Just received new version of E3 without memory. Measured tailcap currents on charged and rested batteries:
| mode and battery | clamp meter | multimeter |
| mode 1, liion (1) | 0.58A | 0.47A |
| mode 2, liion (1) | 0.96A | 0.81A |
| mode 3, liion (1) | 1.7A | 1.53A |
| mode 1, liion (2) | 1.0A | 1.0A |
| mode 2, liion (2) | 1.6A | 1.3A |
| mode 3, liion (2) | 2.7A | 2.3A |
| mode 1, eneloop | 0.04A | 8.6mA |
| mode 2, eneloop | 0.35A | 47.3mA |
| mode 3, eneloop | 2.3A | 2.3A |
| mode 1, alkaline | - | 9.5mA |
| mode 2, alkaline | - | 53.2mA |
| mode 3, alkaline | - | 2.3A |
Ai, on li-ions the modes are way too close together, with no proper low, they placed their bets on NiMh’s and alkalines.
Can anyone post any beamshots please? 
Thanks for your numbers g_damian :+1:
Yes thanks for the tailcap currents :+1:
mode 3, eneloop………2.3A
mode 3, liion (2)……….2.7A
So Li-ion doesn’t offer much more brightness vs NiMH?
(1) is rested cell and (2) is fully charged? What is the voltage of rested?
W=A*V
So Li-ion is a lot brighter, because 2.7*4>2.3*1.35. (also note voltage of batteries)
(1) and (2) are two different 14500 cells, both charged. (1) is protected, (2) is not.
Ok thanks, I didn’t consider the voltage :person_facepalming:
So the NiMH only produces around 3.1 watts, and the Li-ion produces around 10.8 watts?
I got my new version E3. I like it a lot and it would be a candidate for my favorite AA/14500 flashlight, except when I use a 14500 cell all the modes are very close in brightness to max (not single mode, all 3 modes are different, albeit barely). I wonder if this is the intended behavior or my unit came defective
I really like my E3 alot. It has a very nice tint, which is rosier than most 219C I’ve seen. The start on moonlight mode and 3 brightness mode makes this a very user friend AA flashlight. If I were to choose the best AA flashlight to give muggles, I would choose either the E3 or the Reylights. Both perform about the same in terms of brightness but the Reylight looks alot nicer for 4x the price.
SKV89 does your E3 have the same mode spacing issue (when running on Li-ion) as Persechini reported in the post above yours?
Yes same issue. Fortunately the AA mode is pretty bright. If I want a bright 219C 14500 flashlight, I’ll use the Reylight Ti Lan or Pineapple.
That means it’s a lottery with the tint?
I also ordered Jaxman E3 4000K, but the tint isn’t that great (sort of yellowish), definitely not rosy (unlike one of my BLF A01 which has a really rosy tint)…
Will post a pic to compare them…
~
With regards to brightness level when using 14500. While I could measure a difference in tailcap current from Low-to-High (it’s similar to the one mentioned above), the brightness (using our eyes) from Low-to-Medium is very little difference. While Low and High (although there’s a bigger difference in tailcap current drain, the actual brightness difference seen by my eyes is also not that big a difference. The flashlight does get hotter much more quickly when using 14500 in High mode though).
Unlike when using AA, there is a nice spacing of brightness levels from Low to Medium to High (I think the AliExpress website indicates it’s supposed to be 1-60-350 lumens? Anyone can confirm if those are the real values?) I wonder what is the actual lumens rating when using 14500 — maybe someone who knows how to measure lumens can answer it (I have a basic lux meter now but don’t know how to compute/convert that to approximate lumens…)
It’s rosy compared to other 219C but not as rosy as the 219B 4000k an definitely not as rosy as my Emisar D4 5D tint, which has a tint that is almost pink.
I will post some comparison ceiling bounce values with other AA lights later.
Hmm, so mode spacing using 14500 is not exclusive to my unit, it’s either a manufacturing issue or a design issue
As for tint, mine is quite neutral and pleasing, not particularly rosy, definitely not greenish or yellowish
It is most certainly a design issue. I think it takes quite some electronics and software expertise and probably extra components on the driver to get the modes right for both AA and 14500 when not all modes are made by PWM (the low mode isn’t). They chose to get the AA modes right and left the 14500 modes for what it is and that is understandable.
Is the Li-ion mode spacing problem because of the current? So there would be the same (or near the same) problem with NiMh eneloop?
Cheaper lights I have offer better aa/14500 versatility. This one kinda disappointed me, it should be advertised as AA only
NiMH works fine in it, it’s the Voltage difference that causes problems when using Li-ion.
When designing a driver that can use both AA/NiMH and Li-ion, compromises must be made. Expense considered…
I don’t have the Jaxman E3 but from the current values I think the 350 lm may be true off the emitter for NiMH for the Cree version:
Fully charged NiMH: 2.3A x 1.3V = 2.99W. — 2.99 x 0.8 = 2.4
Partially charged NiMH: 2.3A x 1.2V = 2.76W — 2.76 x 0.8 = 2.2
Assuming 80% efficiency that means between 2.4W and 2.2W at the emitter.
From CREE PCT, a XP-G2 S4 should output (at 25ºC):
340.3lm at 700mA 3.04V = 2.13W
380.7lm at 800mA 3.07V = 2.46W
419.6lm at 900mA 3.10V = 2.79W
So, 350 lm at 2.4W is doable if the led doesn’t get too hot. That value ignores losses at the reflector and glass.
From Texas_Ace test a Nichia 219C D240 should output about 280lm at 2.1W and 350lm at 2.9W. Assuming 80% efficiency I would expect about 300lm with a NiMH AA for the Nichia version.
2.7A with a li-ion is almost like a 8x7135 linear driver, it should be able to output at least 800 lumens off the emitter.
To get an estimated of the actual output you can measure the lux (aiming the flashlight at the ceiling and measuring the reflection) both for a flashlight with an known accurate lumen rating and for the tested flashlight at the same position. The former will get you a lm/lux ratio for the lux meter position. You may need to repeat the meaurements with the lux meter at 2 or 3 different positions because how floody the light is may affect the results a bit.
See this thread for more details: How accurate is a ceiling bounce test to measure difference in output?
Thanks for explaining.
When I get my E3 I’ll use NiMh for it, then eventually change the driver to use Li-ion and maybe gain a little power boost too.
Jaxman replied me on AliExpress and said the listing on other sites was updated to warn about this, but the listing on AE ended up being left behind and not updated to reflect this. So it’s by spec that it behaves this way. A pity as my intentions involved the dual chemistry capability, but it’s a nice AA flashlight nonetheless and build quality is above average for products I have in this size