- Runtime will be low with AA, due to booster circuit ineffectivity
- scratchy tailcap spring
press fit reflector is a pain in the ass to re-attach once it comes loose
*my only other light is an SA-22 so I can’t compare it all that well. I guess it’s somewhere around 150 lumens.
I ordered two after reading a review here somewhere, can’t seem to find it again. One showed weaker output (blurred, LED grid not showing when zoomed out) due to dirt and grease on the dome.
After dropping it (unintentionally, on a carpet, so nothing broke) the LED base, which is held in place by a clear plastic separator ring and the friction fit reflector, came loose; so I mounted the base on two toothpicks (the cables are just long enough for that) and cleaned the LED dome thoroughly with a cleaning cloth for eyeglasses. Now its beam is slightly clearer and more intense than that of the other light. There is no heatsink behind the LED base, I don’t know if one an XPE requires one. I forgot to measure the diameter of the base, which might have been useful for fitting a heatsink.
Closeups of the LED:
Driver circuit (obscured resistor is labeled R270):
SS24 is a schottky diode (maybe polarity protection).
LED base:
Beamshots using 1.5V AA at ISO 100, F2.8 1/10 sec exposure, distance from wall 1 m , using A4 paper sheet (210 × 297 mm / 8.27 × 11.7 in) as target. Beam has a strong blue tint.
1/200 sec exposure for focused beam:
For cross-reference, this is the general category (so many variations) called “#3” in the
“Under $10, 1x AA/ AAA/ 14500/ 16340 flashlight reference …” http://budgetlightforum.com/node/31780
The rare and unpredictable one with a solid pill is decent. I wish I could find another one like the one I have.
I’ve got half a dozen of the hollow pill variety, from trying.
For the review I bought two, one for me and one for my mother in law and I was going to put this driver in it https://www.fasttech.com/p/1127407 from Fasttech but now after real this review so I guess I won’t now and thanks for the review .
Much smaller and more pocketable than a Sipik 68. They even make the Sipik 68’s little brother, the Sipik 58, look large. Meanwhile the beam and output are pretty similar to a stock Sipik 68.
I had a couple modded lights similar to this one sitting around. One of them had a 3-mode 3-amp driver, but the LED, an XPG2, was only half lighting up. Either because it burnt out from too much current, or wasn’t soldered correctly to the star. Not sure which.
I removed the XPG2 and put on a dedomed neutral tint XPL I had laying around. The results are impressive. Flood mode is much brighter now. And in throw mode it still produces a respectable 18k lux. It doesn’t blow the socks off my modded 18650 version, but it’s far better than stock.
These tiny lights can be a pain to mod though. A 17mm Nanjg 105c driver fits… but only after you file off a LOT of the edges, and even then it floats below the pill.
The BLF SK68 driver fits fine to replace the native driver in these, with only slight filing.
CK made several variations on that driver for me, that went into these “#3” and SK68 zoomies just fine.
I don’t have any of these but it looks like any significant increase in output will need an accompanying improvement in the heat sink. The hollow pill might remain sufficient with a DTP mcpcb or a mod to improve the pill used with a non DTP mcpcb. The 1.5A range doesn’t seem like much but even there it’s necessary to improve the thermal path since zoomies are usually poor in this respect. Just my thoughts but having done a few mods in this range I would be careful upping the current without looking at this.
The one I got with a solid pill upgraded very nicely with a PC Rebel. Never got another one, from anywhere.
The other half dozen I have from the lottery, I’m starting to hand-carve copper disks to drop into the hole behind the emitter; they raise the LED closer to the lens so mess up the perfectly focused image a bit, but the zoom still makes a tight enough spot — but they seem to carry the heat off to the body adequately, using the “SK68” driver in various versions that Cerealkiller has made for me.
I do like these little #3s a lot. If only I could get more with solid pills (sigh).
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1612/10001750/1127402-12-aaaaa-1-mode-800ma-linear-booster-led-flashligh Looks similar to the #3 stock driver, I wonder what would happen if I replace that R270 with a lower rated one - or bypass it completely, idk.
See this thread Noob needs help with #3 XPE Q5 modding for other modding considerations. Heat management is my last concern, I still have to find a way to get output high enough first, with 1 or 2 1.2V AA that is. No drivers, at least none to decent prices (I think sandwich shoppe has one around $15) for 2 AA. Maybe I could use two drivers, like in Dual driver mods for single XM-L2's (edit: just realized that’s a bad idea, after reading some more about the XPE. Guess I’ll aim for 0.800-1A max.)
i have this and compared to the Sipik sk68 and ALL THE CLONES are better then this
the biggest failure is the clip its too weak and is not attached it just slips (loosely) around the battery cover so it totally interferes with changing the battery
also all of them are blueish
and they are not as bright at all
the beam pattern is a lot smaller
trust me when i say this is a cheap chinese toy and fails in every way compared to the sk68
i for one am not happy and hope this design dies quickly
and the cloners stick with the Sipik sk68 to clone even the worse sk68 clone i have is better then this
Actually I MUCH prefer these little zoomies to the SK68.
The SK68’s unwieldy shape with lots of crenelations is uncomfortable for pocket carry. These little zoomies are half the size but virtually the same brightness. They also have a much smoother more-streamlined shape that won’t tear up a pocket.
Performance between this type of light and the SK68 is quite similar. They have a fairly wide flood. Throw is very similar to a SK68, though the beam is narrower due to long focal length lens.
I agree the ring-clip interferes with battery changes. I removed it from mine. There’s also a variant with a slightly different bezel design that has a slip on clip that doesn’t get in the way.
You can drill through the side of the tailcap, carefully, and make a suitable hole for a split ring.
Much nicer than the stupid little metal clip.
I sure wish I knew a reliable source for solid pills for these #3 zoomies.
They’re decent mod lights even with the hollow pill — I stick a copper disk into the shelf, and put a 10mm square board with a PC Rebel on that.
They’re a pleasure to give away to people — passing on my older Energizer lithium primary AA cells when I refresh the batteries in the earthquake cache.
I got one of the gold ones. It’s at least as bright as a SK68 but thinner and easier to pocket. Not as thick or heavy so it’s not built as well but the SK68 is a beefy light. This light makes a good little 1AA cheap alternative. I’ve had mine for about a year with no problems. I like it.
I own a bunch of these from various different brands.
In mine, the star is either 16mm or 14mm. The ones using a 16mm star have a hollow pill. The 14mm ones have a solid pill. It’s not that hard to file down a 16mm noctigon with a handfile so it fits the 14mm slot.
The driver is 14mm. A 15mm driver from mountain electronics fits easily with a minimal amount of filing at the edges. A 17mm Nanjg 105c can fit as a floating driver below the pill, but it takes a heroic amount of filing and can easily result in a destroyed driver.
