i changed the order to unprotected cells. i have never used unprotected cells before. I gather you just make sure you dont discharge too far and dont charge unattended.
Just did a test outside of the SIPIK CK361. That thing throws like crazy for a $15 light. I like the beam when throwing better than my romisen RC-29. Has more spill when throwing. The beam is as ugly as can be inside but for its intended use it looks great. I cant wait until someone makes an XM-L recoil.
I try not to go below 3.6V and will recharge at 3.8-3.9V if I can. The good thing is it is a pretty small cell, so there isn't nearly the energy that you would have in an 18650 if something does go wrong.
I got n order from DX in the post today, I took some photos to show what I got. Sadly it seem that the card reader I bought of ebay about a month ago does not infact work, there is a chance £2.11 is not enough for a card reader :P
A box arrived today. Which was posted in Shenzen on Saturday night - arrived at lunchtime today.
In the boxes were these two.
These were very kindly sent by Shenzen Wholesale for review. There will be more pictures and reviews of both of them at the weekend. They are an Xtar WK20 (CR123) and Xtar WK30 (AA)
Personal policy, I don't think I ought to keep review lights so there will also be a couple of giveaways in the future.
For a sneak preview, my first impression is that they are both very nice and the WK30 came with some nice accessories.
I'll start a giveaway thread once the reviews are done.
1235 lux / 222 lumens on high with the provided Xtar CR123. I need to do some homework to see if it'll take RCR cells. It is tiny, shorter than two CR123s. And very light, 20g empty, 43g with a CR123 and the lobster-claw clip. Maximum diameter is 20.7mm.
So far got part of my DX order 1 Led headlamp , 4 Trustfire TR 001 chargers , 2 18650 case , 20 cr2032 , 4 sets of red/black trustfire 18650. Still waiting on my other half .
Also got laptop batteries to harvest some cells from.
Yes, it appears to be a 3V light which is a black mark from me - CR123s round here cost a lot and eBay is fine as long as you don't want the cell right now. If I do the cheapest I've seen lately were $11.20. Each.
I've got the total output numbers for the WK30. The rest of the testing will get done at the weekend.
Don, I purchased 10 Eveready CR123s from Lighthound for $1.45 US each and they have performed as good as the $10-$12 ones I used to get at the local store. Is there an issue preventing you ordering/getting these?
International shipping from the US is rather expensive - then I'd be liable for import duty, VAT, and the PO ransom fee. The PO fee would be 50% more than the cells cost ($21). I've never bought a CR123s from a retail store, and I hope I never have to.
The duty-free import limit was dropped last week from roughly $29 to $24. And the cost of the postage is included. So I'd now be looking at $50 for 10 plus a few pennies in VAT. I can get them cheaper than that.
It is usually quite expensive for us here to buy stuff from the US and get it shipped. For some reason our Customs are far more vigilant about stuff coming from the US than almost anywhere else. Especially when the exchange rate is better than it is now. If the exchange rate goes over $2 to the pound (Currently around $1.6), Customs pretty much open everything bigger than an envelope from the US.
I was quite surprised not to get hit with a large post/duty/VAT charge for these Xtar lights as the Customs paperwork declared a value of $46.