Shit son, they making GOLD mrv's now.
In american money: http://cgi.ebay.com/Tactics-CREE-Q5-LED-400-Lumens-Flashlight-Torch-Lamp-MR-/120710614356?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item1c1ae9cd54
"I've got a lovely new flashlight for you darling".
I don't have a sk68 but frankly I don't see how it can be much better than the good c78's ($10 at lightake). These draw 2a on AA's and run fine on 14500.
The only thing these lights need is 3 mode H-M-L at 100/30/5%
This one has plastic reflector. Fortunately C8 reflector fits well, but that breaks the deal. Taking off driver and led from the pill was difficult. Led PCB was glued to the pill so much that I bent it and make it unusable. My soldering iron went highwire, so I haven't replaced the driver and the led, yet.
The driver is fine regarding driving XR-E with just 1A measured at led. Suprisingly higher carrent than that one at tail cap.
Not so good deal by my opinion.
It really isn't that big of a deal in practice. You mostly feel better that it's metal instead of plastic, and metal costly slightly more so you feel it's better value.
Not a disincentive IMO if you want dat gold :D
I think many people here have the usual silver MRV clone version. It has very tight throw due to the large-ish reflector. If you want one that everyone and their mother has, buy it from Manafont. It's about $18-20. Direct drive, so luck of the draw on how much power (but usually ok for xr-e's). I got mine (3-mode) from buyincoins. This gold seems to be basically the same thing w/ a plastic reflector for a little bit less. The original clone might be slightly tighter hotspot if only because the metal reflector in it is quite good shape/placement, not because of the material, but ledoman would know for sure.
Overall a very nicely designed light if you only want a tight beam, but not IMO a general purpose light.
Well, I've purchase this to be moded with XM-L which produces more heat. That's why I don't like plastic reflector and ordered C8 alu one at MF. Can't tell anything about beam and brigtnes anymore. All I can recall is the beam on a wall was quite ugly (ringy) to me. From the outside flashlight looks good for the price.
BTW we are bit offtopic, aren't we?
The finish on the C78 rubs off if you look at it wrong and the tail switch is almost gauranteed to fail in short order. The SK68 is a much better light all the way around for the same price.
Don't get me wrong, I like the C78. It's the light that got me back into flashlights and hooked hard, I have a couple of them. Good thing is that the Nite-Ize 5-mode minimag switch is a direct replacement when your original switch fails.
I thought I found a good deal on the Sipik clone on the bay, including 14500 battery.. got it for 8 dollars a few days ago, inclusive free shipping.. Now waiting for it to arrive...
Darnnn.. I wanted to stop buying more flashlights!
And I dont own any li ion chargers or batteries.. So I think I have to buy a charger as well.. again 15 dollars less in my pocket.....
And now again the greatest deal on a headlamp... which I couldnt resist..!!! again 17 dollars less...
the flashlight-flue is getting me
Hi, I honestly dont know if they all accept AA and 14500.. I havent received one yet,
But I thought reading they sometimes only take the 14500 after using it with that...
cant tell anymore where I read it, maybe cpf
Do you have the "genuine" ones or the DX copy. The DX later versions are just not as good.
They work fine on 14500's . Out of 14 purchased from the same seller as my original post, five are being ran on 14500s only with no problems. I recieved 2 more yesterday (silver ones). I asked for that color. I tried one outside against my Trustfire R5 and Uniquefire G10 all with fresh Trustfire flame 14500s in them and the results were somewhat bitter sweet.
Sweet, a light that cost 1/2 the price of the other two, can hang with the hand warmers for spill and definately out throw them. It also stays cooler than the TF and UF, with the Trust Fire being the worst.
Bitter, 1/2 the price.
Any of them will run fine on 14500s. The question is will they run fine on AA cells again. What happens on the lesser quality examples is the driver burns out on the 14500 cell and goes into simple direct drive. When you switch back to an AA cell you find it no longer works. That is what you need to check.
No clue. I never had one that was bad but I never owned any other than the Sipik. If you read the DX forums you’ll see it happen a lot. If you’re wondering if yours has just put an AA in it and see if it works. On the cheap drivers some copies use a Li-Ion will burn out the boost circuit and you won’t ever notice until you try to run it off a regular 1.2V-1.5V cell.
Maybe someone else here can answer that one but just guessing on what I know about Li-Ions, each size is only capable of providing certain amount of amps. I think a protected 14500 is around 2A. An 18650 can provide 3A. IMR cells can provide even more at the expense of run time. If your light is pushing 2A at the tail it's likely blown the driver and is running DD. Those lights are only spec'd at around 800mA-1000mA.
Just tried 4-seperate Sepik clones on 14500s. I let them run for a few minutes and then swaped them for akalines. Resultes 4 out of 4 worked on 1.5 volt akalines. One has gone through 2-TF flames and back to akaline and Ni-Mh with no problems.
No complaints for a $7.50 light.
Sounds pretty good Dave..
waiting for mine to arrive.. hopefully within the next few days...
Before putting a 14450 in a light, check the current draw with single NiMh and compare it with dual NiMh. If the current drops with dual NiMh, you can try 14450 but if current goes up, watch out with 14450.
I like my G10 on 14500s better than this light on 14500s.
The G10 is brighter (ceiling bounce) and I like brighter,
even though it can't throw as far as the sipik.
I can't use a "spotlight-like" beam w/o any spill all the time.
It's just too weird. lol
But don't get me wrong, I like my UltraOK!
On nimh, I like it better than the G10.
I received another Sipik clone today, after giving my previous one to my BIL for his birthday.
I noticed a few things.. The head (part to zoom) was much better than the last version.
This one was kind of stiff, so whenever you zoom, it stays that position pretty well.
My previous one head a very very loose head, so it was a bit too easy to zoom in and out, and would change
with the least touch..
The switch (orange rubber) is sticking out more, so no so stable to tailstand...
but overall, with the included 14500 battery, im pretty happy for 8 dollars.