Who here has been into the hobby long enough to remember "Elly"? That's not it's real name of course... the only markings on my two examples read "MXDL 1W"... I believe that the name Elly came about from FifthUnit.com - where they would name everything like Ikea...
Anyway, it was the first light I ever modded... I think it was 2005 maybe??? ...and it was awesome! I replaced the generic LED on it's 20mm star with a Lux I (I forget the bin... who remembers Lux I bins anyway) and was blown away - until I got the bright idea to stick a 14500 in it and fried it!
My elation soon turned to dismay and I was discouraged from attempting another mod until I found a SSC P4 on a 20mm star and a 1A driver a year or so later. I put that together - and BLAM! I was hooked... never stopped modding since...
Anyway... I found a new black one at one of those free shipping sites and I'm going to stick an XM-L in it, along with a 2.8A driver, stick an IMR LiMn 14500 in it and let'er rip!!! I don't imagine it will stay bright long, but it sure will be cool while it works! :D
Nope, my first ever LED flashlight was a triple Luxeon in 2006. 3 x D batteries. It was advertised to be 3 x 3W but i measured like 0.9A on the tailcap with 3 x 1.5V unloaded. LOL! (so very much like 3 watts only and still pretty dim). usd100 then!
Well ok before that like 2005, i had a 21-LED Nichia doing 3 x AAA. usd30 then.
In 2016, i'll look forward to a 100W flashlight in a Nitecore TM11 sized host with manageable heat and Panasonic 4000mAh 18650s. :)
IIRC, it's what originally got me to check out DX (not sure if it was before the transformation to DX, but I do remember chatting with Kyle, so that must have been around 2007 or so).
2100 : wow, times have really changed haven't they? I remember being blown away by a Fenix P1!
Oxy Moron: Nice! Elly is still a fine host in my opinion and maybe one of the easiest to mod lights out there. Now if I could just find a source for 24.5mm lenses...
Good to see some other old-schoolers here!
Shao
P.S. - I'm making that Elly XM-L mod today - will post the results... I may just drop the driver down to a 1.4A increase runtime. It should still be hella bright...
My first LED flashlight was LED Lenser Photonpump V8 in 2001, maybe. Now it has Nichia LED and is at least 3 times brighter and still useful small light :)
Elly mod pics to come! Just waiting on the driver now! I'm thinking of replacing the reflector and using some "penny-sinks" to raise the emitter and help absorb heat. The stock head and reflector is long/deep enough that it should be able to accommodate at least four pennies and still have a nice beam profile.... :D
I remember the moaning about the first of the Cree Ellys - far too bright all sorts of people said. There's one hanging in the office stationery cupboard - I give it a new AA alike every year or two.
I think there's another one somewhere in the black hole which is the file drawer in my desk. Scared to look in there.
I don't remember them coming in black back in the day - all the ones that went through my hands were silver. The black makes the ludicrously wide tailcap look a lot slimmer.
They've been offered in black since I first found out about them but have been almost impossible to get for a year or two it seems. Silver and black are sold out and have been for quite a while on DX but I was surprised to find you can still get one in gray. Very tempting to get one as they appear to have fantastic heatsinking ability with the massive pill.
That's what got me to start this thread... I used to have a pair of silvers (now only one, still modded with a Q5, 1A driver and TIR)... I was really hoping since they listed it as grey that I would get another silver, but I received a black just like in the pics... I'm going to mod the black one... I can't wait... :D Even if it is a 14500 only light - it's going to be awesome, I can feel it...
Ahhh... the Rexlight... it never quite worked right for me... I was unlucky and got a bad one...