I decided to experiment with my Kronos X5 since it has an FET driver and I suspected that cells would make a difference.
You folks with oodles of experience just stop reading. You already know what follows, but I just has to satisfy my curiosity.
The other day I received different 14500s. That gave me Windyfire (WF) and AWT 600mah cells. In my td06 I first used AA primary lithiums, then Li-ion rechargeables and saw a huge increase in lumen output that was very noticeable with my uncalibrated eyeball. I wondered if there would be a difference with different Li-Ions. I’d been reading on this forum that I could expect one.
So last night I used both the WF and AWT cells in an eyeball test as best I could. My eye told me that the AWT cells outperformed the WF cells. But that was with the auto exposure eyeball. Heck, it wasn’t even close; the eyeball told me that the AWT cell was clearly superior. But I had to check further with something not organic, auto exposure, and notoriously inaccurate. So today I got out the 40+ year old Sekonic L-28c2 light meter. Understand that this is only a relative reading of the central hotspot from the very same flashlight as measured by an instrument, but using different cells. Using the flat white disk (so as to exclude as much ambient light as possible), and the “high” plate to cut the light to something measurable, the Windyfire cells clearly outperformed the AWT. I could have sworn the AWTs outperformed the WFs last night by eyeballing it. But the light meter doesn’t lie.
The difference between the 2 cells isn’t great, but it exists.
When my djburkes modded C8 comes in I intend to perform the same “relative” measurement to see which 18650 cells are best for it’s output.
BTW, excellent gent to do business with. He’s honorable in a world that appears to no longer highly value that trait. But I certainly do. He communicates clearly and ships rapidly even when components need to be ordered and then the light has to be built.
I need to build a PVC “light pipe” to make things a bit more accurate for future comparative measurements of this sort (and switch to the hemisphere of the Sekonic for measurements). Again, it’s nothing that I can quantify and state X amount of lumens. It’s only a comparative measurement of this vs that. I think I measure in DIN and it’s an analog scale on the meter.
Edit:
That brings to mind a similar test that others can perform if they have a manual camera, or one that will allow exposure measurements. Just shine the light onto a wall and using the same distances and same lense settings, etc, see which has the most light. Everything being the same is absolutely critical for it to be valid. If you have a manual camera (and know how to use it) that allows this you know what I’m writing. If you don’t, you’re probably lost and this won’t work for you. Again, it’ll just be a relative measurement, and everything must be the same for it to be valid.