Spec me an LED Torch

well, i didn't know if the extreme duration of storage had caused the formation of solid-lithium dendrites which could have ignited upon charging...

I didn't want to take any chances, and didn't have a Class-D fire-extinguisher :p
 
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My wf188 has been great so far, consistent charging results each time to date. It did cost a bit more than the xtar when I got it though but seems to be well worth the price!
 
Right well im just back from walking the dog in the woods, so brought the P7 and TK21 with me to see how they faired. It was raining quite heavily so i was able to easily see the beams and the TK21 is pretty much a cone of light. The spill is so bright that at large distances I cant actually make out the bright spot in middle. In saying that though it doesn't half light up the area!

I dont really know what im complaining about to be fair, its an excellent torch and it is significantly brighter than the P7, I guess i was just hoping for more of a tight beam like the P7 but with more brightness, when in reality I not only have a brighter torch, but a much more usable area of light with the same range if not more. The P7 seems to light up the spot at large distances almost as well, however you only get that 10ft area of usable light whereas with the Fenix its more like a 35ft spread where you can clearly see everything.
 
Bennie-Mac said:
Right well im just back from walking the dog in the woods, so brought the P7 and TK21 with me to see how they faired. It was raining quite heavily so i was able to easily see the beams and the TK21 is pretty much a cone of light. The spill is so bright that at large distances I cant actually make out the bright spot in middle. In saying that though it doesn't half light up the area!

I dont really know what im complaining about to be fair, its an excellent torch and it is significantly brighter than the P7, I guess i was just hoping for more of a tight beam like the P7 but with more brightness, when in reality I not only have a brighter torch, but a much more usable area of light with the same range if not more. The P7 seems to light up the spot at large distances almost as well, however you only get that 10ft area of usable light whereas with the Fenix its more like a 35ft spread where you can clearly see everything.
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Good to hear Bennie!
A lot of people want super-throw until they experience a really bright light that has what i like to call a "utility beam" which is neither super-throw or super-flood, but a useful balance.

Chadd said:
How does the light output of the BC40 compare to that of a 3,500,000 candle power halogen torch?
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that's a complicated question. unfortunately, "3,500,000 candlepower" only means that a single point-of light at (possibly) one meter has a brightness of 3,500,000Lux. the BC40 is rated in Lumens, which is the measure of the total brightness, or the total amount of light that it produces.

there isn't any way to convert between them i'm afraid.
If you can link to the Halogen light i can do some digging for you though :)
 
Aod said:
Good to hear Bennie!
A lot of people want super-throw until they experience a really bright light that has what i like to call a "utility beam" which is neither super-throw or super-flood, but a useful balance.
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Oh don't get me wrong i still want a super throw :D However the TK21 is perfect for what ill be using it for, so im more than happy :)
 
Fair enough then :D. remember that super-throw is actually a rather large technical challenge and you may want to head over to CPF to learn more. just watch out! :eek:

For example, i'm currently building an XP-G equipped torch that will out-throw a TIR-equipped XR-E light due to it's incredibly deep and well-made reflector. The Downside? it's cost me £150 so far and it's not even half done :eek:

Should be monstrous when it's complete though. :D
 
How fast does the Xtar charge 2400mah cells? I haven't had any trouble with my WF-139, but its ultra slow. Especially when you can't really leave it on overnight.
 
my WP2 (old version, so 600mA charge current) takes several hours to charge a 2250mAh cell fully.
That said, the new version can charge at 1000mA, so should take less time. additionally, you can safely charge overnight because after termination the cell is charged at an incredibly low rate (100 micro-amps)
 
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Aod said:
that's a complicated question. unfortunately, "3,500,000 candlepower" only means that a single point-of light at (possibly) one meter has a brightness of 3,500,000Lux. the BC40 is rated in Lumens, which is the measure of the total brightness, or the total amount of light that it produces.

there isn't any way to convert between them i'm afraid.
If you can link to the Halogen light i can do some digging for you though :)
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Thanks :)

They don't appear to have a brand name; the only one I can find is called a Sealey AK437 however if you google 3500000 halogen torch it brings up similar results but no manufacturer or model names.

I'd be interested to see how the halogen compares to the modern LED type torch (like the BC40) but that may require buying both and trying them out in the field.
 
Okay, it looks like the AK437 has 2x 6V 4000mAh lead-acid cells and a runtime of 30 mins.

roughly this implies that it's a 12v 100W halogen bulb. Wiki tells me that high-power halogens produce around 24 lumens per watt which means that this light would produce something like 2300 lumens when freshly charged, and that would taper off rapidly as the batteries are discharged.

The BC40 is rated for about 700 lumens afaik, so about 1/3rd the brightness, but the BC40 only draws about 9W of electrical power and is considerably smaller :)

I hope this helps :)
 
You can't really compare as that Sealey is more of a floodlight with a 170mm reflector. I'd imagine it would be brighter with much more flood.
 
Mark A said:
You can't really compare as that Sealey is more of a floodlight with a 170mm reflector. I'd imagine it would be brighter with much more flood.
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Actually, a tiny filament and a 170mm reflector would make this much more of a portable spotlight, which is how these enormous candlepower ratings arise :)
 
Ahh, so it is. I'm getting mixed up with the halogen floodlights we have at work.

I can't believe how cheap they are. Just seen it on one site for £27 :eek:. Are they any good? Seem way too cheap for that sort of power.
 
Mark A said:
Ahh, so it is. I'm getting mixed up with the halogen floodlights we have at work.

I can't believe how cheap they are. Just seen it on one site for £27 :eek:. Are they any good? Seem way too cheap for that sort of power.
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in all honestly, they're pretty terrible, especially with Lead-acid batteries which these ones seem to have.

Poor runtimes, very heavy, beam-pattern like a pizza, inconsistent brighness during the runtime and their overall fragility mean that they're very very hard to recommend.

I suppose you could say that they're cheap for a reason.
 
jaybee said:
So... hmm. Recommendation for best bang per buck torch that is under £60, amazing flood, good throw, no longer than 20cm (preferably not above 16 ish so similar to P7 Lenser) and fairly tough/waterproof ish. Bright as possible but MUST last 2.5 - 3 hours. Do any of them last this long over 200 lumens in that size on high? Also, do they all tend to be adjustable with flood to spot control on the focus/lens part? Or are they mainly all fixed?
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http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-219/mg-P-dsh-rocket/Detail

Only lasts 2 hrs on high though.

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-152/ShiningBeam-S-dsh-mini-XP-dsh-G-R5/

I get 2hrs 45 mins out of mine.

I use one of each on my bike.
 
Aod said:
Torch choice is excellent. bare in mind that you are highly advised to shim the dropin to the host with copper/aluminium for heat conduction purposes.

it won't have very good runtime on high (less than two hours) but on low/medium should last for ages :)

Re. that charger; I've not heard anything about it which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but doesn't inspire confidence. Li-Ion cells are tempermental at the best of times, and compounded with dodgy chargers can be downright dangerous.
Of the cheap chargers, the Xtar WP2 v.2 is generally regarded as the best;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XTAR-WP2-II-Battery-Charger-/180712649835

add a couple of reasonably good cells (Not the ultrafire 3000mAh ones!) and you should be golden.

These two reviews cover a wide range of cells. you'll note that most of the x-y-z-Fire cells don't even come close to their stated capacities.
http://www.lygte-info.dk/info/Battery 18650 UK.html
http://lygte-info.dk/info/Batteries18650-2011 UK.html

My personal cell recommendation would be anything by AW:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?230876-AW-s-LiIon-Batteries-Sales-Thread-*Part-12*
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Looking forward to it going dark tonight :) as my Solarforce L2 arrived today (went for the L2 instead of the L2T as the L2T looked like it would roll around as it had no hexagonal anti-roll segment on the head).

Went for some Yezl 2400mAh protected 18650s from ebay seller big_f_d_d in the end, which will hopefully be OK (couldn't quite stretch to the AW ones). My WP2 II charger hasn't arrived yet, however the Yezls are reading 4.14V so I presume they should be OK to at least give it a little tryout tonight.

I've shimmed the drop-in with some aluminium from a coke can which is the best I can do for now until I get some copper sheet ordered. Hopefully that will manage to help with the heat dissipation for now, although I don't plan on driving it too hard/long.

Given that my current torches are a circa. 10 year old incandescent bulb 2xD-cell plastic Duracell, and a £2.99-from-the-petrol-station 3xAA '9-LED' special I'm guessing I'll notice the difference :D
 
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