A quick overview of my latest light. [Click photos for larger]
Purchased: Manafont, 10/28/2012
Price paid: $26.00
LED: 1 x XP-G R5
Reflector: Orange-peel
Switch: tailcap clicky (forward) plus control ring
Modes: 4 (L-M-H-SOS)
Battery: CR123 — Manafont’s website incorrectly stated AA/14500 at time of purchase
In the box:
- flashlight
- holster
- deep-carry clip
- detachable lanyard (lobster claw hooks into small split ring)
- two extra o-rings
- spare switch cover
- folded instruction sheet in Chinese, Korean, Japanese?, Engrish, and
“German” (would Gelman be the equivalent of Engrish?)
Power: CR123 ONLY, use Li-ion at your own risk! Mine was fried by 16340 after several hours of operation.
Almost certainly the same driver as in the E83, as a single AA NiMH successfully powers it.
Tailcap draw:
- 16340 @ 4.08V: 0.18A low, 0.70A med, 1.7A high (so ~ 10/40/100%)
- NiMH AA: 0.62A on high
Brightness: Consistent with the tailcap draw, 400+ lumens OTF — ceiling bounce is a smidgen brighter than a Thrunite Neutron 1A in Turbo on 14500.
Tint: Cool white. The hot spot is pretty pure white, but the spill has a noticeable purple tinge at white-wall hunting range.
PWM: Moderate. Visual comparison (rapidly waving both the E84 and comparison lights back and forth) indicates that it’s faster than the UF-980L or BLF Edition Tank E07 and at least twice as fast as the Trustfire Z1 angle/headlamp.
Fit and finish: nice anodization, though with a couple of chips at the tailcap end. Good heft for its size. The control ring is stiff but moves smoothly, with obvious detents; mode switches occur about two thirds of the way from one detent to the next in the direction of movement (i.e. the switch up and the switch down are at different points).
Waterproofing: Rated IPX8 (2 meters). Has o-rings between body and head, between reflector and lens, under the bezel, and between reflector housing and pill.
Other Thoughts:
Thermal path is excellent — the head noticeably warms within 10-15 seconds on high.
Mechanical reverse-polarity protection via a recessed positive contact.
The tailcap is not a separate section as is typical, but is actually screwed into the body tube using two retaining rings (i.e. use a snap-ring/needlenose pliers to remove).
There is a minor pre-flash on low. Looks like it’s in medium momentarily.
The SOS is quite fast, completing a cycle in about five seconds. There is no extra pause between the end of the second S and the start of the next cycle.
Not only is the instruction sheet a poor translation into both English and German, it’s a translation of the WRONG usage instructions…. The usage instructions apply to a typical 5-mode reverse-clicky driver :-).
Update:
Driver mod to fix the fried driver posted in a new thread