others have posted about this light, direct driven, and drawing 4.5-4.7 amps. VERY bright, gets hot instantly, and probably doesn't live for very long. did i mention VERY bright?
one more thing, as stevetexas said above, no protected batteries that i know of fit, even the smaller ones. unprotected 18650 only.
can't wait for mine!! I hope my protected 18650's fit now though!
You were both right about the switch! With some clicking and shaking two out of the three work fine and the third only flickers a little. I’ll take it out/or apart to see if it will improve. My Ternergy 2600 protected cells fit.
Thanks for the advice/help.
I got mine today. I ordered a set of batteries and a charger but they haven’t come yet. It looks good but i cant test it yet.
Got mine today ...i like it.
3 decently spaced modes
No nasty PWM
A very pretty color
Decent fibnish with no sharp edges .
tailstands well
Glow in the dark tailcap
Driver I think says ..EASTWARD ?? OR EAST20111?? hard to read but it has that eastward greyish green color to it
It doesn't have normal memory and starts in the next mode ..And yet after sitting it resets and always starts on high ...
If you run thru the modes and shut it off quickly and then turn it on again it either starts in the next mode ...OR ...It clicks and nothing happens at all ..like it's broken ...BUT one more click and she's back on high again and ready to run thru the modes .
All in all a nice little 13$ light
Every 18650 I have (handy) fits ...ultrafire blue protected is the tightest ..it starts to slightly grab half way in and rotating the battery 45 degrees takes any pressure off and the battery slides in freely.it's probably just a little tight and adonization in the tube is just enough to make it just a bit tighter .. Not tight enough that I couldn't just shove them in without fear of skinning the battery .There are no sharp edges on the edge of the tube either ...I don't use cheap blue batteries that came free with a 5$ Dino 502b light anyway so it's a non issue.
it pulled 3.15 amps @4.07 volts from a rev jim panasonic battery ..and about the same from a tennergy unprotected .
What was odd was i couldn't get it to read medium or low strobe or sos no matter what I did .
It has a much better than normal wrist strap ..if anyone cares
tint is very acceptable and
the beam is very smooth and almost flawless
strobe is sufficiently mind numbingly obnoxious... faster and more disorientating than the 2100.
I think I like it more than the unique-fire 2100 .
I sat and stared at it for a few minutes just looking for flaws..... and other than it not having 100$ light attributes ....there's nothing wrong with this little light .
I like it
For those worried about protected lights not fitting, don't. Originally I tested my hd2011 with unprotected panasonics. After reading reports of protected cells not fitting I tried my TF Flames and they slid in with no problems. Only my xtar 18670 cells wouldn't go in but that doesn't surprise me. They do that in other lights too as they are larger in width and length than they should be. It's the reason I only own one pair of them.
Awesome thanks everyone! I sure hope mine is in the mailbox when I get home!
Frank, what cells are you using that won’t fit? I only have issues with Xtar cells not fitting.
hi-maxx don't, tf flames don't (or the older grey tf's) and tenergy protected don't. the only ones that fit are tenergy unprotected.
and anyone else who read my garbage post directly above: sorry, i somehow forgot that most of my batteries are shrinkwrapped. yes, i know how stupid that is. anyway, i double checked, and;
hi-max no
xtar no
unprotected tenergy yes
protected tenergy yes, but tight, and will not slide out when hot, which happens fast
tf flame and grey yes, snugly
TF GREY 18500 NO i know, weird. you can physically, barely get them in, with force, but they will absolutely not come out unless you push them from the other end. they do not fit if you just try to drop them in.
Yikes, I use all himax except for one TF flame protected and one TF blue protected. I am hoping at least one of these cells will work! I do know that the himax are larger. They wont fit into my spark headlamp either which sucks.
Hey cabfrank... if you are interested in selling that light I'll gladly take it off your hands. I only use unprotected cells, they are my preference. I have been looking for a small 18650-XML I can pack carry... with no cell rattle.
check your PM for my offer... if you're interested.
thanks!!
Garrett
Well, i got to test my Fandyfire HD2011 today. It came on a few times but was not stunningly bright. One time inheard a small pop and then it was dead. I think something shorted out. It had about 1 min of total runtime. What to do? It is my first 18650 light as well as my first XML. Should i look for a drop in? Will DX do anything or shoukd i just write it off?
Mine STILL hasn't arrived. Pretty sick of DX.
Speedsix, I am sorry to hear about your news. Definitely contact DX about recieving a faulty light.
Its probably toast. Your best bet is to return it to DX. Its a slow process but their RMA procedure does work.
If you wanted to attempt a DIY repair, theres any number of potential shorts in these lights. (Shorting LED+/- against the reflector, sharp metal burrs cutting into LED wires, metal shavings and fragments inside shorting out SMT components...etc) One time I accidentally connected an 18650 battery backwards and it went POP and I heard a sizzle. The little atmel EPROM chip had fried.
The driver board in this light uses a FET transistor and an EPROM chip to control PWM for low modes. Its a 17mm board, held in place with a threaded retainer. The retainer unfortunately covers a lot of the area around the board so double sided driver boards (like the 8x7135) are not going to fit. You'll need a single sided PCBA, or mod the 8x7135 to double stack the drivers on one side of the board.
I connected three AAs together and shorted the neg side to the bare threads. The light came on nice and bright. I now see i have a voltage problem with the original battery. I just need to buy some more 18650s and i should be good.
That’s good news, Speedsix. Best to find out the battery was bad this way than in an explosive manner. When you get a new cell you will love the light!
I am new to 18650s so didnt have any spare cells to check. Judging from how bright it was with the AAs, i cant wait to get a decent 18650 and really try it out.
I think i am going to buy another 18650 XML. Now it is time to find one to buy. I only bought the Fandyfire because it was cheap and wssnt much of a risk. Now I see how bright it is, it makes my AA lights look sorry.
Speed six Pm me your address again and I'll send you a battery .I owe you any way :P
I probably have your address around here somewhere but at least you'll have a battery while you wait for then to send you something.
you had me going there cabfrank I opened up about 14 lights looking for a tennergy protected and a real trustfire flame
fits- fake trustfire flame off ebay ..loose
fits -real trustfirs flame ..loose
fits -anything unprotected panasonics lmr sanyos ...all unprotected fit
???- blue cheapo ultrafire w charger free from dino ...tight barely fit
???- tenergy ... very tight barely
I'd break out the sandpaper and a dowel and take off some paint if I had to use these batteries .i'm assuming this can be cured in a matter of minutes with determination and ..Grit :)
150 grit