Keenstone zoomie - my first double 18650 flashlights.

Mystery · 2019-07-23T16:34:54.000Z

So from AA Q5 Ultrafire to single 18650 Modoao , now I have two of these Keenstone double 18650 flashlights.

I didn’t know about Vipon before coming here.
Thanks to BLF forum, I knew about Vipon and this deal came along.
With Vipon coupon and clip on coupon, this set was as cheap as buying the charger alone.
I don’t think they can even make it for that much, let alone shipped.

The box is nicely packed with two flashlights (with two batteries in each), two bank charger and micro USB cable for the charger.
Amazing value.

These are pretty big, around 7.55 inches long.
They have similar beam like the small AA Q5 Ultrafire flashlight.
Big round spot that can be zoomed in to a small LED shape. No flood light on this one, even when zoomed out.
However, these are way way brighter in comparison.
That’s expected as these use 18650, that’s also two of them in series for double the voltage.
I’ll take some pictures at night later.
When I point this to my ceiling, it’s like a big bright moon and the whole room lights up nicely, much more than my 100w equivalent fluorescent floor lamp does.

contactcr:

If you are up to it unscrew some of it and take some pictures.

@contactcr, (from amazon deals thread) you wanted few pics so here you go…

Tail cap and batteries:

Does the top open on these?
I didn’t want to break it so I took picture from the bottom.

I still like the Modoao better than these due to wider flooded light for walking around the neighborhood.
These Keenstone will be great for outdoors like camping where you need longer reach.

MascaratumB · 2019-07-23T16:41:27.000Z

In some zoomies you need to unscrew the bezel and then the head from the body/tube.
Can you get a photo from the side of the flashlight with it zoomed in?

Mystery · 2019-07-23T17:00:22.000Z

MascaratumB:

In some zoomies you need to unscrew the bezel and then the head from the body/tube.
Can you get a photo from the side of the flashlight with it zoomed in?

Zoomed in and out is around half inch difference.
With zoomed out at the longest, it is around 8.2 inches long.
Here are both together:

Starkm32 · 2019-07-23T17:00:12.000Z

Care to share your links to the source?

Mystery · 2019-07-23T17:04:12.000Z

Starkm32:

Care to share your links to the source?

Sure.
Here you go: Keenstone Vipon Deal - now expired
It was 75% off so the total was $6 minus clip on.

Starkm32 · 2019-07-23T17:14:41.000Z

Thanks, Bud!

Johnnycome lately. Oh, well.

MascaratumB · 2019-07-23T17:15:56.000Z

It seems that it may have an aluminum pill inside.

Outside, it is not very perceptible from the pictures it the bezel can be unscrewed.
If you try to unscrew it start from there carefully, and pay attention to eventual o-rings that may be above or under or around the lens!
Then probably unscrew the white gasket and then the pill!

Edit: this is just a guess!!!

Mystery · 2019-07-23T17:25:39.000Z

Starkm32:

Thanks, Bud!

Johnnycome lately. Oh, well.

Not too late, you missed by just two weeks.
I ordered it on July 9th.

contactcr · 2019-07-23T17:48:00.000Z

Thanks for following up with the pics

Mystery · 2019-07-23T21:27:32.000Z

BTW, does anyone know a decent Android app to measure lumens?
Also, how accurate are those apps?
If not, is there a standard test I can do to figure out the difference?
For example, lumens of 14w fluorescent or something I can check.

DavidEF · 2019-07-23T21:46:21.000Z

Mystery:

BTW, does anyone know a decent Android app to measure lumens?
Also, how accurate are those apps?
If not, is there a standard test I can do to figure out the difference?
For example, lumens of 14w fluorescent or something I can check.

A member here made an app called ceilingbounce that seems to work well. HERE

DavidEF · 2019-07-23T21:52:52.000Z

BTW, do you have any name brand cells to compare to those, and see if they are decent quality? I have a hard time trusting “generic” looking cells, especially with that blue color wrapper. Good quality cells will make a big difference in output and run time. Even cells pulled from used laptop batteries will be good quality cells. You would need to check them with a DMM to make sure they are still good, since the internal circuitry of the battery pack will usually over-discharge one or two of them if the pack hasn’t been charged recently. That should still leave you with at least 4 to 6 good cells, though, from one pack.

Mystery · 2019-07-23T22:10:08.000Z

DavidEF:

BTW, do you have any name brand cells to compare to those, and see if they are decent quality? I have a hard time trusting “generic” looking cells, especially with that blue color wrapper. Good quality cells will make a big difference in output and run time. Even cells pulled from used laptop batteries will be good quality cells. You would need to check them with a DMM to make sure they are still good, since the internal circuitry of the battery pack will usually over-discharge one or two of them if the pack hasn’t been charged recently. That should still leave you with at least 4 to 6 good cells, though, from one pack.

The only other 18650 brand I have is LG, six of LGABC21865 batteries from a Dell E5530 battery.
The laptop battery was not charging so I replaced it but each cell is fine when I checked with a multimeter.
Maybe few of them don’t hold charge up to the spec.
I checked voltage after few weeks of full charge and they still show close to 4v so should be good, at least for flashlight duty.

I’ll test when I can with the batteries from laptop and compare.

DavidEF · 2019-07-23T22:34:26.000Z

One of the easiest things to test is weight. A lot of fake cells don’t weigh much. The difference can be felt when holding them in your hand, compared to real cells. If you want to get technical, you can weigh them on a digital kitchen scale. If they weigh the “right” amount, they might not be fake, but they still might be re-wrapped old cells. That’s a lot less likely with cells that are included in a light from a manufacturer. But if you want to be sure, the thing to do would be to check capacity. That’s not easy to do, unless you have a charger that is able to test capacity for you. But if the LG cells you have are doing well for you, then you can do side-by-side runtime tests to see if the new cells are at least as good as the old LGs.

If you do check the cells, I’d be interested in knowing what you find out.

Mystery · 2020-09-25T18:22:01.000Z

DavidEF:

One of the easiest things to test is weight. A lot of fake cells don’t weigh much. The difference can be felt when holding them in your hand, compared to real cells. If you want to get technical, you can weigh them on a digital kitchen scale. If they weigh the “right” amount, they might not be fake, but they still might be re-wrapped old cells. That’s a lot less likely with cells that are included in a light from a manufacturer. But if you want to be sure, the thing to do would be to check capacity. That’s not easy to do, unless you have a charger that is able to test capacity for you. But if the LG cells you have are doing well for you, then you can do side-by-side runtime tests to see if the new cells are at least as good as the old LGs.

If you do check the cells, I’d be interested in knowing what you find out.

I’m a quick replier. Finally, after over a year. I got around this.
Looks like the Keenstone batteries are genuine.
The LGABC21865 M109D196A2 2800mAh batteries from Dell laptop weigh 1.6oz or 46 grams
and the Keenstone 2600mAh batteries weigh same 1.6oz but 47 grams so slightly heavier.

.

.
Another generic 1200mAh battery I got with Karrong flashlight weighs 1.2oz or 34 grams, less mAh, less weight.

.
.
They all max at around 4.25v in the charger. Do I charge them that high? Battery mentions 3.7v so do you guys charge to max in the charger?
I guess it goes down after it settles down.

Agro · 2020-09-25T18:24:26.000Z

3.7V is commonly used as an average throughout discharge.
Maximum that shall never be exceeded is typically 4.25. It is not recommended to go over 4.2.

Mystery · 2020-09-26T03:48:16.000Z

Agro:

3.7V is commonly used as an average throughout discharge.
Maximum that shall never be exceeded is typically 4.25. It is not recommended to go over 4.2.

Ok. I think the max I saw was 4.26v.

Agro · 2020-09-27T14:06:26.000Z

That’s too high. Change that charger. You may first verify with a DMM that the voltage readout is not botched.
Or add a diode in series with the output to reduce maximum voltage. But this is a somewhat advanced mod that will drop your voltage to significantly less than 4.2V.This is good to prolong a cell lifetime at the cost of never being able to charge it fully.

Mystery · 2020-09-27T20:59:39.000Z

Agro:

That’s too high. Change that charger. You may first verify with a DMM that the voltage readout is not botched.
Or add a diode in series with the output to reduce maximum voltage. But this is a somewhat advanced mod that will drop your voltage to significantly less than 4.2V.This is good to prolong a cell lifetime at the cost of never being able to charge it fully.

I have few flashlights with usb charging.
I’ll check the voltage after it turns green after full charge.
No other chargers.
Most of my batteries are from old laptop batteries so not worried about their life span as long as they don’t explode.