NiWalker Nova MiniMax MM15 2x Cree MT-G2 P0 5233lm LED 18650 Flashlight

Please someone answer.

1. Would Panasonic PF 2900 mah be better choice for this light compared to Panas green 3400 mah protected? (would both types fit?)

2. How much is the runtime before stepdown on turbo?

3. How is the heat management?

4. How much was the price when the light was in stock?

Thanks.

Yea I also tore the outside layer of a protected pana3400. The lip of the head where the battery slides across is a little sharp.

Anyone else have problems with the handle being loose? Am I doing something wrong? I’d prefer not to need the washers every time I take on and off the handle.

Can anyone please tell me coupon codes for general items on HKE? like one for all, i want to get some batteries and this light.

Hey man, all i see is 400 lumen for 330 minutes. Where do you see 2000 lumen for 5h plus? the top of the graph is stating 800lm.

Relative overall light output. Not lumens.

Hey Guys!

in the german TLF some MM15 Owners had to smoothen the edges in the battery-Carrier with a file to prevent damaging them!

Just drop HKE and email asking for the bet price on light and batts combo, I’m sure they will see you right.

Doh! now its all clear :smiley:

I was told today that they are out of stock until end of March and do not accept pre-orders right now…

The runtime is wrong!

On cpfitalia, we talked about it, if you already makes into the calculations is impossible!

2 people have carried out surveys, the duration of the 5th level with cells 3100mAh is about 2.30h

with a drop of constant brightness.

Yes, I finally got round to doing some calculations and current readings too. The readings give 1.05-1.15A on L5 (2000 lumens), whilst the original figures suggested impossible efficiency of over 300lm/w.

Selfbuilt has since acknowledged the mistake and updated his runtime graphs with accurate figures, as are now linked to in my original posts.

Having now got one myself I would like to point out that despite these mistakes in claimed runtime from earlier tests, the efficiency is still very good, especially for such a great and tightly binned tint. Output/size ratio is also still amazing (the 5200 OTF lumen figures were NOT mistaken!) and the overall quality is top class. I’m certainly still very happy with mine.

How long can this be run in turbo mode in stock form?

I know the Vinh modded ones are good for only about 2 minutes max before cooking your hand.

It depends entirely on the ambient temperature and airflow. Selfbuilt sees his thermal step-down kick in at about 6 minutes inside, but I have run it outside with a small amount of airflow and at around 10-15 celsius for about 20 minutes continuously with no step-down.

Mines on the way - should be a couple of days -- looks awesome!!

Shame about the thermal protection, but maybe I can fool it. After all it does have a handle, so your hand shouldn't get burnt .

Got mine today. Of course didn't waste much time - had to take a looky. I'm not too crazy about the UI and inconsistent click activations - it's hard to get the double click to work - after lots of attempts, can't get it working consistently.

Didn't realize the cells are 4S, but they are. Also the output levels seem to depend on the cell's power. Freshly charged, higher lumens output. Even left to cool down, with weaker cells, lower lumens output. I measured pretty close to selfbuit's #'s across all modes for the "shipping" MM15 version - review here: CPF-Niwalker-MiniMax-Nova-MM15-(2xMT-G2-4x18650)-SHIPPING-Review. I'm thinking it will vary by cell resistance, but did not verify/test that.

Looks like one big copper MCPCB. I can tell from looking from the driver side. The LED wires are a pathetic 24 AWG, 150C rated - no clue why so weak. Looks quite clear where the current sensing or current limiting resistors are - there's 4 in line, 3 R100's and one R068. They are not the usual 1206's, but are smaller - probably 0805's.

First things I do is copper bypass the 4 + springs in the carrier, and upgrade those LED wires to 20 gauge if possible. Then start experimenting with resistors. the driver electronics is actually on the + side of the battery carrier -- pretty weird but keep the unit nice and compact.

Hi Tom E, thanks for sharing!

Can you please tell me what would be the theoretical runtime on turbo, (with restarts) with 4x Panas PF 2900mah and 4S battery configuration? (relatively)

Hhmm. To guess, I'd have to know at least a tailcap reading, and don't have that yet. Actually to take a reading, thinking I'd have to rig up a 4 cell, low resistance carrier with heavy gauge wires, and plug it into the carrier.... Hhhmmm. Think guys on CPF were posting amp values - not sure how they got them... Because the battery carrier is also the driver, it's not so modular... There's probably an obvious way but I'm still pretty limited in my test equipment.

I think this unit's output and amps is quite dependent on cells - resistance, age, charge level, etc. I'm mostly speculating at this point, but the couple of readings I did is indicating that. 5,200 true OTF lumens on fresh cells ain't bad for a light this size. Plus it will be able to do that level output more than just a few mins, and not go up in smoke or drain the cells. It's not quite ready for search and rescue for hours of use, but it's more than a "wow" effect light.

I really do like flooders and this one may be the reigning king at this price point and certainly form factor. My modded J18's can compete with this, but at a different level of course. They laugh at 5,000 lumens...

Edit: vinh says stock is 4.4A -- not sure how to interpret that, but best guess is 4.4A to each LED, so maybe not a good # to use to figure out battery life.

Thanks Tom :slight_smile:

to measure amps you could try to use very flat copper bars…

copper/insulator/copper - solder the measuring wires to the copper and fit that sandwich between a battery and that button on the pcb…

Interesting idea, may give it a go. The unreliability of the e-switch is very frustrating though. I may be contacting NiWalker over this -- I'm finding it unacceptable in a $200+ light.