Review: The new HaikeLite MT07 - Buffalo XHP70 thrower

I’ll check it later today. I mean, I threw them all on my charger afterward… and all 4 voltages were 4.13-4.15. Output has been steady, and not flickering- so it doesn’t feel likely. I’ll still check anyway. I will try my GAs too- they were charging when performing my lux and lumen test on turbo. By the way I’m using button top GAs and HG2… and they’re fairly close in dimensions, so that would also seem odd. Flat tops won’t make contact on my light, so I can’t use any of those.

Oh, you’re probably fine as far as contact goes then. The problem was with flattop HG2’s.

Ok, well I have some stuff to check after work tonight then. I have the Neutral White version, Tom seems to have the cool white version. I wonder if anyone else got the NW version and had tested it.

I got #'s posted in the OP ?? And yes - mine is N4 CW, the NW is N2. Also I would not use HG2's - the light will work fine on one pair with the other pair not making contact. Actually I never got HG2's to work.

In my MT07, I removed the plastic pieces around the Batt+ contact on both ends - now all flat top cells work . They were glued down, relatively easy to remove - finger nail or flat head tool, just a bit messy looking with the glue remnants. Before I did this, and what drove me to doing it, I had 4 GA cells in the light doing a quick test. Afterward, I was gonna top off the cells, and notice one pair was 4.15V and the other pair was 4.20V - ? Only way I could explain this was one pair wasn't making contact. So even with the best fitting flat top (edit) cells, the GA's, it's a hit and miss.

I got two L6's and in stock form, both don't compare well to the MT07 - the MT07- is about 1,200 lumens brighter and 73 kcd for the L6, 132 kcd for the MT07.

Is all of this true with button top cells too? Because that’s all I’m using. I understand you have CW numbers in the OP… I was wanting numbers for the NW light. I wouldn’t expect the brightness difference between the two bins, being what I’m describing- but I was curious what someone got with the NW.

Nice review, going to purchase one. Can anyone tell me the advantages and disadvantages of the different battery configurations on the MT07 and MT03?

Oops! Button tops seem to be good for contact, but you can't thread the tailcap completely up as far as you can with flat tops, but it covers the o-rings, so for me it's good. I've used/tested Samsung 30Q button tops. Edited the post above.

Okie dokie. I’ll have to look at it and see if I can figure out what’s going on. I have flattops… so I might just remove the plastic spacers inside and try that. It’s quite possible this light isn’t perfect for flattops or button tops out of the box.

Added some comparative outdoor beam shots to the OP. Not happy bout the quality on my LUMIX DMC-ZS7, but probably my settings. Might have more to add, reviewing now..

Well that’s not the ideal situation. What about the ones Haikelite are selling with the light in their thread? The Sanyo 3500 GA’s? Are those botton top, and do they fit properly?

I’ve been told they’re button tops, and I have 4 of those. Without seeing a picture I can’t be sure which version they’re including (flat tops or button tops). Maybe someone can chime in. I am going to try a few different cells this evening and see if I can get to the bottom of what the issue is. The bottom line is, flat tops cells don’t seem to work unless you do some light modification of the battery tube. Button top cells do work, but only unprotected. The battery tube doesn’t have much wiggle room on length, so don’t expect to fit something much greater than 67mm button top- or flat tops if you mod it (by modding the flashlight slightly, or by using solder blobs on your flat tops).

GA' have a protruding top, not a true button top, but the flat tops protrude more than typical ones. SANYO's are typical with this feature.

OP Updated: Added more beamshots - animated GIF's showing the 5 modes at two different ranges. That may be it for now.

Nice job with the beamshots. :+1:

Ok, so if you order a GA unprotected then it should work? But you do have to remove the insert right? I have button top GAs from mountain electronics. They can be ordered that way.

Well, I know I used the set of GA's with the inserts and all appeared to work fine. Just that one time I noticed two of the 4 cells, when pulled, were discharged a little (expected) and one pair wasn't discharged at all. So, I'm think'n now it could be flaky with GA's. Maybe it was my fault - didn't tighten the cap up enough, but even so, it's not good. Also those springs, though appear to be high quality, seem to be flattening out with use. I added bypasses in them - not sure if any difference though, didn't see any.

Thanks!

The indent on the MT03 was also wide enough to accept the protruded GA top.

Yeah… well I was suggested HG2s, 30Qs, and then GAs. So now I have 8 batteries that aren’t that useful. Looks like I’ll be getting some flat top GAs now. I third time is a charm. By the way… even with button top GAs I’m still getting only about 3380 lumens off fresh batteries right out of the charger.

Oh dear… Now you just have to buy all these cells a new light… Ah well, as long as your batteries are happy, right?

Yikes! Hhmm, that seems like a problem to be measuring that low.

For the cells, dunno what went on. I had all kinds of cells so not a problem for me. They were saying HG2's, but I can't get them to work, and I'm reading others are using HG2's in the MT03 -- I don't get it. They were telling you 30Q flats would work? Oh boy... I've been pm'ing them my HG2's didn't work and they said from the beginning they do work... I'm totally confused about it.

What cells then are you using to take the measurements?

Removing the plastic pieces around the Batt+ contacts solves all the flat top problems, least for me so far.