Spec me an LED Torch

mrk said:
Makes you wonder why car makers don't use LED headlights as they're highly focusable and project light very evenly (even compared to Xenons) - they're use less power than current headlights too no? They could also make more unique headlight designs which are smaller and more stylish because current ones are pretty massive on a lot of cars!

Only the new BMW 6 series uses LED headlights that I know of. They could then get rid of the ghastly daytime running LED strip lights completely.
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high-intensity (like 5000 lumens) LED's are extremely difficult to focus effectively compared to incandescents. Also, incan's are much cheaper to replace if they're faulty, and the power consumption of the lights is a fraction of a percent of the energy usage of a car :p
 
Actually, I am quite impressed with this zoom LED Torch.

When at the non-spread setting, the one where you can see the markings of the LED in its beam, it is more a lightsaber than the C8. Similar intensity but just a very narrow beam.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Actually, I am quite impressed with this zoom LED Torch.

When at the non-spread setting, the one where you can see the markings of the LED in its beam, it is more a lightsaber than the C8. Similar intensity but just a very narrow beam.
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yes, but there's also much much less total light output :(
 
2.7 wasn't it? Most decent torches have digital protection that will cut the power anyway while others will put the led into ultra low power mode, like 8 lumens or something from reading various specs!
 
This not-too-accurate diagram shows why Aspheric ("zoomable") Lights are so inefficient;

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ThriceNightly said:
what volt is it recommended to run 18650 cells down too before recharging ?
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mrk said:
2.7 wasn't it? Most decent torches have digital protection that will cut the power anyway while others will put the led into ultra low power mode, like 8 lumens or something from reading various specs!
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I strongly advise discharging no lower than 3.5v for healthy happy cells.
 
Aod said:
that's exactly why. not that it matters. these Chinese/Hong-Kong sellers are not especially accurate when labelling their packages :p
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Quite.

Every single lithium item I've ordered since the cut off (inc $500 worth of Lipo which is even more volatile than 18650 cells) have come by air mail.
 
That's not about the current-draw, it was simply due to faulty cells.
They were sony-manufactured 18650's, of which the laptop had six.

Any 18650 could potentially fail in a similar way if mistreated enough.
 
Got tired of waiting for my charger and 18650s to arrive so I charged up a junky old Dell at work and then carefully removed the batteries so I could try out the two UltraFire C8s I got off eBay.

I'm well impressed. I shone a light that was clearly visible on the hotel at the top of the hill from my back garden. Must be 3/4 of a mile away. Got the cool lightsaber effect too.

Now I'd like a similar brightness torch but with a wider throw to compliment my C8 when night riding on my mountain bike. Anything suitable on eBay? Also what's the current best AA torch on eBay as the wife wants one (or three) for her mountain bikes.
 
Tesco Cree Torch Review!

I was in my local Tesco when i saw this. I looked into the reflector and lo-and-behold, it was equipped with a Cree XR-E emitter and used AA batteries.

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As you can see, it has this nice little date on it, possibly indicating the date of manufacture. the 2AA indicator is nice too.

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the Head and Tail both detach. there are o-rings at both ends, they came unlubricated, but some sillicone grease soon solved that.

The threads are a bit cheap but work well enough. The length of the threads at the head-end is rather short.

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The tailcap button is recessed by this nice ring meaning its harder to accidentally activate while in pocket/bag. there's a hole in the ring for the lanyard (included) to go through.

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The torches output is quite acceptable for 2xAA

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Here it is next to my XM-L on max (2.8A) as you can see, it isn't completely drowned out which is impressive

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This is the Tesco 2xAA on a white-wall. ISO800, f/4 1/100

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This is an 18650-powered XR-E R2 module in a Solarforce L2P with identical exposure.

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Considering that the 18650 torch is lithium-powered and runs the LED at the full 1000mA of current, the tesco torch is very comparable. I measured 760mA draw at the tailcap of the TescoTorch, which works out at about 500mA at the LED.

The Smooth reflector does cause the beam to be a bit ringy and artifacty, however, the beam is very tight and throwy making this torch perfectly usable outside.

Be aware, the lens appears to be made of plastic. It is recessed but you should attempt to keep it away from things that might scratch it.

For £10, it comes highly recommended from me.
 
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with runtime tests i am guessing it is ok to switch torch of and stop the clock to allow cool down and take occasional volt readings?

any advice appreciated as I think the way mrk and myself were doing our test with bc40 was not correct (running torch until it switched off either by cell protection or by torch circuitry :) )
 
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