Hi guy's, Ive been looking at solarforce hosts and have a few questions , I dont want to own a whole herd of lights so Im guessing my best bet is to go with a nice well made host for P60 droppins .
Ive done alot of reading enough to do me head in to be honest I seem to be going round in circles , so Ive decided to buy on the reccomendations of users here at BLF
the hosts Im looking at are L2 range including the L2R AA Host" although Im guessin this AA just aint gunna have the power "
The only thing I dont like about the solarforce hosts is the protruding clicky , am I right in thinking the only one with a recessed clicky is the L2R ?
another little niggle is the colored clicky boots " there bloody ugle "
I dont know what I done wrong but half my post is missing ? anyway I do a lot of hunting spotlighting using my P14 and it does a pretty good job has good throw and good flood hi and low ...I got feelin if I go with li ion batts 18650 single cell light that I can get even better throw and good runtime than the P14 and the abilty to chop an change leds to suit if I go if I go with a P60 ....after somethin that can at least throw 100+ strongly no a dim little pencil beam at that range
Go the low voltage XR-E R2 drop in , or the regular XR-E R2 3-4.2v drop in ... For Throw .
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old4570 will the LR2 with the low voltage droppin running on AA's do the job for spotylighting ya rekon ? sure I want power but if I can aviod li ions all good do you know how it would compare to the P14 in throw ? the little sipik k68 throws ok with a 14500 in it close to the P14 on alkies but just doesnt have the brigtness at range like the P14 with nimh's
You're going to have to ask someone who has a recent batch of the LV drop-in to see if they ever "fixed" the power issue on 2AA.
They used to draw 1.2-1.5A, but people have been getting lower and lower draws like 1A and then .78A. At that point it's even worse than a standard 2amp draw AA light that sells for like $15 total. But 1.2-1.5A is quite nice and pretty much as bright as a proper lithium light (~3w).
sounds like a bit of a raffle , is there AA budget light that can throw better than the P14 I have ? I know its almost impossible to answer ness ya have a P14 to compare ...
as for Li ions I aint sure I wanna use'em , can I be bothered babysittin batterys ..lol...not really I just wanta workhorse that can get the job done with out fuss ...a decent AA thrower where is it ? P14 may just be it hey
The p14 looks to be a 4AA light with decent size TIR optic, so it's focus should be quite good. I'm not sure a p60 can focus to quite the same size spot intensity. It can come close w/ ez-900 emitter and very good SMO reflector, but most dropin's I've seen aren't quite perfect (the closest is ironically the one w/ Nanjg driver and OP reflector that came with the T-mart crappy 502b deal).
The LV drop-in isn't necessarily a "crapshoot" in what they get. I'm sure they have enough quality control being SF to make them consistent. They've just been consistently bad for a time. They might've fixed it, or might not, can't tell unless someone has a recent one and takes measurements.
yeah the P14 is 4 x AA , it gets a bad rapp over at CPF dont know why ..I used to do a bit a readin over there a year or so back and it was constantly bad mouthed as " all hype no performance " all L Lenser coasts or well so it seemed .. anyway its been good to me .
My mate uses a P17 has a little better throw and much better runtime using D cells but I wanna go smaller in size than P14 if possible
Back to throwers ...what is there in budget lights that do a good job true throwers and run on regular batts AA or D's single or multiple ? Ive done plenty of searchin but still no closer also I cant make anything of beamshots takin 4ft from a wall were can we see decent pics of lights operating in the field ? any links
I've seen a couple of videos and pictures from moviles with a similar background, including lights he's modded himself, so that's almost certainly his.
I have an L2r that i burnt the drop-in while using it in another light being dumb.
My thinking is like this: 4.2v is for 2x AA and the XP-G is 8.4v so i can run 2x 14500's which will be interested against the XM-L T6 @ 4.2v
But if your dead set on the 2xAA L2r id go with the XM-L drop-in.
The light originally came with this: Solarforce website part: Model Number Cree Input Volt (0.8v-4.2v)-R5-3M
Cree Input Volt (0.8v-4.2v)-Solarforce 320Lms R5 XP-G Cree Led 3 Mode 0.8V-4.2V Bulb (Orange Peel Reflector) Voltage Input: 0.8v-4.2V Mode Arrangement: 100% --> 40% --> 10% Brightness: 320 lumens US$14.99
It wasn't a bad drop-in, But it was no where near 320 lumen, More like 200 lumen. I just dont think 2xAA is enough power for the drop-in they use. It would be better in a 1x18650 light imo.
If you can go with an 18650 rechargable or CR123 primaries the info below would be best.
Product Name Solarforce L2 Tailstand Forward Clicky CR123A/18650 Flashlight Body
Model Number L2-L2B-S6
Price US$21.99
Discounted Price US$15.99
This would be perfect for 2x cr123 primary cells, But no rechargables.
Solarforce 5 mode w/ Memroy IC XM-L T6 Cree 820 Lumens 3-6V
Model Number XM-L-XML_5modeIC
Discounted Price US$21.99
This is what id run for an 18650 cell.
Solarforce 5 mode w/ Memroy IC XM-L T6 Cree 820 Lumens 3.7V
Model Number XM-L-XML_5modeIC3.7
Discounted Price US$21.99
Just so you know im rather sure all of the SolarForce lights are able to tail stand with the stock tail caps, I think you have to order a non tail standing cap separately being the main way to get one.
The 3-6v dropins are perhaps 7135 drivers. They'll run on 123a's, but not terribly efficient at that voltage because 7135's as linear chips just burn off excess power.