SkyRay STL-V2
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Summary:
| Battery: | 2x18650-3x16340(18340) |
| Switch: | Forward Clicky |
| Modes: | Hi-Lo-Strobe or H-M-L-Strobe-SOS |
| LED Type: | XML T6 |
| Lens: | Glass |
| Tailstands: | Yes |
| Price Payed: | $54.75 |
| From: | Manafont |
| Date Ordered: | 6-24-11 received 7-7-11 |
Pros:
- Really bright spot beam with no noticeable donut hole
- Wide deep SMO reflector. 60mm wide by 40mm deep.
- Excellent build quality and machining.
- Led mounted on 30mm x 2mm aluminum disc.
- Very flexible battery options.
- GITD o-rings on lens produce a nice green afterglow.
Cons:
- Blinkies on both mode groups.
- Threads does not come lubed.
Features / Value: ★★★★★
Upon opening the box the most prominent feature of this light is the large head and the cooling fins right below. The reflector is big and shiny with a glass lens and a GITD O-ring. The LED emitter sits centered at the bottom. The body has ridges throughout which helps in gripping the light. the tailcap is designed with an anti roll feature and allows for tailstanding and mounting the included lanyard. It has 2 mode groups that can be changed with the twist of the body counterclockwise. They are H-L-Strobe and H-M-L-Strobe-SOS.
dull black finish seems pretty scratch resistant
ridges in the body provide better gripping surface.
Design / Build Quality: ★★★★★
Build quality is excellent. The threads are smooth after adding some silicone grease. The led is centered quite well on the reflector and sits on a 30mm x 2mm thick aluminum disc. The outer edge of this disc sits on the head assembly and lined with thermal grease. It is then screwed onto the head and should provide enough heatsinking. The driver sits down below.
Pill looks just like the one for olight m3x
30mm x 2 mm thick heatsink
driver sits at the bottom, not quite sure what type it is
The tailcap is a forward clicky which is not the best for multimode flashlights. There is a brass cylinder which makes contact with the batteries. It is also squared off to provide an anti roll feature.
Battery Life: ★★★★★
Battery life should be over an hour with two cells. This can also be used with 3x16340 or 18340 by removing the extender.
Light Output: ★★★★★
The STL-V2 puts out a lot of light and should be a strong thrower. The hotspot is bright and uniform throughout with no donut holes.
Measured current on 18650: 1.40A on high
0.73 on mid
0.16 on low
16340: 1.01A on H
0.53A on M
0.13A on L
Added 7/17/11 testing for regulation. Im doing some testing tonight to see if this light is regulated. Im doing 10 minutes on high then take readings and 5 mins of cool down then back on again for 10 mins. the head gets quite hot while the body stays warm and easily holdable. im doing a side by side with the Trustfire X8 also.
Cell voltage 4.2v 4.08 3.99 3.90 3.82 3.77 3.74 3.70 3.63 3.50 2.99v
Current draw (tailcap)1.42a 1.40 1.42 1.46 1.48 1.52 1.54 1.54 1.56 1.63a light shutoff at 2.99v
Stl on left X8 on right
High
X8 left STL-V2 right
Summary: ★★★★
Overall i am amazed with this light. Its got a good amount of throw. The big 60 mm reflector focuses the beam quite nicely. Putting it side by side with the trustfire X8, The hotspot is bigger and much brighter. Heatsinking should be adequate with the 30mm disc trasferring the heat to the head. All i can say is buy it, you won't be disappointed.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Id want to glue a chunk of something under the emitter ...
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
I was just going to melt solder into the bottom of a coke can and fujik it under there.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Wow, very nice looking light! Looks like it has enough heatsinking to actually run it nonstop on maximum, right?
Thanks for the review! Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.
Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!
Nice review! That light looks really nice. Glad to know that the pill is a little more substantial than it looked to be in early pics. That thing is a beast of a thrower! Makes the X8 look shabby and it's not. I'd love to see a comparison against the Fenix and Solarforce throwers(*cough* hint *cough* hint) from those who have them!
If I had the cash I'd consider it...maybe in a few months. Right now I'm still honeymooning with my 3*18650 XM-L Maglite.
It's unlikely to throw as far however it will have a bigger hotspot. It's only driven at about 1/2 of it's max spec and at full spec the XM-L doesn't have the surface brightness of the XR-E/XP-E.
It does have a larger diameter but a HS-802 for instance still has a diameter of 45 mm or so.
I'm sure it has decent throw for an XM-L since it has a decent size reflector and since most XM-L's don't seem to be fully driven.
Edit: I guess maybe it is fully driven since those are battery numbers and you are using two batteries.
Very nice review. Thanks!
It has nice beam profile and very bright hot spot as well.
I can see the two screws on the aluminum disc in your picture.
But mine has neither screws nor holes as follows:
I wonder if it make any problem unexpectedly.
Candle Lamp
LOL, chinese QC.
There looks to be thermal glue under the pcb, so you should be ok. Obviously better w/ screws, but, well... that was to be expected.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
Yeah its probably thermal glued on there and should be ok. I just changed the thermal grease to arctic silver on mine. Id say this light is probably regulated as i had it on the same batteries since i got it and still quite bright.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Thanks for the reply, agenthex & jamesearljonesisascab!
Candle Lamp
Im doing some testing tonight to see if this light is regulated. Im doing 10 minutes on high then take readings and 5 mins of cool down then back on again for 10 mins. the head gets quite hot while the body stays warm and easily holdable. im doing a side by side with the Trustfire X8 also.
results so far:
STL V2
4.2v 4.08 3.99 3.90 3.82 3.77 3.74 3.70 3.63 3.50 2.99v
1.42a 1.40 1.42 1.46 1.48 1.52 1.54 1.54 1.56 1.63a light shutoff at 2.99v
X8
4.18v 4.03 3.95 3.87 3.80 3.76 3.74 3.67 3.55 3.04v
1.54a 1.53 1.50 1.53 1.55 1.55 1.57 1.61 1.67 1.95a
Pretty linear current on both.
need to plot these on a graph.
thats 100 mins of runtime with 5 mins of off time in between.
Brightness was pretty constant but i have no way of measuring Lumens.
03/04/16
8 lives left
So, does the x8 shut off or did you stop the test? Are they protected or unprotected cells (shutoff via light or battery)?
Thanks.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
4.2v 4.08 3.99 3.90 3.82 3.77 3.74 3.70 3.63 3.50 2.99v --> Is this voltage of the battery?
1.42a 1.40 1.42 1.46 1.48 1.52 1.54 1.54 1.56 1.63v light shutoff at 2.99v --> Is this current draw of the LED or battery?
Candle Lamp
I used unprotected cells. the stl v2 shut off and then i took the battery voltage. the x8 would probably keep going but i decided to stop. Big dip in voltAge at that point. the x8 will dim when it hits the cliff and won't change modes anymore. seen it once.
I took those voltages and currents as soon as i turned off the light and unscrewed the tailcap. maybe i should have let them rest? i figured that by doing the way i did it i would get the most accurate cell voltage without letting it creep back up to resting voltage and give closer results.
Amazing how bright they were throughout these tests. again im still pretty impressed by these two lights.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Sorry yes voltage on top and current at the bottom. thanks!
03/04/16
8 lives left
Wow, You did check every step!
Thanks a lot for your effort and information.
Candle Lamp
How does this light compare to the sky ray 3800. I was going to buy that light but I saw some beam comparisons with tk70 and an olight and throw was very poor. Although i'm not that throw minded i was wondering how the spill of this stl-v2 is. And i suppose it has a memory?
greetings!
The light does have memory. i don't own a 3xxml and i can't tell you how they compare to this light. either one you choose im sure you'll be happy with. why not get both.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Have you thought of getting the Yezl T9 Flood to throw. this seems like what youre looking for.
03/04/16
8 lives left
1 is 10 minutes on the X-axis.
Candle Lamp
That's pretty crazy how much brighter it appears despite using less power.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
I've known that head structure(size) is quite an important factor to the flashlight's beam profile through Fenix TK50 & this monster.
Candle Lamp
Candle lamp, your graph is wrong. It should be times 2, think you used 1-cell voltage instead of 2-cell. XM-L is basically a 10-watter.
Yes i should have mentioned that the voltage x 2 because i used two cells on both lights.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Yes, Y-axis values should double.
2X18650 is correct and I've forgotten! It's my mistake.
Just fixed now.
Candle Lamp
I just received the Fandyfire version of this light and after close inspection of your photos I can say it is exactly the same flashlight with two mode groups(only a few $ less expensive)
A crazy bright trower (can almost compare with my 35w pob HID)
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fandyfire-stl-v6-cree-xm-lt6-2-mode-1000-lu...
That's good, PHEW.... glad it is working and exactly the same thing OEM, just rebranded.
I purchased the same one from DX, should be arriving soon one of these days.
But remember, this is the first "batch/version".
pipopopo, does yours use screws to hold down the white pcb?
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
Back when we were talking about doing a shootout between the 980L and a number of other lights and i had the X8, i thought yeah the X8 can probably keep up and maybe do better. The STLV2 in my opinion blows them all away. I know theyre all different configurations but just looking at sheer brightness.
Mine is still going without any hiccups. never really knew the meaning of regulation until i did my own test of both the X8 and the STLV2 and im quite impressed. Both lights are keepers.
03/04/16
8 lives left
Yes it does; why?
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