The EDC05C is a new light from Lumintop. It was first announced by Lumintop on their Facebook page back in July of 2018, discussed, then no news til now. The original announcement said it was an XP-L HD and 4 219C's, but that was changed. It now has:
- XHP35 HI (CW)
- 4 Nichia NCSLE17 (NW), known as the E17A, related to the E21A (early djozz review: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/38359)
Additional specs:
- 14500 cell only - cannot use primaries or NiMH cells
- compact size, overall quality finish and details
- SS front bezel and switch ring tinted in matching blue
- OP reflector
- nice deep pocket SS clip
- screw driver head slot to remove battery
- built-in micro USB charging
- SS tail assembly
- strong tail magnet - will come in handy with the side LED panel (removable but needs a replacement plug)
- lo/med/hi toggling, moon, and 3 blinkies - all 7 modes available on the front and side, but no support for both active
Dimension Measurements:
- length: 90.25 mm
- width: 20.45 mm at the narrowest, 22.3 mm at the widest with the side LED panel
- weight: 52.6 g w/no batt, 72.4 g w/batt
- reflector opening: 14.4 mm inner bezel (about the same as reflector I.D.)
I was interested in this light from the FB posts, might have discussed or mentioned it, but was very surprised to find one in a package received from Neal that should have only been just a GT Micro. These dual output lights I've found intriguing, There's a lot of dual out, side panel junk out there but with Lumintop, you know you are getting quality. Their choice of LED's is quite unique, somewhat controversial. Using a 12V thrower LED in a little AA size light with an OP reflector is probably a first, but it seems to work well. I'm sure their idea was to have some throw out the front, flood out the side - I like this combo, but I would probably prefer a 18650/21700 size light just for the extra runtime. They limit the potential output I'm sure because of the 14500.
Output Measurements:
I ran two separate tests for the main front LED to see how different cells work.
- On a Vapcell 1000 at 4.11V, tail amps w/clamp meter, lo/med/hi: 0.09/0.31/1.00 amps, lumens: 23/140/422-418 lumens (Tom E), throw: 4.2 kcd (130 meters)
- On a EFEST 650 @4.19V, tail amps w/clamp meter, lo/med/hi: 0.07/0.28/0.95 amps, lumens: 23/140/423-418 lumens (Tom E), moon mode: 2.5 lumens (Tom E)
I also ran similar tests on a comparable 14500 light, the Sofirn SP10B (XP-G2 based):
- On a EFEST 650 @4.18V, tail amps w/clamp meter, lo/med/hi/turbo: ---/0.30/0.91/2.15 amps, lumens: 0.1/99/285-274/592-507 lumens, Turbo: (Tom E), throw, hi: 2.65 kcd, turbo: 5.5 kcd
So even though the EFEST is the higher performance cell and about at full charge, the EFEST and Vapcell resulted in the same output. This makes sense for a regulated boost driver, which this light requires.
Output is higher on the EDC05C at comparable amp levels, but the SP10B has the advantage of a high amp turbo mode, lacking in the EDC05C but probably because of the compact boost driver, and keeping the cost down.
This is the Nichia's in moon mode:
Glamour shots:
With the pocket clip. It's a nice deep pocket clip - SS, pretty stiff, little too stiff and tight for my tastes but I just worked on it a bit and got it open further:
With a few other AA/14500 lights for size comparison, accept for the 18650S on the right.
I opened up the SDMini's clip but the EDC05C is still shown tight here:
More 14500 lights for size comparison Utorch UT01 on the right:
Here's a good pic of the XPL35 HI.
I poked a little at the side LED cover and it was coming off pretty easy, so went with it.
You can get a good view at these special Nichia LED's. Not much info on them, but sold here at FutureElectronics, and Nicha datasheet here. They appear to be in series, which makes sense considering the 12V main XHP35 HI LED.
Looks like they glued the cover but it holds in place pretty well without the glue. I was able to re-assemble it easily.
On low without the cover
Nice size spring in the tailcap
Not a good pic, but there's a brass button on the driver side and some flat tops don't work, so button top would be the safe way to go in this light. Hope they will include a good 1000 mAh 14500 with this - would be a good idea no avoid frustrations.
Micro US charging, not USB-C. Might be a tight fit - haven't tried it yet.
Flattened top threads:
For the magnet, easily removable. Might need a replacement blank in there so the spring has something solid to sit on. This, of course, is from the sample I got.
The indent near the top is where the spring sits in:
The 4 cells to the right worked, but the AWT did not - flat top was a bit too flat for contact. Hard to tell in the picture, but the EFEST flat top actually protrudes more than the AWT's.
I did more battery testing. Below shows 10 unique cells. The 5 on the left worked fine, the 2 protected black cells worked but I couldn't fully tighten the end cap, though it's usable that way. The 3 on the right did not work. So the only flat top I got working was the EFEST, and the 2 protected cells had issues with the length.
This is with the protected KeepPower in it. The cap is normally flush with the outer edge:
Comparison shots with the GT Micro, and some white wall beam shots:
The beamshots are on a white wall but don't represent very well what I was seeing - the EDC05C is more blue and the GT Micro NW is more yellow that what I really saw. The last two are first the EDC05C then the GT Micro.
The EDC05C. Individually, the blues and yellows are almost gone, much more slighter effect. This probably all has to do with the camera settings, auto white balancing, etc.
The GT Micro, taken at the same distance, same settings as the EDC05C above:
User Interface
The Banggood listing here describes it quite well. I'll include it here with my notes in italics:
Operation Instruction
General modes: High-Med-Low, with mode memory
Order is lo-med-hi
Hidden modes: Moonlight, Strobe, SOS and Beacon
Not in the normal 1-click rotation of lo-med-hi
ON/OFF: One click the switch for ON, another click to cycle through Low-Med-High, press and hold the switch for 1 second for OFF.
This is common now, either this method or: click ON, click OFF, when ON press&hold cycles thru modes
Moonlight: When OFF, press and hold the switch for 1 second to enter moonlight in main light, click twice quickly to enter side moonlight, another click will go to general modes.
You can turn the light off from Moon, but it acts a little strange - you press&hold but it won't turn OFF the light til you release.
Flashing modes: Under Moonlight mode, press and hold the switch for 5 seconds to enter Strobe, another click will cycle through Strobe-SOS-Beacon. Press and hold the switch for 3 seconds will turn it off. Another click will enter into Moonlight again.
Little awkward and complicated to get to blinkies - not recommended if you need it quickly
Side light: Click the switch twice quickly under unlocking status to turn on the side light, another click will change outputs; to return to the main light, just click the switch twice quickly again.
So dbl click is the method to switch between the from and side, but both can't be on simultaneously.
Lock-out: When OFF, press and hold the switch for 5 seconds, the flashlight will lock when the main light blinks. The light will only be turned on momentary when clicking the switch again. Press and hold the switch for 5 seconds again will unlock and turn on the light.
This is a strange way to do lockout - it's actually a tactical mode but only on about low - weird... When you exit lock-out, wait for the light to go OFF and then ON again -- little tricky.
Conclusion
I'm impressed how this light works with an XPL35 HI in there, and really like the side panel/flood configuration combined with the small size, strong magnet, and quality build. For me the deep pocket clip is also a big advantage - it's something I use daily and much prefer the deep pocket designs.
Of course, there just isn't much power though, and it tested even with my higher "Tom E" lumens as being under spec: 500 claimed, 418 as tested. The throw did a little better than claimed however. A 14500 cell will limit it's capability. Again I'd strongly recommend a 1000 Mah 14500 button top cell - seems made for this light.
They positioned the switch just above the side panel. I can see why - to take advantage of the flat surface, but in a normal hand position, that side panel will be pointing right at you, but I can get used to it.
The UI has some klunkiness to it, but it does work.
I didn't formally test the lumens output of the side panel, but it does well for it's size - on high it can light up a room, not brightly but fair enough. I also didn't test the USB charging or have time for beamshots. For a CW, I don't mind this CW tint so much - it's very uniform thru the hot spot, corona and spill.
I'd still like to have a NW main LED and see a 2 amp turbo mode added. The NW LED is easy for them, but adding the 2A turbo mode might get complicated because the driver probably is amp limited.
For modding, the key is to get the bezel open, and I believe from there, all the guts can be accessed. I tried a little using friction assuming the bezel isn't tightly glued, but had no luck so far. I'll probably try a couple techniques soon. It's a uni-body light so no typical break between the tube and head.
The dual output lights have not gotten much attention in general. I'm hoping this one gets some traction though - it's another quality Lumintop, a brand I prefer, and glad they work so close with our community. This is a handy small light, and for me the easier a light is to carry, the more likely I'll be using it. You can clip it on your collar or front pocket and have light right where you need it, and it's small and lightweight enough to not drag you down.
