I guess the DRY in DD 3-mode just cannot be abused. It TELLS you that it is warm and gunning in "turbo", no mistake about that. It gets warm after 30 seconds, and really hot after 2 mins, and !#%!@# scorching hot by the time you hit 5 mins (by then you need to be careful as the batteries are not supposed to operate > 60 deg C). You probably can operate X2 duration in 15 deg C temp, X4 duration in 0 deg C temp and X8 in -15 deg C, just a wild guess. If you are living in Alaska/northern Norway or Sweden/Yakutsk/Harbin and you regularly get -30 and sometimes -40 deg C breezy winters, this is a light which you'd like to own and slot in Panasonic NCR18650A 3100s, highest lumen per $ in terms of LED as you'd still get some increase in lumens in the 3A-4A range.
It is a flashlight in which the limits are well publicised at the point when it was sold, hence I guess the respect is there. Clear and simple in its usage - turbo for demo purpose and searching in the forest, "low" mode of 0.7A or about 850 lumens for general usage. For the 4-mode 3A driver it is very slightly dimmer in high but you get an additional long runtime low mode (16hrs for about 240 lumens)
I did, and it is shipped but not received so no review at this time. Dry should be more reliable as it has a simpler regulator and if you tend to run the light until it shuts down then the DRY should be your first choice. I didn't fancy the aesthetics/design of the DRY though, so I went with the skyray 850.
Thanks for the info. I haven't had any reliability issues with my Sky Rays, just disappointed that the output is less with the 818 than with my original SR 3800 Rev. 2. I'll be looking forward to your review...hopefully it's a good one!
What the... !!! And the bad thing is, if it ain't a 3 x 18650 host, it's not easy to DD. I tried 3 x IMR 18350, the current really sags and slopes down quite fast (which represents too much load on the cells).
picrthis, mine arrived DOA. I fixed it. The positive "pin" from the regulator was not soldered to the + of the battery wafer.
I then checked the modes (5, instead of the 3, I thought I was getting) and tailcap current was only 1.76A, on high. Output was very purple, and noticeably less than my 3800, the short time it (3800) worked.
I don't know what clowns are putting these lights together, but QC is pathetic.
At least one other owner of this light posted nearly exact tailcap numbers as mine. Others seem to work as advertised.
Hit-n-miss, looks like. I'm tired of the "misses" with my skyrays...
I'd like to find a driver that is similar to my old 3800 3-mode, and see if that is the issue.
I don't trust the LEDs either. Maybe if they were driven a bit harder, the purple-haze would lighten a bit.
I'm tempted to get the 3-cell trustfire, but I can't seem to find a supplier that doesn't have an "M" in it, and I'm done with them.
I've got a "fannyfire" stl-v6 coming from DX, but it is taking forever to get here. I haven't seen a comparable light to the the 3-cell trustfire triple xm-l there, however.
Well guys.. Forget to update here... But mine is dead too since few days, it wont light on anymore... I cant find any obious defects :/ .. Really horrible.. Manafont didnt offered a solution to far.. But I'm trying to get a 5A(2.5A) Driver soon.. Better than nothing.. hopefully it works :/ If anybody recommend a other driver, I will be thankfull
@r1derbike
A guy in german forums ordered the Trustfire at Kaidomain and he got the 3-Cell Version instead of the offered 2-Cell Version... I dont know if this was a mistake or if the description at kaidomain is just crap (I would say its the last ;) )
Most probably.... my TF/SR extensions do fit On The Road tubes. OTR is quite similar (not identical) to that body tube on 818 and 850. And I have seen on bestinone.net the 818/850 body tube style fitting OTR head.
I'm not sure if I want to open it and exactly what the regulator part would be, any pics of exactly what it is and where to re-solder?
I emailed MF about this and want to see what they intend to do about it, I've spent $1,100.00+ of my discretionary income with them just in the month of August, so they better plan to take care of this for me; or I'm done with them, no excuse for this.
picrthis, the brass ring you see attched to the large ground spring just pops out of the flashlight head. I used a utility knife (edge of blade) to work around the lip and gently pry out, 'til it popped out. + and - leads are attached to the battery wafer, attached to the brass ring.
The driver/regulator board is attached to the battery wafer with just two connections; + and -.
If you gently pull apart the driver/battery wafer, with the ground lead away from you (do not pull apart the ground connection, it is on the outer ring of the driver), you will quickly determine if the center + lead is not soldered properly. Even if it seems snug, you may resolder the + connection of the battey wafer by using a "handgun" style solder iron, of 40 watts or so. The + connection is located on the same round pad, that the center + spring (battery spring) is located. A little downward pressure on the battery wafer, while soldering, is all that is needed to get the + pin to bond. Make sure you don't stress the "-" connection on the outer ring too much. It's easy to cause damage (will have to be resoldered, if that happens) while dinking with the + connection on the battery wafer.
I got so PO'd I just fixed mine. YMMV. You may void whatever non-warranty the vendor has, by doing this, especially if it is FU'd in the process.
I don't have piccies about the procedure, but you may look earlier in this thread, with pictures of the battery wafer and driver/regulator, to get an idea of what you're up against.
Not going to tear mine apart again, until I find a suitable driver for it.
You ordered much later than I ordered and that's why yours shipped the next day, I ordered on day one day & waited & waited; mine finally shipped the same day yours did, so that does show they didn't actually have them in-stock. I ordered black, what color did you order?
Well now that DasEtwas's light died, am I the only one with a working, 3A+ 818? Everyone has seemed to receive them DOA, or with the crappy underpowered 5 mode driver - or the light seems to die on people rather quickly. I've been playing with mine a lot and no problems so far. Maybe I'm just really lucky... I'll report back if it dies...
Got my SR 850 today and it is like OMGWTFBBQ! Granted its my first triple XM-L light, but that thing just pumps out a ton of light. 2.85A draw on fresh cells O_O
LOL! Congrats and Enjoy! Most people would have that kind of reaction, esp if they did not come from the HID scene. When you try the DD lights, you will have another round of OMGQWESBQ, because it is actually somewhat too bright for in-room use esp if you room is cold.
