26650 lights that can maintain 1500-2000 lumens?

Jaxman X2

The objective of PID is avoiding output and temperature oscillations (and overshoot) that happen with simpler controllers (i.e. the flashlight overheats, output decreases, the flashlight cooldowns,then output increases again), it will be as constant as possible but it won’t be constant over the entire discharge. That they say output is regulated by PID means that the initial output won’t be sustained (unless the room temperature is cool enough) - they wouldn’t need to say that otherwise.

Well you see there is only TWO lights on zebralights product pages that show your example and they are AA lights and EVEN then they are an outlier as out of their entire lineup of AA lights only the SC5c and SC5w present the example you mentioned. Now if you look at EVERY lithium variant it WILL list something along the lines of “High: H1 X Lm (PID, Y hrs)”. When I said its basically copy pasted look at everything under “Main features” everything is identical for essentially every light they just plug in lumen values and dimensions of protect that is to say they use a template so they wouldn’t leave things out by mistake its designed for simplicity.

Case and point :

Zebralight SC64w HI 18650 XHP35 = High: H1 1300 Lm (PID, 2.8 hrs)

Zebralight SC600w Mk IV Plus 18650 XHP50.2 = High: H1 2300 Lm (PID, approx. 1.8 hours)

Zebralight SC600F Mk IV Plus 18650 XHP50 = High: H1 2260 Lm (PID, approx. 1.8 hours)

Do you see what I mean now ?

We were talking about SC700d, and you made an assertion that wasn’t true about SC700d product page. I never disagreed with what you were saying, except about the SC700d product page. Now you’ve posted examples of other models product pages that also don’t list step down. What are you doing? I’m missing your point. That standardizing their product pages means ZL is lazy? Where are we going with this?

I really like this torch, it looks solid and has a magnetic tail cap like the D4SV2. For the price I might pick one up next week.

I really doubt their 2400 Lumens for 73 minutes claim. The D18 with all 18 sst20s and its surface area barely does 2000 sustained. Looks quite bogus if you ask me

In simple terms, PID means that output will be adjusted by an algorithm. It is not a timed stepdown nor the flashlight steps down to a fixed value like 30%. The runtime will be shorter at 40F than at 100F because the output will be higher, so they can’t give an exact runtime.

Sigh…… Guessing you didnt see that PID was mentioned in every light linked…. which in essence is a system that thermally regulates its output thus a “Step down”. So do you understand now ? or are you missing the point again ?

Interesting. Thank you for clarifying.



ggf31416 has claimed PID is not a timed step down. But that was not your opinion, and originally, apparently. you were using “step down” as a synonym for PID without mentioning so and assumed everyone knew this. I was using ZL’s indication of highest mode switching to a lower mode after 3 minutes to indicate a step down, so I figured you were in error about the information on the SC700d product page, but you were talking about PID while literally writing “step down” instead. You have now finally revealed your belief that PID is the same thing as step down. The fact is you were unclear. I now understand what you were attempting to say, and what your opinion is regarding PID, step down, and the information given on ZL product pages, which is probably false equivalency, and I would have just as easily without the snarky ad hominem. Good day to you, sir.

They are calming 1800 on there SST40 and 2400 on there XHP50.2. For the price if it sucks I’ll just do a complete mod plus almost every manufacture lies about there max output and running times nowadays, I’m more interested in what it will do in high mode. I’ve read that Jackman torches are made quite well for the money.

Let me elaborate further…… I’ll try and breakdown PID as simply as possible so I can explain it to you without ambiguity, in its most BASIC form it is a “step down” regulated by temperature derived from an algorithm. So if its hot it will lower its output accordingly by “stepping down” and once it reaches a cool enough state it can increase its output again. General other forms of “step down” are either a timer based or throttling the output due to temperature to specific level once either or is achieved.

Thus PID in the most basic way of explaining is essentially a regulated “step down”. Have a great day.

I really think that the 2400 lumens before stepping down will last a few minutes at most. There simply isn’t the surface area to radiate so much heat.

I know right. It seems like the torches keep getting more and more power with less sustainable lumen output. I can’t wait for this phase to pass and manufacturers start building flashlights that hold there output till LVP kicks in. Add more aluminum/mass, I would not mind a slightly heavier torch that could hold 1K lumens for 120 minutes at its max output.

Just thinking out loud:

A kg of copper can store 813 KJ of energy at 40 °C. Two hours runtime from, say, 20 °C to 40 °C (20K difference) means 52KJ energy taken, that is a heat source of 7 Watt over 2 hours. 7 Watt is 65% of total energy used, so we have a 1 Kg copper light for a light source of 12 W. It’s actually more since there’s convection and a little radiation. Should be good for at least 1000 OTF lumens.

You experts: Is that right?

If so, I’d not be happy carrying a 1 kg flashlight and only having about 1000 lm at max. But I might be completely wrong.

Turbo is great. It allows you the best of both worlds. Why have less features and a less capable flashlight? You can always choose to use a light at a lesser capacity

ThruNite TC15
Test
ThruNite tc20
Test

Here’s a review, in Russian, I believe, but on the minute 1m10s you can pause the screen to the user manual description of the operation/UI.

I am not sure I am a fan of the UI, and I would like to change the driver for something different in case I had this light.

But I guess for a simple UI, and good build quality, you can’t ask much more. Also, it says on the manual that output decreases to 40% when the light reaches 60ºC . So…I guess that keeping it “cool” will probably maintain the output higher for a longer period :wink:

Might be a long wait. Looks like it’s now available . On high (40) mode you get around 2 hours of runtime (tested by Zozz lights if memory serves). The M3 only starts to generate heat on turbo (100). Maybe it’s designed for good outputs and runtimes rather than the “wow” factor. A humble Convoy S2+ can nearly match the lower modes for output but then high mode is not sustainable on those.
Ramping is definitely the way to go with high output torches. But having modes is better than having none at all.

Maukka did say ZL’s specs are exaggerated just like almost every other flashlight brand. I personally tested many hundreds of flashlights and several different Zebralights so I am familiar with their specs vs actual measurements. Don’t get me wrong, I like Zebralights and I like Acebeams and own a bunch of them, but it’s a fact their lumen specs are exaggerated just like 95% of all flashlight companies out there.

I tested a few TC20 and their specs are usually 20% exaggerated. Also from all the Thrunites I measured, their tint is way above the BBL resulting in greenish/yellowish tint, which is especially noticeable in NW versions. The Thrunite T2 is the only single cell light I know of that can sustain just over 1,500 lumens but the beam is horribly green and the egg yolk tint shift is just awful.

The Convoy M3 and M21U are the single cell lights on the market closest to achieving the OP’s required specs.

The upcoming Fireflies E12R with 12 emitters should theoretically be able to exceed the OP’s specs with their high efficiency regulated driver assuming you choose the XPL2 or LH351D option but until it’s tested we never know.

1lumen.com and zeroair.org have the most extensive collection of runtime curves.