Looks like i have got the one with this driver http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S010105
looks the same as mine!! and the same as in another post here in the thread... about 400 posts earlier.
would be nice to know if people who got 2.8A+ also have the same driver!
Im not disappointed with my C8, but would have been nice to really blow my Solarforce L2 XML out of the water (which might do it outside, but inside measurements with naked eye tell otherwise)
The one I just received has the same driver as well, but black clicky. I measured about 2.1A current draw using a cheapo meter and the provided cables. That's on Trustfire protected 2400mAh batteries showing 3.9V at the time of test. The flashlight does get fairly warm after a few minutes of running on high. IR thermometer registered 117F (47.3C) after about 15 mins. Ambient room temp was 72F at the time of test.
Thanks for offering, But I have enough C8`s (1 in total) :)
Im not collecting, but after reading this thread and the KD deal, I went ahead and bought the C8 to get a really bright light as an add on.. Didnt really needed one actually, anyway..
Yes i did, Trustfire C8 Stainless Steel Head i like it better, it has a stainless steel bezel, this is where my lights get scratched so its good to have a hard stainless bezel, it has a smooth refector, better tint and i felt the finsh was a bit better and i like the softer tail cap button.
It has the same driver as the KD C8, but my trustfire C8 only drew 1.7 amps but that was 50% + more then my KD C8 when i first got it, my trustfire C8 has a 2 amp one mode driver in it now, i tested both lights with a fluke and a cheap DMM.
The only down side to the Trustfire C8 is the alloy pill, but it will dissipate heat quicker then brass
Thats the same driver my KD C8 had and it was the same replacement driver KD sent me, they said all KD C8 have this driver, so i wonder if the torches reading higher then 2 amps are faulty and going direct drive or some of us are just really unlucky, a bit of re-soldering on the driver, led wires and pill improved mine to 1.5 amps but it was fiddly work, i have given my KD C8 to my old man to beat up on as a work light and my wife has claimed the trustfire C8.
I have not run my SG PCB driver down that low to be honest so i dont know, i have swaped out my TF C8 SG PCB driver for another that flashes when it hits 3 volt under load. My old man says the KD C8 i gave him shuts off when the battery is to low but that could be the low voltage cut of on the batteries.
As for what DDM,s i use i use two a Fluke 75 series 2 DMM and a cheap DSE DMM i have compared both to a new fluke my old man has thats way out of my budget and they all read really close to each other.
The batteries i did test on the KD C8 when i first got it was the trustfire flames 2400 mAh they are good for 3 + amp discharge, i since have tested on redilast 2600 mAh with current draw readings with in 0.15 amps of each other.
When i first got my KD C8 you could run it on high for over 85 mins on one battery on a winters night with out it getting it warm, the best current draw test i could get was 1 amp with trustfire flames and 1.25 amps with ultrafire greys they read higher due to voltage sag, i tested 6 bateries and 2 brands of batteries when i first got it and thats the highest current draw readings i could get from all the batteries the average draw was under 1 amp.
After cleaning up the electrics on the driver adding solder to the led wires on the driver side and adding more solder to the brass pill and driver i was getting current draw readings of 1.5 amps then after a while it would settle to 1.36 amps but then it would get warm, if you just let it sit there with no air flow going over it.
Now KD told me the KD C8 is direct drive, but mine had the 2 amp SG PCB driver in it and the replacement driver KD sent me was a 2 amp SG PCB driver, i never bothered to install it, but no matter what i did i could not get it to draw past 1.5 amps at start up aprox 500 OTF, but my old man is happy with it as a work light.
P,s heat makes them drop lumens.
checked it with Xtar 18700 (2600) 4.16V and got 2.35 A, so not bad... and the beam with OP reflector is really smooth no artefacts at all
I received my Ultrafire C8 XM-L T6 today.
It's easily the best of the 3 LED lights I now own and cycling tonight with the light on medium power was a real pleasure. The beam basically is hot straight ahead so on my cycle mount, I can mount it either low ahead or on the top of the road ahead and not cause too much dazzle problems for people outside of my vector.
I've only been out for about 50 minutes tonight and the 2800 mAh Senybor was down to about 20 to 40% when I got back home. We'll see over the longer term.
There is one problem I've encountered. The tailcap on mine is by far the biggest of my 3 and the tailcap made it very hard to remove when I got to the sports club tonight.
This is the cycle brackets that I've bought 4 of: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260887367974. I have 2 brackets fitted on my Hybrid workhorse bike and the 2 spares to allow for lost bolts, accidents, the childrens' bikes, and the race bike (but I'm not going out in cleets in these conditions at night as night road race cycling exceeds my risk profile). I have a fifth but forgot to tighten the securing bolt and the bugger dropped out making it non servicable (til I find a replacement bolt).
This particular tailcap is larger and therefore is a major squeeze for now. I'll have to experiment with not fully inserting it.
So, the light though is easily the best I've had and promises to make night cycling safer and even more fun.
Mine, BTW, does also make a quiet buzzing noise in all modes.
BodyAttack,
Which make? The Ultrafire? Or the KD?
Garry
Mine's the Ultrafire C8 XM-L T6.
Updated to first post: I have since converted back to the light orange peel reflectors (LOP) in the pair of KD C8's that I have mounted to my bicycle handlebars. The LOP reflectors provide a lot more spill beam than the smooth reflectors. Due to the overwhelming spot beam, I would develop tunnel vision after an hour of high speed ridding with the smooth reflectors and also found it difficult to see into tight turns. I rarely use both flashlights simultaneously because a single light provides more light than I normally need. The second light is there for redundancy due to the long ranges I travel, but both do get ran simultaneously on very long straight-aways.
KD has changes their site links and several C8's exist. Of the lower priced duplicates, these seem to be the current offerings as of 11/29/11:
KD C8 CREE XML T6 1000 Lumen 5-Mode LED Flashlight (1*18650) - smoother reflector
KD C8 CREE XML T6 1000 Lumen 3-Mode LED Flashlight (1*18650) - smoother reflector
KD C8 CREE XML T6 1000 Lumen 5-Mode LED Flashlight (1*18650) - light orange peel (textured) reflector
Well, I received my KD C8 5 mode with LOP reflector (http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S009844) and tested it last night. This is only my second Chinese budget flashlight, and my first one over 150 lumens. I got a black tailcap and my driver looks exactly like the one shown in post #514 above. My lens was rattling so I did the "loosen the pill" trick to make it tighter. Since this is my first "high-powered" LED light I can't compare it to another to estimate output (lumens).
For tailcap currents I used a cheap Harbor Freight DMM (one that sounds like many of you have) as well as an "Elenco" branded DMM that I built myself from an electronics kit back in 1994 in high school electronics vo-tech. Here are the meters:
At first I thought that I got an under-driven one like many of you which also seemed to agree with the specs of the driver - a max of 2A on high. Then I started testing with the second meter and swapping test leads and found some very interesting results. Lastly I used an 18" piece of scrap 14/2 AWG Romex as makeshift test leads. Battery is a brand new Trustfire flame 2400mAh 18650 which was freshly charged a few hours earlier. At the time of the readings the battery read 4.13v. Here are the readings:
H. F. Meter
Hi: 1.96A
Med: 0.96A
Low: 0.09A
Elenco Meter
Hi: 2.62A
Med: 1.29A
Low: 0.12A
H.F. Meter w/14 AWG wire leads
Hi: 2.66A
Med: 1.26A
Low: 0.12A
Elenco w/14 AWG wire leads
Hi: 3.04A
Med: 1.44A
Low: 0.14A
H. F. Meter w/ Elenco's test leads
Hi: 2.31A
Med: 1.10A
Low: 0.10A
It appears to me that the cheap Harbor Freight meter is nearly worthless for current measurements. I think I also need to make my own test leads out of some good wire. (I'll also order the DX test leads recommended by many.) Am I safe to assume that the highest current measurements I am getting are likely the most accurate? Why would the driver be listed as "2A" if it's really putting out 3A? (If I don't get much response here than I'll post this as a separate thread.)
Garry
Yeah.... Thats a big difference between all those readings... Wonder which one you need to trust...
I had 2 pairs of test leads, which were looking exactly the same, from 2 same DMM`s, but they both gave different readings. Today I bought another pair of test leads, to see what these do.
by the way, I have this exact same driver in my Solarforce L2 (ebay)! I found this out last night..
Trust the highest readings, as those mean that the error (i.e. reduced current flow) induced by the DMM's internal resistance + leads is the lowest.
Whether those readings really reflect the current that flows in real use, depends on the degree to which the tailcap resistance matches the resistance added by measuring. But here the discrepancies are not so big.
Here's my update on day 2 with my Ultrafire C8 XM-L T6.
Wednesday is "long cycle in tiny trousers" night for me . Half way along my ride, The C8 suddenly cut out. I fiddled with the switch and it started flickering. I gave up and rode on. 10 minutes later, turned it back on, and it worked for another 10 minutes, then conked out again.
At the end of my evening before I left the sports club, I dismantled the Ultrafire C8 XM-L T6. It transpires that the pill / LED part was very loose and rattling so I tightened it as hard as I could using my pliers (I always carry tools with me).
The problem then was the lens glass was no longer compressed against the housing by the reflector which is now lower. So I reversed the washer so that it was on the inside instead of outside of the glass which solved the rattle problem.
The light was thus fine for the 50 minutes ride home.
When I got home, I put the rubber washer back on the outside and added an elastic band, as close to being like the washer as possible to between the glass and housing above the reflector.
Unfortunately I made a tit of myself by twice dropping the glass on the sports club floor so I've slightly chipped the outer edges.
Clearly mine has a slight production assembly issue but is easily resolvable by a specialist LED light aficionado and with knowledge of the advice available on here.
And now the whining buzzing noise appears to also be gone too!
Mine btw is exactly the same looking as the KD C8 CREE XML T6 shown on the front of this thread. Mine has a smooth reflector.
Endurance wise, I was out for 80+ minutes on a mixture of medium power with some full power sections and my 2800 mAh Senybor battery was down to 3.64 Volts, so nearly empty (8% left).
This light setup that cost <£25 including Senybor battery and cycle bracket, has the same rated output, same endurance and same performance as the Exposure Diablo Mk3 costing as much as £200 with cycle bracket. I'd much rather use this cheap kit any day given the abuse it will suffer.
I'd be interested in some changes. Can anyone tell me of the following parts are available please?
- Replacement tail cap.
- Replacement lens.
Is it possible to use an 18650 extension tube to allow a second battery to be online to increase endurance?
Yes, I also figured that one out last night! Mount the cycle bracket in reverse and it seems to balance better, more solid, easier to remove, and held by the tail instead of the neck.
I am still debating on whether to sleeve the torch. I pulled over last night on the way home to reverse the bracket.
I used the elastic from a waistband of an old jockstrap to make a sleeve to hold my helmet mounted Ultrafire WF-501B torch in place and stop it from vibrating. It works perfectly so far and ideally elastic. 
So little do people know, but I'm going round with a piece of old pants on my head now.
Any comments on these two?
http://www.dinodirect.com/white-led-flashlight-xmlt6-3mode-750lumen-uniquefire-t6-currency-EUR.html
http://www.dinodirect.com/flashlights-860lumens-5mode-cree-xml-t6-led-currency-EUR.html
They are from 16$ to 18$ before coupon. After coupon, 13.3$ to 12.7$ each IF YOU take enough to get over 50$ (3-4 pcs) to gain 13$ off from coupon.
Should I take these or would I be better off with before mentioned eBay link or KD C8?
I still haven´t tried any of these C8´s. Would prefer 3-mode ones more.
Negotiate first!