Review: Shadow JM05 2 x 26650

LED Flashlights – General Info 26650 Flashlights
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This is my first real mod and review so forgive my ramblings. Ive always mucked around with different interests and this is a new learning curve for me that I dont believe has finished here.

To start of I ordered this 3 amp 3 mode driver, high medium and low with memory which the original driver did not have from IOS.

I had to machine the pill out for this driver to fit. On testing the torch it was extremely bright. With the stock driver there was no real heat build up with extended running on high. After running this driver on high for 45 minutes the temperature on the outside of the torch settled on 47 degrees celsius. A big difference from the stock driver. On a couple of walks down bush tracks the torch was a big improvement in light output.

The cost then blew out on this mod. On getting up one night with the light on low the light went really dim. The led barely glowing. Bugger. Cutter not being far away, I got a couple of 2S tint XML led's of them as they did not have 3C tint in stock. I believe this turned out to be a stroke of luck as i will explain later. To cut a long story short, these 2 leds went the same way. If anyone has an explanation I'm only to happy to hear.

What to do next. I dont think that I damaged the driver installing it and it is supposed to have temperature protection. I got another three leds of the same tint, again from cutter (unbelievable good service from Matt in the front office. I reinstalled the stock driver and the torch ran like a charm so maybe I did damage the driver some how? I ordered another driver the same and another 3 mode 3 amp driver of lightmalls. The IOS driver turned up first so I bit the bullet and installed it hoping not to repeat the past.

While I was at it I soldered a button onto the positve contact part of the driver as this torch will not take protected batteries and the King Kongs I have are flush on the positive end.

Added this anti refective lens

With a little bit of intrepidation the batteries were installed and the switch depressed. I was a little happy when there was a bright light to say the least. I have been running it no problems for a few days now without problems. With 2 cells installed current draw is 1.5 amps on high, medium .5amp and low .12 amps. the memory works perfect and the switch only needs the lightest touch to change modes.

The following beam shot is a 504B with MF Ultrafire 3 mode 3 amp XML T6 drop in which incidently does run 3 amp on MF Trustfire 2400 on the left and XML U2 2S 3 amp driven JM05 on the right. Its a bit hard to tell but the Ultrafire drop in is an extremely bright white light. The JM05 on the other hand has a very neutral tint giving a realistic color to whatever you are looking at.

The last shot is pretty much what you get, maybe not quiet as bright as in real life. The colors in the photo are what you see. I love it. The tree in the background is 120 meters away on Google Earth.

Thanks for reading.

I

62

Congratulations on taking the first dive into modding. I haven't the guts, the time nor the inclination to do it myself. Beautiful color rendition on that last one. I love my JM05 so I'm glad you go it working again.

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Thanks BetweenRides. The only thing that I missed was a lack of memory and a hatred of flashy modes hence the driver swap. The rest is history. The color that the U2 2S creates is amazing. It is not super bright white light which the original led was driven at 3 amps but a real natural looking light. What the picture shows is pretty much what you see. The tree at 120 meters with the original led driven at 3 amps was a lot brighter if any of that makes sense.

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MRsDNF, how is the 2S? When the XP-G S2 showed up most of the tints were 2S and that is quite green, if you look at the ANSI color chart. Then CPF started a lot of anti XP-G S2 bin because it would be too green, that is because it is mainly found in 2S tint.

The tint changes a bit with current, especially at 3A,that XP-G was getting somewhere around 1A

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I dont pretend to be an expert on tints. According to Matt at Cutters these were binned at 5700 k. The light itself does not appear green at all. Just a real neutral light without washing out the colour or distorting what you are looking at with brightness. I will have to take a ceiling shot. The picket fence in the picture was taken is a creamy colour. I have read many times about people complaining about green tints but I cannot see green at all in this led. This is the 3rd one in this torch. Just by looking at the tree with the stock driver driving this led at 2.5 amps the tree in the background is a lot less defined.

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I hate to give you bad news after going through all that work because the driver swap came out beautifully. It sounds like the driver is shorting inside the pill causing the LEDs to burn up. You can try removing the driver and looking for the short or leaving it in and using a multimeter looking for a dead short to ground on the positive side but it sounds more like an intermittent short which is very difficult to find most likely happening due to expansion from heat or vibration and shock.

The other option is switching to a driver that fits the pill properly. These 2 drivers will fit with no modification and have 3 nicely spaced modes, pull 2.8 amps at 8.4 volts, have thermal protection and low voltage protection also.

I have modded a half dozen of these lights using the LCKLED driver. They recently went on sale at LCKLED they were the same price as the KD driver before. Also the KD driver has an older version of the micro contrller so the LCKLED one is a much better deal and they both are plug and play.

http://www.lck-led.com/constant-current-driver-board-modes5512v30ap7mce-p-501.html?cPath=37_135

http://kaidomain.com/product/details.S005296

That's a great light I hope you can get it working properly, send me a PM if you need anymore help.

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Thanks E1320. I would agree that there was possibly a short somewhere. The second driver I installed appears to be behaving at the moment. The driver you linked to is the one I have just recieved from Lightmalls. Touch wood I wont have to use it in this light. Its good to hear that you like the driver as it will get used in the future. I was not sure where the earth went but your picture clearly shows where. Have you had any experience with this tint led that I used? Cheers.

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It's kind of a strange coincidence I have never seen or heard of a 2S but I have one sitting right here in front of me, someone sent it to me to build them a drop in with. I haven't had a chance to put it together yet so I have no idea what to expect, but I will update the thread once I get it working.

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You happen to have a 2S tint sitting there and the driver you recommended arrived to me before you recommended it. Whats next?

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Here are a couple of photos. The first is against a dull gloss white door. Depending on camera settings you can take pictures that have a horible green tint. The picture here has a slight green hue to it that when looking at the light in real life there is not a hint of green. On low you can pick up a slight green tint looking directly at the door. I can understand people hating this tint if they had only seen photos.

The next shot is against a dark colored brick wall with a greyish mortar. Maybe just a hint of green that again you do not see in real life. I'm really surprised at the difference the pitures look compared to what they actually are. The white balance in all shots was set on sunshine.

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If white balance is set to daylight, then they are greenish indeed as ANSI White shows this tint to be. Your eyes will adapt to that color and will not pick it up as obviously green unless you have some purple or orange tint to compare it at the same time.

Thanks for posting!

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Erik -

You have done that many driver swaps for people on the JM05? (dang) I guess I'm a little surprised because I thought the size of this light would turn a lot of people off. This is how the JM05 should be out of the box.

I'll tell you what else; that LCKLED driver is the bomb. It has low voltage and over temperature warning/protection, is bright as hell and (like E told me before he shipped it back) throws like a mofo.

DNF - Awesome mod. I may have missed it but how many amps are you getting with this?

surprisedpleasedFoy

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Current draw with 2 cells is 1.5 amps on high, medium .5amp and low .12 amps with two King Kongs. I also have the driver that E1320 installed in your light but it turned up to late as I had this second replacement driver fitted when it turned up.

What current draw with what batteries are you getting fom E1320's driver and have you noticed a big increase in heat after extended running on high as I have. I'm in total agreement that this light should have come like this out of the box. There is one positive though and that the modding bug is biting deeper. Bugger. That means the wallet gets lighter. No pun intended.

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Nice work Steve

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Sorry DNF, I'm having a hard time keeping up with my threads. It measures 1.40 amp on high with 2 King Kongs so, 2.80 to the emitter?

Foy

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Thanks Foy. Theres probably more than me on this forum that takes in everything you write and as well as a few others, simply because you are good at your reviews and have far more lights than I will ever own, so the few that we do buy, a lot of research is put into it. Thanks again. The driver E put into yours that I have is earmarked for a HD-2010 that I plan to be my first big mod. I hope I’m not speaking to soon. Stay tuned.

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The battery tube on my torch was to short to use protected batteries so here is the latest mod. I dont know how to finish it of as I dont have a mill. Feel free to offer sugestions. Thanks.

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Very nice, I am impressed.

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I agree; that is awesome . . .

Also, funny you mentioned the HD2010 because I just picked mine up at the PO yesterday.

stayingtunedFoy

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So i received my jm05 from Erik yesterday and from the very start I have been having switch issues. Sometimes when i take the tailcap off and put it back on the light wont work. So I tighten down the collar on the actual switch and then it will work but sometimes when i take the tailcap off and put it back on it will do the same thing. But now because the collar is already super tight I have to loosen the collar and then retighten it and it will work. Anyone else having issues?