Lightmalls Which is the best & brightest C8… U2 or U3??
I don’t know but the C-12 XM-L2 they have is insanely bright. Brightest little light I have by far and I have over a dozen single 18650 lights. Great mix of flood and throw too.
I have heard that the U3 was a bad lot of emitters but I don’t have one.
Got the ultrafire c8 XML2 model and its Very bright but step behind my 3.8A moded XML2 convoy c8.
I ordered the U3!!! Well, guess I’ll have to wait & see…
Stay away —- FAR away —- from the lightmalls C12 u3. Something is awry with that one. But the c8 u3, I don’t know. The Lightmalls C8 L2 is VERY bright, but it chews through that battery like an oversized rat through cheese, and as the decimals drop —- 4.20, 4.16, 4.12, 4.10 volts —- so does the brightness.
But (lotta “buts” in the message) at 4.18-4.20 volts, it is the brightest single emitter light I own in overall output. I’m finalizing lux readings, but the C8 L2 looks like it is about 25% brighter ceiling-bounce-wise above the Kai Domain C8 U3 blaster. Ceiling bounce = quasi poor man’s lumens.
To clarify again, it is brighter in preliminary ceiling-bounce tests than all my other single-emitter lights SO FAR. The Home Depot super thrower still moirders it in throw tests, as do other throwers, but then again, C8s are not known for their super throwing properties.
Hope this helps.
I bought it to see how it does against my XinTD… Hopefully it’ll be ok.
go for C8 XM-L2…bit brighter than both
I ordered the xm-l2 U3…
If the U3 sucks, get the U2 next week…. Lol
The choices I had were this. The C8 xm-l u2 @ 1300 lumens & the C8 xm-l U3 @ 1800 lumens… I went with the higher lumens.
Tom E has modded so many of these lights and worked with them I can tell you I’ve had 13 of the lightmalls C8LU3’s and I know I keep harping on but I also have the KaidomainC8L2 and I can’t visually tell the difference , but I can tell you are damn bright ! Read Chris Zhous it starts out as a review for lightmalls C8-LU2 and then some one chimes in and says the newer LU3 is brighter, i bought those thinki g I had latest and greatest C8 untill I. heard about new XML2 being new king of hill but then Tom E brings up only if on a copper sink pad other wise no. Avissual improvement over L3s reviews on the lightmalls C8. LU2 and LU3 I really looked into whatever info on C8’s before I purchased. I don’t know if this helps .
I own the Lightmalls C8 with U3. It is bright, but few things I do not like:
- Bad tailcap switch makes it flicker. I swap it out with Aurabuy C8’s tailcap and it works fine now.
- Obvious PWM at low and medium. I am not Very PWM-sensitive as some of the BLFer here but I still can notice it.
- High mode might be direct-drive, not regulated, I guess.
i have the lightmalls c8xml2 and c12 and kaidomain’s c8xml2
the brightest and furthest throwing was lightmalls c8xml2, and not far behind was the kd c8xml2.
ive had and still have quite a few c8’s, and this lightmalls c8xml2 is the brightest c8 i have ever owned.
I’ve had c8 U3 from Lightmalls and i can say it’s driven like Hell on hi, but too cool tint for my taste
Have you considered de-doming it? You will end up with a neutral color and it will throw farther, you just won’t have as much flood. It couldn’t be easier to do. Just unsolder soak in gas until the dome falls off, rinse it off solder it back in place and you are good to go.
I sold it
1. These make excellent hosts too. Tom E built me a nice c8 pill with a dedomed XM-L2 on copper sink pad and driven at 4.2 amps and I put it in an old c8 host that I had and it did pretty well. Started at about 1000 lumens but dropped down to about 750 after 30 seconds and through about 72K. While these numbers are pretty good I knew that no pill of Tom’s would ever drop 250 lumens in 30 seconds because he heat sinks the crap out of his pills. I put this same pill in my lightmalls host and tested it again. It started at 1080 lumens and ended up 1040 after 30 seconds and threw an incredible 102k. It is amazing what a difference a good host can make.
I have no c lue why my post ended up underlined. Lol.
Wow thanks I had a feeling I should have stayed with the lightmalls xml2 I went for KDC8XML2 because everyone said the KDC8 were only behind the Xtind8 in quality and output oh well .so you can see the difference between the lightmalls Xml2 and KDC8xml2? How much would you say roughly?
Posted this elsewhere --
Just finished a Convoy C8 host build, designed for throw - copper discs added, 22 gauge wires, Nanjg 3.94A, XP-G2 de-domed, 16mm SinkPAD, SMO XP-G reflector (from KD), tailcap wired (brass cap removed), UCL lens, fresh Samsung 20R, measures 4.02A at the tail:
125 kcd measured at 4.3 meters - this is a C8 thrower! That's 707 meters, which competes with a stock TN31.
I don't know how long it will last - disappointed in the heat sinking and tail switch of the Convoy C8's, and wow, she does get quite warm in a minute or so, for some reason so I won't be keeping it on high very long 
.
I'm very mixed about the convoy C8:
Cons:
- should take a 20mm star, pill is undersized
- pill is not your standard C8 pill - threads are different spacing
- tailcap button was so-so - unsure if it's heavy duty enough - prefer the larger 1.5A 250v rated switches
- if not a brass pill, should at least have a brass ring to solder to - I'm using the screw-on cover, but doesn't seem right to be clamping down on 7135 chips
- host is only available with OP reflector - don't they know a C8 can throw?
- threads are so-so - feel rough, sometimes difficult to initially turn
- I would rate it definitely lower in quality to the Convoy M1's that I worked on,and other Convoy's in general
Pros:
- excellent finish, maybe as good as the XinTD, but definitely better than typical UF C8s (LM, etc.)
- size/shape is identical to typical Ultrafire C8
- should be able to inter-change C8 reflectors and glass (the XPG reflector I got from Kd was a little short so I added a copper disc under the star)