Spec me an LED Torch

Depending on how it's driven, the XM-L will get up to 2 hours at max brightness, most likely closer to 1.5.

The XPE's are old and tiny, I imagine they will last a few hours but I have no idea how efficient they are!

Seems overkill to pair such old lights with an XM-L which is super bright in the first place though!
 
My C8 won't switch on again. I think it's a poor solder at the tail switch, though I couldn't get it to switch on with the paperclip trick (connect abttery neg to non-anodised part of case) last night either. So tonight I'll have a crack with some solder and if all else fails replace the dropin or tailswitch, depending on which has failed (multimeter time).
 
mrk said:
Depending on how it's driven, the XM-L will get up to 2 hours at max brightness, most likely closer to 1.5.

The XPE's are old and tiny, I imagine they will last a few hours but I have no idea how efficient they are!

Seems overkill to pair such old lights with an XM-L which is super bright in the first place though!
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Thanks :) I guess the idea is to run the XPE lights if the road is already well lit and use the T6 on its own or combined on unlit roads. I heard that the inclusion of the XPE increases the width of the beam making which I thought would be a desirable thing. I've messaged a few people who have bought the lights asking how long their battery lasted when the lights were at full power.

Also am I right in saying that when the battery is depleting, the lights will dim or is that not the case?
 
Robbie G said:
My C8 won't switch on again. I think it's a poor solder at the tail switch, though I couldn't get it to switch on with the paperclip trick (connect abttery neg to non-anodised part of case) last night either. So tonight I'll have a crack with some solder and if all else fails replace the dropin or tailswitch, depending on which has failed (multimeter time).
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I assume you’ve checked the voltage of your battery first? Could be the battery at fault as I found with my BC40!

Hamster said:
Thanks :) I guess the idea is to run the XPE lights if the road is already well lit and use the T6 on its own or combined on unlit roads. I heard that the inclusion of the XPE increases the width of the beam making which I thought would be a desirable thing. I've messaged a few people who have bought the lights asking how long their battery lasted when the lights were at full power.

Also am I right in saying that when the battery is depleting, the lights will dim or is that not the case?
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If it's running a decent controller then the light output should be constant until the battery reaches 2.75v at which point either the torch or the battery's protected circuit cuts power.
 
silversurfer said:
^^ Track back in the thread, someone mentioned a bike light and it was a much simpler single light fixed on well, I used to have big old lights on mine and its a pain to manage especially if you are offroad
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Thanks. I've heard about the o-rings shaking the light when off-road and the plan is to get a decent fixed mount for it. Saying that though, I'm not too sure whether the light will fit onto a universal mount!!

mrk said:
If it's running a decent controller then the light output should be constant until the battery reaches 2.75v at which point either the torch or the battery's protected circuit cuts power.
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Thanks. If the lights last 90 minutes with everything on then I'll be happy enough. Not sure what the electronics are like with these cheap lights, I guess not amazing. From what I've heard the light unit itself is very well constructed (on external inspection).
 
Robbie G said:
Yeah and I swapped batteries in case it was a protection thing. They were all at 4.10 - 4.15 V. I also have another C8 that's working fine with the same battery.
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Ah you had the XM-L version yep? I emailed a reseller about my BC40 and he said they don't stock UltraFire batteries any more purely because there are so many suppliers claiming their brand is genuine product when they're not, it's hard to tell what's good and what isn't.

I know that's for batteries but I think the same applies to the XM-L C8 too, the emitter is quite hungry and requires completely reliable components to power it and keep heat moving in one direction.

It does sound like the XM-L might have killed itself! Most likely due to CHina build quality differences across the board of products?
 
Yeah they're both XM-L. I was expecting a 50% death rate from looking around about cheap Chinese torches but I'm fairly hopeful I can fix it, since it's more likely to be a loose connection somewhere rather than a dead emitter.
 
I only know lumens ¬_¬

Also, Manafont are sending me a new reflector for the C8, yay! They appear to have refunded me the cost of the duff one too :p
 
I've been thinking quite a bit about this now and I am so close to buying a JetBeam BC10 (unless there's an equivalent?).

It's got about the same run time as the BC40 (16hrs on low vs 18hrs) and it's highly pocketable, just a bit taller than the 4sevens.

It costs £30 and looks cute too and outputs 270lumens with a range of 130metres.

I could do with a torch that can just clip to my camera backpack strap when climbing and crawling so I could essentially only need to take it and the Bc40 with me. Both would be nearly indestructible too.

Someone convince me using a reason why the BC10 is a bad idea quick!


Also, what CR123A batteries are decent? I've only ever used 18650 torches before :p

I also notice they have a BC25 as a new release, oh god, maybe I should replace my L2 and C8 with one of these instead altogether? It has a clippy too :p

Argh I promised I would not buy a new light for ages after the BC40 LOL!
 
But....that's not fun size enough!

Edit*
Ok,I have ordered a new glass lens for my L2 (my one has a hairline scratch) and also a pocket clip for it. Both came to £10, I can't bring myself to change the L2 because it is my first proper torch and as such I have a fondness for it :p

Plus it has 3.5 hours runtime at max 320 lumens :p
 
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Well I fixed my Ultrafire T6 C8 XM-L last night, with the complicated procedure of screwing the reflector unit (dropin?) in more tightly.

I then decided it would be a great idea to add some more solder to the tailswitch anyway, since I'd already dismantled it and the solder joint looked a bit flimsy. This was a mistake! I ended up with:

XR3jc.jpg

zzlObl.jpg

Note to self - these switches aren't serviceable unless you know what you're doing!! Where can I get another? :(

And a random image of the cap:

E5L4nl.jpg
 
Your switch seems different to mine, when I took mine apart it was more closer in design to the P60 host tail switches.

For how much these cost, just buy the cheapest C8 you can find and swap the tail cap over, job done :p

I've ordered a brand new OP reflector for my L2 now from SolarForce direct because I want one with a hotter centre spot and the SF one has a wider centre panel. £8.99 for a reflector as I had to buy it with the XP-G emitter to go with it as it is sold as one.

Anyone want a XP-G emitter suitable for any P60 host? Just cover postage :)

My L2 is going to be like new again :p
 
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