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
Anyway, this is what I got today :-
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mechanics-soldering-paste-50g-7952
I've not tried it out, but there are many possitive reviews on DX.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/xrg-r5-488lm-6300k-led-white-light-emitter-3-2v-1500ma-58370
It had somehow slipped my mind how small these were as the package is identical looking to the XM-L but almost half the size.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/2-7v-6v-3w-cree-circuit-board-for-flashlights-15mm-2-7mm-25518
For some reason the two I got don't have the resitor shown in the picture installed, I'll have to test them to see if they actually work with out one.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/aluminium-alloy-pill-shaped-keychain-27551
While it looks the same in the photo as the ones you can get everywhere this is actually quite big at 25mmx85mm.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/rabbit-shaped-tags-100-piece-pack-54727
Because they were to adorable not to buy! I got a few and will stick them in with presents for people.
One of these
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/waterproof-sa-r2-stainless-steel-cree-xp-e-r2-wc-5-mode-memory-240-lumen-led-flashlight-1-aaa-47661 Just tested it with a Duracell AAA, I would say, it does around 120 lumen with that one. I don’t have a NimH AAA around. Order date was 11/25/2010. First shipping got lost and the second finally arrived.
Two of these
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/oem-2-18650-lithium-battery-charger-110v-240v-ac-13820.
Another KD C8 - Sadly it draws only 1,6A. Not a big problem, I still have a spare KD 2,8A driver laying around somewhere.
Two p60 drop-ins from MF. One is an XM-L 3-mode, it draws only 2A but it's still quite nice. I'm not going to change this driver.The other one is a Q5
Two Solarforce L2i body tubes and one flat bezel. One will get the Q5 above and the other one a R5 drop-in.
That's a big day! What color L2i's? Are you going to use 18650 or 3xAAA?
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.
Looking forward to the WK20 review. I like 123 lights.
yeah wanna see how the wk20 does
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.
What kind of cells do you get from the laptop batteries?
18650, These are 6 cell
Looking forard to the review of the WK20. Looks nicer than i tought. I believe it is CR123A only tho... beware
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.
| Light |
| Xtar WK30 High |
| Xtar WK30 Medium |
| Xtar WK30 Low |
| Xtar WK30 High |
| Xtar WK30 Medium |
| Xtar WK30 Low |
| Xtar WK30 High |
| Xtar WK30 Medium |
| Xtar WK30 Low |
| Xtar WK30 High |
| Xtar WK30 Medium |
| Xtar WK30 Low |
| Xtar WK30 High |
| Xtar WK30 Medium |
| Xtar WK30 Low |
They are black and grey. They are for one of my friends, he likes to use primaries and NimHs only.
Just got my 1S4P Battery holders and tamiya connectors from batteryspace,
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?
http://www.lighthound.com/Energizer-EL123-Battery--CR-123a-Compatible_p_304.html
cheapbatteriesFoy
It's probably just the need to always plan ahead to make sure you get your new order of batteries before the last ones run out.
I just don't like using primaries at all, it just seems rather wasteful.
secretlyabitofahippyPook :P
I mostly use rechargeables too. I may use a dozen or so 123s a year but I'm not going to pay $12.
whathaveistartedFoy
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.
Two lights from Shining Beam
1) a red iTp A3 EOS keychain light. Nice broad beam, lights up a whole room. Two modes, a medium and high setting.
2) Romisen R3 N3 A very short CR123 light, with an optional tube that you can screw on and use it with 2 AA batteries. ALso a floody, but light up my entire front yard as well as my neighbors yard across the street. SB included a freebie Cr123 battery with the order