Many plastics also absorb infrared, but point taken
For storage, I suppose it’s possible you got poorly made ones. I looked at the amzn reviews for various rechargeable alkalines, and some are good while some leak. At least in theory these are similar to standard alkaline and shouldn’t do much worse stored.
100 recharges, per the manufacturer.
Thanks O-L for the teardown and pics! I think this has great potential in the right hands! So who's going to jump in on this and mod this to a blaster?
-Garry
If I were inclines to do anything with it, I would simply replace the Alkalines with Eneloops, drop in a 7135 driver and put an extra 0.250” thick piece of 2” diameter aluminum onto the current heat sink and just use it like that. You get whatever potential there is in the LED, with modes and at least a larger heat sink area, but with the fact that it’s all plastic, I just would not bother myself.
That said, I would still like to try it, but I just know if I ever did, I couldn’t ever sell it off, to recoup the losses.
Interesting light and batteries.
Thank you Old-Lumens for taking us on picturesque walkthrough of the light and its components.
With all its shortcomings I would still like to see something like it in the stores here in Denmark.
IMO I don’t think this light is worth modding from a value perspective when the stanley is only 25$ more and already comes with lithiums, a proper charger for them, harder drive xml, slightly better quality, etc. You’ll be hard pressed to break even. The stanley also has the benefit that it uses a standard star so you can swap the emitter easily (not sure about this one). This one is something to play with for a bit and then toss in the car/camper for emergencies. To be fair though that’s what happens with most of our lights anyway.
Hey OldLumens… did you happen to get a reflector diameter measurement? regardless of anything else in this light, that element alone could make this one a great XML-thrower mod. $$$-wise it would break down like this:
–7135 driver = $10
–26650 = $12
-glass lens = $10 ballpark
-Aluminum or copper stock to beef up the heatsink = $10 ballpark
-XML-T6 or U2 = $8
The last three elements are already built into the Stanley fatmax, as it comes with a T6 in pale white. So $$-wise, this one is going to lose out to the Stanley. Even box-stock others are reporting the Stanley does ~650-700L OTF.
The reflector diameter though could tip the scale in the defiants favor. If its bigger than the stanley then it could be made to out-throw it… and any other XML light in existence.
thanks!!
oops double post
Sorry, I did not measure it. I have seen the Stanley and I do think this Defiant is a little bigger, but I cannot verify that with numbers.
IMO plastic lens is probably better for light this size. Easy to break glass of that size. The heatsink is also probably good enough. It’s only 10w or so dissipated. Installing a cheap fan would be very effective for the paranoid.
This has to be the most antique looking circuit board I have seen in the last ~25 years…. ceramic resistors and thru-hole components LOL!!
those 2 big green things on the right, are those the current-sense resistors?
I saw this light at Home Depot today (I swear that this was not the purpose of the trip to the store), and almost bought it to replace the SLA powered 3M CP Dorcy halogen spotlight in the trunk of my wife’s car. In fact, it took considerable willpower and trembling hands to remove it from my cart and place it back on the shelf. Here’s what helped me reel it back in and not purchase another light:
What is it with spotlight manufacturers making lights that can’t get wet these days? I thought the Stanley FatMax XML had this weakness because of the LiCo chemistry cells, but this here Defiant uses rechargeable Alkaline cells (it’s no wonder the drive current is so low). If I shouldn’t take it to the beach or use it in the rain, then there’s no point in having it in the trunk.
I have to admit, I did stand there with it in my hands for long enough to draw attention, while I contemplated replacing the six Alk. AA cells with Eneloops and modding the sense resistors to up the output. Maybe when the SLA battery in that Dorcy finally goes, then I’ll have a reason to buy this light.
AFIAK they’ve always been this way (no water resistance).
I guess I’m spoiled. The first few 6V spotlights I had were waterproof. Some even advertised that they’d float. I know the XPG version of the Stanley FatMax claims to be waterproof. I guess I just never realized that the majority aren’t, because it’s not something they advertise. For instance, the outside of the Defiant box says something like “do not operate until you have read the owners manual”. Then AFTER you purchase, and open the box to read the owners manual (unless you open it in aisle 9 like I did), for the first time you see that it’s for “Dry use only”.
I don’t mind that they don’t float, and shouldn’t be submerged, but I like all my lights to at least be able to withstand some rain or some spray coming off the ocean. I think the trigger is probably the weakest seal. If they’d seal that up better and isolate the battery chamber from the heat and change in air pressure caused by other parts heating up in a sealed container, they could have some waterproofing going on - I’m not asking for dive-light capability, just rain proofing.
Oh, also, I noticed in the manual, the manufacturer refers to a polished Aluminum reflector, but I’ve heard that it’s plastic. Not a big deal I suppose, just curious that they’d get that wrong.
Even with all the shortcomings, it’s still a hell of a good deal. I didn’t get it mainly because I’d have to upgrade it with an Eneloop pack, different two or three mode driver, and somehow port the heatsink to the outside (a la the FatMax) to really enjoy that emitter in that reflector.
IMO the most efficient mod is to just use a single li-on cell with 7135 driver and wire a port to charge it with any li-on charger. Frankly I don’t think the heatsink size is really that much of problem. You can buy a cpu or video heatsink for it for a few $ if need be.
This makes sense over the stanley if one already has a spare 18650 and were going to mod the stanley for max output with a new driver anyway.
If I didn’t already own the Stanley, I’d do basically just that, but I’d still be concerned that the internal heatsink couldn’t shed the heat well enough through the plastic housing to run the light continuously at 3.0A. For that reason, I’d try to build a heatbridge to the outside, without compromising water resistance. In the end, I’d basically have something a little better than a stock FatMax for about the same cost.
It has a T5 XML.
Welcome to the party, DustinLSX!
