sadly that’s a Latticebright.
i just checked some of the XML LED’s i pulled out of various flashlights from years ago,5 out of the 6 i checked are fakes. They have been ripping us all off for years and years and couldn’t care less. what a bunch of scumbags. I’ll post some pics if i manage some decent shots
Hi Guys,
I know there are already 2 fake pictures and a real cree picture, however I am new or beginner to torch / light.
I bought this light from securitying store from ebay. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321509431293?\_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I thought securitying product use real cree. However It seems that the led is a fake cree xm-l, it looks like the first picture. Could someone please verify before I send this light back?
Thanks for your help.
Welcome to BLF!
That die does seem small based on that pic I think it is LaticeBright
Take a MT-G2 LED and replace it with the Fake XM-L, so you will have the double output.
I ve done it with a similar Headlamp. The problem is only the heat path fom the Pill to the body of this Light.
+1
Others details:
- The smooth coating on the base around the dome, CREE is textured
- The base substrate is white ceramic, CREE is darker green/grey
For me it is also LaticeBright
Definitely Latticebright.
Thanks for the input everyone. It is so hard to buy real cree on ebay. Anyone know where can I buy a genuine bicycle light with Cree led in Australia or site that ship to Australia with reasonable price?
Hey Kangaoroo - welcome to BLF!
Off-topic; how long did the light take to get to you from that seller?
Cheers.
Hi and welcome as well. There may well be a member here close to you that could swap out the led for you if thats what you want.
Hi FmC, I order and paid on the 7 April and arrived on the 29 April. Are you thinking of buying the light?
Where can I buy the genuine cree led? To replace the led do I just need soldering iron to open the current led light and put it back with new solder?
Pretty much that is all you need to do plus add some heatsinking compound under the MCPCB.
The reason I asked where you were from is that you may well be in my local. Send me a PM if you like.
No - I have already purchased a different light from that seller, but it has not arrived yet.
I got a zoomie in the “g700” style for review:
They Never mentioned a cree LED in the description just that it is a super bright T6…now I know why they did that. But look at the product picture:
Honestly if a light costs 2 times than the Chinese cheapie and Comes from local Amazon I hoped that they would use at least a nice led. Especially these zoomies loose so much light through the lens a proper led would have been nice.
The anodizing of the light is nice and the package also, even came with a bike holder.
I am done with ordering lights over the internet. Only if the seller is known to me and has knowledge about what they are selling would I consider it.
Recently, all the lights I have bought thru local retail channels had authentic LED’s. Besides when you have a light in hand BEFORE you buy it, you can determine for yourself what’s inside of it.
lol* definitely the “bad” LB version, the one with a die size not much bigger than a XP-G
I bought a few different styles of tactical flashlights from Ebay. All of them advertised as being equipped with Cree LEDs. Some called out the XML and others the XM-L2. Upon unboxing and testing, I found most of these flashlights to be pleasingly bright. I was impressed with all but one. I wondered if the LEDs were really Cree brand as advertised. I disassembled them all. According to the available online information, none of the flashlights had genuine Cree LEDs in them. Though they did resemble the Cree, the fine details of the descriptions did not match with the genuine Cree. All but one of these the LEDs were mounted on 20mm star bases sporting the brand name, LatticeBright. I would guess that there is a high probability that LatticeBright was the manufacturer of the LEDs. I then measured the current draw for each. They all fell between 900ma and 1260ma with a freshly charged 18650 Li-ion battery. I was able to find a spec sheet online for the Latticebright LEDs. LatticeBright XM Spec Sheet
Ok, so according to this sheet (which is written in Chinese and gives no discernable bin information), the LEDs in the flashlights should emit around 300 lumens of light at the currents I encountered. Very close to the Cree LEDs for the same current consumption. Again comparing spec sheets with the Cree vs. LatticeBright, that’s where the similarities end. At higher currents the Cree LED’s output will increase while the LB clone’s output will remain the same or increase only slightly. Since power dissipation (watts) equals amps X volts and actual light output is a function that factors in the efficiency of the LED, the increased energy has to go somewhere. In this case it is converted to heat. Thus driving the LB LED at higher currents than 1.2 amperes for any length of time will burn it up!
For a comparison I purchased warm white (bin U3), neutral white(bin T5) and cool white (bin T6) genuine Cree LEDs from LED Supply. So far I have tested the warm white LED and made a comparison.
I have no instruments to measure light output. The Cree appeared slightly brighter using the same drive circuit and power source that was used to test the LB LEDS. The current consumption was slightly higher with the Cree LED. An indication of a lower on state resistance.
Conclusion: For simple intermittent use in hand held mini portable flashlights, the LB LEDs are a good fit; when you consider the much lower cost and the fact that the max performance of the LB is very close to the bottom end performance of the Cree in the typical single LED flashlight. I don’t intend or need to run a flashlight at more than 1.25 amps. Any higher would so shorten the battery life, that it would become impractical. Installing a genuine Cree in such a light would doom the LED to run at the lower end of it’s capability. The only real concern I have about the LB LEDs would be the thermal properties. Lower efficiency equals more heat and shorter LED life.
In applications where you need the very reliable output at higher light intensities, the Cree is a superior product and worth the extra money!
MeTAG52, nice info. I recently took a closer look at the LEDs in some of my budget/dirt cheap flashlights, and they do look like Lattice Brights. However, when I turned them on, they were bright enough and good enough to make me believe they could have been Crees.
I think at this point, I’ve simply accepted the fact that for dirt cheap flashlights, I’m going to get a Lattice Bright that looks like a Cree XP-G, or XM-L, or whatever. And as long as the LED works and doesn’t put out an ugly blue tint like some of the pics I’ve seen, I’ll shrug and accept it and use the light. If I wanted a legit Cree for cheap, I’ll look at more trusted brands, like Convoy, Eagle Eye, Jaxman, or banggood’s Astrolux.
