KD had this light, too. I dunno about heaksinking if they can just take the drop-in/pill out like that. Heatsinking is pretty essential to any light that puts out 20w of heat.
edit: actually those look to be threads on the pill. So if it screws in w/ that many thread, it should be ok.
I’m already over triple XMLs. When are the six XMLs coming out?
+1
more like five and seven XMLs
How about 12 x XM-L's
http://www.elektrolumens.com/ And click on “Shopping cart” and scroll to the bottom of the web page and click on “Kong” for pics and more specs. The website is seriously messed up and hard to navigate but that light is extra drool worthy.
Here is a pic of the same light just done with XME emitters to show what it basically looks like.
Did i mention it was $1500 dollars? And its ugly as hell.
Okay back on topic... :)
What would be gained by using 3x 18650 instead of 2x 18650?
- higher battery voltage so lower battery current, which is healthier for the batteries
- or the same battery current as the 2x 18650, and therefore 50% more power delivered to the LEDs, for more output?
- or somewhere in between?
The driver spec is 8.4 V - 12.6 V. That must not be quite right, or else a partly-depleted pair of 18650s wouldn't have high-enough voltage.
If this 3x 18650 version performs exactly the same as the 2x 18650 version (which I would guess performs exactly the same as the Sky Ray 3800), with either 2 or 3 cells, then I wouldn't want this light. But if the 3x configuration produces more output, while the 2x configuration is the same as the other two 2-cell lights, then I would want it.
Forget about LEDs.... A 100W ballast in this would be 9000 lumens and have about 5-6 million lux @ 1m due to the 13" reflector (biggest used to be the popular Thor X Colossus for modders, and also the Lifeforce 240mm which is used in the Blitz 84, also 9"). LOL! And the good thing is, it can be run almost continously.
Any bigger and you'd need to go marine searchlights. Powered by UPS.... not too portable though.
Here is one more 3x XM-L - $50 with option to make best offer with the seller.
Description says "3xCREE T6 LED +18650battery x 2pcs"
The Hi-Max 3xT6 looks good, has additional "Caution Hot Surface" at the head.
I received mine, posted info wrgt the heatsinking/threads in the sky-ray version thread by mistake, see there for the picture.
With the 3x18650 AW 2200maH batteries I measured 1.5A between the last battery neg and the threads on high.
This would be 12W to the driver, seems like a lot of heat to disipate. How does this compare to the Sky-Ray version?
1.5A 3-cell is like 2.25A for 2-cell. The SR3800 does 2.55A. Within spec. There is a less well-known SZBOM one which does 1.7A 3-cells, thommy has it.
1.5A 3-cell or 2.25A 2-cell is good. It is still a ~ 20W flashlight, XM-L. Remember, less heat you also get more lumens. There shouldn't be a lot of difference in lumens/lux, absolutely not appreciable in real life usage, it would show up on a lux meter and camera photos within the first 10 seconds though. :)
All the figures above are for full charged 4.2V cells measured before the pretty fast voltage sag from 4.2-4.05V, and further on the sag is on a less acute gradient, check out the battery discharge graphs.
No worries at all! What is important is , how much lumens does it drop due to heat (great impact due to heatsinking/ambient temp etc).
This 3-cell Trustfire is an extreme runtime flashlight which still gives out decent light and not those 0.00002 lumens stuff though they do that for days, in low mode it can literally run for a day. 3 XM-L, lots of lumens per watt.
Like the TK70, it does 20 lumens for 186hrs on 10AH NiMH cells. I wonder why they did not let us do 3 x 32600 5000mAh (mitro measured the KD one at 4.5AH @ 5A discharge), it can do probably 12 days 20 lumens! Wow!
Peteybaby, maybe you can change the title to Trustfire triple XM-L 3T6 so that more people would notice this. 
Could one only use 2x18650s? Can you measure the current for that please? Thanks!
Thanks for the info. Unforunately I can't find my old lumens meter. One thing I like about the design is the fins on the head, they are thin enough and there are more of them than most of this form factor types, seems like they might actually have some radiation benefits rather than just asthetics.
Hopefully someone with a lumens meter can give a prediction on the heat transfer. I am too chicket to leave it on, I have a pyrometer (laser ir thermometer) but if all the heat is being insulated inside it won't tell me anything.
Another thing I like about it is plain old 2200mAH AW's are fine, since there are three batteries it is less punishment on them than the 2 battery versions, as you said using low, the batteries wouldn't need charged again until 24 hrs of use! That is sweet for camping. Makes this a very practical addition. I'm just hoping the thermals and reliability are as good as they look.
Regal, during summer times like this, doing less than 5 mins on high would be a piece of cake for this. Medium is more than enough light for most uses. If you are in winter sub-zero conditions, no issue 30 mins HIGH is a piece of cake. BTW do remember to see if the cells voltage match before discharging, and if you can help it after discharging.
yea I pulled each cell off the charger at the same voltage measured by my fluke, using 3 new AW's so hoping they discharge the same, plan on keeping them as a "set".
Can you measure w/ 2 cells (the skyray is btw 2cell only). That's actually surprising it's only 1.5a w/3 since you wouldn't really expect a buck/boost in a cheap light.
Sorry, it doesn't have a 2 cell tube, its either 1 cell (which I won't be trying) or 3 cells.
i think you can run it with one extender less, no?
Edit: upon closer inspection of the pics on manafont, you are right.
Edit: Actually, the pics of the length of the 2x18650 show similar number, i.e. 225mm so yours should fit 2x18650 cells.