Curious about XM-L high brightness 1AA lights

steady current output to the LED till battery exhaustion or close to it, most 1AA drivers i have seen and also tested by HKJ start dropping in current output for every 0.1V in change in battery output

The S15 is probally the closest thing to that, but run time on high is less than an hour on a single AA. it seems very linear, then lets you know when its out of juice. ( same goes for the UF-T20.

SC52 is the best i can think of (and use myself), the s15 can only get 200 plus lumens using a 14500 where as the SC52 can do 280lm on an AA nimh battery, also you can set the SC52 in the 2nd high mode which is 170 plus lumens and you’ll find it’s as bright as most 200 plus lumens lights.

thanks for mentioning that one, i have also found the Armytek Partner A1 which claims 260 lumens but does not specify if thats on NIMH or a 14500 (but it does take both)

Mr JohnnyMac can give you more info on the Armytek A1 here

Also worth considering is the Xeno E03

I know this is about XM-L 1xAAs that do >150 lumens but the L10 XP-G2 does 140 OTF lumens; the 219 hi-CRI version does 130 lumens. Both with perfect regulation and good efficiency:
[selfbuilt review](L3 Illumination L10 (XP-G2 R5 or Nichia 219, 1xAA) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMS, VIDEO+ | Candle Power Flashlight Forum

looks like a good addition to this thread, thanks for posting it :slight_smile:

It was a nice surprise that the both versions actually exceed their factory spec of 120 :smiley:

On a side note the new Armyteks to look out for are the Smart A1 and Tiara A1. Hopefully they’re finished sooner rather than later, since they’ve been teasing them since spring.

i dont have any AA for experience, i had one romisen rc-g2 xpg with OP reflector but i gave it away

That thread has some pretty good examples of xml vs xpg in a small light.

Are you sticking to 1.5V, or are you also considering a 14500 cell for 4.2V? For example the older Spark SL5 with the XM-L T5 emitter got up to 260lm with a 14500 cell, the upgraded XM-L2 version presumably would have a corresponding increase.

I’ve had very good results using this driver in a good AA host with an XM-L2 emitter on a Noctigon base, readings show it drawing over 2A at 4.2V, and the extra lumens are obvious to see.

Interesting. I have one on its way to me currently, I was planning on using 1x AA. Is the 3.6v on the listing an error? I was planning on putting a xpg2 with an xml tir in a small light the size of an sk68 using that driver; 2 amps could make it far more exciting. :bigsmile:

Hmm FT review reports 14500 at 1amp; did you modify yours or get a lucky ticket in the lottery that is products from over yonder?

I decided to simply go ahead and try it at 4.2V thinking I had little to loose and much more to gain. I originally got 3 of those drivers, and I wrecked one, but the original 2 are still working so far with occasional use (I put an optic in one and really like that as well). As it is winter and I normally use them outside they have not been very heat challenged so far. Last week I got 10 more of these drivers, 5 of the 5 mode, and 5 of the single mode. One of the reasons I liked this driver was the body tube of the host would hold the driver in place with just pressure and give me a ground without having to mess around grinding it down to fit into the pill or solder a ground, so that’s another reason I ordered some more. That may not work in the long run either, but so far it has been OK. Now the problem is to get more of the 14500 Nitecore or Sanyo cells out of China. I just tried ordering some from Banggood, fingers crossed.

If throw is important to you. But if you’re not trying to spot something far away and need to light an area instead, an XM-L is a better choice. For instance, a small XM-L light like the SC52 makes a GREAT hiking light or floodlight to light up a campsite. The increased efficiency of the XM-L/XM-L2 over an XP-G/XP-G2 is certainly much appreciated in this sort of situation.

i would think that with enough lumens it will have enough throw to do in most situations, not as much as a throwy light but in the end most of our lights are more then we need, just not enough to satiate what we want or is possible with a different light

Enough can be too much for some things and not really enough for other conditions. Sometimes less is more - and I don’t mean a low mode. It’s all about the right compromises for you.

Just as too many lumens can ruin night vision, too many lumens spread in too wide of a pattern with lots of dew in the air (or leaves or whatever creating glare) can also be a problem.

For 1*AA I EDC an L10 Nichia - lost a few lumens, gained CRI in a great tint. But it’s seldom my only available option.

For 1*14500 I like an XPG2 SK68 but have an XML Crelant V11A as an option. (My V11A is poor with 1.5v and my SK68 is average, but I’ve seen other samples that were much better with 1.5v than L-ion.) Both are AWOL at the moment, the L10 is always with me.

It shouldn’t ruin it if you have healthy eyes (and don’t stare directly into the emitter), it suspends it with varying periods of recovery time.

Unless I’m trying to evade a sniper in the jungles of Vietnam, oops, wrong era… night vision for me is the area that I’m illuminating, that’s why I carry the tools that I do. If you want night vision you need to travel with only an infrared emitter powered on, and that would not work for most of us, unless of course, you are trying to avoid that sniper, or your paintball competitor.

My experience is “too many kelvin” causes reflection from your high albedo surfaces. Lower your wavelength, lower the placement of your beam to your hip, expand your beam angle with the appropriate lens, pick the right reflector, and raise your CRI, and you address the problem better without having to sacrifice all your lumens.

interesting you say that, i have a convoy s2 which is a shallow reflector xm-l running on an 18650 and in every indoor room i have used it in it works more then adequately, and outdoors it holds its own (not as throwy as a C8, but enough to light street signs at moderate output)

i want the most lumens i can get, if the xp-g2 could match an xm-l2 for lumen output at the same power input i would take it to get the best of all worlds

is there any cheap ones which works at high lumen? most i had as its power dimmed after like 5 mins of usage