Unfortunately, the only way to tell between different emitter bins is by direct comparison - same driver, same battery (at the same charge), same optics, same reflector.
As Jekostas wrote, very difficult. But you can see if its a new or old version of the led.
The new EZ900 has a dark-red line all around the chip
What's the difference between a Q3 and Q5?
13 lumen @ 350mA (93.9 vs 107) and 37 lumen @ 1000mA (268 vs 305)
Thanks, and can you tell them apart by looking at them?
No. And if it says Sipik 68 you get the same emitter everywhere, unless you find one with a (fake/old) OSRAM, it's not Q5 just because an inflated ebay description says so.
This one says "CREE 7W"
LOL
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I received mine recently and the light says "UltraOK" on one side and "CREE" with their logo on the other.
However I noticed that the font used in the word "CREE" seems a little off based on photos I've seen of other Cree lights (I don't personally own any others). It is also missing any kind of "TM" or "(R)" symbol. This seems a little strange to me, is it likely that this is a bootleg light? It seems to work just fine and I'm happy with the performance for the money, but not having any other Cree lights to compare against I'm not sure if I got hoodwinked. The emitter itself "looks" like what I'd expect, based on the shape (and it does have the dark red line around it).
Btw, are there some disassembly instructions for this light, and/or something generic that covers a wide range of lights?
Here's a picture of the CREE side of the light.
Hi Huny, FWIW I just ran mine under running water and also submerged it (for about 30-60 secs) in a sink. I also operated the switch and cycled the zoom several times while it was under water.
Water did intrude behind the lens (between the backside of the lens and the emitter), but the light continued to function fine. Removing the bezel allowed me to shake out the water that did get in.
I don't know how to fully disassemble this thing yet so I don't know if water got into the rest of the body but it seems to be able to withstand a reasonable amount of exposure to water.
HTH!
ETA: After taking off the tailcap I notice that some water did enter the battery compartment. However, as mentioned, the light was still operating properly.
Well, I'm not planning on dunking mine anytime soon. lol Thanks for taking the plunge..
I like my Sipik clone. It came all beat up with little dents all over, but for less than 2 gallons of gas, it's sweet.
Mine also says UltraOK.
Looks like a Q3. No wait, it looks like a Q4. Q5 anyone? :)
Ima order a couple more..
It's a Q3.14159265.... I am sure . ;-)
How odd. I have π memorized to just 8 digits after the decimal point. I like how 1-4-1-5 rhymes with 9-2-6-5, but I'm just a quirky former-math-prodigy. Most people think that 3.14 is sufficient.
Hehe, I wanted to post all the digits of π, but there is a limit of how long posts can be. ;-)
Manafont has these for USD10 with free ship .. thought I'd finally throw my hat in that ring. I know that it's cheaper elsewhere but manafont seem to be much more professional, and shipping out of hong kong seems to be a little more ahem, reliable, these days.
*EDIT* Well two weeks to the day later, and I have this, along with the Trustfire R5-A3. I was fully expecting to like the R5A3 more, but actually I have really been loving this sipik. The color is definitely leaning towards the purplish end, and the plastic aspheric definitely lends itself to some uglier outer-pattern color smearing, but the zoomie is fun as hell, and throws like a mutha ;) Runtime is so-so, and it does eventually get warm, which is a good thing. On 14500 it's very bright, almost as much so as my XP-Gs. I noticed that it pulls 3 Watts on AA, and 4 Watts on 14500.
I've put it in a few people's hands, and it was tough to get it back afterwards. I get the feeling that I'll be ordering several more of these to pass around. Well done, sipik.
I just received him from Manafont. It worked on a AA. I tried it on a 14500 and it worked for 1 second. Now it doesn't work on anything. I guess they can't all take 14500.
Can someone who has taken one of these apart tell me how to remove the plastic retaining ring and metal plate that is over the emitter. I've got it apart to that point.
It doesn't seem like the emitter is fried...probably just the driver.
The right tool - screwdriver or pliers - and brute force. Worked here.
Sorry 14500 did not work for you.
Thanks. OK, I got it open. What does the metal disk do? Is it to capture more light or is it for some electrical purpose?
Secondly, what was the most likely part to fry. The emitter looks fine and the driver board looks fine for that matter. The wires are still connected.
I assume that it's some component on the driver board? I don't really care about this light but I'd like to learn more and I might even try to replace the driver just for practice. I haven't done much soldering...too tedious with these small parts.
Third question :) ...just under that metal disc or reflector there was a black film. Is this to insulate the top of the pill from that metal disc?
By the way, the emitter isn't glued down at all. Typical I suppose in cheaper lights?
Thanks.
I think the metal disk are some kind of reflector and the black film is to insulate
it from the wires on the ledboard. Its nice when nothing are glued. Its easy to
mod then
I modded mine and is my first and only mod so far , I first unscrewed bezel to gain access to the pill , gently pry out the white plastic retaing ring ..shake out the metal disc and plastic insulator and then used a small screwdriver to unscrew the pill , I have pulled 5 of'em apart 1xsipik , 2x mxdl , 2x ultrafire all being different clones of sk6 the ultrafire's and the sipik are the better made of the 3 , both have the more solid pill and of the 2 the ultrafires head seems better fitted with less wobble and firmed slide , keep in mind I only the one sipik to compare but to me the ultrafire's are a little better made of the 3 brands ...the mxdl's both had hollow pills and no notch - keyway machined into it so a bit harder to remove the pill , also the star is held in place just a lil different being just the one white plastic insulartor-retainer washer . none where glued anywhere
The driver on mine have no solder holding it to the pill so it was just a matter of gently prying on the edge and out it pops ...
I then removed the driver from a Solarforce R2 5 mode droppin , used a dremel to hone the sk68's pill out to accommodate it , then soldered the smaller sipiks driver back to the R2 Im very happy with the results in both the sk68 and the R2 droppin as I wanted the R2 in single mode to use on a pressure switch and forward clicky setup ..and better runtime on the sk68 , best of both worlds for me for now
sipik on the left ultrafire on the right , they are the same pill I have painted the cree ring and metal disc black on the sipik
the MXDL
the somewhat solid pill on both the sipik & ultrafire
hollow pill on the MXDL
all 3 brands appear to have same driver
Even with the clip on it's not water resistent due to the slide zoom function. Using it in rain has caused no problems for me yet but I would not want it to get really wet