I tried all my worse case 26650's and they all fit - TF protected, KP protected, EVVA protected, and even a 26700 cell fits.
Thanks Tom.
What about testing w/ 21700’s?,30T/40T and P42A? Also do you have any PLB-55A re wraps?Like the one I have pictured above?
How about lux? Do you have the equipment to measure throw?
My apologies in advance.
I am obviously a new guy around here but I was wondering, without consideration for cost, how does the Orbtronic 5750mAh High Capacity-High Drain cell measure against the others mentioned in this thread, and if it is a good match for this light, would I want a flat or button top? It seems expensive, but I was curious how it would fit dimensionally, and if its specifications are a good fit for this light?
Thanks in advance for helping a new enthusiast with somewhat technical questions (at least for me).
Joe
Hi Joe,
It is a good cell as you can see by my test, However, Orbtronics are out of them. The Vapcell or the Shockli will work fine. Tom E. verified that much bigger cells even fit in the light. Personally, I like the FT much better. I have One Orbtronic BT and I prefer the FT. Any will work fine.
Are you in the USA?
I bought my Vapcell[the ones I just tested ] from 18650 Battery. Delivered in 45 hours. they gave me a coupon code for 10% off. They will do the same for you, just email them or do a Live chat.
https://www.18650batterystore.com/26650-battery-p/vapcell-26650-5500mah.htm
I am in the US. The information you provided is very helpful!
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Joe
Between a U21 and JM70:
Looking at the reflectors, the FT03 almost seems to have a light OP treatment. I also can't notice a tint off the glass - no blue or purple, but I could be missing it somehow:
Some battery measurements:
| Blue LK 5000 | 4.20V | 8.19A | 2070-1960 (0-30s) lumens, 253 kcd |
| Shockli 5500 BT | 4.19V | 7.15A | |
| P42A | 4.19V | 8.57A | |
| 30T | 4.21V | 9.1A | |
| 40T | 4.21V | 9.07A | 2150-1940 (0-30s) lumens, 253 kcd |
Regardless of the reflector, the #'s seem real good. I measured 253 kcd taken at 5 meters, which seems above the norm.
The 40T seemed to drop off quick, compared to the old blue LK. I'm not sure how to explain that. My 2 Shockli 5500's never seem to perform well - wonder if it's because of the small BT's these cells have. Dunno, the Shockli's now look nothing like the ones I have. Not sure offhand where/when I got them.
Ohhh - I'm hearing distinctive pop sounds when running it on max, and shortly following. This is clearly the signs for poor thermal grease and/or non-flat MCPCB. Think we just learned this with the E07 issues.
Wow 253kcd in stock form is very impressive. Wasn’t the manufacturer numbers only 190kcd?
What throw numbers you getting for the amutorch jm70?
5m is too close to get a correct measurmant IMHO
190kCd @ 10m with my NW sample
@ Tom E.
Thanks for the testing. 
My guess about the Shockli you have is that they are old! They could be 2 or 3 years old…older? Just a guess. How many cycles do they have?!! Do not expect you to know that. Not many people keep track of that like me!
The newer Black/White wrappers came out about a year or so ago.
I bet if you got brand new Orbtronic/Shockli or Vapcell[PLB-55A Re-wraps],they would perform pretty well.
oh yeahh…I have One Orbtronic BT and I do not like it. It is a very feeble BT and sometimes its hard to get good contact in my charger. Like you said that may also be a reason,My guess is that they are OLD! 
Stock JM70 I got 188 kcd on #1 (2.55 amps), 218 kcd on #2 (3.57 amps), both XPL HI models.
- #1 does 266 kcd now: resistor bypass, swapped LED to XPL HI V3, bypasses, 20 AWG LED wires, tweaks to centering ring, etc.
- #2 does 327 kcd now: full driver mod running NarsilM, wires, bypasses, etc.
I double checked my throw measurement setup on a SD26 and seemed ok at 36 kcd (fully modded, high amps, XP-L2).
The 253 kcd was after improving the centering of the LED. With the black spot of dirt on the LED out of the box, I didn't want to take chances running on max/turbo. 5 meters would show less throw compared to 10+ meters - this has been proven many times over and over, here on BLF, and as I've seen. The hot spot looks impressive to me on this light - very well defined.
For the Shockli's, agree - the BT's aren't a good setup, and I don't track cycles (with 200+ cells??) but these have very few, if any.
Yea, I made multiple measurements, checked my meter (for low battery), etc., so got fairly high confidence in this, but I'll do more throw testing this evening. I'm even using a meter that I've confirmed is about 2% lower than my previous original meter. I can't quite explain this yet, compared to other posted #'s. Previously I've been always in the neighborhood on throw. I have 2 other meters to sanity check against.
Not 100% confident yet in these #'s til I do all these checks.
What is the size of FT03 MCPCB ?
I don’t think anyone’s had a look under the hood yet.
I did but didn't take note of the MCPCB size - it's pretty big though, bigger than 20 mm. Since mine is making the classic "popping/cracking" sound when run hot, I'll be removing the MCPCB and fixing it up, breaking it down w/pics, if no one else has yet.
My estimate was 26mm based on photos. When mine turns up I’ll confirm that 
I’ve taken mine fully apart, Mcpcb is 26mm.
Also the driver has programming pads on the bottom of it!
Forgive the potential newb question, what’s the classic popping/cracking sound usually a result of?
Poor application of thermal compound under the mpcb.
Yes - caused from escaping heated air in the gaps of the paste. Air in the air pockets heats, expands, pushes the paste til it finds an escape route. Solution is to eliminate the air gaps - surfaces may not be flat. On the E07, the MCPCB had nasty burrs on the thru holes - simple flat surface sanding took care of that, re-applied the paste, and all is good.
Mine is making the popping/cracking sound, but doesn't mean they all are, so could be only mine or some percentage of the production batch, etc. My guess would be others will have the same problem, but not all - don't think anyone else reported this yet out of the few reported on here?
My E07 (freshly received just last week and it’s the V2 which supposedly had fixed all these issues) pops and crackles like a popcorn maker. Where does one find thermal paste? Is it available at home improvement stores like Lowes/HD or is this something I have to buy online?
And… anything I should know about choosing one or is any of it fine as long as it’s called “thermal paste”
Well, on an E07 you got some serious modding to do in order to get access to things. You have to carefully de-solder the wires for example, remove the MCPCB, etc. Lots of opinions on thermal grease to use, but think we all use CPU thermal grease. I use Arctic MX-4, but Arctice Silver 5 (AS5) is very popular, many others out there, lot of cheaper options as well.