Thanks. I tightened the pill. I initially tightened it all the way which stopped the buzzing, but resulted in too much space between the top ring and the glass, so the glass was seriously loose and rattling. Then I un-tightened the pill a bit and all is well now. Thanks again for helping the newbie!
This is absolutely normal for PWM circuits. You probably won't hear it on full power and it's usually worse on low. With my tinnitus, it has to be really, really bad for me to hear it at all. It almost certainly isn't worth worrying about. The easiest way to check if it is PWM is to shine the light on low at a wall, then look at the beam through a digital camera (the cheaper the better - phone cameras are great for this). It will strobe like crazy if the light is PWM controlled.
Oh, and since I've not said so already, Welcome to BLF!
Well I got my flashlight the other day. It has the glow in the dark clickie and o-ring. I am very disspointed with this light. My TK11 is brighter. I think I got a dud. The pill was also very loose. It also just barely gets warm no matter how long I run it on high. I am running AW batteries so amps should be no problem. And it buzzes even on high.
Benckie did you ever get that TrustFire C8 replacement? If so, was it significantly better than the KD?
Where do you guys buy these o-rings from? Would local hardware stores carry them?
Well there is a small shop in downtown Zagreb that makes custom o-rings and other rubber items. If they don't have it in stock they can (most of the time) make it in a few hours. For example i had 42mm/2 and 2,5mm o-ring made in two hours and you can even choose rubber stiffness ! Price is reasonable enough, approx. 1.8$/pcs and there is no minimal quantity so you can order even one piece.
I presume there must be similar shops elsewhere, but in general companies that repair hydraulic equipment should have high variety of o-rings and they probably know where they can be custom made locally.
Got it today from KD for 16.99. So the ring/clicky is green, brass pill, loose pill/glass, no markings, clean and lubed threads, OP reflector, no marks/dents, good finish...
Current is 2 A on high, has memory... overall i am quite ok with this quality and perfomance... its a good buy
I have one of the green boot ones and an earlier black black boot ones. Both give 2.8A'ish tail-readings.
Wow , that link to Ebay.. $8 C8 .... cheap!!!!!
I got an XDML K5 flashlight, hoping it would be the same size as my KD C8, but wasnt.. Its like his little brother.. Head is smaller, and overall light is smaller.
would had been better buying this one!
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