Curious about XM-L high brightness 1AA lights

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

most of the ones posted in this thread are constant current, if you search each one in google you can find output graphs, if i had hte means i would be considering the zebralight sc52

At low wattage (slightly less than far left side of tables) produced off an AA for the most commonly spec’d bins they aren’t all that much different. A tighter beam angle can actually put more light on target; this is why people with good samples of both leds can switch preferences between small and larger lights.

In light of the above conversation, I thought it may be enlightening to show a few beamshots that I just finished taking for another project a few minutes ago. You may be suprised at the lowley AA driven at 4.2V. We’ll start with the heavy hitters and work our way down from there:

First a Fenix TK76 with a U2:

Next we’ll see what a generic single cell 18650 host with a T5 emitter on an aluminum star from Fasttech can do for perhaps a fraction of the cost:

We’ll keep moving down the emitter wavelength chain with a Convoy M1 sporting a T4 emitter on a Noctigon base:

Then finally, a humble little AA cell generic host that was built with a T3 emitter for the specific purpose of doing patient assessment in the field (EG: assessing body fluids, capillary refill, and cyanosis.) The overall throw is not great, but it suprised me in that the edge of that ice shelf is about 60 meters out.

And one more for good measure looking right across the river at about 90 meters, not bad for a T3, makes me wonder what a T6 might do:

So, in conclusion, here we have a AA light with an XM-L2 T3 in a $5.00 AA host, and I am definetly enjoying it! As a picture speaks a thousand words, I’ll rest my case there, and enjoy the anticipation of awaiting your rebuttal.

I’m glad we are in agreement, i can think of 2 situations where i wanted more throw but they were for fun rather then necessity, i would not make an AA light my flagship light by any means but like i mentioned in post 18 it should be more then sufficient for most situations (its possible i would change my mind if i tried an 1AA XM-L but i am doubting it)

If the SC52 is what you REALLY want, I would save up for it. From my own experience, I can tell you that nothing else (in terms of 1xAA lights) comes close - at least nothing else that I have seen. For instance, the L10 is by no means a bad light. But it’s certainly no replacement for my SC52.

it looks like a great light, high brightness, lots of modes, side switch, high efficiency driver, i wish i had one to try before buying

As long as you’re not looking for a thrower or a pencil beam, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be satisfied with an SC52.

way to shatter my bubble, i wanted 3 hour battery life, outthrowing a C8 and 250 lm/w :bigsmile: