Hello everybody I’ve came here for a little help I need a new flashlight for caving and mining, I was going to make one as I have experience with electronics and work with CNC Turning machines, but to save hassle I’d like some advice for a new one basically need to be IPX8 And preferably use 18650 looking for output over 3000lumens Im not fussed in runtime as many torches have an option to lower power consumption to maintain battery life, i did use another forum but wasn’t very good. I was thinking of making one with XHP70 using a small SLA battery or a lipo but basically don’t have the time to fabricate a body for a custom build….also what do people think of AceBeam seems to be well priced
Your needs are very specific and you have come to the right place. Plenty of spelunkers visit and contribute to this forum.
3000 plus lumens will sure light up a massive grotto or cavern.
Any pics to share with your old caving helmet light?
I do have photos but sadly they are on a spare hard drive which I need to fix, today I visited a cave but the cave was taking much water in so decided to have a walk about.
I don’t know if this fits your needs, but did you look at the Klarus G20?
3000 lumens, big floody beam, 26650 battery! It is a compact light for a 26650 flashlight!
Acebeam is a great quality light, and the Acebeam L30 might fit your needs. The Acebeam L30 has a wide flood with decent throw that uses a 20700 battery, but it can use a protected 18650 battery.
Acebeam makes good lights. Considering the environment; mud, water and lots of rocks. I’d consider using a dive light, tough, waterproof, look at these.
Caving and mining? Go high-CRI (90+) with warm colour temperatures (related: Kruithof curve), it'll allow great visual appreciation and favour fast scotopic vision adaptation. Even if output efficiency is lower with this kind of emitters you can be sure it pays off, a lot.
Thanks everybody for the replies didn’t expect to see so many people interested in helping out, it seems I’m not sure on lumen output I have a 85watt HID Which has served me well but I’m not sure on its output I’m guessing around 40watt of total output is in light after losses and efficiency, i payed around 100 pound for it when I didn’t have much knowledge of flashlights and thinking about it now I see for the same amount if money a well made flashlight can be had,the problem is finding one haha
I have a short video of a cave I visited yesterday but sadly the river which the cave engulfs was too active it’s nicknamed the lightning river as after a small amount of rain the cave becomes inaccessible, the this video you can see how useless my HID is in such a large chamber and I also visit mines which are very large chambers
I would embed the video but I’m not sure, if anybody wants to know the cave name it is Porth Ar Ogof and it’s a very interesting system, 15 known entrances but the exit of the cave is very dangerous which many people have drowned sadly…
I’ve narrowed down to a flashlight with 4 x 18650 as I have many spare and not have an integrated battery and uses XHP70
I’m actually now considering an Olight X7 or X7R or an AceBeam X45,the Olight I’d rather not get as it has an integrated battery and if rather non integrated but the AceBeam is having bad review in regards to the green beam tint and blue spill tint, so it’s very low CRI
It uses three 18650 cells, uses a Cree MT-G2 5000k LED Q0. It’s a wonderful tint to boot. It produces the 3000 lumens you are looking for, has a tail switch and a unique magnetic rotation ring for selecting modes. It also can throw 500m! It is IPX 8 rated. Sounds like it’s perfect for what you are looking for.
Ended up going for AceBeam X45 Gen 2 mainly for the use of 4 18650 cells which i habe many spare from vaping and the amount of apill which i will appreciate, will let you know how it fares when I go caving on the weekend thanks everybody
Be careful when using batteries in that light. The X45 battery configuration is 4 in series. You’ll need to be sure that all the batteries you use are the same age, same type, and same voltage, and all charged/discharged at the same time. If not you could have a potential explosion or venting situation, ruining your light and injuring yourself in the process. If you had protected cells it’s not that big of a deal, but it’s best to do the same even with protected cells. Then again, the x45 requires high drain cells, and protected HDC’s are not common. For safety sake, buy a new set of Sony VTC6 or some Samsung 30Q’s.
Exactly this. Don’t make “packs” from whatever random cells you have. Use new batteries, same brand, same model, preferably purchased together, charged at the same voltage and keep using them only together. Lithium batteries are pretty safe if you follow some simple rules but can be dangerous if you don’t.
Just to clarify, I have knowledge of IMR/INR technology cells, I build vape devices and I use Samsung 25R or Sony VTC5, LG HG2s and so on, all my batteries are checked pretty much every day as I alternate sets using them, I also marry them, I will probably not use the included batteries with the AceBeam X45, I will probably use Samsung 25R due to the toughness of the cell, they can discharge over 100amps momentarily and if my memory serves me correctly 20amps continuous is easy for them they also boast low internal resistance and a very low cut off voltage of 2.5v And they are easy to obtain real ones, most Sony VTC series cells are cloned or faked on a massive scale. I’m ready thinking of making a pack for the AceBeam, a pack consisting of 4 series with 4 parrarel to effectively double the runtime, probably won’t do this for a while and enjoy it for caving, better still I might just recycle my HID that uses a neat little pack of 3 series 6 parrarel 18650s, rebuild a new pack with LG or other similar 18650s as I previously described and do a homemade build consisting of Luminus LED and make a big spill light for photography in caves and mines, this has given me a lot to think about in the near future
