I suppose it’s to offer a less chunky overall light with similar lumen output. A pair of 26350 cells has a bit more capacity than a top-notch 18650 and isn’t too much bigger in diameter. I like the feel of my 26650 flashlights. It’s still quite a bit slimmer than a 4x18650 body although there’s the tradeoff in run time. A pair of 26650 Shockli cells might be a match for a quad of 18650 cells and there are those that like the longer form, maybe because it reminds them of a Maglight that were so popular for so long.
Again, I ask if there’s a picture of a longer battery tube or can this run with a single 26650? Does it use a boost driver?
I’d also like to know what kind of run times it gets with a pair of 26350 cells. The cells that are available aren’t the cutting edge of technology.
Interesting form factor, although it might be a bit misleading. I really don’t see the logic of the 2x26350 configuration, besides for the voltage necessity. It’s possible that just with the SC26, two times protected (Imalent) 26350 is too long to fit, so only unprotected cells can operate this light in short form which will further reduce cell choice. The light is probably also demanding a lot from the 26350 cells…
So basically I see this light as a 2x26650 light, which is interesting for people who like this form factor. Another interesting light by Haikelite, but at this moment it looks like I’m going to skip this one. I don’t think the output and beam is anything exciting to write about, and I’m just not into multi 26650 lights.
But man, this light does make me wonder what other lights Haikelite will be releasing in the future… :sunglasses:
Edit:
But I do have two sets of 26650 cells I was using for the L6 anyway… Well I’ll just have to sign up to freeme’s list just in case. :person_facepalming:
I do not have this light, but I do have the SC26 (single 26650, dual 26350), and two protected (Imalent) 26350 will not fit. I also would not run the SC04 on two 26350, as this battery is not powerful.
But generally speaking you do not need protected cells to run this light.
You need an extension tube for 2x21700/26650s since the boost driver can boost from 3,6-12V, with a limited power output at 2500 lumens, and 7,2-12V, with max output at 5000 lumens.
Just rcv'd one of these SC04's - oh boy, two major issues:
it will not run on 1 cell, RED LED comes on, comes on low only, then flickers, then goes off - all in a few seconds. It's acting like the driver is not designed for one cell. It works pretty well on 2 cells, though I only measured 4100 lumens at turn on, Tom E hyped up lumens even, on 2 good LK 5000 cells
The LED's are not centered and found out why - the LED centering pieces are too small for the reflector holes so have wiggle room, and the LED's wiggle around in the hole of the centering pieces. So with the 4 separate MCPCB's wired in series, not mounted, just has thermal grease under them, there's lots of slop movement and positioning possible.
Awful design issues... More comments:
But I do have to say the overall quality of the light is pretty darn good
The LED wires are only 24 AWG coming off the driver though
I do like the feel of the switch
the bezel is smooth SS, not as pictured strike bezel design - the Ali store page shows 1/2 pics with strike bezel, 1/2 smooth - luv the consistency...
it's a nice compact size with just a one cell setup (probably go this route with a replacement driver, rewired LED's in parallel)
What are u guys doin over there at HaikeLite? Why are you trying to kill your rep like this? I don't get it....
They’ve got some interesting designs on paper but it seems that there’s something missing in a few of their final products. Shame really. I really like my SC26, but hesitate to purchase any other Haikelite until they’ve been tested and reviewed here.
I got the Haikelite SC04 from their aliexpress store. I first modded the LEDs to SST20 2700K JB4 95CRI from Convoy. Here’s a quick look at the disassembly. The main gotcha is that the reflector does not slide out or unscrew out. It is held down by a screw on the driver side. One you remove the screw and take out the reflector, there are 4 16mm XP-sized MCPCBs wired in series. The brown stuff is not glue, so the MCPCBs can easily be taken out.
The UI has a choice of ramping UI and several predefined modes UI groups. I chose the 6 predefined modes group:
2lms -> 50lms -> 150lms -> 750lms 1500lms> Max 5000lms
Shining the light at a fan, I couldn’t see any PWM effect. In the lowest mode, my phone detected a flickering effect. Since I couldn’t see it on the fan blades, maybe it’s super high frequency PWM, or some kind of electrical noise. Whatever it is, I could not visibly detect it.
At close range (about 3 walking steps in front of me), the hotspot size is similar to a Convoy C8 XM-L2, but it doesn’t have a sharply defined hotspot. It has more of an orange-peel reflector type smoothed out dropoff from the hotspot to the spill area. When walking at night, I felt only a small amount of “tunnel vision” at this close range, so it’s quite usable.
At the max mode, the beam is concentrated enough to reach a large bush at 200 meters, despite ambient light coming from nearby building construction.
Cons
When the flashlight is on, the side switch is lit blue, and it has PWM. I can easily see the PWM effect by waving the flashlight around or by darting my eyes quickly.
The LED centering gasket is loose, not centered, so the LEDs aren’t centered. The gasket is round, different than the pictured square gaskets. They also fit a bit loosely around the LEDs, allowing the LEDs to shift around slightly under the gasket.
There’s no physical lockout. I unscrewed the head so the o-ring is visible, and I can still turn on the flashlight. There’s no difference with loosening the long tube adapter, or by loosening the tailcap.
The minimum required battery current is not specified. I first tested using these protected LG MJ1, max 8A due to the protection circuit. I can run the max mode from fully charged 4.2V down to 3.0V without tripping the protection, so that’s OK. But when the battery is partly drained (example, 3.6V), and I change modes, the protection circuit trips. This suggests that during mode changing, the driver causes a large pulse of current drain from the battery, tripping the protection circuit. These protected KeepPower 30Qs 15A max are OK.
I once saw a bright spark when screwing on the tail cap. This was also reported here.
UI Improvements
From off, add a long-press shortcut to the lowest mode. Right now, if I want to change to the lowest mode, I must cycle through the max mode, which is an eyeball fryer, especially at night. Also, if I forget that the last used mode was the max mode, and then I turn on the flashlight, I can also fry my eyeballs.
Conclusion
The SC04 is a good concept. It’s like a budget, compact version of the Thrunite TN40 quad LED searchlight. I like it more than I thought I would, because it’s usable at close, walking range, and it’s also capable of reaching far if necessary. Haikelite needs to fix the cons and make a version 2. Then this will really be a good buy.
