Jacob A60 - first impressions

[gords1001]

Mrs gords can get very grumpy. She takes it out on gords rather than the kids.

Gords gets a good nights sleep for a change - sofas are comfy, luke shares our room and gords picked the blankets. :bigsmile:

[agedbriar]

@-JOE-

Comparing it inside against my STL-V6, the A60 has a brighter hotspot. I can even see the A60 hotspot inside of the STL-V6 hotspot as well.

Don't judge from the latter. The smaller hotspot is getting the flux from both lights.

[Tom_E]

@fatboy

My a60 that i got from dx draws 1.9a. My a60 from aurabuy only pulls .9a any suggestions to bump this up. :~

Both #'s are low, but certainly that 0.9a is way low - I got a consistent 2.1 - 2.2 amps on a good unprotected battery, others do as well. Make sure everything is tight with the driver area - screw down makes the contact to the driver I believe, has to be tight for electrical battery neg signal. There's no separate pill so not much going on there. Not sure if a poorly mounted LED would reduce amps, maybe - you could check the emitter mount. The plastic retainer on the emitter can be taken off by poking a hole in it near the outer edge and prying it off.

[jakey]

@gords1001

Mrs gords can get very grumpy. She takes it out on gords rather than the kids.

Gords gets a good nights sleep for a change - sofas are comfy, luke shares our room and gords picked the blankets. :bigsmile:

What you get a blanket!

[Dave-H]

@gords1001

The one I built pulled an initial 3.26a, reduced the wire size to star and it settled at 2.84a, that was on the stock q5. I polished the star, polished the ano off the star mounting face. Since it was going on a rifle scope, it should be ok, not heard anything off Dave but he seemed happy when he got it back, I potted the pill area too.

That’s how I’ll be doing mine, unless I decide to use one of the r2’s I have.
.

2 months old, fired about 60 rounds. Absolutely no issues, works fine, ‘kin bright [furthest ’lamped’ shot 217 yards]

Still smiling, and making my regular shoot partner jealous … He uses a 802 with a R2, its got a slightly better range, but doesnt appear to be as bright …. and the hotspot is a bit too restricted

[southcovekayak]

@18sixfifty

I received mine yesterday. It is printed with Jacob A60. The LED wasn’t centered but it was an easy fix. The lens was dirty with a few spots but they mostly buffed out. The reflector is less than perfect, in a couple small spots the coating is a little flakey like you see on some plastic reflectors. None of this sees to have had an effect on it’s ability to throw. It also has a decent enough spill/flood a tad bit ringy but it could be worse. The throw is pinpoint though, so it’s really not very useful. I guess when described as a “fun” light it’s accurate enough. it’s fun seeing just how far you can get it to throw a beam of light. It does outthrow most of my other lights. However, when compared to my small sun zy-Y08 it doesn’t really compare. They both seem to throw about the same distance which is amazing but the Jacob A60 is only throwing a small beam that lights up very little area at all compared with the Y08. For instance the A60 light up a small part of a tree and the Y08 light up the tree and one next to it at the same distance.

For a cheap light with a Q5 it’s impressive. Overall out of Five stars I give it a Three and a half.

Aurabuy’s service was perfect. Good communication and shipping time. It arrived in the flimsy white box but it was stuffed with bubble wrap and then wrapped again and again with bubble wrap I would say it was well protected for the trip. Much better wrapping than I got from my last fast tech order that cost much more.

I am very happy with the deal even if I’m a little disappointed with the light itself.

Agree w this totally. I have the SF M8 which is clearly the inspiration for the Jacob. XML T6. The M8 blows this out of the water both on throw and flood. A bit surprised after all the buzz on this thread. Gotta play w it some more.

[rdrfronty]

@Tom E

@fatboy

My a60 that i got from dx draws 1.9a. My a60 from aurabuy only pulls .9a any suggestions to bump this up. :~

Both #’s are low, but certainly that 0.9a is way low - I got a consistent 2.1 - 2.2 amps on a good unprotected battery, others do as well. Make sure everything is tight with the driver area - screw down makes the contact to the driver I believe, has to be tight for electrical battery neg signal. There’s no separate pill so not much going on there. Not sure if a poorly mounted LED would reduce amps, maybe - you could check the emitter mount. The plastic retainer on the emitter can be taken off by poking a hole in it near the outer edge and prying it off.

If he is testing the light with an average 18650, the 1.9a sounds about right. That what we use to get with my Eagletac protected 2500mah cells and even worse with our ultrafires & etc.
Now with our panasonic unprotected 3100’s, our Keeppower 3400 protected, and our AW’s, we always get 2.1+ from all of our A60’s.

[gords1001]

@Dave-H

@gords1001

The one I built pulled an initial 3.26a, reduced the wire size to star and it settled at 2.84a, that was on the stock q5. I polished the star, polished the ano off the star mounting face. Since it was going on a rifle scope, it should be ok, not heard anything off Dave but he seemed happy when he got it back, I potted the pill area too.

That’s how I’ll be doing mine, unless I decide to use one of the r2’s I have.
.

2 months old, fired about 60 rounds. Absolutely no issues, works fine, ‘kin bright [furthest ’lamped’ shot 217 yards]

Still smiling, and making my regular shoot partner jealous … He uses a 802 with a R2, its got a slightly better range, but doesnt appear to be as bright …. and the hotspot is a bit too restricted

Hi dave glad its working for you. I’m going to be building my iteration soon. Its your fault too I was happy not owning one till I built yours :bigsmile:

[Tom_E]

@southcovekayak

Agree w this totally. I have the SF M8 which is clearly the inspiration for the Jacob. XML T6. The M8 blows this out of the water both on throw and flood. A bit surprised after all the buzz on this thread. Gotta play w it some more.

Very difficult to compare a SolarForce M8 to a Jacob (XML thrower to XR-E thrower) - think the M8 is 5 times the cost and it's an XML U2. With the Jacob you get 57 kcd for $12-$14 stock, if it's a standard one with an average battery, or up in the 70's or 80's kcd with minor mods, good battery. Definitely has no flood but that's not what you will get with a well focused XR-E. I'd guess from their website spec at 420 meters the M8 U2 is very good at about 45 kcd with 2 18650's.

[sixty545]

@fatboy

My a60 that i got from dx draws 1.9a. My a60 from aurabuy only pulls .9a any suggestions to bump this up. :~

Exactly the same is true for the one I got two days ago from Aurabuy (draws about 1A).
It is branded Jacob A60 and had a dent and a scrape in the front but the lens was clean. The heat sinking seems to be OK (no plastic spacer under the LED).
Apart from that it is exactly the same as the two I got from DX.
In order to assure that the reflector presses the LED star down and/or have the possibility to adjust the focus a little I file down 0.5 mm of the heads rear edge (below the logo) so that the LED assembly can screw a little further into the head/reflector.
I also did this on one of the DX ones that had the plastic spacer. Then I did not have to make a metal spacer to get proper focus.

[southcovekayak]

@Tom E

@southcovekayak

Agree w this totally. I have the SF M8 which is clearly the inspiration for the Jacob. XML T6. The M8 blows this out of the water both on throw and flood. A bit surprised after all the buzz on this thread. Gotta play w it some more.

Very difficult to compare a SolarForce M8 to a Jacob (XML thrower to XR-E thrower) - think the M8 is 5 times the cost and it’s an XML U2. With the Jacob you get 57 kcd for $12-$14 stock, if it’s a standard one with an average battery, or up in the 70’s or 80’s kcd with minor mods, good battery. Definitely has no flood but that’s not what you will get with a well focused XR-E. I’d guess from their website spec at 420 meters the M8 U2 is very good at about 45 kcd with 2 18650’s.

My M8 is an original T6. I paid $48 delivered (that was a deal). Its a nice light, good quality, handsome design but never impressed me too much OTF, but it feels good in the hand w 1 or 2x batteries.

My other comparison is a common T6 C8 that I was never all that impressed w itself - although it out threw all of my P60’s. And so too the Jacob. So guess its time to borrow back my DMM from a friend who is figuring out some trailer wiring and see if that is the issue. I would take that ever so average C8 over the A60 (my example) anytime, except for looks.

[gords1001]

@southcovekayak

@18sixfifty

I received mine yesterday. It is printed with Jacob A60. The LED wasn’t centered but it was an easy fix. The lens was dirty with a few spots but they mostly buffed out. The reflector is less than perfect, in a couple small spots the coating is a little flakey like you see on some plastic reflectors. None of this sees to have had an effect on it’s ability to throw. It also has a decent enough spill/flood a tad bit ringy but it could be worse. The throw is pinpoint though, so it’s really not very useful. I guess when described as a “fun” light it’s accurate enough. it’s fun seeing just how far you can get it to throw a beam of light. It does outthrow most of my other lights. However, when compared to my small sun zy-Y08 it doesn’t really compare. They both seem to throw about the same distance which is amazing but the Jacob A60 is only throwing a small beam that lights up very little area at all compared with the Y08. For instance the A60 light up a small part of a tree and the Y08 light up the tree and one next to it at the same distance.

For a cheap light with a Q5 it’s impressive. Overall out of Five stars I give it a Three and a half.

Aurabuy’s service was perfect. Good communication and shipping time. It arrived in the flimsy white box but it was stuffed with bubble wrap and then wrapped again and again with bubble wrap I would say it was well protected for the trip. Much better wrapping than I got from my last fast tech order that cost much more.

I am very happy with the deal even if I’m a little disappointed with the light itself.

Agree w this totally. I have the SF M8 which is clearly the inspiration for the Jacob. XML T6. The M8 blows this out of the water both on throw and flood. A bit surprised after all the buzz on this thread. Gotta play w it some more.

You wish to compare a $65 light with an up to date emitter to a sub $15 light with an out of date emitter?

[fatboy]

@sixty545

@fatboy

My a60 that i got from dx draws 1.9a. My a60 from aurabuy only pulls .9a any suggestions to bump this up. :~

Exactly the same is true for the one I got two days ago from Aurabuy (draws about 1A).
It is branded Jacob A60 and had a dent and a scrape in the front but the lens was clean. The heat sinking seems to be OK (no plastic spacer under the LED).
Apart from that it is exactly the same as the two I got from DX.
In order to assure that the reflector presses the LED star down and/or have the possibility to adjust the focus a little I file down 0.5 mm of the heads rear edge (below the logo) so that the LED assembly can screw a little further into the head/reflector.
I also did this on one of the DX ones that had the plastic spacer. Then I did not have to make a metal spacer to get proper focus.

Are these using a different driver?

[fatboy]

I check amps again with a fasttech panny 3400 protected. got 2.08 from the dx and .98 from aurabuy. :~

[sixty545]

@fatboy

@sixty545

@fatboy

My a60 that i got from dx draws 1.9a. My a60 from aurabuy only pulls .9a any suggestions to bump this up. :~

Exactly the same is true for the one I got two days ago from Aurabuy (draws about 1A).
It is branded Jacob A60 and had a dent and a scrape in the front but the lens was clean. The heat sinking seems to be OK (no plastic spacer under the LED).
Apart from that it is exactly the same as the two I got from DX.
In order to assure that the reflector presses the LED star down and/or have the possibility to adjust the focus a little I file down 0.5 mm of the heads rear edge (below the logo) so that the LED assembly can screw a little further into the head/reflector.
I also did this on one of the DX ones that had the plastic spacer. Then I did not have to make a metal spacer to get proper focus.

Are these using a different driver?

No difference to see from the backside of the drivers. I think I will put in a V2 from Kaidomain, stripped to give 2.1 Amp.

[manxbuggy1]

@southcovekayak

@Tom E

@southcovekayak

Agree w this totally. I have the SF M8 which is clearly the inspiration for the Jacob. XML T6. The M8 blows this out of the water both on throw and flood. A bit surprised after all the buzz on this thread. Gotta play w it some more.

Very difficult to compare a SolarForce M8 to a Jacob (XML thrower to XR-E thrower) - think the M8 is 5 times the cost and it’s an XML U2. With the Jacob you get 57 kcd for $12-$14 stock, if it’s a standard one with an average battery, or up in the 70’s or 80’s kcd with minor mods, good battery. Definitely has no flood but that’s not what you will get with a well focused XR-E. I’d guess from their website spec at 420 meters the M8 U2 is very good at about 45 kcd with 2 18650’s.

My M8 is an original T6. I paid $48 delivered (that was a deal). Its a nice light, good quality, handsome design but never impressed me too much OTF, but it feels good in the hand w 1 or 2x batteries.

My other comparison is a common T6 C8 that I was never all that impressed w itself - although it out threw all of my P60’s. And so too the Jacob. So guess its time to borrow back my DMM from a friend who is figuring out some trailer wiring and see if that is the issue. I would take that ever so average C8 over the A60 (my example) anytime, except for looks.

The M8 sounds like a cool light even at the higher price but I do believe that the A60 from DX will out throw it and will considerably out throw the C8. Stock mine pulled about 1.9 at the t/c with Eagletac 2500mah cells and about 60k cd. Now after Tom E put in the 2.8A driver with an unprotected Panasonic it put out 82k. I just ordered an a/r lens for it from KD so am hoping for even a little more from this awesome little thrower. I was tempted to Buy one of those from Aurabuy but believe I will hold off because it seems like they are under driven a bit. I do like the way they are branded though with the Jacob A60 on it.

[gords1001]

Being under driven does not worry me. I bought the light as basically as a functional host, there is no way I’m having strobe on a thrower. Or settling for 2a or so, I’ve seen what these lights can do with the right abuse.

I would advise anyone to get a 20mm contact board, 3 mode 2.8a nanjg and some thermal glue.

Build it up, to quote e1320 “pot the s* out of it” and enjoy, once these mods are done, you’ll have spent about $20 and it will significantly out throw most xm-l out of the box throwers. 8)

[ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS]

@garrybunk

My ZY-T08 vs. Jacob A60 mouseover from this thread:

Mouse out Small Sun ZY-T08, mouse over Jacob A60:

Yes, the Jacob A60 still beats it in throw, but I wouldn’t say it kills it. My ZY-T08 is likely pulling 2.40A (unmodded) for this photo.

-Garry

Garry,

That’s exactly what I have been trying to tell the guys all along here about the Jacob A60 not beating some of my older XM-L throwers like the Crelant 7G5, Olight M3X or Sunwayman T40CS in throw. I sure can’t see it beating any of these nor can my camera.

I did get my Jacob A60 today from Aura Buy. It is brighter on a wall than the laswt one I got from Deal Xtreme.

[Tom_E]

Wow - there sounds like there's some crazy variations going on with the ones from AuraBuy, hoping it's all the stock driver, because like Gords, I buy them as a host. But also on the big A60 thread(s) early on from DX buys, there were variations too and it wound up being the paper under the star, no thermal grease, sloppy manufacturing issues. Also someone pointed out he's seen on some of the chinese lights, the thermal pad is not soldered from the emitter to the star - that could be the cause of bad performing lights as well.

For A60's, I've been using this driver from IO: nanjg-ak47c20, and add 4 7135's to bring it to 2.45A, usually set it for 2 modes of Hi/Lo where it always comes up on Hi. Also have been buffing off the anodizing on the pill top, sanding/polishing the pill top and bottom of star, and using a good grease - no epoxy necessary.

[ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS]

I just checked my amps from the Jacob A60 from Aura Buy using a Panasonic 18650 3400 unprotected battery and it was 1.486. The Jacob A60 from Deal Xtreme was 1.443 with that same exact battery.