Meh, with that many and only a single cell it's effectively like direct drive on high mode, actual current depends on how well the cell handles the voltage sag under load.
Thanks for that. But this really sucks. There is no standard dependable output improvement with the successive emitters. We should be well over 1,300 lumens by now and still over 1,000 at around 5 minutes of use. I know these are at different drive currents, but I mean if you have to drive the emitters through the roof to see a noticeable improvement, then what’s the use? And how are the more expensive lights boasting 1,300ish ANSI numbers anyway?
Well Rusty it’s easy to get these C8’s well over 1000 lumens. The problem is none of them come that way from the factory. Just bumping a C8 up to 3.5A while driving a proper thermal pasted XM-L2 will do what your wanting. Unfortunately the ones that are driven that hard have poor thermal properties and the ones like the XinTD that has the good thermal properties is just driven mildly.
We basically just have to mod them to get them performing really well. I actually have a Eagletac TX25C2 that is much smaller than any of these lights, that is driven 3.5A from the factory - and this little light is putting out 1095 lumens at 30seconds. This is bone stock. Also does about 21.9K. And it’s just slightly bigger than a SC600. Basically good thermal properties, XM-L2, and 3+ amps can make these C8’s impressive, more so than my little TX25C2.
I hear ya. I’m in a bad mood. Sick of waiting on the slow boat from China! I need a new high-power toy! lol
The convoy C8 pill will only allow 7135’s to be added to the inner side. There is a retaining ring that sits over the outer four. So, you can add up to four on the inside, in one extra layer. That should be plenty for any XM-L2.
Like comfychair said above, driving over 12x7135 chips quickly becomes direct drive (falls out of regulation) on all but the very best cells.
The Convoy C8 lights use a NANJG 105C driver, so a QLite or NANJG driver will fit fine.
From my review of this Convoy C8:
Have you tried running it with a 2x18650 extender?
i have both the c12 xml2 from lightmalls and the convoy from fasttech.
c12 xml2 is brighter than the convoy and more throwy, and the c12 is still not as bright as the c8 xml2 from lightmalls.
You have both the lightmalls xml2 c8 and xml2 c12, and the c8 is brighter??
I thought the only difference is the body of the host? How much difference in brightness? Could it be common mfr variation of emitters and drivers?
I orderd the C12 XML2 from Lm thinking I was getting the brighter of the C8-12 class arrghh! My only hope is I hate to say start modding!
In theory, if there is no hardware (emitter, driver, cell, reflector…) different between them… then any difference in results (output) must come down to variation between batches, or unit to unit. This should not make for large variations, but I am curious what blueballz observed.
I am pretty happy with my LM xml2 C12, but now I might need to try the C8 version as well.?. :~ ugh it never ends.
I know I have read a couple of times that a C12 is an inferior thrower compared to a C8 inspite of the deeper reflector, but I think I also remember chriszou saying his lightmalls C12 with XM-L U2 is brighter than his Lightmalls C8 also with an XM-L U2. I do know that my Lightmalls C8 Is brighter than my Kaidomain C12 with the same emitter. What I do not know is if it is a Lightmalls vs Kaidomain thing or a C12 vs a C8 thing or maybe just one random emitter brighter than the other.
It never ends and maybe a bad batch of leds emitter and manxbuggy I read same articles by Chris Zhou. And still try to figure out who is he , is a rep for lightmalls becausethe only reviews I read of his were lightmalls lights they were well written and very persuasive I ended up witb 13 c8xmlu3,'s.the dimmest of all tested hers DOOH it never ends chasing lumens
the lightmalls c8 xml2 is noticably brighter than the lightmall c12 xml2. the hotspot is just more intense. the flood/spill brightness is about equal in brightness for some reason. and the beam profile is identical.
but the c8 has more of a cooler purpleish tint.
even the kaidomain xml2 c8 is brighter than the lightmalls xml2 c12
The cells would have to be in a parallel adapter (which can be done, but not ideal) and adding cells in parallel helps a little to resist the voltage sag issues, but not as much as you would think. 2 cells in series is a no go with a 7135-based driver and a 3v LED, too much excess voltage for the chips to burn off.
2 or more cells in series and a buck driver is the hot ticket for driving a XML2 really hard but there ain't no 17mm buck drivers that will do more amperage than what you get with normal 7135 drivers. :/
That seems contradictory to manxbuggy’s data on pg1. Makes me wonder if you got a bum C12.
I was under the impression there was no real difference between c8 and c12 other than exterior design. This is the first I have heard of different reflectors. Has that been confirmed in a side by side comparison?
that makes sense about multicells comfy… thanks for clearing that up.
Nice thermal anti lag on the Keygos KE-5!
Yeah. it is just such a shame that it is evidently direct drive. It is a very nice looking, bright light. It gained Lumens almost through out the entire 30 seconds. During the T/C test the amps also increased. That east092 driver is kind of scary in this light.
AFAIK, C8 and C12 reflectors are same.
IIRC, Chris Zhou did not compare C8 and C12. There is another C8 reviewer who said C8 was brighter than C12.
As some mentioned, there is no logical reason why C8 is brighter than C12, and if anything C12 should be brighter with its bigger heat sinking fins.
This kind of info and comparison is exactly what I wanted to happen on my original thread, makes me h-h-happy…carry on! 