I have just received It Today. This is a Pocket Rocket.
A Nice Light that weighs 51g and not 40g as advertised.
Has 3 modes H-M-L, always starts on high after the light is turned off for 10 seconds.
There are no marks or damage to the body.
LED slightly off center
Tail Cap readings
Ni-MH Trustfire 14500(4.14v)
High 2.23Amps 2.45Amps
Medium 0.78Amps 0.74Amps
Low 0.06Amps 0.02Amps
New readings using 8 batteries 14500 Flame
4.02v 2.06Amps 0.61Amps
4.05v 2.22Amps 0.68Amps
4.06v 2.18Amps 0.63Amps
4.08v 2.20Apms 0.67Amps
4.13v 2.40Amps 0.73Amps
4.14v 2.54Amps 0.75Amps
4.16v 2.53Amps 0.73Amps
4.18v 2.56Amps 0.77Amps
The first reading I got was 2.50Amps but settled on 2.45Amps. Seems to work will with both batteries. I will tell you about the light output when it gets dark.
Buy this light
Here we go Beam shot. Balder VS UF 2100 3 Mode modded to 5 Mode.
At those currents I'd be getting some Bestinone IMR 14500s - that is way past the 1.2-1.5A that lithium cobalt 14500s can safely produce.
Most likely it'll just age the cells really fast but there are other possibilities.
Wish my one would show up - it has now left HK, but no idea where it now is - the Royal Fail website is useless for tracking incoming items. In fact it is pretty useless full-stop just now as it has most of it not working.
Hey, you got the brand printing on yours! My XP-E came without any markings whatsoever. I wonder if I got sample stock
I have another XP-E coming directly from Balder and also an XM-L that is still in transit from Tactical HID (don't buy from them if you want your item in decent time and it's shipping from HK).
They charge just like standard lithium cells but aren't protected (As there is no real need for them to be) but watch you don't over-discharge them - don't go below 2.5V but you will know before they drop that far as the light will dim significantly. The same goes for lithium cobalt cells (The normal Li cells) and I've yet to see a low voltage cutout that works on them. There musty be some out there, but most just seem to cut out on current draw which with a regulated driver will rise as voltage drops.
The lithium manganese (Usually called IMR) chemistry has a lower internal resistance so is capable of producing higher currents. The downside is they have lower capacity usually.
While they can be made to go kaboom (and have done so in one well publicised case in the Other Place - the Sony cells concerned were IMR cells) it is far less likely than with the usual lithium-cobalt cells. This (wikipedia) article goes over some of the basics. There isn't a specific article on lithium-manganese cells but there's a bunch of (wikipedia) stuff here. And it isn't all that likely with any single cell lithium cobalt cell device.
If you want completely non-kabooming lithium cells you need to go for the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells but they have a lower nominal voltage, a lower capacity and usually a higher cost. And need different chargers and I don't think they will provide as much current anyway.
In single AA lights you are not likely to have anything nasty happen, regardless of the lithium chemistry involved but such heavy loads mean the cells won't last as long as they otherwise might. I have some unprotected 14500s that are now down to 90mAh capacity which is hardly useful. This is largely as a result of repeated high discharge rates. Or that they were never all that good in the first place. Or both.
I see Lighthound chose to go the route of branding it as their own as opposed to selling the Balder brand. I actually don't like this because I think Balder is creating a unique product on their own. However, Balder is the one offering this option so whatever.
Seems to be a good light, at least if you see the desing and light output... but I dont beleive that this light is fully regulated (I mean, current increases as battery voltage decreases)
