New XM-L Light,, 26650/18650/4xAAA Good Price and 57mm head ......... NOTE: The star is solid aluminium !!! :bigsmile:

Thanks for the info rdrfronty.

I think that I might give mine away to someone and let them run it on AAA’s but not until I compare it to the HD2010 that I ordered this weekend.

Mines become the in car emergency light, can run on anything has strobe and decent throw, I’ll add a head strap and it’s sorted 8)

Well I received my light the next day after the "missent" status (my address was correct on it, the USPS just goofed.

I really really like this light. I think non-flashaholics would be very very impressed! It's very similar in size to the HD2010 (see below). 26650 (King Kong Raised Top INR) fits nicely (no slop, but also not tight). The 4AAA carrier seems like it could use beefed up, but it probably helps throttle the current back a bit. That carrier fits pretty well too. O-rings were cheap, but functional. Threads are typical cheap Chinese quality, but ok once lubed.

There is no real "pill". The "pill" is part of the flashlight body (not sure if this was brought up or not). My emitter popped right out as soon as I popped off the plastic centering ring (worst emitter mounting I've ever seen). Like mentioned by others, the thermal grease was on the bottom center of the star, but not really around the edge where it makes contact with the "pill" lip. There is plenty of available depth to the hollow section of the "pill" between the driver and emitter. I checked what copper plumbing parts I had to see if they would fit inside the hollow opening, but a 1/2 end cap is too small and a 3/4 end cap is way too big. It appears that 3/4 copper pipe will fit snugly inside and then find something to cap the end of it with such as a copper penny (or cut a piece of flat copper). I'd probably do the trick of packing bare copper wire inside and filling it with solder.

It runs on both 4AAA alkalines (cheap ones) and NiMh just fine and is quite impressive!

Tailcap Currents:

4AAA NiMh (Cheap Rayovac LSD) fresh off the charger:
Hi: 2.80A
Med: 1.57A
Low: 0.83A

4AAA Alkalines (Cheap Harbor Freight)
Hi: 2.30A
Med: 1.26A
Low: 0.67A

King Kong INR Raised Top (@4.14v)
HI: 3.80A
Med: 1.85A
Low: 0.90A

Seems to me the driver is direct drive on high, +/- 50% medium, & +/- 25% low. I wish medium and low were lower. Seems that when it's off for awhile it comes back on in high. Tint is a nice cool white, not blue, purple, or green. Currents do elevate when pressing the battery in tighter to compress the B+ spring. I couldn't notice PWM myself, but the camera display was showing it (flickering) on low mode.

Few photos and beamshots:

Shots comparing it to my Ultrafire HD2010:

Shot next to my Poppas W-878 (battery carriers are in front of the opposite lights & King Kong raised top INR inside the UltraOk):

Beamshots: Camera on same manual settings for each one. 19.5 feet to the garage door. All shots on 4AAA NiMh. Truth be told, I took the beamshots with one of my AAA NiMh's being about 1/2 to 3/4 discharged. I charged them all up after the beamshots and retook current measurements (I think hi was around 2.50A, maybe 2.30A during this shot.)

Beamshot on Low:

Beamshot on Medium:

Beamshot on High:


Photo Album link here.

-Garry

Now that it's dark, I decided to get some longer beamshots outside. I took them in my usual spot where these beamshots were. The shed in these shots is believed to be between 150 to 200 feet away. The flashlights are set on the fencepost you see the shadow of. 4AAA NiMh again and camera on manual, same settings for each (the 4AAA ones only).

First, Low:

Medium:

High:

For comparison, Here's a shot of my KD C8 (LOP, 3.0A high) taken earlier this year:

Now that I compare them, I think this UltraOK 4AAA has a tint that is closer to neutral.

Mouseover with the KD C8 (mouse out = UltraOK 4AAA, mouse over = KD C8):

-Garry

More details on "pill" area: Width of opening is 22.6mm and depth to driver is +/- 16.3mm. I'm wondering now about round Aluminum (or copper) bar. I know there was some company posted awhile ago that sells many different types of metal bars, rods, etc . . . They were in the north central US (Chicago or Detroit?). I'll have to do some more searching. Not sure if my local Lowes or Home Depot carries a close width or not (although if I could get 3/4" aluminum, I could put it inside of 3/4" copper plumbing pipe).

EDIT: Found it - Speedy Metals in Wisconson, Illinois, and Michigan.

Oh, and I don't notice rings at all in the beam of mine! Nice transition from hotspot to spill.

Photos:

Width:

Depth:

-Garry

Nice review Garry, I just ordered one of these for $18.99 shipped. From reading the reports on this, and I always get double good lights, I should have ordered two. :wink:

cehowardGS, you read about the heatsinking issue? They will need some sort of attention, at least thermal compound to the edge of the star. Mine on 4AAA NiMH drew 2.80A which I think is too much for more than a minute or so without filling the hollow pill. Of course I don't know how long the batteries will hold 2.80A. My Rayovac's are only 650mAh. I'm not sure how the 4h cell (extra voltage) plays in, but if you just divide 650mAh by 2800mA you get 14 mins of runtime at 2.80A! I believe a few posts back it was stated that the light runs 60 to 90 minutes on the AAA's (I think that was on alkalines). Not sure what cells you were going to run this one (26650, 18650, AAA's).

-Garry

Got my quote from Speedy Metals -> (3) 4" pieces of 15/16" 6061-T6511 aluminum is $6.46 + $5.15 USPS (small flat rate box) for a total of $11.61. That gives me 12" total for use on other future projects. I had them cut it for easier USPS shipping. Not sure yet if I want to go this route or see what I can do with copper plumbing parts.

-Garry

(Note: Cross-reference: see this thread on the same light.)

I went to the local ACE in town and could not find anything that fit snug. Bought some 3/4” copper pipe and it is too small and the 3/4” caps are to big. I am not very good at custome stuff so I tried to wrap the pipe with some aluminum foil and that didnt work either it just wanted to slide out. When I reassembled the light i put some fujik on the outer edges and then me and the kids went outside and tourchered the neighborhood (JK). I ran it on high probably like 10 minutes and it started to warm up after a couple of minutes. I am sure that it was doing better on pulling the heat out but figured it would get alot warmer with a solid insert! Its still nice but thinking of gifting it to someone!

With my low modding skills I decided to order the HD2010 when I read about the 30% off at MeritLine and only paid $25 and some changed shipped so that I could forget about the mod that my skilset/tool set didnt get completed. :smiley:

So a 3/4" copper pipe won't fit . . .hmmm. . . I was hoping it would. I didn't check an exact fit because I didn't want to unsolder the wires to get full access to the "pill". It looked very close though. I don't know if a thick layer of Fujik would be enough or not. So was the aluminum foil too thin? Loose fit? I have copper foil which is thick and that might work, but still not as good as machining a piece of solid aluminum. Are you up to grinding/sanding/filing a piece of 15/16" aluminum to fit if I sent you a piece? (That is, if I go ahead and decide to order it.)

If you want rid of it I'm interested in obtaining another one.

-Garry

I wrapped the foil around it twice i think and when i would try to slide it in it would start pushing the foil up. I didnt try real hard to get it in there but now after thinking about it with more force probably would work (definately better then nothing). was trying to solder a top piece on but all I had was a solering iron so i couldnt make it stick to where I needed it so I just gave up. Definately could be interested in a piece of aluminum to put in there. Will definately try that foil thing again after i get something that put a top on a piece of pipe.

Also cant remember what size the driver was so that when I get a better heatsink/pill I could pour some amps to it and see what it can really do!

Thanks

EDITED! - Maybe this would be a good reason to get a dremel!!! Always been wanting one!

Garry, I only got one of these lights and that was for $18.99 shipped. Not going overboard. I am like somebody else that posted here, and they went for the 2010 which is on sale for $25. I like the looks of this light, and the reviews are going 50/50. Most likely I will be runnng this light with 26650/18650. My night time runtimes almost never exceed half hour. I think will be okay.

When you all do mod this light with the better heatsink, post up some pictures. I might be able to get into it.

ceh

was think about this on the way home from work. Thought that the hole could be drilled out so that the rod would kind of like press fit right in. Wouldnt have to worry about the lip for the led star as you could install another smalled led star if needed and then it would have more then enough mass. The hard part/expensive part might be the price of the drill bit especially since its kinda like singe use then! Gary I guess you or I could ship the bit to who wanted to use it for a small fee…lol

I received mine today. What i don’t like: strange reflector, not so uniform beam profile, works only with spacer with unprotected cells, press fit tailcap, high resistance springs + wires, hole under the star, crazy pwm in low mode.
what I like: it’s a good looking light, 26650 capability, very cheap, I can say worth the money ($17-18 but not more).

some photos

filled hole, replaced wires
(just a note, the stock wires between the led and the driver has 40 milliohm/ piece, that’s unbelievable high)

improved switch/tailcap, springs

The tailcap current was somewhere around 2.5-2.6A in factory state with a fully charged good sanyo cell. After the modifications 4A with the same cell, that means 800+ otf lumen. The improvement of the candela value: stock: 23-25kcd, modified 35kcd.
definitely not a killer thrower…

Hi!
When was the HD2010 available at Meritline at 30% off.
Thank You and Regards,
Bob

Think it was some where in the time frame of 8/8/12-8/10/12. I think, I ordered it on the 10th and they shipped it this week. :heart_eyes:

I just noticed the HD2010 sells for $33 from Tmart now (from link in JohnnyMac's review).

-Garry

Hmmmm, its about $1.5 to the pound at the moment, must resist……

£20.80 for an hd2010……

I may have to break my abstinence come payday…

Finally got the AAA carrier. Very nice! Anybody stick one in a HD2010?