Home › Forums › Bike Forum › "5000" lumen light….
- This topic has 420 replies, 131 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by jeffm.
-
"5000" lumen light….
-
benp1Full MemberPosted 11 years agoQuick thought for those that think the beam isn’t floody enough, have you tried taking off the lens and removing the reflector for one of the LEDs?
brassneckFull MemberPosted 11 years agoFor such a cheap light the output is good but its not “ZOMG this light is amazeballs” bright, its not noticeably brighter than my C&B seen 1200 lumen single XML.
I thought it was noticeably better than my single U2 lamp. Medium was ample for road riding at speed (well, as good as my speed gets anyway), High didn’t seem much of an improvement, Low was fine to pootle and get home.
For £25 delivered it’s unbelievable value. I’m going to get another as a complete spare to carry.
onandonFree MemberPosted 11 years agoI’m going to get another as a complete spare to carry.
Why not but three to be really, really ,really sure 🙂
NorthCountryBoyFree MemberPosted 11 years agoOk another update.
Went out tonight had a really good night ride, cheers Dave 😀
Swapped lights around, old single P7 on bars. New solarstorm on lid.
Great combination. Solarstorm is so light you cant even feel it on the helmet, much better angle of light than on bars less shadows etc.
Ran it on full power with my 8 cell battery (ebay £13) the 3 led`s were still lit after 2 hours on high.
Very pleased with the light, great for the money and when helmet mounted.
shaggmiesterFree MemberPosted 11 years agoNorthCountryBoy – Member
Ok another update.
Went out tonight had a really good night ride, cheers Dave
Swapped lights around, old single P7 on bars. New solarstorm on lid.
Great combination. Solarstorm is so light you cant even feel it on the helmet, much better angle of light than on bars less shadows etc.
Ran it on full power with my 8 cell battery (ebay £13) the 3 led`s were still lit after 2 hours on high.
Very pleased with the light, great for the money and when helmet mounted.POSTED 8 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
Sounds like a good battery, have you got any links to this, cheers.
troutFree MemberPosted 11 years agoI just got one of these X2 lights just to see what all the fuss is about
will be giving it a going over in the next few days but first impression
is its not that bright compared to what 2 XMLs can deliverIt got hot very hot on full and did not dim down at all I had to switch it off when it was too hot .
the battery weighs quite a bit less than a similar battery 7.4 volt 4.4 amp hour pack from Smudge so would explain the low runtimes some are reporting .
some comparison beam shots to follow soon
MilkieFree MemberPosted 11 years agoI bought mine through fleabay. It worked one time then stopped working. I am happy to report they sent me out a complete new light (inc battery/charger/etc) for free and I get to keep the broken one! Now how to take the light apart… Are they Torx?
cookeaaFull MemberPosted 11 years agoMine arrived Monday, took a couple of weeks ordered from lightmalls, packaging was pretty poor, but it got here safe enough…
I’ve not had a chance to use it in anger yet but it’s mounted up on the helmet ready to go, I had a marathon battery charging session last night too so the bar mounted single T6 should be adequately powered, and I have a spare battery that works with either light should I require it, the ‘X2’s battery took ~3hrs to charge from its 1A charger, the indicators on the back of the light head seem to drop as soon as you cycle through the “High” setting which either means it’s a rather basic indicator (linked in some way to a low current protection feature on the driver?) or the pack was already pretty low on juice, disconnecting and reconnecting the battery seems to reset the battery indicator So I’ll probably not be paying much attention to it…
I think I’ll be keeping an eye on exchance rates and lightmalls pricing, and ordering a 2nd X2 light head for the bars soon, I’m in no rush as I’ve got a couple of old single emitter XMLs available and those were already more than adequate.
My increased capacity battery plans are evolving a little, I think I’m back to 18650 cells as the size and cost of them is a little more sensible, having had a look at the available space I believe I could assemble anything up to a 16 cell pack (2S8P) in there and achive some utterly ludicrous run times (Having bitched about the “excessive” battery pack the new Hope R8 uses the other day), but what I might do first is find a means of connecting two of the “Standard” 4×18650 batteries in parallel as a cheap “runtime doubler” for whatever light I attach without having to change connectors about in the dark… Then start the new battery.
Wierdly the light head options aren’t all that interesting anymore, there’s far more “Cheap lumens” available than anyone could realistically need now I’m more interested in how I now go about powering the death-rays for longer periods, as the stock reclaimed random 4×18650 batteries are probably not up to the task any longer…
NorthCountryBoyFree MemberPosted 11 years agoHi shaggmiester…
the battery I bought is this one, they have put the price up by a few quid since I bought one. It took a long time to charge when I first received it so I was a bit worried it was duff. But after using it last night it re-charged pretty quick and seemed to hold its charge well when using the light continually on full power.
The connector had a slightly different detail, in that the screw thread on the external plastic sleeve was a different thread, and it had a sort of plastic shroud at the end of the connector. i trimmed the shroud bit off with a sharp knife and found the pin connector detail is the same as the light unit and charger so no real need for the screw sleeve part. All seems pretty compatible.
Will be interesting to see trouts views on the lamp unit as perhaps with a bit of tweaking more can be gained from these lights.
bentudderFull MemberPosted 11 years agoI originally ordered a couple from Fasttech, but they are having problems with Singpost, so I asked to cancel and ordered from Dongx2011 via eBay – two turned up this morning. The batteries are six cells – a bit shorter than the ancient blue Trustfire ‘protected’ 18650 in my commuter light.
Three pin UK plug, takes a wee while to reach full charge.
The sending address is a distribution company near Gatwick airport. Looking at it, they act as a fulfillment arm for a bunch of online-only merchants that build a web page and then rely on the company to hold stock, manage shipping and returns. My guess is that the actual merchant is not this distribution company – and that the kit is cheap enough that returns will be handled on a ‘ship ’em a new one’ basis. No idea what all this means for QC.
Free rear blinky in the plain brown cardboard boxes they shipped in, as well. Looks cheap and ‘orrible, but it’s pretty bright on first click.
One for the Udderlet’s cardboard box fire engine, I reckon. 🙂
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoHey guys, battery boxes are here!! 😀 I’m going to be doing a full objective review tonight including all measurements, teardown and pics. I have one soaking in the bath just now 🙂 I’ll email those who asked me to put one asside for them later tonight. All I’ll say now is that they are really nice quality and match the quality of the head unit.
Until later, Ollie
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoHey, sorry this has taken so long. Had to use a combination of my parents’ decade old iMac and my android to upload the pics which was painful. I’ll put more up tomorrow when I’m back in Dundee and email everyone who has emailed me previously.
Disclosure :I have some of these for sale. This is an objective review but just so you know.
So the case is nice quality, it’s seriously strong, I think it would be impossible to break it even by stamping on it. Whatever plastic they used is good for the job. The manufacturing tolerances are very good. The lid and body come together tightly. The lid is lined with rubber which you can see in the photo to seal it against the body. There is an o-ring between the tightening knob and the lid to prevent water ingress. I don’t know what the ‘loop’ of plastic on the side is for, you could pass webbing through it but I don’t know why you might want to.
The connector is threaded for the X2’s barrel nut.
The springs are nice quality and are firm.
There is no protection circuit so protected batteries or batteries charged in a separate charger must be used.
Panasonic protected cells will fit but it will be a tight squeeze.
It will take flat top batteries.
The cable looks like it could be fairly easily replaced by another of the same gauge.
All in all I’m really happy with it. Just need some decent batteries now.
MEASUREMENTS TO COME TOMORROW.
Cheers, Ollie
http://imgur.com/MaXCo35
http://imgur.com/jOwCK1u
http://imgur.com/qE4VtQu
http://imgur.com/4DHOhyx
http://imgur.com/zAwS0mn
http://imgur.com/VNBoj4z
http://imgur.com/lOVbZj8
cloudnineFree MemberPosted 11 years agoDiscount code prot2cou gets $2 off your order from lightmalls
bentudderFull MemberPosted 11 years agoGreat news, Ollie!
Will drop you an email. They look pretty sound – although the soldering looks a bit like my work. 😯
dbukdbukFree MemberPosted 11 years agoThere seems to be a lot of hassle and angst involved with some of these cheap lighting solutions. I can understand people wanting to get good light for not much money but for me I’d rather pay a bit more for a product that is just going to work. No hassles with dodgy batteries, iffy connectors and shonky mounts.
Horses for courses and a whatever floats your boat of course. If it gets you out riding more then its got to be a good thing.
houndlegsFree MemberPosted 11 years agoTell me if I have this right?
Could I just buy one of the headlight units,and one of those boxes off Marmaduke,and they will connect together and work with no need for me to solder or change cables or connectors or anything?
If yes to that,I already have 2 batteries from torchy that are 2400mah,he doesn’t have those anymore but has 2600mah ones,can I use 2 of each?
Lastly,Marmaduke,how much are those boxes you’re selling please?
z1ppyFull MemberPosted 11 years agoyes…not sure about the mix and match batteries though. £12 was mentioned at one point (or that the figure I thought I’d seen…) but don’t hold me or Ollie to that! Also not sure that included P&P
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoSorry sorry sorry for being so slow with emails guys! I’ll send them now. I have an essay due on Friday and my time management is terrible! So without further ado here are the measurements and all pics. If you want one just paypal me ollyboyd@hotmail.co.uk £12 (sent as goods) with your address in the paypal address bit and I’ll send them out the next day (email me for combined postage). I have more on their way arriving tomorrow so there are enough to go round.
If you want one with Panasonic batteries I’m afraid you’ll have to wait 🙁Album is here -> http://imgur.com/a/z6rH9
More details of fit and finish are in my previous post.
Dimensions
With nylon case
53mm depth
56.5mm width
118mm heightBare box
Height 109mm
Depth (including strap loop) 50.6mm
Width 49.1mmCable thickness 4.19mm
Width of the tunnely hole thing on the side you could use for webbing: 18.4mm
Max thickness of webbing you could use: 3mmMax width of battery that would fit 18.60mm
Max battery height with springs fully compressed=total height of compartment-(height of compressed springs+height of the lid’s protruded battery contacts)
=72.51mm-(1.60+1.11)=69.8mmI’ve repeated the battery length measurement many times so Panasonics will fit JUST. Of course the lid has 7.87mm over overlap with the case body so the fit isn’t crucial but it would be nice to get the lid fully tightened.
I have destroyed my case in the name of testing to get pics of the circuit board at the bottom. It is stuck to the bottom with those sponge sticky pads. You would need to heat it with a hairdryer to remove it without damaging your case.
The length of cable from tip to base is 52cm.
I can also confirm that the box does support the use of just two batteries in series.I would describe the soldering as robust :p
The box’s connector fits the X2s perfectly.
Cheers, Ollie
z1ppyFull MemberPosted 11 years agoHmm unless you’ve a absolute load in, might it not be prudent to arrange sale by sale… just my take, and Paypal gift or paypal goods?
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoHey Z1ppy, I have more coming tomorrow because quite a few people expressed interest so don’t worry also definitely as goods otherwise you’re not protected in case I’m a scammer :p
z1ppyFull MemberPosted 11 years agocool, cheers
EDIT: TBH I asked about paypal, just incase you were expect gifting and got lots of goods payment.. then had to refund as you’d expect £12.63.. just crap all round, I wanted to avoid
Payment sent 😀
Hob-NobFree MemberPosted 11 years agoInteresting, my ‘gonna burn your house down’ lights turned up today, both complete with a UK spec charger, which is nice 🙂
Batteries have been charging most of today, charger is barely even warm to the touch.
I dug out my old DX lights (which I thought were dead) as well, chucked the battery pack on them & they also work, which is a nice bonus. I think these new ones will end up as bar mounted and the single spotty one on helmets will be the approach to take.
So, I need a couple of replacement battery packs for these helmet mounts – anyone able to point me in the direction of something?
Is it worth getting one of these box things a few posts & just buying 4 18650 batteries for inside it? Seems like the cheapest way.
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoPayment received, that was very kind of you to ask Z1ppy. I’m not going to bother emailing anyone payment confirmation I’ll just post them out.
Cheers, Ollie
sherbFree MemberPosted 11 years agoApologies if running off topic but batteries have been mentioned a lot in this thread. For what its worth i run a pair of LiPo powered units. The batteries are these:- http://cpc.farnell.com/overlander/2145/battery-25c-sport-track-7-4v-5000mah/dp/BT05350
One goes in the camelbak and the other is slung under the bars in a pouch i put together for the job. Run time is well over 4 hours on high and i am powering dual XML head units (Thanks to Troutie).
I know the issue about balanced charging and invested in the right charger..
My interest? – anyone else running overlanders?
RichFree MemberPosted 11 years agoHas anyone else’s light got a sort of frosting around the led, and does anyone know what it is?
Mine has just around the one.
It doesn’t seem to affect the output.
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoThe ones I have are all crystal clear, i probably wouldn’t worry too much if it doesn’t affect your beam.
EDIT: are the screws on yours philips? Not seen that before if they are
z1ppyFull MemberPosted 11 years agoAgain mine are clear, check out the rather large thread on MTBR.. I’m sure there was mention of something like that that… or why worry if it’s not causing issues.
brassneckFull MemberPosted 11 years agoThere seems to be a lot of hassle and angst involved with some of these cheap lighting solutions. I can understand people wanting to get good light for not much money but for me I’d rather pay a bit more for a product that is just going to work. No hassles with dodgy batteries, iffy connectors and shonky mounts.
Something I have every sympathy with, but there are two issues:
1. Even after buying an aftermarket ‘reliable’ battery and charger, they are still a lot cheaper than other offerings.
2. The stock stuff actually is fine for many people. Maybe even a majority, I don’t have any stats. from my experience I have 3 Chinese batteries , some over a couple of years old that still work well and charge reliably. I had a scary issue with a charger (which I think was my cheapest acquisition .. I buy many of these out of curiosity) suffering a a smoky death whilst I was in the garage, now I charge them in a metal box with a timer, which probably isn’t bad practice anyway.If you buy with your eyes open, which thread like this contribute too, you can be riding when maybe you couldn’t before. Which is nice.
richmtbFull MemberPosted 11 years agoIf you buy with your eyes open, which thread like this contribute too, you can be riding when maybe you couldn’t before. Which is nice.
Yep, they give access to the kind of light output that a few years ago would have cost you £300.
A decent lighting set up for riding off road through the winter can be had for less than the price of a set of tyres, that can only be a good thing
dukeduvetFull MemberPosted 11 years agoMany thanks to Oli for sorting battery boxes. I collected mine from him the other night.
One slight issue was that the screw connector on my light does not fit the one to the battery box. However it may just be a one off as the fit to the battery pack that came with the lights is not great either. My light was purchased form ebay seller dongx
Still I can live with that and big thanks to Oli
cr500domFree MemberPosted 11 years agoPaypal sent Ollie, cheers 8)
Now does anyone have a source for some decent Panasonics and a good charger ?
marmadukeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoCheers, cr500dom! I’ll get that out tomorrow. If you’re after a good wall charger i would ask/look on budget light forum, there’s a lot of into there. Everyone who sent me paypal yesterday have had their boxes sent off this morning first class. Sorry about that Dukeduvet! it fits into mine perfectly as you saw :/ Maybe they used two different screw gauges? I wish china was more consistent!!
cruzcampoFree MemberPosted 11 years agoSomeone posted a really nice 18650 standalone charger on here, not sure if this thread though, think it was around £12, with loads of leds on it etc. Any one remember?
smudgeFree MemberPosted 11 years agoOk, great seeing this being done BUT, from my point of view…
Make sure you only use protected cells – cells with protection circuits built in, never cells un-protected. The light or charger may not have any protection.
Never mix and match… ideally at least buy how ever many you need from the one source at the same time… each batch of cells is logged for capacity and impedance (or should be)from the manufacturer. if not, not every cell(battery ) you buy will have the same initial capacity… Bit like what I have seen this week a 6400Mah battery was only 3000mAh.
Just saying its brilliant doing what your doing but be careful, the batteries side is always the least thought off and abused… but from first hand experience with my first company I worked at the factory burnt down from a single cell hearing aid battery that shorted out!
So please be careful.
repomanFree MemberPosted 11 years agoBattery box received, many thanks Marmaduke, looks to be /exactly/ what I was after.
For the record, the Xtar protected cells from Torch Direct (http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/rechargable-li-ion-batteries.html) appear to fit fine.
bentudderFull MemberPosted 11 years agoThanks Smudge – sounds like excellent advice.
Have you considered offering something like these boxes? I’ve a very neat, very good battery from you to power my old Nightlightning, but I also use a couple of the old Turboferret holders, taking the cells out to charge them. A bundle of box + good, protected cells + charger would be pretty cool.
The topic ‘"5000" lumen light….’ is closed to new replies.