A mate in the office got the 5 Mode G10 from DX (grey annodised) and has had no issues at all with 14500 batteries.
Thought you may like to know
I got a full refund from DX on my G10 which was fried by a 14500 battery.
I have one of these coming in a few days, supposedly it is an XP-G
Does anyone know which driver doesn't get fried by a 14500?
OK, mine came today. This is the back of the driver that is in it.
Can this one run on a 14500? Thanks...
I posted my thoughts below your post on the what you got today thread
That is different to the one I fried ... [ not the same driver ]
I guess it is a good thing my 14500 batteries are still in the mail, looks like they may be too much for the driver. Mine is a 6-mode (what a waste of 3 clicks, getting past the blinkies). Since DX is still shipping them I wonder if they now have a true 4.2v capability?
Hmmmmmmmm
BTW, this light on AA and "High" mode is not quite as bright as the Jetbeam BC10 I got last week, which they advertise at 160 Lumens.
If the Jetbeam really is 160 (I doubt it) then the G10 is probably about 120.
I put in a 17 mode / 3 level 1A driver , and its fantastic on a 14500 ..
Just wish KD still had there buck boost drivers , in fact I might have to email them and find out if there getting more .
Or order a few more DX ones ..
This driver WILL FRY!
Mine was exactly the same and it went up in smoke in 5 seconds.
Have two of the G10's (DX sent me a replacement for the first without requiring a return). Unlike the other reports I'm seeing, mine didn't fry immediately, but after a bit of use. The first one went completely dead four minutes into a 14500 rundown test (after having played around with it on both NiMH and 14500 for a while and done a NiMH rundown test), the second one now works only on 14500s. Both have the driver with the partial-circle circuit trace shown above.
After DX told me they were sending a replacement and to do whatever I could with the first one, I took it apart and started experimenting a bit with the idea of turning it into a direct drive light. In the process I discovered that if I connected the LED+ lead to battery+ and the outer contact ring on the bottom of the driver board to battery-, all six modes worked perfectly (on 14500 only, of course). Clearly, the boost circuit had died. I found that the near side of one of the SMD components next to the LED+ solder pad was connected directly to battery+, so I shorted the two together with a bit of solder and wound up with a working 14500-only flashlight.
The second one fried a couple of days ago, but since it still works on 14500 even without the above mod, I haven't yet decided whether I should see if "third time's the charm".... It does draw noticeably less tailcap current than the other one, so I might go ahead and short LED+ to battery+ on it as well. On both, H/M/L currents are in the ratio 100/50/8. PWM is fast, only visible on my PC's CPU fan.
Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and I really like what I read so far.
I bought this one too on DX and mine worked quite well for some time with 14500 but eventually it died aswell, after an hour of usage in total I would say.
I tried to solder it to be direct driven as described above but being a total newbie I killed the LED in the process. I believe my driver was killed because one of the transistors (or whatever the little black things are) became loose as a result of getting too hot. I could here it rattle after the light died and it fell out after unsoldering the circuit board from the round thingy (I am not only an electronics newb but also not a native speaker of English)
DX gave me store credit however so it was definitely worth the try.
The thing is: I really loved this flashlight, it was perfect in all respects except that it dies of course.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a light that is comparable in size and light output that really works with 14500 batteries?
I also own a Ultrafire C1 which is an awesome light but a bit bulky for an EDC and a C3 which is quite handy but definitely lacks the punch of the G10.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your help.
Hello Tim
You could try the Ultrafire U20 Cree XP-G $17.60I have this light and it works with 14500 and AA batteries.
But the king of AA/14500 lights would be the Trustfire R5-A3 ($14.70, $14.08)this is the brightest light. The Manafont light is High/Mid/Strobe the other 2 light are High/Low/Strobe.
You could also try the Ultrafire M2 $18.03 .
I have a M2 on the way ... Got my fingers crossed ...
Do you mean the Ultrafire C3? I have both the G10 and the C3 and the latter is brighter.
But C3 comes in different versions. Do buy the Manafont R5, this:
http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/ultrafire-c3-cree-r5-led-mode-flashlight-aa14500-p-4432
Aloha and welcome to BLF Tim!
Might I suggest the SkyRay S-A1. It isn't a XP-G but it is an XP-E. It works great on nimh and 14500. It is a very nice torch and I am sure you will love one. It has a great beam. It is my favorite torch under 20 bucks.
Hi Tim,
Unless you were holding the soldering iron against the LED, you didn't kill it. There are two parts to the driver's circuitry -- voltage boost and pulse-width modulation. The former allows an alkaline or NiMH to drive the LED, the latter blinks the LED extremely rapidly to get the different brightness levels. It sounds like the latter failed when the component came loose (most likely not properly soldered in the first place -- I doubt the driver would have gotten hot enough to melt the solder). You should still be able to convert the light to pure direct drive by connecting the two LED leads to battery+ and battery-. At least on the driver board I messed with, the transistor that switches the LED for PWM is between the LED- lead and battery-, while the voltage boost circuit is between battery+ and LED+. Doing so loses the modes, of course -- no blinkies and no low/medium.
sad to hear the drivers in these flashlights are burning out on 14500's. i have used the s10,
for at least a year now as my EDC always with an 14500 and have never had a problem. Would've loved to upgrade to an XP-G. :/
I'm running 1-Mode G10 with 14500, still working. Very bright, gets hot quickly thou.
so which driver would you guys recommend for this light? im here bc my driver also died but i never ran any 14500's, one that could handle 14500 and nimh would be ideal i have had these recommended, but dont know much about these things or how to solder them to the flashlight
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/2-8-4-2v-3-mode-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-7mm-50527
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-mode-1000ma-7135-circuit-board-for-cree-and-ssc-emitters-6190
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3v-8-4v-5w-cree-5-mode-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-8mm-6-3mm-26107
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1-5v-4-2v-3w-cree-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-7mm-5-6mm-25505