There doesn’t appear to be much heat dissipation with this light, when you get it i am curious to see if they came up with something that we aren’t seeing
Bad news guys, I went to HD and they were all out of them. I found the spot for it though. :P Hopefully someone else will be able to get their hands on one of these.
Killer deal if XML, but 350 lumens (vs 2000 “lumens” of stanley one) suggests otherwise. Not too bad even if xp-g, though, since the other giant head competitor is twice the price. Still throws just as well even if hotspot is smaller.
I'm awaiting someone to get their hands on this and open 'er up and tell us what it's like. Sorry kramer5150, I don't remember the size of the reflector/lens and don't know when I'll get back there again. I would say that overall the light appeared to be around the same size of the 2000 Lumen Stanley (judging from memory here, so take that with a grain of salt).
Looks to be an XM-L, but the question will be, is it a T2, T3, T4, T5 or T6?
I’m betting not a T6 and I don’t know if there really is a way to find out, other than brightness.
I have it on the charger now and I will do beam shots at home.
Also of note to me was a Q-Beam 3 XP-G spotlight. It was $49.00, but if it could be redone with 3 XM-L leds, it might be a good mod. It looked like it had 3 P-60 sized reflectors with the 3 XP-G emitters. I don’t remember lumen output. The HD code is 547-651 and the Model is 800-2801-S. I believe the same Chinese outfit is making the Q-beam as well as these Defiant.
Maglite has a 3D and 2AA LED set going for $27 too, at HD. I really wanted those LED Maglites, but I bit the bullet and bought the Defiant. I hope someone else wants it after I hack it!
Thanks for the update O-L! Is the battery sealed in the light? Or accessible through a battery door? What size is the battery? - Equivalent to anything common?
It is sealed. I can not take this apart at work, so I can’t answer untill late tonight or in the AM. It is Very Light. I would think it’s probably 3AA batteries inside it, even though it says 4000ma. I know from the weight, it can’t be like 3 C batteries in it. Or it may be a special made alkaline. I just don’t know till I open it up, when I get home.
It's probably 6 of the crappy rechargeable alkaline AAs. Which meanturgid thing is not going to be well driven since rechargeable alkalines can't do high current.
I put it on the charger at work, only to find that it was already charged. I wasn't really surprised at that. Alkalines should hold a charge for a while if stored. Once it got dark, I tried it out at work. I don't have any place at home that would reach 300 meters, but here I can. I was surprised at the reach. It definitely will reach 300 meters, but I have to qualify that.
What do you want to use as a test? Dark green trees, a reflective sign, or the side of a light colored building? See, to me it all depends on what you are illuminating. Some things absorb light really well and some reflect it. A light on a gray building looks so much brighter than on a group of dark green trees.
So, on a group of large trees at 300 meters, yes I can tell it does shine on them, but not well enough to define much. You can see they are green trees, but you can't really define limbs well, just green blobs. Now on a light colored building at 300 meters, I can define the side of the building well enough to know it seems well lit. I can see the wall to roof line and doors and the color of the walls. On a reflective sign, like a street sign, it lights up great at 300 meters.
The size of the spot at 300 meters (my guess) is about 30+ feet in diameter, hotter in the center (naturally). I was really surprised at the spot on this lignt. When I shine it up into the sky, it's a fairly straight colum of light going up.
As far as lumens, I would say that the 300 lumen estimate is conservative on a full charge. I would estimate it more than 300 lumens at first turn on and for the first few minutes. I also left it on in the guard shack and it took about 1-1/2 hours before I noticed it much dimming at all and after 3+ hours, it was still fairly bright. I would think it would reach the 5 hour mark, but it would be dim enough to shut it off, before the 5 hour mark.
I will take it apart when I get home and get to the heart of the matter.
Plastic Reflector and Plastic Lens GLASS LENS (My bad), already scratched in the package. This is a killer for me. Not anything I want to mod.
XM-L definitely
Driver & Charger board. Another reason I wouldn't want to screw with it. I'm not smart enough to know how to separate the charging circuit and driver, to be able to do anything with it.
Regular clicky switch. Just like a tail switch.
Finned Aluminum heat sink, but it is very thin.
6xAA batteries, must be series parallel. 3 in series, two sets of 3 in parallel. Only way to get 4.5v @ 4000mah
There's probably room, to increase the thickness of the heat sink, behind the led. There's also probably room to put in something like 6 AA Eneloops, or 3 or 4 Sub C NiMH, but you would have to cut out the current walls of the battery compartment. They are just divider walls, not structural. Probably Not enough room for 18650's.
In the end, I will take it back to HD and get my money back, or just get the 2 pack of Maglite LED lights. I won't be doing anything with this light. If you could change out the Alkalines, for NiMHs and beef up the heat sink and change to a different driver, it would be one hell of a bright spotlight, that would throw a good long ways.
Just not my cup of tea. I don't like plastic lights. , lenses and reflectors. If it had a glass lens, I might consider it.
I thought it was a mistake on the home depot website when they said rechargeable alkaline batteries, i’ve used these batteries before, they are ok, but when they get old they die fast, and deep discharging them is almost as hard on them as discharging lead acid car batteries a few times. And you get less then 30 deep discharges on them before they are toast.