i want to buy my 1st SRK as long as everyone in this lovely forum have one like the small sun ZYT-08 i think everyone have it too
well i have seen many clones and have seen many reviews here in our forums for different SRKs and a i am so confused which to buy
i want a good SRK with XM-L2 emitters over driven 3x or under driven 7x no problem but i am aiming for 5000 lumens output , but if 3x XM-L2 will THROW much than the 7x i prefer the throw
i know i cant have this SRK until i mod it myself
so which SRK i can buy and mod it, and better to have XM-L2 already rather than to replace old XML ?
one last thing can Any SRK hold the output of 5k lumens i am talking about the thermal management or it can only hold it for short running time ?
So far the securitying SRKs seem pretty good. You can get them with XM-L2 and they have a good driver that is easily modable. They come in models with 3 - 7 LEDs.
At 5k lumens one of these soup can lights can handle the heat for a few minutes, but you wont be able to hold it bare handed after a few minutes.
Usually cheaper to go with XML2 led stock, and reflow the emitters to copper stars.
There’s a chance that if you go with an SRK that you’ll get one with very poor heatsinking, if any heatsink at all.
I personally would go with the Supfire M6. It’s the same soup can form factor, but better quality, beam profile, performance, thermal management, and most importantly consistency in build quality.
SRK quality has become totally inconsistent apparently with multiple factories making clones using the name. RMM of Mountain Electronics reports that he has returned whole shipments of them due to internal problems which made them unsuitable for use as hosts for his modification activities. He recently had a sale of four 6 LED versions due to finding he could not secure a steady supply of the same internal construction lights as the first 4 he had obtained.
He has mentioned getting bad shipments of lights from the same sellers who had provided good ones in the past so apparently there is no guarantee of what you will get when ordering a SRK.
I have the same question, what should i buy if i want a soup-can?
I hear RMM’s M6 is the way to go, but shipping may ruin that deal, if they’re in stock at all…
So i might be asking the same question soon…
Email or PM Richard as the web site is not set up to handle foreign orders, even from Canada! So far as I know he does do foreign orders but no idea what the postage is.
How about a solarstorm warrior? I just got one and I’m happy with it. The best thing about it is the modes are very easy to control with two buttons. The quality is really good and it’s nicer looking than a srk. The srk looks like a crap shoot with all the fakes out there. You may still be able to pick up the warrior at banggoods for 30 bucks.
Unmodified all SRKs seem to have similar current draws from what I have read so a larger number of emitters should be slightly brighter due to the LEDs working in the more efficient area of their power/output curve. Based on my 3 LED and 6 LED SRK lights the biggest difference is throw and hotspot size. The 3 LED light has a considerably smaller hot spot than the 6 LED light so should be a better thrower. A bit hard to compare directly though as my 3 LED lights are stock and my 6 LED version is an RMM Mountain Electronics modified light with a major step-up in maximum output.
The 3 LED M6 has more throw than the 3 LED SRK as again a visibly smaller and brighter hot spot.
Not going to be any where near 7000 Lumens. SRK lights and clones are typically in the 2000 to 2500 Maximum Lumens range regardless of the number of LEDs and some are below 2000. Even the most highly modified SRK family lights as modified by Richard at Mountain Electronics (RMM) are good for a genuine OTF light level in the 4000 Lumens range and they need high output batteries to reach that and due to heating cannot stay at maximum output long.
I have a six LED SRK clone modified by RMM with most of the tricks that can be applied to a light that still has the original LEDs and heat sink and it is extremely nice with output close to 3500 Lumens but as noted earlier is not a thrower. For SRKs the more LEDs the poorer the throw seems to be the rule.
Typically many Chinese flashlight sellers take the maximum manufacturer rated output for the LED they are using and multiply that Lumens by the number of LEDs in the light. Unfortunately, or fortunately from a heating standpoint, they are not driving the LEDs nearly as hard as the Manufacturer lists for getting 1000 Lumens per LED. With a few exceptions budget lights all have grossly inflated Lumens outputs listed.
Per member tests here even the very hard driven and large Supernight 12 LED light puts out 7000 Lumens rather than the claimed 13,000 Lumens and to do that it runs three UNPROTECTED high output 18650 or 26650 batteries and sucks about 70 Watts out of them. On high it gets quite hot within two minutes. It seems to be the current budget light output champion.
RMN is currently using the three LED version of the Securitying ashisr basis for his modified SRK lights so I would suggest sending a private message to Richard asking his opinion. The big problem with the SRK and clones has been lack of consistency between different lots of lights which often look like they have come from different makers. For that reason they are unpredictable as to what you will receive. One reason many modifiers prefer the M6, even at the higher price and with the heavier weight, is consistent construction details and quality so far. You buy one and you know what you are going to receive.
thank you Ouchyfoot
