Manker Rambler review - Code inside ;)

Hello my friends!


if you already have read the review - just klick my aff-link if you want one :D

Manker Rambler (non aff for aff-haters)

Code: MR001 Price: $ 32.-

otherwise read the review and decide then if you want to buy ... ;)


This Story starts as many do…



with a box:


inside: a plasic bag and a piece of foam ?


silly me! there is a flashlight underneath ;)


and thats in the box:

the Manker Rambler flashlight, a USB A-micro cable, a spare O-ring and a spare rubber boot for the tailswitch


time for a .gif ….


the specifications:

Product name:

MANKER Rambler CREE XM-L2 960LM LED Flashlight

Brand:

MANKER Rambler

Emitter Brand:

Cree

Emitter BIN:

XM-L2 U2

Total Emitters:

1

Material:

6061-T6 Aerospace-grade aluminum alloy body

Military Specification Type III- hard anodized

Modes:

Low:30lumens;150h

Mid:180lumens;8h

High:450lumens;4h

Turbo:960lumens;1.5h

Strobe:960lumens

Brightness:

960lm

Distance:

185m

Battery Configurations:

1 x 18650(NOT included)

Switch Type:

Clicky

Switch Location:

tail switch

Lens:

Ultra-clear tempered glass lens resists scratches and impacts

Waterproof:

IPX 7

Impact resisitance:

1m

Color:

Black,Brown,Dark gray

Weight:

100g net weight

Size:

135mm(Length)x30mm(Head Dia.)x27mm(Body Dia.)


you can buy it at banggood.com (afflink)



another one shows us what is special on this Light:

it has a USB charging port which is covered and sealed by a swivel nut


there is also a charging indicator (green is full / red is charging)

i charged one battery over night and it came out at 4,18V

the light turned green at about 4.05 Volts the evenong before….


i tried several batteries with different voltages to meassure the charging Amps:


Batterie Voltage

2,39

2,92

3,06

3,98

4,07

4,11

4,17

Charging Amps

0,85

0,8

0,6

0,165

0,1

0,06

0,02





at the tailcap there is a hole for a lanyard


opened the light


lubed O-ring and nicely square cut threads


the tailcap from inside:


quite long spring…


orange peel reflector


perfect centered Cree XM-L2


on the hot end i could only remove the lens - the head seems to be heavily glued and the reflector didn´t move a bit…

btw: plastic bezel


backside of the driver

some comparison to a similar flashlight:


the Rambler can tailstand…


someone had the same idea


the Rambler does not need a special battery - but it has to be swiched “on” to enable charging


the Rambler is on the right


no coating un the Rambler…


just for fun---

a LD10 (NeutralWhite) , the Rambler (CoolWhite) and a convoi S2+ Red (WarmWhite)


under UV light the emiters show their differences


beamshots!

distance was 20cm

1/30 sec / F22 / ISO400


gray! wall, distance was 2.5m

0,62 sec / F22 / ISO400


side by side with the Olight R20 seeker


some numbers:



Light

high

Mid2

Mid1

low

Manker Rambler (INR S25R)

3,1 A

1,65 A

1,03 A

0,14 A

Manker Rambler (pana pull)

2,55 A

1,47 A

0,94 A

0,13 A

Manker Rambler (INR S25R)

1000 Lm*

555 Lm

359 Lm

51 Lm

Manker Rambler (pana pull)

800 Lm

480 Lm

326 Lm

49 Lm

Olight R20 (INR S25R)

760 Lm

138 Lm

*1000 Lumen dropped due to heat to 930 within 30 sec



conclusion:


CON:

the tailswitch is on the strong side

no AR coating

no Anti roll whatever

no holdter or lanyard included


SO - SO:

quite heavy - but mass helps with the heat….

anno is on the shiny side

the both middle Levels are visually veery close


PRO:

well crafted

no dings or scratches

good price

USB charging works with any LiIon battery



feel free to ask for what i did not cover!

Nice review. Thanks!

Is there any way of checking if the charging circuitry uses cc/cv?

it it very annoying the fact that once the battery voltage reaches about 4v the charging current drops from 0.6 to 0.1 amps? that is not cc/cv IMO.

AFAIK it should maintain 0.6A during the CC phase and when the battery enters the CV Phase the current gradually has to drop… and that occurs at about…4.2v??? (if I am not wrong…)

I only have two cheap multimeters…

I was thinking about to run the plus to the back and write down the values every 10 minutes…

Very nice review indeed, but I missed information about mode memory, is it present and works normally, not some kind of next-mode memory?

too bad the bezel was plastic :frowning:

ooops!

UI :
when OFF tap to momentary switch on the light and toggle to the modes
full press (klick) to stay in that mode
when on full press to Off and tap again to toggle
modes : low - mid1 - mid2 - high - strobe
mode is memorized after staying 1,5 secs in a mode

Great review. Thanks.

The price is a little excessive

BG list price is 39.95 USD, DX offers it for 32.99 USD and claim to include a 18650 battery.

The bezel is plastic…not the lens?

Seems like such a weird design choice. Not even the $4 flashlights have plastic bezels.

Hi M4d M4X, Thanks for the review!!. Here my Manker Rambler in “Dark grey”

This is better

Nice Review.
I really like the gifs, gives additional visuals without taking up more real-estate.
After reading this review I now want to get one, lots to like about it.
My concern with these kind of rechargeable lights:

  1. Is it safe if I leave it charging for long periods of time?
  2. Is there circuitry in there to prevent overcharging, etc?

Thanks for putting all that time into this review!

The white rubber for the tail cap switch, is that glow-in-the-dark?

nope.

its a light gray rubber without GITD

Thanks for the review!
I like the more complex design of the Manker,compared to the R20.

Code added in OP

Has anyone been able to get inside to see the driver/charging circuit?

Just information, I charged it overnight (in empty area) using battery protected Pana18650B. Charged up to 4.25V when I take it and still doing charging at 0.06A.
Received it from BG without extra tail cap or O ring, only lanyard and charging cable. Host quality is good, led slightly off center.

I got the reflector assembly out last night - it screws in, normal CCW to unscrew it. I used needlenose to grab the lip of the reflector good, then unscrewed it. Could'nt get any further yet - still can't get to the driver. The star is real loose - looks like no thermal grease under it. Next thing to do would be de-solder the wires and see if I can get some leverage in the wire holes to unscrew or move the pill. The pill appears to be aluminum, and a separate piece form the body/shell.

At least now I could put a LED/MCPCB in there of my own choosing, and good thermal grease Smile