New cheap 26650 diving light at DX

I use these:

..and they are protected. It is also said on the cell: "...with PCB", see here:

Thanks again, now I am all set! Already ordered the flashlight, battery and charger will follow. In two month will be going to do lots of spearfishing and will post the link of the flashlight operating under water - I have a mask-mounted HD Pro camera. Will try to take it to 25-30 meters since I can not freedive deeper.

Be careful if you go shopping for this light. Some of the resellers on ebay on selling this exact light - with a plastic lens (not glass).

I bought one of these and the lens was glass, ordered another and it was plastic both from the same seller.
I’ve since been refunded on it but would like to find a glass lens for it like the first one has.

offroad… did you disassemble your light? Did you measure the diameter and thickness of the plastic lens? If so, would you please advise dimensions you got.

Did you measure the thickness of the glass lens that you received? Did you try to put the glass lens into the light that original came with a plastic lens?

I’m concerned that - even if we find a glass lens of sufficient thickness - these lights with plastic lenses may have been customized to take a thin plastic lens but not a thicker glass lens.

I haven’t disassembled mine.

I’ll measure both and post the dimensions this evening if I’m not home too late.

Didn’t compare them side by side, but as I remember the plastic one was about as thick but the weight and feel gave away the fact its plastic not glass.
Head’s and bodies seem the same to me so I doubt there has been any change on it.
The auction I purchased both on said the lens was glass and indeed the first one I received was.

Glass lens measures:
46.9 x 3.0mm

Plastic Lens measures:
47.2 x 2.6mm

Looks like a 47 x 3mm glass lens is what you’d want.
The two bodies I have appear identical although I didn’t measure them.

offroad… thanks for that.

That’s interesting. I would have guessed that the plastic lens was thinner. I’m starting to wonder now if it’s worth giving it a try. I’ve got some time to think about it - I’m not going to be diving until early November, at which time I’d take it to about 80 or 90 feet - day-afer-day for 10 days. That should give it a chance to crack!

I’m sure you searched DX - no lenses at this size.

You probably know about this, but just in case, there’s someone with a site specializing in flashlight lenses:

The stock lenses are cheap, but our lights might require a custom lens - I haven’t had time to check the site carefully.

Years ago, someone did a write up on flashlightlens - interesting read:
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/replacement_lenses.htm

If I come up with anything worthwhile, I’ll post it here.

I’ve contacted all fleabay sellers of this light, and also searched elsewhere but can’t find a replacement glass lens.
If you want glass, most likely the only solution is having one custom cut.

Probably a non-issue though, as I posted in the other forum and found someone who has been diving with these lights with acrylic and glass versions with no issues.
He has a blog (scroll down), where he shows how to convert these from a dive light to an video light.
I may do that with one or two more of them.

Meanwhile, I did the thermal mod shown earlier on one of mine, upgraded to a XM-L2 NW emitter and swapped the wires for 22ga silicone. Will do the other after some comparisons.

Looks cool, but will have thermal problems, sooner or later. I'd suggest using a thicker (& round) piece of metal and making sure it is fit to body to ensure proper thermal transfer.


[quote=offroad] Meanwhile, I did the thermal mod shown earlier on one of mine, upgraded to a "XM-L2 NW":http://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-xm20-mcpcb-cree-xml2-t6-3a-led-p-753.html emitter and swapped the wires for 22ga silicone. Will do the other after some comparisons. [/quote]

Sounds great! Looking forward to seeing the comparisons. :)

I thought the same about thermal transfer, and also wondered if using something reflective could improve output.
If its flat there shouldn’t be a hot spot, so fine for video.

Side by side, my XM-L2 T6 3A version appears just a bit brighter than the stock XM-L U2.
The NW tint also renders outdoor colors better, so hopefully would also bring out truer colors during a dive.

Current Draw Comparison - High Mode
TF Flame 26650 5000mah - XM-L=2.8a / XM-L2=2.65a
XTAR 18700 2600mah - XM-L=2.35a / XM-L2=2.2a
Pana NCR 18650 3100mah - XM-L=2.35a / XM-L2=2.2a
Samsung ICR (Laptop Pull) - XM-L=2.45a / XM-L2=2.3a

Run Time XM-L2 High Mode - TF 26650 (Sink Test)
30min - 3.76v
60min - 3.58v
90min - 3.55v
120min - 3.41v
150min - 2.97v

At 120min and 3.41v I was surprised to find there was little difference in brightness (wall / ceiling bounce test) between the XM-L2 light on the 26650, and the XM-L light on a fully charged 18650 (my other 26650 was returned to FT for a Protection Circuit issue)
At 150min and 2.97v, the brightness was way down but still useable.
(I wouldn’t normally run the battery this low, but on a dive light its nice to know what to expect)

I like these lights and when taking the dog for her evening walk, I’m frequently choosing it over one of my P60 lights.
It compares well enough in brightness even to a couple I have with 3.0a current draws, and the beam throws much better on our large property (sorry no beam shots).
The current draw vs run time is about perfect for my needs, they are bright and will easily fit in a BC pocket.
Thanks to”the” for the thread, and for giving me advice on my first mod.

Hi,

You might try contacting the seller about the spring and parts. I bought a really cheap light from Ebay seller awhile ago, and the tailcap switch stopped clicking/working. I emailed them about the problem, and, surprisingly, they sent me a complete replacement tailcap. Maybe your seller will be able to provide those?

Possible, but none I contacted could provide a replacement glass lens.

Light came from China. Possible I could get parts, but kind of doubt those little parts.
OTOH, my preference would be for better ones if I can get them.

The mod is done. Tried to post pictures but it didn’t work. I did look at the instructions posted. Does Picassa not work as a host?

I had one brief freak out. When put back together all I could get was blinking mode. Then I realized the magnet switch needed to be aligned with something. Sigh. Took it apart again and figured it was those black things that stuck up on the driver. Took another 2 tries to figure out what the orientation was because the MAGNET is on the OPPOSITE side of the off/on markings.

I put it in upside down the first time as well.
My second one is now thermal modded as well.

My pics on Dropbox haven’t worked since 2 days ago, but I’m not sure why. For now, I switched to using Photobucket.com, which still seems to be working. Maybe we should post a thread?

I took the light apart to make the ’hollow pill mod” It’s been on 3 dives before this and worked fine. The little spring and ball in the switch mechanism are seriously rusted already. This unit had liquid silicone injected with a syringe around the switch, fresh rinsed after each dive, and silicon-ed again. I’ve now packed it with thick silicone grease to mitigate further damage but I think it’s only a matter of time…. I suggest doing this BEFORE the first dive to minimize rusting. Anyone have any idea where to get a bitsy spring and ball bearing like that, preferably stainless?


Playing around with another cheapy dive light (the $12 bright yellow little one) for run time got me motivated. It would only run about 10” under water before starting to flash. It was not a battery issues after checking that out. I have another one that leaks a trifle but doesn’t flash so it tried that light head in the better body > no flashing. I took the suspect one apart and the LED module doesn’t touch the pill walls. After running just a few minutes the metal light head was fairly hot to touch. The ‘good one’ was only warm plus it did touch the pill sides. It also looked better made in general. The suspect one did have thermal grease. I redid the grease with better stuff and the problem went away. I guess it was overheating

A buddy got a couple of these. One will only turn on to strobe function. I haven’t gotten inside since it’s his light but wonder if anyone has some knowledge about those things?
When I first re-assembled mine it did the same thing and I realized I must have put it together wrong. I switched something inside (don’t remember exactly now) and that fixed it.

Followup - Buddy gave me the light on our last dive. One of the tabs inside that is part of the magnetic switch was bent a little. It was also not aligned properly. After fixing both issues it works properly now.

My light has 2 x O-rings on both ends of the battery barrel. His has a single in the front but double in the back. That hopefully won’t compromise the waterproofing.

@the I have ordered mine from Aliexpress, it seems like we have the same driver (from the picture).
How can it be that I get around 1.5A only ? :frowning:

Could you please upload a bigger picture of the driver?
I think that the small mosfets OR the resistors’ value might be the difference…

THANKS!