I got my new DMM through today (just a cheapy eBay one). Would anyone be able to confirm if these readings seem right?
All lights are on high.
| SK68 AA Eneloop | 1.17 |
| SK68 14500 | 0.90 |
| Crelant V9CS | 1.28 |
| Klarus NT20 | 0.50 |
| Solarforce L2M with SF XM-L U2 | 1.32 |
| Trustfire Z8 | 0.75 |
| 2D MagLite incan | 0.73 |
This is the DMM and settings I’m using:
The only light I have that’s on you list is the Sipik.
With my Fluke 73 I get 1.16A from a cheap UF 14500 @ 3.98V, I get 1.46A with an AW 14500 @ 4.09V, both batteries are protected.
I’ve learned that battery health and state of charge will have significant influence on tail cap results (and light performance)!
nice DMM, congrats!
The test leads can also depress current measurements. When I switched from the stock leads to 14awg stranded wire the reading jumped by more than .5A from an & x 7135 driver.
The leads that came with the DMM seems really thin and cheap, the ones I used are from my old DMM and they thicker gauge wire and just feel more quality.
My Z8 read 1.75A on high with an Efest IMR.. that was before I swapped the driver.^^
Well I’m pretty sure my Z8 is working fine, so on that basis it would appear my DMM is reading low?
Think I’ll top the battery off and retry it.
ok a crapfire silver 14500 fresh off the charger reading 4.09v pulls 1.38A. Guess I need to make sure cells are fully charged to do this.
I guess thats OK for a crappy cell. I dont know what kind of cells JohnnyMac used in his review, but I guess he used IMRs too. Thats better at such high currents, because thats a draw of 3C and way too much for normal cells.
Do you think the Crelant V9CS should have been pulling more? Crelant claim 658 lumen from an XM-L U2. I’m running it on an EagleTac 3100mAh 18650 that’s reading 4.08v, yet tail cap draw is 1.38A when I tried it again just now.
The question is impossible to answer unless the battery is fully charged and considering the huge variables in between a good battery or a trashy one ..LMR should always be a bigger number
some numbers on the same kind of lights
sipik 68 is 2.06 on an eneloop //.96 on a lmr 14500 4.10v
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trustfire Z8 is 1.44 lmr 4.10V
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Solarforce L2P Kai domain xml drop in
rev jim panasonic unprotected .at 3.96 volts 2.25amps
Sanyo LMR 4.20volts 3.27 amps
I’m confused. I thought that the tailcap reading with an IMR 14500 would be Higher than with an eneloop. Isn’t the eneloop just 1.2vt or something like that? I guess voltage output is not directly related to the amperage that can be drawn from them?
In general it will be the same or lower. This is because if it draws 1 amp off a eneloop that is 1.2 watts, but 1 amp off of a 14500 is 3.7 watts. (average)
The only comparision i can make for you is the SK68, the flukes are calibrated and the leads are shortened on the Fluke 87, full length on the 187:
Hey, Chicken Drumstick:
Digging up an old thread here, but I just got my Crelant V9CS and doing a search came across this thread. While the V9CS is a beautiful light and I love the UI, I thought the output was a little anemic. This is supposed to be 658 lumens, but comparing visually to several lights I have, it seems more in the 500-550 range. So I decided to do tail cap readings on several lights for comparison. All are on High using an XTAR 2600mAh @4.18V. Here they are in descending order:
Beamtech BT-950L 3.66
Knight Rider P-Rocket 2.79
Solarforce L2P w/ MF Drop-in 2.46
Roche F12 2.42
PX-513 2.41
Balder BD-2 2.27
Solarforce L2N w/ SF U2 Drop-in 2.08
Thrunite T30 1.75
Solarforce M8 1.75 (2 cells)
Solarforce M8 1.70 (1 cell)
N-Light ST50 1.51
MXDL SA-16 1.48
Crelant V9CS 1.32
That pretty much confirms it for me and it's similar to yours. It does have a very nice beam profile with a bright hotspot, but I'm a little disappointed that it's not driven harder. The Beamtech absolutely spanks it, as does the M8. Appearance wise, it appears to be about the same brightness as the T30 but with a tighter hotspot.