I am on the fence of purchasing an Imalent DX80, my first serious light on Gearbest for $230, but I keep going back on my call. Although I really want a high lumen light, and am not a fan of the x80 due to its thermal issues and extreme flood, I am very concerned about all the recent reports of quality issues. It seems like the majority of these reports have been in the last few months, almost as if Imalent has been cheaping out on QC as of late. Although it would not cost me an insane amount to send back one faulty head to Imalent, I do not want to deal with repeating quality issues and the general headache that comes with attempting to get overseas suppliers to understand your problem. Does anyone happen to know why so many emitters are dying in DX80s? Is it bad driver design? Is it possible that Imalent is even using leds from Cree that did not pass QC? Is the thermal step-down set too high, causing the leds to burn up? I just have a hard time believing that such a powerful light can be had for so cheap without serious quality sacrifices. Don't get me wrong, I am not seeking any sort of guarantee. I am just looking for the most up to date standing and information on this light and some opinions. Should I purchase this light? Is the risk worth the reward?
After reading DBSAR's thread with his faulty Hakelite and what he went through to try and get a response from them, I don't think Hakelite is any better than Imalent when it comes to dealing with faulty lights.
but that host is probably not made for 22k lumens, i have the xhp35 version and even tho its not even close to the stated 7500 lumens it gets very hot after a minute or 2…
Or the op can wait for Olights X9 which should be out soon ? more quality in that i guess.
The fact that even the 35 version is getting hot so fat is not reassuring. The x9 looks cool, but I would be a little concerned with the price. I was also looking at the x70 with active cooling, but it seems unlikely that light will be below $500. Considering the issues with the hakelite, maybe the x80 is the best option.
I have a DX80, its a monster. It demands some diligence & respect though.The only flaw i can find is Imalent didn’t program it to step down soon enough form its maximum modes. (the reason why some had the LEDs die) this light drives the XHP-70 emitters, very, very hard, and with so many of them so close together, there is not enough cooling capacity in such a small light body, the LEDs overheat and burn. I never run mine on the 32000 lumen turbo mode for longer than 5 or 6 seconds, and never run it on the 13000 lumen mode for longer than a minute. It gets hot, very hot… very, very fast on the two top modes. Treat it with care & be careful of not running it to long on its highest modes, the light is great with no problems. on its medium modes ( 8000 lumens and under it will eun all day, but even at the 8000 lumen mode it gets somewhat hot after 10 minutes.
When you have to be careful of something that was made to perform a certain task it’s a no deal for me…
Factory should test and retest and see if the product would hold up under extreme conditions. And I guess that’s what warranty are for…
I like the light. it has a wow-factor for its size, that causes jaw-drop by everyone i show it to. Like a powerful high performance car, or like a .50 cal Desert Eagle, it demands respect and caution. 32000 lumens is a lot of heat in such a small package. I agree Imalent should change the step-down and have more of a over-heat shutdown safety, but with some common sense & respect its fine.
DBSAR, I have one too and baby mine also. Much, much to much power to not respect.
Your suggestions on how to use the light perfectly describes how the light should be treated. And so what if it can’t be run at 32,000 indefinitely. It’s a physical impossibility, people should just get used to it.
yuhsin91123, what kind of run time are you getting on full output? Light output looks very impressive...
Still, interesting to find out that most of the problems with the DX80 are thermal related. That is avoidable with careful use, and the higher output over the modded light is tempting. Still, I don't really know if I want a light that will die after 30 seconds on turbo. To be honest, I don't know if I can trust myself not to keep it on longer.
Max run time? I never really test the max run time on it since it would step down or simply too hot to hold. But So far I have no problem blasting it at 22k lumens when I need it.
This is got the ramping function like the BLF Q8, so it has all the usable output you want. So the run time on the lower levels you’re looking at hours and hours on a single charge…
The light I have is the HaikeLite MT03, modded with TA Driver, emitter upgrade and spring bypass doing 22k lumens at max. This is a pure flood light which I really like. MT09R can also be modded with a bit less cost since the stock LED emitters are doing pretty good just with a Driver and spring bypass mod.
I also received one as a gift. Had it for about a week. So far so good. I also wish it was more throwy. Also the strobe mode (which I actually do use) is quite dim compared to the higher sustained modes that it has, feels like only about 5000 lumens thereabouts, and the strobe frequency makes it feel like it’s more off than on. Apart from that it sure is a powerhouse, and I love the integrated charging.
It is, with careful use. Its a light that requires respect & understanding. 32000 “measured” lumens from a hand-held medium sized light in stock for like the DX80 is very impressive. I don’t think any other manufacturer can make it any better really for the size & output without having the same complications with heat dissipation, other than the programming & heat detection. Its the only flashlight i have that can turn off street-light sensors so easily.
I think it was more designed to be a “wall of light” than a thrower. So far in the hundreds of powerful flashlights i have/had, its the most powerful flooder by far, ( with the BLF GT being the most powerful thrower) A agree that the strobe seems to be using a lower mode output too, but for when i need a blast of photons this monster delivers in stock form.