Yes please!
Dang. Predictable, but stupid.
Yes, it took some days but it seems that I will get a refund. I’ve ordered another one in between and was assured that the current model will be shipped. Let’s see what I will get this time…
Today I’ve got 3 XM-L’s from FastTech which I was planning to use for replacements (mounted on 20mm stars because I’m not in the reflowing business yet). Although only two of them should be XM-L2 according to my order, I’ve got all 3 as XM-L2 with silverish top (all T6 bin with 1A/1C/3B tint). Let’s see what I can do with them.
I received mine today also, and it too has XML-T6 stamped on the side and thats what is inside (no thermal paste at all just loose on top of shelf) Driver is slightly different than what has been posted, a YN-22-T6 different position of some components.
Gearbest customer service are quick in replying , I emailed them yesterday and today they replied offering replacement or refund , I asked for replacement as long as it has XML2, the XML I have is not that bright and has a lot of blue tint in it.
[quote=hank]
Yes please!
I started work on a 22mm FET+1 type driver: [WIP] 22mm DD+single-7135 driver / single sided / Dual-PWM / Zener
This batch is worse quality than the first batch. Very poor, even at the price point.
Sorry, I just can't know for sure what we will get any more and it seems to get worse every time. Even if I ask for a sample first, I don't know if that sample will be representative of the actual lights going out.
Mine came in. Ordered on 1/7/15. Has an XM-L2 in it, says XM-L2 on body. Threads are loose, but I plan on putting Teflon tape on them anyway and they improved with lube.
Mine arrived today. I’d say it’s not bad for the money (as a cheap host)
Pros:
-Nice chunky body and love the plentiful heatsink fins. This could definitely be a nice little hotrod light.
-Reflector & lens nice and clean. Came with a protective plastic sheet over the glass which is nice.
-Decent external condition, some cloudy anodizing on the head and a few dings on the aluminium bezel.
-I like the red tailcap boot. Something a little different
Cons:
-Mushy crappy tailcap switch
-XM-L T6 on body and XML inside. Pretty blue, maybe a 1C. Might be ok once I’ve fixed that crappy centering ring and brought things into better focus.
-Very tight driver retainer. Tweezers where a complete no go here, had to break out the needle nose pliers to break the seal.
-Craptastic driver, seems to do Med, Med, Slightly-lower-Med, Flashy, SOS. So it’s really only fit for the bin.
-Fairly loose tailcap threads as others have said. But the anodized threads are pretty clean and the O-ring is correctly sized so it makes a better impression once you start to tighten it down. Should be ok if you are careful not to cross thread it.
Mine had an okay tint, but I don’t have many lights to compare it against. I’ll fix the centering ring and I’ll figure out if it has a green tint. Comparing it against a nichia 219A tells me that it is a CW LED with a bit of green from the GITD O ring. The surface of the light isn’t aggressive enough for my liking, it make it hard to push the tail cap switch.
Mine also arrived today, also with a gen 1 XM-L. However, I don’t care much about the emitter because the battery tube is going straight to my DST anyways. The giant “XML - T6” on the side is annoying though, is there any way to get that off?
Mmm, lottery… I ordered 2 and got both the old XM-L and an XM-L2. In my case, the XM-L2 is slightly warmer tint, but the older isn’t too awful.
As noted by others, there was absolutely no thermal compound under the emitter. Since I had it apart, I killed the ‘next mode memory’ by stacking a resistor on the capacitor, so less chance of blinky mode. The centering ring seemed to come up high around the emitter, so I swapped it for these: https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001923/1182004-insulation-gaskets-for-cree-xm-l-t6-led-emitters-1 and it seemed to take the hard edge off the hotspot. Another o-ring (~37mm) between the reflector and the glass tightened things up again.
> is there any way to get that off?
I’m now seeing home-use laser engraving machines showing up for sale, if you want to overwrite it (wry grin).
Pretty pricey as of yet.
Look closely with a magnifying glass at the surface and you’ll see it’s cut in; you could probably fill it with paint …
Do these all have next mode memory?
I swapped wires to 22AWG ,braided springs , added thermal paste to star and moved LED output to alternate output, and after that it starts on high every time. I never tested while stock just wondering why mine now hasn’t got next mode memory?
Glad it hasn’t though
I suppose what usually happens is that, as production goes on, the factory speeds up the line and reduces staff to cut costs. The XM-Ls instead of XM-L2s sounds like the store or factory sorted out the best ones to sell first.
Maybe this is a good time to learn how to wrap with paracord
Or strip the anodizing?
Mine has no memory. It always starts on high.
I thought mine had memory, but now I’m having doubts. I’d take one apart and reverse it, but for my extreme laziness.
I got mine 2 weeks ago, just got around to it. It has a nice bright beam, nice tint, not too ringy, but a horrible mushy clicky. I am not a “modder”, but am curious about the two below questions:
- Is there a clicky switch I can simply swap out
- There is a sleeve for 3 AA batteries, but none for the 18650. The battery rattles a bit with a single 18650. Any fixes to this?
1. Yes, but I’m not sure what size you’ll need for this particular light (maybe someone else can chime in)
2. Mine came with a nice 18650 sleeve, but lots of people use thin pvc, or cardboard, or any number of things.