thank you Jason:)
hm…iam more into floody ones.they are bright enough…who need to see every night 300 meters?
i will see.thanks:) yes,the guy confused me:)anyway,its possible to buy it in Europe from local sellers…interesting:)
Got my U12 a few days ago. Some more info:
- Moonlight mode is customizable anywhere from 0 lm to around 50 lm in 21 steps.
- Finally, Manker is putting true NW led instead of WW, unlike the U11.
- Measured standby current is 240 uA (indicator off) and 2.8 mA (indicator on).
- Serial number, better feel of the button (not stiff like U11).
Do you have anymore comments or updates on this light?
Any QC issues with your light?
Like mentioned earlier; I’m also guessing the battery has an added Protection Circuit added to it because otherwise I don’t think the OP would have had a problem fitting it in a modern charger. Have you been able to fit the battery into an external charger?
Have you tested to see if a bare 21700 flat-top cell will fit in the light?
My u22 came with moonlight set to 0, did your u12 come that way?
I’m wondering if they will start selling this with an updated tube for the 21700, they are using the 21700 in the u22. I have the u22, but bought it without battery since I have several 21700, but I don’t know if I can trust the built-in charger with an unprotected battery so I always charge it externally. I can’t find a place to buy the u12 without the battery or I would probably do that.
I think these lights (u12, and u22) remain expensive because they know with these batteries they will likely not sell a lot of them right now, and they may have trouble sourcing enough bare cells for their batteries also. The 20700 may be getting harder to get, not sure about the 21700, but based on price of these batteries I can see many people just sticking with the tried, true, and beautiful 18650.
well i want also this light…dont know why,i like it much more than Emisar…but waiting for neutral version.Definitely.But as i know,the mcpcb is not fixed to the body…So it rotate.And the heatransfer is because of it not very good.I wrote them,they said,the problem is just the sample version.But people already bought it and its still not repaired.So i am not sure,when i will buy it…Mixed feelings now…
The inner diameter of the battery chamber is 20.7mm. So there’s no possibility to fit in a 21700 battery, with or without tube.
The supplied Manker 4250mAh battery has an overcharge/discharge protection circuit and is 74.4mm long, I can’t physically fit it in my Keeppower L1 charger (only takes up to 65mm cells).
Charging current in the flashlight is around 0.7A (same as U11).
I don’t remember what the Moonlight mode was set to when I first got the light, but thats very easy to change, the Engineering mode on the U11/T01/E11 was very convoluted and is now gone.
Other than that, I hate the fact that the LED mcpcb isn’t held down with screws to the internal copper heatsink. I thought it was only in the prototype model shown here by Budda, until I opened the light head to see that the mcpcb was actually rotated almost 90deg as they tightened the bezel. It rotated together with the mirror on the paste underneath. Both the mcpcb and the heatsink underneath are D shaped, so with the mcpcb rotated the actual heat transfer area was reduced by almost half. Pretty silly design from Manker. The way I solved this was to grease the o-ring that’s between the glass and the mirror, so that it slides easily on the glass when I tightened the bezel so that the mirror and mcpcb does not rotate. Worth noting that the mirror has an o-ring on its outside rim to help not rotate, but it was not enough. I also have the U11 and have had the E11. Both of those have mcpcb screws.
But maybe they figured the U12 doesn’t need screws, as both the mcpcb and heatsink underneath are solid copper. After all, the CPU in your PC isn’t held down with screws to the heatsink, yet the heat transfer is very good. Still, the rotation problem remains.
But besides that, I would say that the U12 is a better light than the U11 (if you are into floody lights that is), once you make sure the thermal contact is good. It runs cooler than U11 at the same lumen output, runtime is also twice longer, not only because the larger battery, but because the XHP50.2 is more efficient than the XP-L.
What’s with this 18650\26650 in MOUTH.
I carry the little AA ones in mouth when neded.
But ALL others. I just tuck under armpit.
Much easier.
My Imalent DN35 runs a 26650 and will run forever at 1500
with turbo at 2200. Not that “I” Can see much difference t’ween the two (1500\2200)
20\450\900\1500\turbo 2200. in a small comfortable torch IN hand.
Personally, I can’t see the practicality of anything between the 18650\
26650. Lots of stocks. lots of chargers.
It’s just the same old. Same old. “something different”.
I always carry a spare 18650\14500 in pocket anyway.
the 26650 torches I have are only used intermittently for short periods. longer\wider coverage.
It’s getting to the stage anything more than a Sofurn C8T,
you looking at a searchlight.
Something like the Imalent DX80 I’m saving for.
Just to have it. NOT that I’d ever neet to use it.
I can’t see that far. Chuckle.
same terrible switch design that broke for no reason on my U11, unfixable for about 4 different reasons
wle
its really so bad?i want this light…its plastic or…?
that rubber cover on the button came off
it could not be glued back or reattached the original way
soon after that the switch fell apart {trying to use it without the cover}
the driver is glued in so you cannot get to the switch to replace it (or to replace the cover the right way)
yes it is terrible
as i said
no way i would pay $70 for this POS
you could get 3 decent lights for this - all of them astrolux S1/BLF A6
wle
so this is really shit……but i will buy it from local seller.with warranty.so i will see…oh,this brands even make good lights with some really stupid mistakes…
maybe i just had a bad one
but for me the stat was 100% bad
it lasted about 6 months
i definitely did not do anything rough or bad to it
wle
well.i wrote them about this problems….especially about the star with the led thing…no answer…
i tried to get them interested in the bad-switch problem too, no response
i even said ‘i am going to publicly shame this product’
nothing
wle
well,i dont like ,when the colacl seller here dont respond for questions too….its make it all suspicious
I bought my U11 late in May 2017, in spite of a ton of bad reviews of dead lamps and switches, stray LEDs and bad firmware etc, these all dated early 2016, about the time the light was introduced. So it’s almost a year now since I’ve got it and I had no issues with it whatsoever. I think Manker has fixed the issues on the go.
But talking about Astrolux S1/BLF A6, I don’t think I’d ever go back to a tailcap clicky, their resistance increases over time, you will not get the lumen output it once had, and that without knowing. I’ve had this happen on an older 37 lumen Fenix light, let alone at 1600 lumen. I think it would bug me for eternity not being sure about the output.
the tail clicky element is easily replaceable though, if that ever happened - there’s not even anything to solder
it comes right out
wle
Thanks for the excellent feedback. I bought a couple “cheap” lights, a newer Zebra headlamp, and some other stuff so I decided to put this one on hold. Interested in a good 20700 based light, best if I can use the cells I have already though.
I made a mistake, the moonlight mode on my U22 did not come from the factory set to zero, it seems the Moonlight was actually quite high, but the “High” mode would not operate with 3.5V battery, but the fact that Turbo seemed to work (much brighter than medium) I thought it was skipping over Moonlight, but it was actually refusing to go into High, but not refusing to go into Turbo.
iam not a modder….so you recomend to buy this flashlight??
I wonder if I could bore out the body 1 mm to take a 21700 cell……
My U12 have defect in driver: blink on turbo.
I pull out driver and try to repair. Driver photos on this page: Strange light in my arms...: Manker U12 - (почти) первый рефлекторник на 20700, USB-C и XHP50.2