Mini review - Romisen RC-C8 3xAAA & 1x18650

LED Flashlights – General Info Multiple AAA Flashlights
1

Hello. Yesterday i got this cute romisen light from lightake for 13,45 delivered (few cent's give or take).

http://www.lightake.com/detail.do/sku.Romisen_RC_C8_LED_Flashlight_Black_-29416

The light was quite a surprise. Very well made, lubed and with a complete set of o-rings althrough they seem to be a bit on the cheap side. Immediately i put in some 3x AAA of an obnoxious manufacturer to try it.

Those 3xAAA needed many refresh/charge cycles to get to 700mAh (advertised as 850mAh) but anyway... Fired up and then got a bit perplexed as it was dimmer than i expected. Only to find a few seconds later that it has modes! Yeah silly me XD.

The light was bright with a somehow neutral white tint in the center and goint to a very subtle blue tint on the side. The zoom is accomplished by bezel rotation and require some force. Not hard but impossible as one hand operation. Felt somehow hard yet smooth enough. One min later removed the AAA's and put in a scavenged laptop 18650 freshly charged cell (used the included anti-rattle tube). Unexpectedly the light wasn't any brighter compared with 3xAAA. Ok, so be it at least runtime should be awesome i said to myself. Next thing i did current measurements on tailcap. I got 702mA on Hi, 294mA on Lo (which is a brighter med), and a funky 700-600mA (you decide XD) somehow slow strobe which i wholeheartedly hate. After a quick cleanup of the torch the Hi current elvated by 20 or so mA, hardly noticeable. I left it on Hi on a table for 2h. After 2H the light was a bit dimmer and my eye-o-meter would say about 25% less than at full cell. The 18650 measured around 3,87V. By lack of time i ended the test there. It seems the light is directly driven without any form of current regulation. Planning to change it if i figure out a driver suitable for the job and figure out how to disassemble the light if it is possible.

Quick tech spec:

- 3 Mode - Hi, Med (about 70% of Hi) and a silly strobe at about 2-3Hz

- 1 Cree Q3 (at least should be)

- well machined body & type II anodizing

- dual powering option 18650 & 3xAAA

- plastic aspheric lens

- flood to throw capability by twisting (i like!)

Conclusion.

Gets warm in 4min with a fully charged 18650. At around 15min it gets it's maximum temperature which i would roughtly hand-estimate around 42-45 C. Later on it cools down to around 38 C and stays there. Not even a winter hand warmer XD.

Some artifacts present in the zoom and flood mode but not very distracting. Compared to my Sipik 68 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39584 the beam is much nicer. It is just a little less floody but have a much tighter hotsport when zoomed. The brightness it's almost double althrough the sipik draws 2000+mA on a freshly charged nimh AA.

So far i like the light but dislike the regulation and strobe. Planning to use it fo road biking in a 18650 configuration.

The main reason i bought it apart from being zoom to throw was the dual cell configuration just in case i dont' like it i can get rid of it easily as many don't want li ion batteries and chargers. I'ts a keeper! This is my 4th flashlight and im just getting hooked up.

One exotic R5 on the way. Will try to do a review when it arrives. This is my first written review i hope someone will find it usefull.

1st addon

Runtime:

1 freshly off charge sony laptop scavenged cell rated for 2200mAh.

test start
730mA 4.20V

1h
590mA 3,89V

2h
480mA 3,78V

4h
400mA 3,67V

The flashlight was always on except the time i needed for measurements.

Its 4h 30min and is still going... im going to stop when i hit 3,5V on the cell or around there. I believe im near cell exhaustion.

2

Thanks very much for your review. Excellent job!

This light looks like my Romisen RC-C6, except it's bigger (CR123a vs. 18650). I wonder if it's brighter than my C6...which is only pulling around 0.68amps on high.

3

Your'e welcome.

Maybe it is brighter just because your primary cells are rated as 3V compared to 4.2V from 18650. Current is similar but total watt is reduced. An educated guess would likely be it is a bit less bright if the led Vf is higher than 3V. No clue what Vf this led have. Also the driver is probably something very basic just there to prevent frying the led and add disco mode along with a questionable mid level output.

With the 16530 if i got it right is the rechargable version of the CR123A (althrough isn't the same in some instances may fry leds o drivers) should be comparable tho, cept the runtime. Since the light is about the same brightness on 3xAAA which all combined do 4,1+V im my case the light has at least some form of voltage reduction (buck driver?). Otherwise god save the emitter. :) I doubt they are very tolerant in the long run at direct drive.

4

Thanks for you review , Budgeteer !

5

Any idea how to disassemble it propery? I'm in mood for tinkering with this flashlight and try to repair the little defects nearly all budget lights have. orings, rplacement, maybe emitter to q5 or r2, and most certainly a good regulated driver. Havent found a way to disassemble any zoom to throw lights so far. The bezel of those still puzzles me.

6

Work above a white towel so if parts are falling
(lens, o ring )
they will end up on that towel,
If you can manage:
screw the golden ring loose,
Than take the lens out,
There behind it you will see an aluminum ring,
That ring is sitting there to hold back the lens from the inner side as a contra to the outer golden ring,
And also to limit the head from screwing to short (clockwise)
Screw that aluminum ring out,
That will enable you to screw the head all the way toward
the flashlight tailcap,
(remove the tailcap so the head will slide off)
now you suppose to have access to the pill.

7

Thanks, it worked nicely :)

8

Does this come with a fwd clicky?

9

It is reverse. Standard for flashlights with modes as i understand.

10

Yeah, it makes mode changes easier, but some Romisens actually have fwd even with modes, so you have to off/on to go to next one.

11

I'm positive it's a reverse if i understand it correctly. You have to turn it on then lightly tap for mode change. Doesen't provide a momentary on function (only off, but kinda useless). RC-N3 however does it and i understand that's a forward clicky.