Review of Lightscastle 12x ultrafire 7,200 lumen multiemitter. (WOW)

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

I'll just start off with the spoiler. It really is over 7,000 lumens. So if that is what you are looking for you can just skip the rest of the review. Not kidding guys this thing is amazingly bright.

Light provided by Lightscastle for review. Non-affiliate link below.

http://www.lightscastle.com/product/ultrafire-lw-12l2-cree-xm-l2-t6-7920lm-5-mode-flashlight-grey+silver318650-326650-427022

This is their info on the light.

Brand:UltraFire

Model:LW-12L2
Quantity:1
Material:Aluminum Alloy
Color:Grey+Silver
Emitter Brand: Cree
LED Type:XM-L
Emitter BIN: T6
Number of Emitters:12
Color BIN:Cool White
Working Voltage:7.2-12.8V
Power Supply:3*18650/3*26650
Current:2800mA
Theoretical Luminous:7920LM
Actual Luminous:7200LM
Runtime:2~3hrs
Number of Modes:5
Mode Arrangement:Hi>Mid>Low>Fast Strobe>SOS
Mode Memory:No
Switch Type:Reverse clicky
Switch Location:Tailcap
Lens:Glass
Reflector:Aluminum Smooth
Working Depth Underwater:300m
Strap/Clip:No
Other Features:Hard anodized
PackingList:1 x Flashlight
3 x Battery sleeves

Just to start with a few corrections. Although this light does have very nice O rings I still don't think it's possible that it can function at 300m underwater. And it does in fact have memory mode. Unfortunately it's next mode memory.

THE GOOD

It's unbelievably bright

Did I say it was bright?

The driver is a very simple FET model with really nothing to go wrong with it.

I like the finish a lot on this light.

The heatsinking is excellent with the large fins it conducts heat well and considering how many lumens this thing is pumping out it needs it.

Did I say it was bright? Well it is it's easily the 7,200 they claim. In fact with my Sony 30amp batteries it was close to 8,000 on startup and the 7,200 was right on the button with king kongs.

The beam pattern is super on this light. It has a ton of flood with no rings and it actually still has a decent hotspot too.

Switch and springs are all good quality

All Led's well centered in their rings and on one large star that was held down with the correct amount of thermal paste.

the emitters were all clean.


THE BAD

Next Mode memory tops the list and is really the only thing I don't like about this light.

I could not run this light on protected batteries. The amp drain was so high that it popped the protection. I would really only recommend this light for really high quality high amp batteries.


The Average.

Typical 5 modes with two of them being blinkies.

Clear glass lens but not AR coated like higher end lights. But still it's very clear and came in clean.

Reflector is on par with these lights.

The led spacers are Good, not too high that they effect lumen output but could have been a tad lower I guess.

Cool White Tint

MOD POTENTIAL

I think it would be possible to get rid of the next mode memory. The Star is removable so a person could de-dome the emitters if they wanted to. The wires could be replaced with heavier ones. Of course if a person wanted the emitters and star could be replaced with sinkpads and XM-L2's. Spring mods would also bump this light up a bit. Who knows it might even be possible to hit 10,000 lumens with this light.

BACK STORY

Many of you have already asked me about this light and know that I have recommended it. Also this review is overdue because I was supposed to have been sent an XM-L2 version. Lightscastle's supplier dropped the ball on this twice. However I can see how it would be missed. The spacers are so tight that you can't see the green boards under the reflectors so it seems as if they are silver because all you get to see is the tiny silver that is apart of the emitter itself. Lightscastle fixed their listing on this so they are being sold correctly with the listing stating XML-T6

CONCLUSSION

Buy this light if what you are looking for is a barn burner of light. This is by far the brightest stock light that I have owned and I have owned a bunch of multi-emitter lights including a 15x and other 12x's. It has a great beam profile and I am very picky about lights with ringy beams. The only real downfall is the next mode memory. If you can get past that buy this light. Outside of getting a modded up light there is nothing else that I know of that comes close to this light in pure power.


2

Finally! Thank you 18650. :slight_smile:

Doesn’t it have the “copper-braid mod” already as I read in somewhere?

I hope they have consistent quality and driver.

3

Similar driver to the one Hypr got? Did you try the pencil mod on the capacitor?

Unless my eyes deceive me, I think I see a resistance mod on the spring in the last pic, stock?

4

Wow, that’s a lot of lumens! Thanks for the review!

5

No spring mod on these. I now have three of them. Two from lightscastle and one off of e-bay. They all have the same driver. Pencil trick doesn't seem to work.

6

Ah well bummer. 7k lumens stock is noice. :slight_smile:

Next mode on a big light is especially annoying unfortunately.

7

How big is that driver? Looks like 22mm to me.

8

It’s 28mm.

9

Come on LightsCastle, pony up a good coupon or something:)

10

Sorry buddy… not to rain your your parade, but I haven’t seen any stock light that can pump 7000+ lumens… let alone 8000 lumens, how do you measure the out put? do you have light sphere? :bigsmile:

Good thing you get the light for free in exchange for review, as for me… lightscastle is one of the ” no-no” list for overseas company.
I usually tried them all the companies known to BLF ( ok…most of them :bigsmile: ) and at least buy a budget light to test their shipping time, but unfortunately this company is one of those that will ship your package several days after you paid for the item(s) 7-9 days… really? :Sp
in fact I still haven’t receive their brand bike light sale yet… I’m giving them until the end of this week, which it will be 40 days since the day I paid for it to file with paypal.
I e-mailed them 3 times and all I get is… don’t worry we shipped your light already, please wait for it :weary:

btw… how big is the head? any comparison shots between this light and your other multi emitter lights? :slight_smile:

11

LEDs must be wired 3S4P, since it's not a boost driver and they don't list 2 cell use as an option. Replacing with a BLF-20DD might not increase the output but would give you a usable UI.

12

Finally a review for this light. Thanx 18sixfifty! Do you think it’s the same light as this one at Fasttech which is cheaper? UltraFire LW-12L2 12*Cree XM-L2 T6 5-Mode 8800LM Cool White LED Flashlight

Any group buy for this one in the future? :wink:

13

Interested.

Are there any real world backyard beam shots of this light available or coming? Maybe down an airport runway or football stadium?

14

The model you linked above clearly shows XM-L2 emitters in the gray color, the black version is still XM-L. Beam profile on FT looks smoother on older XM-L.
Interesting.

15

FT - Should be the same light, but good luck getting XM-L2's as pictured and described... Maybe - do you feel lucky? Smile Cheaper here but only 8 left: amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT 12X, and listed as XML T6's.

16

Time to contact Richard for a FET driver. You'll get nicer modes from that, and all the lumens you expected. I wouldn't buy that light without a driver swap.

17

Interesting…does yours have the exact same driver? Also, what cells are you using?

18

26650 KKs but when I switched to Sony VT it’s slightly brighter but still far from 7000 lumens I was hoping for :_(

19

Interesting…I have the 9T6 version of this light and its consumes approx 76 watts based on tail cap current, which surprised me for a cheap unmoded light. It is very impressive but gets warm quick.

My Ultrafire 9T6 uses about 55 watts. There is a noticeable difference in brightness. (Ultrafire 9T6 still quite good though) I suspect the lights in question (like the one in the above review) are driven a bit harder out of the box.

I also have an Ultrafire 15T6 (about 30 watts) and it was just pathetic. But i recently realised i did not test it with Keepower 26650s just Keygos 26650 IMR which seem a bit suspect so will have to report back on that one.

20

What about the driver?