First Impressions Nitecore EX10 Ti and EX11.2

[jon_slider]

there are a few EX11.2 left on ebay still…

and fwiw, I found a fantastic old review that is extremely informative
here are some exerpts:

@okwchin

Review: Nitecore EX11.2

Power requirements for this torch is Very high on maximum, but mostly because the torch drops out of regulation and becomes linear when RCRs are used. The driver in this torch is a high frequency PWM driven current controlled driver. PWM frequency was measured to be above the 1Khz region so there no chance of it being visible At All. This boost circuit starts at 0.6V, and is fully regulated between the voltages of 1.9V and 3.1V, with a power draw of about 2.5-3 watts. Above 3.1V the current draw shoots up considerably, reaching 2.75A at 4.2V. This is not normally attainable with normal battery cells mostly due to the internal resistance of the cells, but even at 3.7V, its still drawing 1.55 Amps (thats still almost 6 watts!) This explains the pocket rocket output (remember that the emitter is not getting the full 6 watts due to efficiency)

…

On the other hand, I have seen many other members who don’t like the way some torches have the same output on NiMH/lithium/RCR such as the old EX10 where there were complaints that it wasn’t any brighter on RCR. Some see the ability to get a pocket rocket when changing battery type/voltage as a positive feature, which this torch certainly delivers on when moving up to RCRs. So I will leave that up to the user to decide on this element of the design.

…

Parasitc drain has always been an issue with electronically switched torches, with the early EX10 drawing 0.21mA, (thats 210uA, micro amps), and the EX11 drawing a scary 5mA or so!! This EX11.2 has resolved the parasitic drain issue which plagued the EX11.2, with a measured 6.7uA draw once it properly goes to sleep. In practical terms, thats 5-10 years theoretical battery life in sleep mode from a RCR, and 10+years from a CR123. Realistically 6.7uA is not much more than a RCRs self discharge, and it’s that small now that it’s practically irrelevant. I wouldn’t even bother mechanically locking out the torch unless I was maybe planning to leave it as a backup torch somewhere where I don’t expect to be using it for more than a year.

…

Battery limitations are a concern, especially for people running on RCR protected cells which are commonly longer. Additionally, the circuit doesn’t seem to be optimised for RCRs with a low thats not as crazy low, and with a serious boost to output on a freshly charged RCR thats bordering crazy. I would say the torch seems to have been designed for CR123 cells, so for people who primarily use CR123s, this is THE torch to have. Its also a battery vampire for with light output down to 0.6-0.7V. The reduced compatibility with RCRs because of length issues, and mostly because of its direct drive behaviour is the reason it loses half a star,

[jon_slider]

Good news about the EX10 driver

It runs Regulated Output on 16340 LiIon!!! so happy

modded the LED to High CRI 219b 4500k 9080 sw45k and output tripled, now
1 lumen low
225 max
60 gram carry weight

[jon_slider]

@CRX

I don’t know if I want to compliment that collection or build you a box with some sort of separators

did a mockup with some pick and pluck:
(pic is a link)

another option:
(pic is a link)

[AmbientSix]

Nice. Someone at pelican must be a flashlight guy lol. You can get your own epp foam and do the same if you already have a case. Cutting with a hot wire is not too difficult just don’t breathe it in!

[KawiBoy1428]

Whoa…

[pinkpanda3310 (Pinky)]

!https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/32/5e/f7325efa823d31c6a00c7bc8b55229db.gif !

[KawiBoy1428]

Got my second EX11.2 inserted brand new Surefire Red 123 the third on/off cycle it stayed on NO MORE!!!

Completely wiped the BAD little nuggets off both sides of this POS driver and mounted up a filed down 14mm to 12mm FETDD moppydrv. (I have 12mm Anduril drivers coming from Lexel)

. Sealed the bare contacts on both side of the pcb contact plate that used to be the driver with black epoxy paint, added the Golden Spring for easy smooth piston action, cheap $1.50 SS Clip and a 50.2 3volt emitter… just for gig’s

Almost 1900lm at T/O 1600lm at 30sec. and really HOT… lowest level is “moon” 4-5lm.

Very responsive piston/driver re-action zero failures to Turn Off

[jon_slider]

@KawiBoy1428

I have 12mm Anduril drivers coming from Lexel

sorry to hear your EX11.2 driver was flaky
congrats on your hot rod driver upgrade

if the Anduril drivers had AA compatibility and firefly lows, I might be tempted

[jon_slider]

Pelican 1075, just 40 bucks on ebay

[CRX]

[jon_slider]

thanks for the nudge in the right direction

[G0OSE]

@jon_slider

Pelican 1075, just 40 bucks on ebay

Sweet………. :+1:

[shirnask]

Even with the problems reported for the EX11.2 it was too interesting a light for me to pass up, so after finding some rechargeable 3v batteries…

And replacing the emitters with sw30, sw35, and sw45k….

And adding trits so I can find them in the dark (and because I just like them)…

I have used them for a few weeks now and have found that if I do a hard press of medium length I don’t have any unexpected results. Short clicks, no matter how hard may lead to undesired results. The same for light clicks. The only failures that I have had have been when I didn’t do both of these things.

[jon_slider]

@shirnask

fantastic mods!

[Bruno28]

is there any place I can get one of these?
I remember back in 2009 when I saw but couldn’t afford one always liked the piston mechanism.

[jon_slider]

@shirnask

I have used them for a few weeks now and have found that if I do a hard press of medium length I don’t have any unexpected results. Short clicks, no matter how hard may lead to undesired results. The same for light clicks. The only failures that I have had have been when I didn’t do both of these things.

Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks to enjoy the EX11.2

I also find that pressing deliberately, not lightly nor quickly, is helpful.

Today I discovered another factor I can adjust… piston travel!

.

I have an EX11.2 that was pissing me off!
the button just seemed to have a mind of its own
it would not ramp, it would strobe when I did not want it to, it would not turn off…
I blamed the LED, I blamed the battery, I blamed my thumb

the solution was to back the head out 1/8 to 1/4 turn

Nirvana!!!

all my clicks are now understood properly by the EX11.2 driver. I can go to minimum, maximum, strobe, sos, turn on, ramp up and down, turn off… all predictably.

.

speculation, why does unscrewing the head work?:

I think that when the head is fully tight, the piston pushes the spring loaded brass contact ring too close to the driver. The piston does not have enought travel to rebound properly, to allow the brass ring to lift itself away from the driver.

by loosening the head, we eliminate the excess compression from the piston pressing on the contact ring

with the head slightly loose, there is a bit more piston travel, and everything works properly

also note, different batteries have different lengths, cr123 are shorter than protected 16340, etc…

fwiw, the head loses contact with the piston if unscrewed 3/4 turn… so dont do that… unless you want to use the light as a single mode twisty

Thats a feature, not a bug… LOL!

[shirnask]

Thanks for that tip. I have now loosened the heads on the three EX11.2’s that I have and I will be testing to see if this makes it easy enough to let a less experienced person use these lights comfortably as I really like the beam profile after changing out the emitters.

[jon_slider]

@shirnask

I have now loosened the heads on the three EX11.2’s that I have and I will be testing

thanks for joining the research team

I look forward to your observations

[Gunga]

I often tuned my d10 and ex10 lights by filing and sanding to reduce the length a touch.

[Boaz]

The trick that Okwchin taught me years ago about how to minimize effort needed to activate pistons was that there becomes a suction between the top of the piston and the light . Top here meaning the shoulder of the piston. People spend a lot of time looking at the o-ring thinking that’s the problem . but it’s mainly the shoulder/suction and viscosity of lube . Ex models are obviously worse offenders . clean your shoulders .