Newbie from Tennessee

Introduce Yourself
25

Thank you azj, that worked! It’s on the check out screen. Now for my other problem, I was so pissed off I threw out the other numbers that sofirn sent me for two other lights. Is there anyway to retrieve those on this website? They sent them to me on this site?

Thanks,
Dave……

26

Okay, I figured out how to retrieve my codes. Boy, I’m a mess.

Dave……

27

Hi! You will quickly find out there’s a light for everything. Check out 1Lumen.com for guides and reviews for choosing the right ones. You will also find out you can never have just one :smiley:

28

Sirstinky, well I have bought 6 in less than a week, so I think your right about never having just one! Now I need to find the perfect keychain light for both me and my wife. I’ve been looking at the Rovyvon Aurora line and I’m kinda leaning towards either the 8 or 9 series. Any thoughts on any keychain lights?

29

I forgot, I also like the Astrolux K2.

30

And the Xtar T1

31

The D18 requires cells with protruding (+) contacts on the cells.

I’d recommend Sanyo UR18650NSX, but they are sold out everywhere I looked domestically. They are a great high power cell with a slightly raised (+) pole so they work in lights that require “button tops”. The benefit here is that there is no added resistance or cost associated with ‘button tops’, however minimal. I would stay in the 2.5Ah class of cells, personally, but many run 30Qs and they would do you just fine as well. The Samsung 30Q is the all-around champ, so you can’t go wrong with them.

32

Thanks JaredM for checking on me, When I ordered from Hank I asked him about the batteries and he emailed me with his recommendation “Samsung 30Q BUTTON TOP | 18650 Samsung 3000mAh INR18650-30Q High Discharge Button Top” so that’s what I bought. I just received them today, along with these “K40 | 21700 Vapcell INR21700 K40 4000mAh 30A High Discharge Flat Top” for my Astrolux EC03. I hope those are good enough for the Astrolux?

Thanks,
Dave….

33

I’ve lost trust in Vapcell recently and haven’t kept up with all of their cell code names. I stick to buying non-rewrapped cells whenever possible. Research those here and see if they have any reports of low voltage and self-discharge. I’d check all of them with a volt meter before first charge. If below 3.6V I’d be suspect of them, below 3.3 and I’d file a refund request but maybe still try them out, below 3 V just forget about using it.

Vapcell used to be a top-tier supplier, but since C19 induced shortages, they’ve started using new chinese cell suppliers that haven’t all worked out.

34

Thanks Jared, I’ll get out the old Fluke and test them all. So far I picked up the Emisar D18, Sofirn Q8 Pro, the SC31 Pro [5000K], the SC31 Pro [6500K], the SC21, also the Astrolux EC03. Just getting started.

Dave

35

I don’t know anything about those but I’ll hang out here and read the threads and eventually know what I’m not doing?

Dave…

36

I’d love to see comparisons between the D18 and Q8 pro! I think at first you might prefer the wow factor of the Q8, but in time (especially if you post pictures of outdoor scenery/foliage) you’ll see how any lumen advantage of the CW Cree emitters will lose their luster to the smile inducing quality of the 219B

EDIT: what color body did you choose for the D18?

37

The vapcells are 3.527 and 3.528. All the Samsungs are 3.44 with change.

38

Strangely the Samsung’s, every one of them [8] are 3.448. That’s too weird.

39

What supplier? These are ‘safe’ voltages, but a little lower than typical. Not sounding the alarm bells, but always good to keep track of these things.

Consistency is a better indicator of quality than absolute value, unless it’s below 3.3 or so. That’s the threshold where “something’s off”.

40

Jared, I had to be different, I chose Sand. Hank emailed me yesterday and gave me the tracking number but to track it the Chinese website wanted an email address and password and I don’t feel comfortable about giving anything out like that. Although, I did give Hank my email address but I felt a little better because you dealt with him. I don’t have the Q8 in my hand yet either. Shipping….errrrg.

41

I bought the batteries here, [Illumination Supply LLC Email: support@illumn.com Website: illumn.com] that is who Hank recommended.

42

Jared how many spare batteries do I need for each flashlight? One spare set or?

43


One heck of a start! lol. The Sofirn C8F should be on the list someday too...great all around triple emitter light with good firmware (21700 cell). They have it on Amazon for a little more money, but if you order from their aliexpress store you can save a few, get it with or without the battery, and they have a few choices of emitters, too (and also a green or brown host instead of black if you want).

Illumn is a good supplier. So is Liion Wholesale. Prices on batteries are still kinda high right now, big jump earlier this year as supplies became scarce. There's been a little adoption of the much larger 26800 cells lately and the domestic source for those is an outfit called Aloft Hobbies in California...they sell a few other 18650 and 21700 cells as well and they actually have excellent prices on them with super fast and cheap shipping compared to the usual sites. Worth a look.


44

Tracking from China can be really weird. Every once in awhile you get a bum tracking number from some places (and some intentionally give you fakes...ugh...but not from trusted stores). More often the parcel will have two or even three numbers as it moves through various systems, but they may only give you the initial China service number (from any one of a dozen or more services), or like Banggood maybe you only get the final US Postal Service number which won't show you much at all until it arrives here and starts moving. There have been some other shenanigans lately (covid...) and now Pitney Bowes has gotten into the parcel arena and is really slowing things down where they have a hand in it.

I use these three tracking sites, in this order usually, and they're all great. Sometimes one will show information that the others don't and/or show you those alternative tracking numbers that you may not know about but will need to know later in the journey. No need to put in any personal information or to register (just ignore any of that if it pops up...it's all free and anonymous on all these sites). Then USPS or DHL sites for the domestic leg. Or you can sit back and forget about things for a few weeks until one day you're surprised...

https://postal.ninja/en

https://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking/

https://www.17track.net/en (may need to click the "English" checkbox in the lower right on the parcel results unless you can read Chinese...click it again if it still shows Chinese even though checked)

If you go directly to the major carrier sites, like China Post, etc. you often can't see much or see anything, but they do have some helpful FAQ type stuff sometimes.