I just left Lowes with this light. Looks really good, XP-G2 and runs on 2 -D cells. The BEST kind of light for long run times for non flashaholics. Here are the pics in the store, I bought one and will do a tear down tonight when I get home.
Looks like maybe my store jumped the gun on Black Friday deals
Nope! I just realized THIS deal is ON. But only now until BF
280 Lumens, XP-G2. Designed in the USA but made in China.
It has modes so it is just not a cheap DD unit.
Switch is up front where it belongs!
And the batteries are included! (that’s worth $3 right there)
That rubberized grip feels good in the hand.
Without completely tearing it down in the store, it looks like a well made light. Look at those threads and spring, and like I said, the batteries are included. I just wonder how it will do on 2 NiMH cells?
At only $12.97 this looks like a steal. I think I am going to really like this light. I will probably post a separate tear down thread tonight and post a link here to it.
This is definitely one deal I think you all can take advantage of (USA and maybe Canada) .
The tear down
The reflector and lens is plastic, the lens is held in place by a threaded ring. I have also seen that used in the Defiant 3D light from last year.
That is a good sized pill and the driver is secured in place with a threaded ring.
Lots of thread to make good thermal contact between the pill and the head of the flashlight. BTW, all threads were lubed or had thermal paste on them.
The pill is solid for good heat transfer from the star. Unfortunately the driver is potted. That compound is rock hard and I don’t think it could ever be removed without destroying the components underneath. Maybe the part # of the board can give us a clue as to what it really is. I know this, there is an inductor underneath all of that. I can see parts of it protruding from the edges.
The star with the XP-G2 LED. To me it looks like too much thermal compound was used. It is soft and I will remove the star and fix that later.
The plastic reflector and the centering ring.
I tested the tailcap current with the supplied Alkalines and got 2.05A on high, 0.45A on low. I was worried that this light wouldn’t work with NiMH but it turns out that is not a problem. In fact I measured the same exact tailcap current with them. In fact even at a 3.6V partially depleted Li-Ion cell gave the same tailcap reading. Lastly, running the light on just 1 NiMH cell, I measured a tailcap current of 1.82A and there was a very decent amount of light coming out of it.
For the past several years Lowes has offered the LED MagLites for their BF promotion. It could be that this year this is the light that unseats MagLite on BF. For that reason I have decided to compare the 2 with pictures and their beam shots.
Now the beam shots:
Lux Pro, 280 Lumen
The 2D MagLite with the reflector adjusted for maximum throw. Approx 130 Lumen
Conclusions? I like them both, decide for yourself.
There is some discussion already on the “Lowes Deal Alert Thread”
Starting with post 38. I have cross posted from there.
Something about this light I liked before this tear down. Lots of potential battery capacity to size ratio with potential for 2S Li-ion. Mostly, I like the way it felt in hand. Kind of a no non-sense, get it done light. Now, I won't be able to resist getting one.
I decided I don't want to risk the light selling out before the price drops more (if it does). That has happened down here on several lights I wanted from HD. I actually think this one is going to become popular and probably not drop in price. Glad I did. It is a real bargain.
Great News! dchomak was right. There is plenty of room for two 26650 cells with a shorter tail spring. You might be able to use the stock spring. Seems like it would be very tight and I prefer copper dome springs instead. This opens up a lot of possibilities. I think I will go with a bigger emitter in mine. Probably XM-L2 with a buck driver.
It's almost like the designer had us in mind. There is a pocket in the tail cap that gives plenty of room for that. Check out the unprotected KK sitting in the cap below.
I can not tell a lie. I picked one up on the way home last night, but was not sure I would keep it. Then I saw your tear down and knew I would keep it, but was going to wait to see if the price dropped more. Than this morning I decide "the hell with it", I'm opening the damn package. I know I could still return it after I opened it, but that just seems wrong. It's mine now and I'm happy.
^ hmmm, I'm not the best person to answer this type of question, but I'll give my impression. It is nicely separated from High. Guessing about 20% of High. If I were only to have 2 levels of brightness, I would say this light is just about right.
Stock, this is a great light for a non-flashaholic. For most of the rest of us, it's a under driven.. It's driven better than most stock lights, but still under driven.
Mine will have about 7 brightness levels and push the emitter to around 7 amps on turbo. That's if I can find a good buck driver that fits. If not, I may go MT-G2 DD. I haven't tried a smallish MT-G2 yet.
The one I just got back from had none, just the sign.
Had them run the SKU and they are all gone.
Good part is there are 4 others not too far, so we’ll get one tomorrow or Monday.
Good to see they are selling, I told the wife “Boy that BLF has some buying power”
I would be willing to do that for you, but I would think the shipping would kill it for you. Any idea how much?
If it would help, I have some of the older Defiants. I could also perhaps send to lower the cost of shipping per light.
I went and got one on my way home from work tonight. Excellent little light, low is a bit too high and it seems to have next-mode memory but for $13 its a great buy, especially with the machining quality.
