I have the Crelant V4A. Yes, it’s not regulated, but it’s difficult to tell unless you’re measuring it. Until it’s about 90% depleted, I doubt you’d notice. Mine is a neutral-white, and while it’s certainly a lot better than cool white, it’s not a really pleasing neutral-white. I think that’s just the case with most XPL-HI emitters. I obviously prefer the Nichia 219 emitters for tint.
And yes, the standby current of the Crelant is very high. It will drain your batteries in just a few months, so it’s not a light to leave somewhere for emergencies. You can’t really lock it out, either. Charge it, and use it.
Of my 4xAA lights, I like the Sunwayman D40A nw. But, it’s about 3x the price of the Crelant, so I have to say the Crelant is a much better value.
It’s really difficult to find a reliable spot partially unscrewed where you can be sure it will stay off. That is because the light will turn on with almost any tail-contact at all. It’s the way the battery contacts are designed.
It will turn off with a slight loosening of the tailcap, but it will then turn on again if loosened a bit more. So, I don’t really trust that it will always remain off if you bump it or something like that.
I recommend that if you plan to not use the light for a few weeks, just take the batteries out. Any longer than 4 months, definitely take the batteries out, because otherwise you risk reverse-charging one of them if they don’t all have exactly the same capacity. I haven’t actually tested mine long enough to see if it will deplete down to 0 volts, but I’m assuming that based on extrapolating the discharge curve out that long.
Yeah, maybe. IIRC, that’s really a 26650 light that you can optionally run on 3xAA cells instead. At 3.6v (and more realistically 3.3v under load), it’s not going to perform as well on AA’s as it does on a 26650, assuming they’re not using a boost-circuit (which I doubt they are). I find that 4xAA is a much better match for lithium-ion lights than 3xAA.
But I really like the fact that Convoy allows you to pick your tint when you order the light.
The XinTD allows the use as-is of a better battery carrier , while with the Convoy that carrier must be modified, remove the spring from the negative end
Good choice, I have the XinTD and really like it with the 3xAA. Yes it’s not as bright as with Li-ion, but it throws well and I have a soft spot for AA lights. Also easy to open up and modify if you want. It uses the 7135 based drivers that there are many options for programming.
You should check out banggood for the Convoy version (Convoy X3 ), M4DM4X has a coupon for 20% off all Convoy (M4DM4X Coupon thread ) = M4Dconvoy
If this is a light to leave in the car for emergencies, then standby drain is an important criteria. Make sure that the X3 has very low standby drain, or you can lock it out easily.
Have you considered a 2xAA clicky for the car? No standby drain, decent output and run time, and it fits more easily in a glove box. (I’m not aware of any 3xAA or 4xAA clickies, but maybe there are some.)
Actually X3 has mechanical switch so there is no stand by current.
2 x AA are compact but 3x and 4x has more lumens and better candel standing.
Thrunite TN4A is also good option but I miss 20% Cristmas discount.
I have the Convoy x3 and haven’t had any issues with the battery carrier that came with it, have only been using aa’s. It won’t stay on high for more than a few minutes though before the voltage drops with aa’s and it starts flashing, as was mentioned above, can’t sustain the draw.