No - the thing simply has not arrived. Be a month tomorrow. I have not given up yet though (but getting close). A month…jeez. I could have cycled to China in that time. Will definitely be using registered post next time (if there is a next time).
I think the lumen thing is an issue, even those of us with data sheets. Especially with the 'lumen creep' that is going on with these latest 3xXML units. It is not much of a stretch to go from 3800->4000->4300...etc. Never mind it was never 3800 in the first place. So we might be thinking it is really 3000->3200->3500....mmm....sounds good....must give one a go! It is like counting the number of fairies dancing on a toadstool. You might say you see two, your friend might see three - when in reality there are none at all!
And of course the only way to get more lumens is by driving the emitters with more current. From what I see in this thread, the currents seem to be way under 3A (2.6A, etc), so I am thinking that the 3000 lumen claim is way too high as well. So what are the REAL lumens? Perhaps 2,500?? Still not bad, I guess, but this is already getting down to almost HALF of the original claim. I thought the hi-fi manufacturers were cowboys with their wildly imaginative specifications (especially for speakers), but torch manufacturers seem to be especially gifted in the fairy tale department.
My point was not that the specifications were totally bogus, just that we still seem to be driven by them. Personally, I really would like to get one of those 4300 lumen guys. Even though I know it is not 4300 - surely in some way it must still be 'better' than the 4000 one. And this is with full knowledge that both manufacturers are lying to us! The mind is a funny thing.
But of course that is where this forum comes into play - bringing us back to the real world.
Almost all the lumens specs except for a few high end manufacturers are exaggerated. These lights are on the order of 2K lumens. Your aren't going to come close for $50 even if you build it yourself w/ free labor.
Sure - I agree with you. Interestingly enough, this is probably enough to get a refund under the Paypal ‘significantly not as described’ rule. Particularly as most of us buy the things based on the supposed lumen specification. Indeed, this is how I am going with the SR3800 torch I bought from Lightake. It does in fact work, but puts out only about 90 lumens. But this is not what I ordered - I ordered 3800 lumens. Even in emails with Lightake they still insist that the unit puts out 3500 lumens (one email) or 3800 lumens (another email). Obviously Lightake does not know and/or does not care what the torch puts out, but it just goes to show you the flexibility of these claims.
I have seen an ebay seller putting the REAL lumen figure next to the imaginary one. I give him kudos for that - and he raised a lot as a seller in my estimation. I am hoping that more sellers will give the real figure in their advertising, otherwise eventually it will become a meaningless figure (if it has not already become one).
From reading on here and CPF, it seems as though the 5 mode version is underpowered with many reporting tailcap draws of as low as 1.7A - not cool... Looks like they just ran out of the 3-mode drivers and started putting in weaker 5 mode drivers... I'm glad I got a good one... :D
I have NEVER had a package take this long. I have around 300 ebay purchases - and 99% are within 2 weeks. One or two have been three weeks. None at 4 weeks. I also buy from non ebay sellers, and again, nothing in my many years has taken this long. Perhaps where I am (in Australia), we are close enough to China to expect these sorts of delivery times. It is my expectation that most ebay orders will arrive the following week. This is not to say it always happens, but enough to keep me happy.
And I would say, if most of my ebay purchases took 4+ weeks, I simply would not use it. It is too long between purchase and gratification. It is one reason why I will never deal with DX - stories on this forum say they are very slow. If 4 weeks is fairly typical, I do not want to know what slow is!
I keep saying 'ebay' here - that is where most of my experience is with. Actually, I am thinking this is one more great benefit of going through ebay - and NOT direct to sellers like DX, Manafont and the rest. Ebay sellers are much faster, about the same price, and will give a refund with no question (if necessary). There is no question of you sending the faulty item back (what a silly notion). You simply get another item sent or a refund.
It is like when I send an email. I expect an answer back the same day. Actually - within an hour or so, but I can live with the same day. Anyone that takes days to respond to an email loses my business. It might be silly, but there it is.
Yeah but not me... Got my Vichy VC99 Multimeter today in postage and it meassures ~3.2A out of the two trustfires.. Now @ 3.95V ... Sadly Im still waiting for the two chargers I ordered exactly 1 month ago now... So no possibilities to test at full charge...
Maybe they are differences in the 5-Mode Driver too.. Seems they putted in what they got... Maybe others with the 5-Mode could compare with my macro shot of the driver
Mine arrived dead. Positive lead from driver wasn't soldered to battery PC wafer. Got it working, but it has a 5-mode driver (hi-med-lo-strobe-sos) that only pulls 1.7A on hi, with different brands, freshly charged batteries. The output has a purple hue, all modes, presumably because it is underdriven?
Output is considerably less than the 3800 I had, but the 3800 failed very quickly.
I'm not impressed with the 4000, or 3800. Done with skyray lights.
The thing to the hobby is that while we "progress", it is easy to forget what we were just a few months ago. XM-L budgetflashlights just became somewhat widely available in the beginning of the year, actually i think in March? (good luck getting stuff during CNY)
Just have to find a way to break out the head and wire it for direct drive, i guess. LOL!
And here is the big picture in terms of brightness! The lux meter with relative readings across various lights would give you a MUHC better and accurate picture than if you were using tail measurements and comparing with other's amp numbers on different lights, batteries esp such lights are current regulated so the current goes down as voltage goes up/little voltage sag from better cells.
DasEtwas, the driver (HX1150B) appears identical to yours. I checked tailcap current again on high, it is still 1.78A with fresh batteries. Your tailcap current is much higher than mine. Something rotten in the air...
Could be different sense resistor values... Several Chinese driver manufacturers have been known to substitute with whatever value resistors they happen to have laying around as long as it "works".
Wow... my beam looks nothing like that... Pure cool white, no blue or purple in sight and the beam pattern is also VERY different... Like a flower... three overlapping triangles, but barely noticeable... yours just looks like a giant triangle. Weird...
