DQG 26650 EDC Triple XPG2

Counter-point: I ordered, and received two of the original 18650s (one black and one TI/gold, and one NW and one CW). The only thing that I had to do with them was move the O-ring, per the info that RIC provided early-on, and they worked fine, once I figured out where to put the O-ring :).

Even though I didn’t have major problems, I did take advantage of RIC’s post-sale offer for the 18650s and got 2 of them. If you didn’t receive the batteries, you should probably email or PM him (they don’t come with tracking if I recall).

I didn’t enounter any problems with battery sizes, though most of the batteries I have are unprotected batteries, including some 17670s from laptop pulls.

Did you not have to fit 2 small black O-rings to the body too? I had to do this even on the replacement one, which was many months later.

Hence why I got a 2nd flashlight for free. Although it still bugs me that I have the better looking titanium one collecting dust on the shelf :frowning:

No offense, but isn’t that kind of missing the point. The light by it’s very name is “18650” Tiny.

And it fails to accept most 18650’s. And recommending to use unprotected ones with a driver that doesn’t cut off until 2.5v is I think a bit of a copout. If this was a UK based company they’d get legally linched for selling a product like this.

As for the batteries, I have:

Solarforce branded protected 18650’s (unknown origin) - these do not fit the battery tubes on either light.

Int’l Outdoor branded Sanyo protected 18650’s - again these do not fit the battery tube.

FastTech Sanyo 18650 protected - way too fat to fit the battery tube

FastTech 2900 Panasonic protected 18650s - these fit the tube on the black light, but not the titanium one, however despite being a button top, the light won’t turn on.

EagleTac branded 3100 Protected Panasonic - this is the only 18650 I have that fits the battery tube and turns the light on

I do plan on buying an IMR 18650 in the hope it’ll fit. But I don’t see why I should be forced to use non protected cells.

I don’t have any 17650’s, I do have a Sanyo 16650 though, but for some reason the lights won’t work with them either. And my 2x16340 to 18650 EagleTac insert won’t fit the 18650 Tiny battery tube either.

Re. the O-rings: It’s been awhile, but I think that I did have to put one addl O-ring on (but it came in the box) on one of the lights (I think I posted about that on the original thread).

Re. you last comments: I guess that what I was trying to say is that I didn’t have trouble with any of the batteries that I had, and I didn’t go looking for batteries that I didn’t have that wouldn’t work (I think I posted about what I had that worked on the original thread also). I know that others had problems…

EDIT: BTW, I’m (also) not trying to get into a debate/argument. I was just trying to mention that, at least for me, the lights I got were ok. Again, that’s not to say that others didn’t have problems.

No worries I know what you are meaning :slight_smile:

BTW - how are your 18650 Tiny’s holding out? I’m quite disappointed that my replacement one is so flickery now. I love the size and beam profile. But the physical act of using it and the frustration it brings when it acts up, means I never EDC for more than a day to two before it gets put back on the shelf.

Since this one has an electric side switch, and there are wish lists being made… Ide really like to see a UI where if l-m-h you hold the button from off and get it to start on high or maybe have that as a hidden moon light. Also maybe an option for xml2?

L-m-h hold for moonlight and double click for strobe

Off>low>med>high>>strobe>— moon light
Off>— High>low>med>high>>strobe >— moonlight

Although I like the light very much, the main dissappointment with the DQG 18650 tiny in my opinion is the extreme bad heatsinking of the led, causing 30% lumen drop in a few seconds that could have been perhaps only 5% if the heatsinking had been done well, what a waste! I hope they mount the leds in this new light on metal core PCB's (direct bonding to copper please!) instead of onto the driver board.

On the design side I liked the DQG18650 more, this one does not appeal to me much..

That is the only way to get the light as short as possible, it 2 boards are used then the light becomes longer.

Yes, I know, you need 5mm more length to do that, but I'd still go for that, compared to this much energy going to heat instead of light.

a quick estimation: the OTF output (optics losses are considered) of 3 xp-g2's at 1.4amps should be 1000-1100 lumens if the leds are heatsinked well.

Or you can go heavy on the via’s under the center pad like pilotptk did for his tripple xml driver combo. That might make things easier in this case since its a tripple, you can have a hole in the center of the pill for the positive contact and still have a good heat path.

Vias, yeah that is actually in the CREE datasheets and it's quite possible they went that way.

I wonder how difficult it would be to fit 12 lm7135s 3 xpg2’s and a mcu on the top of the same board, that way you could have a really good heat path really simply

And I wonder why there are not 3 XML2 in it…

I second everything _the_ said, especially about that guy he quoted. :)

It'd be even better if they offered a version with high CRI emitters.

I see that Ric put up two pictures of the front side, with the TIR. It is a bit of a disappointment to me that (it looks like that) the standard 20mm TIR is used, while in this size head a bigger TIR would have fitted (with better throw, or more efficient XM-L2 could be used with the same throw), or perhaps best: a slimmer head could have supported this TIR.

(sorry that I am not positive about this one, I really like all the other lights that he introduced lately, still eying the brass 18650 one :-) )

That has an unique business end. Please let there be discount!

I do bellive that there are 5 led tirs available for prettymuch the same size… how about a 5 xpg2 version instead of a tripple xml version… that would really make for a nice and toasty turbo mode :stuck_out_tongue: also its going to be really hard to decide
between this and blf s2

Tempting, Looking forward to hearing more

Agreed. It’s cute!

:8)

Not surprisingly, Ric is great at communicating information about a proven product that he sells, especially when it effortlessly puts money in his pocket. He also does a great job at correcting problems that might arise after a sale is made. In the months prior to the release of this triple light, I was told it would have a boost driver that would operate on a single cell. After several attempts to email Ric and get more specific details, he either ignored my replies or finally gave in and provided very sketchy (useless) details. IMO, the light is a complete fail but the driver might have been a huge asset to the community. Maybe others can email/Pm Ric and have better luck than I (and several others) in finding out the real facts about this driver. I suspect it will disappoint, just as has been the overwhelming lack of communication from the seller. :Sp