I woke up at 6:30 this morning with an E-mail from massdrop and saw a picture of this exact light, and I instantly knew I had to have it! I googled it and found the differences in the pt10/14/16/18 and decided I liked the skinny tube of the 14500 the best so I ordered the pt14 for just under $50!!
Then I log in here and see this awesome fresh review with your expertise thrown in, very confident I made a good purchase and super excited to get my new mecarmy!!!
Thanks DB!
Ps the massdrop deal is still going on, anyone interested should hop on it immediately, the last batch of olight S1’s went real quick, these might too!
Sweet zoom zoom! I’m thinking I have to have that one as well, but can pass on the 18650. They’re just really neat little lights!
I cracked open the PT-16 a little while ago and removed the XP-G2’s in favor of Nichia 219C’s. The regulated circuit still does 3.02A on Turbo, the lower levels are all virtually identical but Turbo is now only 883.2 lumens. So I lost some total output but gained a really nice neutral/warm tint. Much better!
I wrapped the SS bezel in sheet aluminum and chucked it in the 5” chuck on the lathe. Then with a piece of paper between the light and a large crescent wrench I twisted the pill section off and got through all the blue loctite. Other than that, it was pretty simple to switch it over.
Seemed to me that the lower Vf emitters would run a higher output and current draw but the regulated boost circuit handles them just fine. The 3 emitters are wired in series, so the boost driver is really kicking output up from the little 16340. Pretty cool! (I didn’t even remove the driver, didn’t want to see sense resistors tempting me to bump output.)
Edit: Sorry, the emitters are wired in parallel. The circuit traces on the Al mcpcb appear to be in series but my multimeter tells me otherwise and forward voltage at the incoming leads to the mcpcb is 2.97V. Sorry about that.
Not glued I think, but it was stiff to remove. It has two o-rings touching it providing good water resistance.
I wrapped a strip of 3M indoor stairway grip tape (the grey rubber stuff) around the bezel and then another strip around the head. Then I gripped and turned and it came apart. I didn’t need to use pliers on top of the grip tape.
I didn’t realize until just now that the 10/14/16/18 represented the battery used. I’ve probably looked up pt16 some 10 times because I forgot which version it was. lol
My PT-16 and PT-10 heads interchange with no problem. Looks like there is one head, one driver. Then they made 4 different battery tubes to fit. Ingenious, I think.
OH NO! I just realized something…. the triple optic in this light is 24mm. The UI in this original version kinda stinks. What does that add up to? The need for a ramping 10mm FET driver and 4 XP-L HI’s.
I managed to take my bezel off, my unit did have some sort of glue and I had to warm it up a bit. There is potential for some serious modding but I’m only going to do a LED swap in mine, can’t wait to see what Dale can do with this light…
I held off getting the PT-16 due to wimpy 16340’s. But if one head fits all than it’s boring time 18350’s. I’ve posted about this light a few times before and I see the logic to 16340/CR123A’s for the general public but this crowd needs 18350’s. I just wasn’t sure it had enough meat for the boring. Thanks for the review.
That MassDrop deal might be too good to pass up. The PT18 is way more practical than any of the smaller sizes and the darned thing is 10mm shorter than the Kronos X5. Way cooler looking than the Olight Baton S20 and just as compact (except a bit wider).
On second thought, as I was searching to see if the massdrop deal was for the updated v2 versions (still can’t find out if they are or not) I see that that great price is only for the PT10. Add another $14 for the PT18 and another $3.50 for shipping and it’s almost $62. Just can’t see spending that money at this time. I’m sure there will be another sale or groupbuy on these in the near future so I’m gonna hold off. Ideally I’d love a PT16 and PT18 but still too pricey for me. Maybe once I see what you guys manage to do with yours I’ll reconsider.
You’re right about the looks, what a little stunner! It reminds me of something I think was called a PEU pineapple, I almost bought one of the bodies a long time ago but I couldn’t figure out what other parts I would need to build a complete light. I remember being very confused by a lot of the conversations and feeling like I didn’t speak the language.
I wonder if they’ll sell the different bodies separately so you could have one head and different options for what battery to use based on the needs that day.
Good idea otp, we can push for that for sure.
I have the driver out, a quad ready to go in, am about to strip the driver and piggyback in an FET driver with ramping firmware. BUT….
My daughter just had a fat healthy baby boy, 7 lbs 5 oz and 21” long.
Impressive review DB, I liked it more than others. You have a great way of communicating features functions. Congratulations on your new born, it must be nice.
Send me a PM at some point if you can I have a question for you about a flashlight that I bought that once belonged to you.
I ordered the PT18, a TAD pricey but if the quality is there as Dale (and some) have exclaimed, it will be worth it to me? Need to find a way to buy the other tubes?
Dash, which of those 4 has the best feel in the hand? I’m looking at them and the 14 seems to have the best symmetry, but the 16 is really cool and the 10 is so unique it’s hard to quit playing with. For all the pineapple knurling and same head, the largest… 18… just doesn’t do anything for me.
Edit: Dangit! Had to sign up and order the PT-14 at Massdrop! HAD to!
Thank you, I’ll now have 3 of the 4 MecArmy PT series. (I know I know)
In lieu of piggybacking in an FET driver, I left the original intact and put in a quad set-up with XP-G2 S4 2B emitters.
3.13A on Turbo for 1152.3 lumens
316.02
84.53
3.21
I find it interesting how the lower 3 modes consistently make virtually the same output regardless what I do. I’m figuring with 4 emitters sharing that 3.13A they should be in a much more efficient range of operation and make less heat. The quad is shorter, so a sanded 20mm Noctigon was re-flowed under the quad star while mounting the emitters. Twice the copper, 33% more emitters, roughly 50 more lumens.
(now I’m seeing that the cell wasn’t fully charged, so it might actually make something more than 1152, we’ll see)
Edit: 1179.9 lumens with a freshly charged Efest Red Button Top IMR16340.
As always your the mad tinkerer. When inside the little jewel did you see anyway to bump the current a little. This whole set up in 18650 might cross the 4 amp threshold and still be practical. Also which diameter quad lens are you using? And as always thanks for turning good things into better.
