also - on utilitech AA I get 2.2A at the tail!!!! That will wipe that battery so fast lol but that's OK w/ me!
EDIT: it is finally dark, at least inside - this thing makes an AWESOME light clipped to a hat - one more click in the angle would be nice, but it is great anyway. Doing this I discovered something strange - pwm is MUCH more audible (only on low) when clipped to my black hat?
stock, from top of spring to threads I measured 1.4 ohms
pulled the spring, stripped the inside of the tailcap (I think it is paint) with oven cleaner, wrapped copper braid on top of spring then around bottom coil and replaced it.
now it measures 0.4 ohms.
Insignificant increase in lux readings, but I bet AA batteries last longer.
You might not want to do this if you'll use 14500s because it might be direct drive on high (1.5 to 2A, depending on cell I tried).
I love the design of this thing, was eyeing Fenix original at first, but for the money and battery life and lumens that it can push out the front it was waaay too expensive, I found the same clone on ebay little below 9$, search for "angle led flashlight". I think Im gonna buy one myself soonish and then come back for more info about modding its lens for better throw :D
Note that first result, if you use "worldwide" filter will be from ebay uk 2xAA tripple led flashlight, looks tempting but its probably with lots of flood and cold blue light with probably no modes, at least nothing mentioned in description.
you might be surprised by how much it throws stock, but it could be improved w/ lens. I'll try my aspheric lenses again at some point and post lux readings.
I am pretty sure it is. I was doing some maintenance work on a bike today and this was the light I grabbed for no particular reason at all. As always, if a light will take li-ions, that's what I'm going to use. So I attach the light to a steel beam and get to work. I haven't even taken the gas tank off when I notice the beam is turning into a familiar angry blue. Then it starts flickering, goes off and before I can get to it, comes back on. The whole thing was over in less than 30 seconds but I'm sure the phosphorus layer didn't like it too much. When I switched it off, the head was too hot to touch.
The battery (a protected TF 14500 "flame" battery) looks fine and measured exactly 4.0v when I pulled it out. Total runtime before today must have been 15 minutes or less (ie. both the light and the battery were practically new). When I briefly put it back in, the light pulled 2.1A. Well, yeah, not good if you care about durability. Like I said, the battery looks okay but the light has now been relegated to NiMH-only duty.
Its a nice light, Ive bought 5 of them. One of them was DOA - defective on arrival - turn it on in high mode, it will start to flicker, after some while it will stop.
The same occured later on with one more light.
Me?
I bought mine from Ebay, there was this seller who was listing them both for fixed price and also available for bidding.
I bid and won 5 pieces within couple of weeks, I bought them for 4.25$, 2x4.5$, 1x5$, 2x8$ respectively.
Yes, I had to use Ebay resolution center to get partial refund from seller.
I checkced that seller - has blocked me since then, so I cant buy anything from them anymore :D!
I have 4, and haven’t had that problem with them, but when I have with other lights it is because the path to ground isn’t good and as the light heats up and expands, something fits tighter and the connection works better.
If I were to guess, i’d say where the body tube screws into the head. Unfortunately, I think that joint is glued.