The stock LED is a cold white XP-L2, similar in color to my stock Klarus Mi7 but with the XP-L2 tint shift. I prefer neutral emitters between 4000K and 5000K. I ordered a 4000K 80-CRI XP-L2 V3 from Arrow (XPLBWT-00-0000-000HV340G) and swapped it in last night. I’ve heard the Easy White 80 CRI XP-L2’s weren’t as bad with tint shift, but on mine it’s still pretty bad looking. I also picked up a 5000K version (XPLBWT-00-0000-000HV250G) that I might try.
What you see after unscrewing the bezel and removing the gasket (note: the reflector is stacked on top of the lens and bezel ring)
Inside the head after removing the MCPCB, which is 16mm DTP copper
New emitter has been reflowed, the old one next to it
Original beamshot against my flat white ceiling
New beamshot in the same location
Specifications: the output numbers actually didn’t change hardly at all
table(table#posts).
||Low|Med|High|Turbo|
|Original Lumens|2|42|181|1058|
|New Lumens|2|43|181|1066|
I’m still not fully satisfied with that beam, but I’m not sure if I want to mess around with it any more. I might try the 5000K 80-CRI XP-L2, though I had that destined for another light. I also have some LH351D’s sitting around that I might try.
Don’t forget the triple click to Turbo from ON
I’ll be looking for your mods mate !!
This surely is a great light and the long press for OFF is the only thing that bugs me the most! Other than that…you’ve said it, it is a very nice flashlight
Thanks for the review!! :+1:
I like that it can memorize turbo mode as well. This means you can use it as a tactical flashlight. I’m into 14500 size and their 1000 Lumens had my attention. That is until…
I’m familiar with the UI, and yuck. First a long press for off (reminds me of an Astrolux S42) and double clicking brings on the strobe and sos. I’d be in the blinky modes accidentally all the time. I’ll be back when they put in some ramping and drop the blinky modes or allow them to remain disabled.
Factory Specifications table has been updated. Which leads me to…
Ponderings & Pure Speculation: the spec and measured runtimes on 14500 seem to match up too well. My measurements were spot-on to the minute with the specs. How on earth could my High runtime test end just before 181 minutes (like 180.5 minutes), with a factory spec of 3 hours (180 minutes)… that’s too perfect! And battery voltage still being at 3.19V afterward? Likewise during the Turbo test… it cut out at 63 minutes, ending with the battery at 3.14V. Spec is 3+60, exactly my measured time. I’ve never seen a manufacturer time the cutoffs, so perhaps it is purely coincidental. Or is it?
I might need to re-run a couple of these tests with different batteries (such as the 900 mAh Soshine ones I have sitting around) and see if the times are consistent or if they change.
WooW, that is on spot Nice measurements, yours and…Wuben’s
BTW, what Soshine batteries do you have if I may ask?
The Sanyo 14500 (unprotectect flat top), Efest 14500 (unprotectect flat top) and Sofirn 14500 900mAh (unprotected button top) don’t work on my, due to the flat top (first 2) and due to length (sofirn) :zipper_mouth_face:
These are the ones I’ve got. Ugh, now that I see that price again (less than $8 for 4 batteries), I’m tempted to get more even though I don’t need them :person_facepalming:
They’re shorter than the included Wuben battery, but they work ok. If I hit the light hard with my hand it’ll flash due to losing contact, but I have to force it to happen.
Thanks. And I don’t think I’ll be able to get pics of the driver, unfortunately. The tube appears to be glued to the head. At least I can’t twist it with my hands, and I don’t have strap wrenches to try. Thankfully the stainless bezel isn’t glued and I can attack the emitter that way.
Nice looking light and I like the UI. I am really interested to get my hands on one to give it a try
I like 14500 lights for the form factor. Will it run on AA just in case you need a quick battery if the one in it dies?
Hum, much better tint now on the flashlight And improved lumens
And thanks for pointing out the batteries! I’ll probably need to get one or 2 that are longer than mine, so that I have some spares. These Soshine may be some candidates
It should fit fine. The only thing is I don’t remember if it’s a 1mm or 1.6mm thick MCPCB (I’m thinking 1mm, but I didn’t measure). Worse case if you use a 1.6mm and it was a 1mm is that you’d have a tiny gap between the stainless bezel and the head. You might be able to sand down the gasket a bit to add clearance. What LED are you thinking about swapping in?