block on the back end of my helmet (Xen) and it was stable enough & would move if I hit a branch.
I tried one of lightmans type fitting, and broke it whilst trying to tighten it up... maybe we got a bad un but...

EDIT- having said that Ive just taped it to my helmet and giving it a waggle* and it's not that noticeable. That's on a mid-weight MET lid.

GW

Some battery's are good for high power (quick drain appliances) flashlights and some are not.
I have those UF battery's and when i compare them with Blue TF battery's in my XM-L flashlights this is the current draw on high ~
UF = 1.6amps
TF = 2.6amps

What can happen also, is that the UF battery's heat up quicker due to the internal resistance, which reduces lifespan. They are still usable though.

TJ just gaffer tapes them straight to his head, I think?

tj just tells the dark that it's actually daylight and proceeds regardless of what the dark is doing.

fits in the more robust mount fine, once you've taken the external grommets off.

[img] [/img]

Ive never had a problem with that mount rattling or shaking and have ridden with it across the common a few times.

if you put the torcvh in the other way around the weight would be more 'centred' (i.e. but thumb wheel at back of the bars, not front)?

this is the current draw on high ~
UF = 1.6amps
TF = 2.6amps

I use blue trustfire protected batteries in my P7s, is this good or bad? 😕

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wwaswas - Member

TJ just gaffer tapes them straight to his head, I think?
Posted 14 minutes ago # Report-Post
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trailmonkey - Member

tj just tells the dark that it's actually daylight and proceeds regardless of what the dark is doing.

🙂

M6 mounting point screwed into my skull actually

OK, bought. Should be good for helmet mount, and I *think* it should fit the exposure helmet mount. Which is nice 🙂

Put a bushy tail on wwaswas and call him reynard.
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jimbo, 24mm ish barrel diameter without the grommets.

BTW, due to this thread http://club.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/threadid.912862

I just checked the charger as it seemed to be taking it's time charging these cells (plugged in at 11ish, still going at 2:30ish) and the charger is managing 4.26v in both bays. Which is fine.

Once cell has fully charged, the other one is showing 4.16v so will give it a bit longer.

But I now have a fully charged one to do a runtime test. Turning it on high now, will let you know when it's gone.

Now it's on Ive also given it a damn good shake bang rattle and thunk and it's not changed setting GW, so seems made of sterner stuff than yours.

Somewhere between 1:00 and 1:20 the light falls to an unusable level on one fully charged 2400 mAh ultrafire. At 1hr in, it was quite warm, but then hadnt been moving.

Somewhere between 1:00 and 1:20 the light falls to an unusable level on one fully charged 2400 mAh ultrafire.

Was that at full output & would it be worth ordering a few 18650 3.7V 5000mAh Li-ion batteries and a charger at the same time as the flashlight? They seem cheap enough and that would extend the run time a bit and you'd also have several extra in your pack to last the ride.

thats on Hi, and you'll see from the OP that the torch comes with 2x cells and a charger.

YOu can probably order additional cells from the same ebay supplier for a good price. But remember they are not top notch cells.

http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/batteries_21.html

they are two thirds the way down this graph
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Thats a handy graph stoner. Who produced it and how?

The battery life is seemingly quite short, especially compared to my 3 year old P7 torch, which gives an easy 1.5hrs, on full beam.
That and the XML led is a more efficent unit...

oh and my trustfire batteries still work fine after 3 years, which compared to my Magicshine & Lupine battery packs, has been fairly miraculous.

look at the torchy link, rich

used the torch to walk across the common this evening, and it's plenty bright enough on its own with a good shape spot and periphery. Id be perfectly content to ride with it and it's beam patterns.

Also, it does remember to turn on at hi power if you leave it off long enough between uses (probably something like 30 seconds I guess, although not properly tested it)

All in all, its a cracking torch which doubles as not a bad bike light for short rides or with the expectation of taking spare cell(s) with you.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhaa! My dad mentioned yesterday he could do with a decent torch for canal work, so had me think I'd just give him one of my old P7's, but I'd need an extra charger.. £5 on the bay, almost a quarter of the price of one of these

Resist I need to resist!
(as already have Smudge XML bike light, 2x P7 normal torches, a Magicshine P7 bike light and Trout Mini)

😯 being in the Dark is honestly not that ^^ scary

they don't all get used at once GW... I only use two lights, but yes they put out more than your self imposed "limit".
The two P7 (normal) torchs are handy to throw in my backpack to get us out of trouble (and have done)

z1ppy you mentioned ages ago on the smudge xml thread that you would compare it to the bastid xml, did you ever do that?

Two spare lights? WTF kinda trouble were you in? 😆

inigomontoya sorry no, as the buyer decided to get a 4xXPG MJ-872 instead. I do wonder about this, as I think my review of Smudge unit being "spotty" is unfair or overrating the hotspot... I need a cheap DX to compare it to though.

GW, One lads battery failure before we started (dodgy connection), and one battery failure mid ride (he'd forgotten to charge it!).
As I already had them (before MS bike lights appeared), they weigh bugger all, & in the scheme of things, not carrying them seems stupid.

is there a cheap helmet mount about?

The Exposure one costs as much as the DX light that goes in it...

ebay is your friend about £5 should sort you out

i just got this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160636012012&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:GB:1123 which is a little different, i can't remember why i picked it, i seem to remember it was a late night "why not" purchase..

anyway, it's significantly brighter than my ay-ups, looks to have a reasonable halo around the hotspot (similar to ay-ups) weighs a fair bit (too much for helmet imo) and the bike mount would drop it going off a kerb..

but i'm pretty impressed with the brightness, will be interesting to see it on a bike, and if not - it's pretty good as a torch!

^ weighs 185g btw

took torch with me last night and grabbed some crappy phone camera beam shots (ISO 800):

Troutlight Lumen Liberator (6x XPGs I think) on LOW
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Troutlight Lumen Liberator (6x XPGs I think) on HIGH
[img] [/img]

and now with XML T6 torch
[img] [/img]
^ raindrop, about to turn into vapour

fun. doin' it again tonight 🙂

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, I got a pacakage with a headlight i'd ordered and the batteries and charger for the torch, but no torch...

Got mine yesterday so rode with that on my helmet and a Bastid 900 on the bars BLIMEY all the light I will need!
I used a bodge of velcro straps and cable ties to attach but could still get it off to change battery.
And it feels suprisingly well made too!

Still waiting for mine (ordered 14/10)

Cupra have you got a link to Ebay helmet mount, I'm struggling to fin anything...

Ta

I had intended to just velcro this to my lid, possibly a cable tie or two - any reason I shouldn't?

You might want to put a rubber pad under the front of the torch to lift it to the right angle - the vents on your helmet might point the torch too low and to one side otherwise.

I run mine on the bars since the flood from the troutlight deals with the periphery without the need to point my head at things to the sides. The XML is just amusing overkill, but with it on Im doing some decents faster than I ever would in daylight as not onloy can I see where Im going but in the middle of the night there's almost no risk of some bugger walking their dog round the next corner - and if by some fluke someone else is out there in the dark, with the laser beam on the front they'll see me coming 🙂

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/lockblock.html

problem with the lockblock is that it puts the torch (185g remember) a good inch and a half further away from the outer shell of the helmet, so maybe 4" away from the head giving it a fair bit of moment that you'd notice probbaly more than just ziptieing it as close to the helmet outer surface as possible.

Cheers. Wont it get too hot? Maybe a thin piece of rubber underneath the torch between it and the helmet?

The answer I think is 2 helmets - one for day and one for night, with the torch permanently attached!

HarYuken - Member
Cheers. Wont it get too hot? Maybe a thin piece of rubber underneath the torch between it and the helmet?

The answer I think is 2 helmets - one for day and one for night, with the torch permanently attached!

That's my exact plan. And my only worry.

stoner try 3M dual lock and a velcro cable tidy.. holds my P7 on my lid V. securely and V. close to the lid as possible but still insulated from the shell

Inspired by stoners post & ebay link (cheers 🙂 ) I bought a 1300 lumen XML light like jeffcapeshop's one above ^^^ but without the mount and rear light. I ordered it a day or so after stoner’s post and it came yesterday so about two weeks or so from order to delivery.

[url] http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1300-Lumens-CREE-XM-L-XML-T6-LED-18650-Flashlight-Torch-/330629878019?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item4cfb139103 [/url]

I tried it mounted on my helmet last night but it’s heavier at the front than the rear and that was very noticeable, even with the helmet clamped up tight to my head. I’ve got a substantially heavier Lidl Cree torch (not shown in photos below) which is more balanced and sits on my helmet alright so it’s not the weight so much as the weight distribution along the length of the flashlight.

Another problem with the helmet mounting was the amount of reflection from the mist that was hanging around last night. It’s bad enough with the 200 lumen torch (see photos below) shining back in my eyes but 1300 (claimed) lumens was simply blinding.

Anyway, I’ve mounted it on the bars today ready for this evening’s 8 mile ride home. So hopefully I’ll get some beam shots. However, as it’s forecast to piss down at 10pm tonight, when I'm setting off, all I’ll probably get is confirmation as to whether or not the flashlight is actually waterproof.

One more thing. I haven’t run down the batteries so far so don’t know how long they’ll last. They took about four hours to charge when I first got them. The 200 lumen torch below takes two AA batteries and lasts for weeks. It also more than bright enough to commute by road in the dark. It did cost more than the new Cree one though. Anyway, I'm off to throw my old Tesco 3w LED torches in the bin 😉

Mounted on handlebars with old broken Oxford 3W LED light mount, zip tied to bars. I’ve slipped a bit of cycle inner tube over the shaft and rucked it up a bit to get a firm grip in the mount.

[img] [/img]

Torch compared with 200 Lumen focusable ‘helmet’ light

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Mounted on bars. Smaller torch held on by band made from old car tyre inner (Won’t work on new light as it’s too heavy at the lens end)…

[img] [/img]

i tried mine (again as above) properly last night, bar mounted alongside the ay-ups i normally use, so i turned it on for descents only - it lasted fine for that and made quite a difference! my ay-ups are great but for fast descents it's good to have something with a longer range (though it is pretty tight). i "tested" it at home and got 40 minutes before i noticed it dimming with the shitey batteries it comes with.

i made a simple mount with a blob of that polymorph microwave-melting plastic and a ziptie, worked nicely!

so yeah, as a welcome but not relied on boost, it's perfect! also think it would be very easy to separate the head and battery to make a nice helmet torch, might well buy another to do that with seeing as they are so cheap.

one thing though - i've heard that those batteries are a little volatile - how should i carry them? (guessing loose in damp pocket not ideal..)

Mine arrived this morning, pretty impressed so far, will test on the trails tomorrow night. Thank you for the tip off.

no worries.

Mine has been fantastic. Superb brightness and beam shape, and Im getting plenty of burntime now, although Ive not measured it since. Might do it later.

v happy with mine.

Could anybody please point me in the direction of a bar mount for these lights?

I bought one a few weeks ago and have used it mounted directly to my helmet. Finding it a bit heavy though, so want to try it on the bars.
Ta