My Eastward 4 mode spent 1 week doing nothing until yesterday ... Would be nice if it arrives this week ... [ Would be nice ]
yea, with an XML go 18650 (or bigger lol) or go home!
dont mess with 14500's at that amperage for sure.
im still sitting tight for 14mm versions!
tho i MAY buy one to try on my p60 base lol..... still thinking lol
Me too, I ordered the C8 from KD instead.
Hello everyone. I've been a flashlight fan for many years, but didn't know there were communities like this until recently, so I've had a lot of fun browsing your message forum. Thanks for sharing everything here for others to learn. I've got a (ShiningBeam) MG P-Rocket 1x18650 SST-50 running at about 2 amps that I love as well as a very nice/portable Fenix LD20 CREE XP-G R4 2xAA, but I'd like to also get something a little brighter. I'm considering one of these T6 CREE XM-L lights from KD mentioned in this thread. My main goals are a very bright light I can bring into a large attic/shed when rummaging around or to bring into the woods around the house, so I need some flood and throw is not as important. I don't care as much about runtime, since the light will stay at home, but a usable low mode < 75 lumens and tailstanding would be a nice bonus. I'm trying to spend less than $100, which actually seems to rule out all of the SST-90 lights I've seen. I'm not an expert in much of this, so I have a few questions.
Are these T6 CREE XM-L lights likely to be brighter than my mid/high end SST-50 1x18650 light @2a?
There are 2x18650 and 1x18650 versions of the T6 light. Does adding the second 18650 mainly increase the brightness or the runtime? Or does it depend on the electronics?
Would these XM-L lights be as bright as a SST-90 with 2x18650 2900mah AW batteries? Or should I look for other LEDs like a P7 for more lumens with that type of power input?
Welcome to BLF, Anagoge!
A lot of good questions and the main answer is we'll just have to wait and see. The XM-L should put P7's and MC-E's out of business. SST's can still put off more light when driven to higher currents than the XM-L will permit (over 3A). At 2A they would probably be about equal, but the smaller LED of the XM-L should throw a little further. We'll have to see how hard the KD drop-ins drive the LED. If they drive it to 2.8A or greater then 1 18650 isn't going to last very long at all, and I suspect you won't see very good regulation (it will start off bright and then dim steadily). If they don't drive the LED as hard, then the brightness isn't going to be all that great. I do think they'll be floody like what you want.
Welcome Anagoge! Good to have you here.
It is hard to say yet as none of these have actually arrived in our mailboxes. If KD get the dropin to me this year then I'll be happy.
There aren't very many XM-L LEDs out there just yet.
In a week or two, people will have answers.
While you wait, this thread may be interesting.
http://flashlightnews.net/forum/index.php?topic=2395.msg30524
Once good drivers are out there, I expect the XM-L to completely replace the SST-50. I doubt that Luminus will still be making the SST-50 by March. Already existing MC-E driver will make theXM-L beat the SST-50 which needs 5A to give of its best, the XM-L promises the same output at 3A.
But until they are in general circulation this may, or may not, be the case.
I'm now searching for a nice 2*18650 host to xm-l it. Good heatsinking is my top priority. Any suggestions please?
Any reports/guesses yet how the xm-l beam will look like with average mce/p7 reflectors?
Thanks brted and Don for your help. I'm not sure if I'll go ahead and buy the KD XML T6 2x18650 now or wait a few weeks until someone has more info. I wouldn't mind installing a more suitable driver if it is easy and the factory one isn't that good.
From the info here, I'm guessing that having a second 18650 battery (instead of just 1) mainly increases the runtime (not brightness), unless the driver in the 2x18650 body draws more amps than a single batttery can supply? Is that right?
phlowcus, here are the 2x18650 XM-L lights I've come across recently (only the first will be a "budget" light, I assume):
- http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=11103
- http://www.lightjunction.com/Thrunite-catapult-v2-XML-flashlight.html
- http://www.batteryjunction.com/olight-m3x-triton.html
- http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?304197 (Fenix TK35)
- http://www.illuminationgear.com/14322/27013.html (EagleTac M3C4)
I'm sure there are more out there and even more coming soon.
Thank you, but I'm looking for nice empty hosts or existing MCE/P7-lights which meet the criteria so I can mod them to xm-l myself. :)
I received my shipping notification last night (2 weeks after ordering). Lets hope the driver and reflector are up to the task. Early flashlight mods indicate that the XML plays nicely with many different reflectors, including XRE, P7/MCE/Rebel.
I orderd that one too, but since I live on a small island (just like Don 
), I don't expect to get it soon. I hope you will post a short review.
I see no mention of XM-L on EagleTac.com. Where did you see that announcement?
Aloha and welcome to BLF Corvette6769!
I ordered my http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=11096 on December 3, 2010.
Here is my followup correspondence:
----- Original Message -----From: Kaidomain.com (Sales)To: ***Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 8:56 AMSubject: Re: Kaidomain.com Order Number ******
Hi,Sorry for delay. We have a special situation results in a few days delay this week.I will think about your advice and forward this up. You are right, we should be more careful about this.Thank you for writing to us. And sorry for any inconvenience.
On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 5:14 PM, **** <> wrote:
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your professionalism and extra effort.I do not believe it ever asked me to login when I placed the order.What do you mean it will be shipped within a few days?Your website shows:
Availability: ship right away Why did this not ship 6 days ago?Thank you.
Sincerely,
----- Original Message -----From: Kaidomain.com (Sales)To: ***Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 7:57 PMSubject: Re: Receipt for Your Payment to Kaidomain.comYour order number is 1012030096. According to our system, it's collected and should be shipped within a few days.
Did you login your KD account before checkout? If not, you can't track this order status in your account.
Anyway, you should feel free to email me about your order status.
On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 9:31 AM, *****> wrote:
Five days ago I bought http://kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=11096# from you (see PayPal receipt below).How can I track this order?Thank you.
Sincerely,
******
I could not help myself, so on December 9, 2010, I ordered one of these too. However, 6 days later my order status still shows BACKORDERED! 
KD website still shows “Availability: ship in 1-3 business days” 
^ get used to it. they are UBER slow
thats why i try to stick with manafont and DX.
my two favs. tho DX is REALLY REALLY slow lately. but i expect that this time of year
Definitely an XM-L in it -has arrived quite quickly.
Unfortunately I don't have a P60 light with me to test it in.
Hopefully mine will get here today and I can then pick it up at the post office on Friday morning. Looking forward to hearing what you think about it. It's not like the KD XP-G drop-in where the reflector partially blocked the LED, is it?
Went home at lunchtime to empty the assistant before she emptied herself on the carpet.
So, as you do, I picked up a few P60 hosts and some charged 18650s
Don't have the lightbox and meters here but, at first sight it is brighter tan my previous brightest P60, the M-bin MC-E that came with the WF-501 from DX. Since this dropin cost more than that light and its dropin it ought to be good.
I put it in a new-style WF-504B body i got from the Manafont offer. It is a very poor design on heat-sinking grounds, the old 504B was better. As usual I wrapped the dropin in enough aluminium foil to make it difficult to push the thing into the throat of the light.
There are some artefacts at the edge of the beam from the bezel ring - I'll try it in a Solarforce body with a flat bezel ring for the tests.
Beam colour is my favourite vanilla colour, maybe a tiny fraction bluer than my all-time favourite in the (lost :( ) Trustfire F22. It is certainly a nicer colour than the M bin MC-E.
Will get numbers in about 6 hours' time.
And photos, photos ... please......