Update 1, Jan 28, 2013 - I ran the generic LED for 20 minutes or so and noticed considerable dimming. The heat sink temperature reached 75C+. I let things cool down and the LED was still dim. I do not think there is adequate cooling for the generic LED. So far I have not seen any issues with the XP-E LED with 10-15 minute runs. The other unit was run on the generic LED outside for 45 minutes with no issues. The air temperature was -5C however. I'm going to try to swap the generic emitter for a generic WW (one I know is rated for two Watts) and retest.

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thanks for the review. i’ve got one one the way from wallbuys – $11.??

i’m so glad it comes apart well! (usually I’d order two, and assume one would get destroyed w/ first mod attempt lol)

I was thinking xpg2 and xml, but maybe i’ll leave the xp-e in there

I’ll probably plastidip or pot the driver so I don’t have to worry about rain.

I can’t believe that it works down to .8V! that makes it an even better deal at that price! and probably makes the fenix hl21 i just bought a waste of money

I knew it was one led at a time, so i’d also thought I might add a switch so I could operate both leds independently – but I doubt it is worth the effort, and I definitely won’t want to ditch that driver

Thanks for the nice review relic38. Is there any chance to see how the light performs with AA rechargable batteries?

The performance is definitely not as good as 18650. Based on the current draw numbers above (4.2V vs 1.2V), you can see the power difference is close to 4:1. Still, the output is not bad and the run time will be about the same as an average 18650.
When (if) I get around to doing beam shots, I’ll publish some for both power sources.

I added a caution in the review text recommending the use of protected 18650 cells, or careful monitoring of unprotected cells. The driver has no problem with running cells down to 0.8V if you happen to miss the drop in light output.

Is it possible to run both LED concurrent?

No, the LEDs do not turn on concurrently/simultaneously. One user suggested a mod to do this, but it may be difficult. depending on how much circuitry the driver shares when driving each LED. the Vf of each LED is quite a bit different (Cree is close to 3.0V, generic is closer to 3.3V), meaning that you would probably need two drivers to allow simultaneous operation.
As I mentioned in the review, I initially thought this would be a drawback, however the XP-E has enough spill that the added flood from the generic LED would not be worth the additional battery drain.
For me, this light is just fine the way it comes, I just added a little thermal paste.
Having said that, I’d love to see any mods that are attempted by adventurous BLF’ers

From the pictures alone, that battery compartment looks like it'd break quickly to me, especially if I slept while wearing the headlamp, which I'm prone to do while backpacking.  

 

How do you think the plastic body will hold up over time?

The battery compartment is OK, nothing too solid. I don’t think it will break, but the head strap retainers that the strap feeds through might be the weak link. The light compartment is quite solid and should be able to handle a decent drop or hit.
I don’t think I’d rely on it for caving, but anything above ground would be OK.

Thanks for review, been looking at this healdamp for a while !
Ill buy it when they have it on sale !

Will wait for beamshots !

Thanks for the review relic38!

-Garry

Looks interesting. I wonder if it would be possible to replace one of the LEDs with a red one for some nighttime use.

I think the generic could be changed, but I do not know if XP-E comes in red. I am not sure how the driver will react to the lower Vf of a red LED either. could be worth a try.
I did walk around a bit last night with this and it is quite nice. The XP-E really does have a lot of throw (at least 60-70 useable yards), and has enough spill to illuminate right in front of you. The generic lights up everything within 5-7 yards which is nice for just walking around. Even Low is useable and would really extend the run times.

Thanks very much! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

they come in red, and the driver should work fine, but i’ll report for sure after mine arrives.

Thanks dthrckt.

Thanks sb56637!

I updated the first comment with some longer term run results on the generic LED. The generic LED may overheat without adequate air flow (I was sitting as a desk).

edit: this post ended up way too long, so I’ll bold the important parts…

alright, I’ve taken mine apart to assess what to mod.

I must say, this headlamp is a deal, especially for modders. The biggest weakness, from the modding standpoint, is the battery carrier, and that’s minor, imo. The door is a little hard to open and a little harder to close, but probably not bad enough for me to do anything about it.

I do have a question, for relic or anyone else that’d like to chime in. The switch has 3 wires going to it (see pics 2 and 3 above).

Is the switch controlling which emitter is on, or is it a regular click and the driver is controlling which emitter is on?

I’m guessing the former, and that is why it has 3 leads.

I’m trying to figure out how I’ll mod it.

options, in order of how likely they are to occur lol

1. nothing, except maybe take it apart and see if there’s an easy way to make it require less pressure (it is pretty stiff)
2. replace with weather resistant DPDT (on1, off, on2) like this (but smaller)
3. replace with true double pole triple throw switch (not on1, off, on2, but on1, on2, on1&2) and add a switch for main power on/off
4. find a small double pole, quadruple throw, weather resistant slide or rocker switch (on1, on2, off, on1&2). fat chance…

If the driver isn’t doing to mode switching, I’ll probably start w/ 1, ruin the switch, and go to 2

A rocker switch would be a nice improvement (anyone know a small, weather resistant, 3 position rocker?)

The switch is like a regular clicky, but it has three contacts; Battery, out1 and out2. The driver board is effectively two drivers in one. The switch cycles through off, out1, off, out2…
Replacing the switch with a toggle or rocker would make mode switching a little more difficult IMO. If you wanted to you would look for a SPDT (Single-position, Double-Throw) with center-off switch. This might be a lot easier to activate; maybe too easy. I would not attempt the plastic mod, I’d likely butcher it. (DPDT CO would work too, just might be bigger)
I do not know of a switch for this, but DigiKey may have something in stock, and they usually has decent specs. Note that the switch itself (plus shipping) might cost more than the light

thanks. ..

I think i need to study the switch nomenclature page on wikipedia lol

IMO, just about every headlamp switch is too hard to operate, so too easy sounds just right

I found almost exactly what I need for this headlamp, and for 3 switches on my sunforce spotlight

the price isn’t bad either (2.99 ea plus shipping)

http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/switches/rockers/waterproof/kr_waterpr…

but it doesn’t have center off

cherry does make a water resistant switch w/ on1, off, on2, but it is too big

This light would be nice with a dual parallel 18650 battery pack. I am considering picking up one of these lights though. 

-Garry

Looks great, how well does it handle rain? I’ve been through lots of headlights and most of them conked out when wet.

I haven’t had this light out in the rain yet. It appears to have decent weatherproofing on the headlight part. The battery compartment has no protection around the door. The door is pressed against your head so it may be OK. I’d say it might hold up to a light rain, but a heavy downpour could get into the battery area.

First mod finished – I took the switch apart. It has a very stiff spring inside. I looked through my parts and found a similar looking switch, and put swapped the springs. 5 minutes and it is greatly improved (at least imho).

Next, swap both emitters and 24ga wiring.

Nice, I might do the spring thing. The switch is too stiff. I already swapped the mule flood LED to a warm white. Much better. You thinking XP-G2 for the left side?

I was thinking xpg2.

It finally arrived and I fudged the reflow.

So, I took an xml2 5k, trimmed a 16mm pcb to fit, widened the reflector hole and stuck that in there. It didn’t have quite enough throw for what I’d like to use this for, so I de-domed it.

I also trimmed a pt-54 (red) to fit the generic LED side. The PT54 came in some sort of assembly (for a projector?) – heatsink and two glass aspherics. The smaller aspheric is a perfect fit for the hole in the bezel. It sits directly on the PT54. The lens has a very short focal length, and sitting on the emitter it still focuses the beam, which is just slightly narrower than the reflector side – akin to a zoomie pushed 1/3 forward from full flood.

To help radiate heat, I sanded and painted the outside of both aluminum pieces (black), and I cut out the sections of the housing that are slotted, and the section dotted with holes.

Finally, I installed a kaidomain coated lens on the reflector side. At some point I will spray the driver with plastidip just for peace of mind if I get caught using it in heavy rain. I also plan to wedge a piece of aluminum or copper between the two aluminum heads, effectively doubling the heatsink mass/area available to each emitter.

And, here’s some GREAT news on this light. Soft switch presses change modes!

ie, if you have the reflector side on, a soft press goes to a ~medium mode, another soft press goes to strobe. The other side has just high and medium.

This light is awesome!!! 5 modes, two emitters, wide voltage range, easy to adjust angle, budget price…

I will definitely end up buying more.

I may even end up buying one just to rob the driver for something else…

I think next time I’ll put xml2 with dome on reflector side and dedomed xpg2 on the other side, with another tiny aspheric and spacer for some serious throw (for headlamp size anyway ).

That’s one cool mod, dthrckt! I thought I mentioned the mode changing… yeah just checked, it’s there. Maybe it’s hard to notice mixed in with the other text.
Anyway, I agree these are nice lights, especially after modding them.
I have been running them with unprotected cells; not recommended. Because of the wide operating voltage range, it’s real easy to over-discharge your cells. I’ve done it twice already. You will not notice the light output drop until the cell is well below 2V. At least if you are running protected, you get the cutoff before going TOO far.
My next FT order will include a few protected cells just for these.

Ah, it’s been so long since I read it I must have forgotten.

Glad you reminded me about protection. I often use unprotected cgr18650ch. I might add a protection circuit to the battery holder since I don’t plant to use anything but 18650s

Just checked out the added pictures, very nice! The red side would be perfect for stargazing, or any other use where keeping your night vision is important. I like my WW mule too much to change it though.
Edit, oh, look at that post #999

thanks

yeah, that’s what it is for – star gazing and night fishing. Since there’s no hotspot, it hurts night vision even less than my other headlamp that has red 5mm leds.

Look great, thank you. One question – what small issues do you mean?

Hi, most of the minor issues are mentioned in the text of the review. This was one of my first reviews and the format is not ideal. Some of the minor issues are the mule LED has a hollow pill, the switch is very stiff, the battery compartment door is difficult to close, battery compartment has no waterproofing, and the strap is a simple headband with nontop strap.

It’s good review, especially for the first time Good price but a lot of “surprises”

I bought this headlamp after reading this review.

The generic LED provides a good enough floody light to work with and the XP-E throws more than enough for me. I really liked it but….

The lamp was dying on after being left on OFF overnight. I thought it were the contacts – fixed that. Maybe the batteries were rubbish – but it did this to 3 batteries, one of them newish.

After doing a little reading and youtubing, I decided to check for parasitic drain. The drain is 8-9 microamp.

Can someone tell me if this is a big enough parasitic drain to kill the batteries and if so, how do I fix it?

My batteries are all protected BTW.

TIA.

I didn’t think to test for that, as I thought the switch would be a complete disconnect.
Under 10 microAmps is a tiny drain, it would take years to deplete a good 18650. There might be something wrong with your light. I’ll check mine for drain and update it here shortly.
Edit: on my first light it’s 1.1uA. When the light is first turned off it’s a little higher at 4uA, but it slowly drifts back down (probably several minutes) to 1.1uA.
That’s not enough to be concerned about. You should check your light to make sure the drain isn’t a lot more. Draining a cell overnight indicates something is wrong.
Now my second light did something different. When I first connected the power, it registered a drain of 104uA! OK, that’s different. Then I turned the light on and off. Now it’s 3-4uA and I cannot get it to return to 100uA. There may be something quirky about this light. I so not know why it needs power all the time. There’s no memory and the switch itself controls which emitter comes on next.
Strange.

Hi guys,
I just ordered one of these, so now it will be hard to wait till it arrives:) So I’m a little bit digging some more informations about this light.
I have one big question – does the light from XP-E have warm white color or cold white? Because the main reason why I wanted to buy it was that on photos it looked that the color is warm white, but now I’m not so sure..
The wide-angle led has cold white light which is obvious from pictures, but i will change it – I have some generic warm white 3W led in my desk, which has exactly the same look as the one, which is in the headlight.
Maybe another good idea is to check if there are good heat transfer between led stars and aluminium tubes. And I will definitely try to add some copper to enlarge the heat radiation area (connect both aluminium tubes together with copper to more than double the cooling area..)

I would call, the XP-E emitter a cool white. Heat transfer to the pill is adequate, but thermal mass and surface area are issues. Outdoor active use should be OK. I find it gets hot with desk use.
I changed the flood LED to WW and it is a big improvement. I have seen XP-E and XP-G in warmer tints, either would be easy emitter swaps.

Well that is a little bit shame that it is cool white, but yeah there is always the possibility to change it to some warmer led in the future, maybe some XP-G (or XP-G2..).
The heat spread area is in my opinion much bigger issue. I agree that during movement (running, cycling) the airflow around the heatsink tubes will be sufficient, but in steady state and especially on Hi setting it won’t be enough. Because as is said in review on Hi there is really too big current (1.37 Amps which with 4.2V gives almost 6 Watts and due to specifications the led is only 3W and its maximum current is 1A). I think it’s a big overkill which causes unnecessary overheating of the emitter..

Yeah, and in my case, I killed the flood emitter. Changing to a better quality emitter seems to have fixed that, no more burnout on high at a desk.
I think simply using a Sharpie to blacken the heatsink could help a little. I did this to just the front of the flood heat sink and it throws off more heat now, due to the increased emmissivity. Blackening the entire tube might help more. Easy to try.

Well good idea too.
Now i’ll have to wait for the delivery of the flashlight and it will be really painful days:)