The last one I swapped for a XP-E2 U5 Torch LED on Noctigon 16mm MCPCB from Mountain, I put it in the 68 I use as a test host. Got LG protected cells in it right now with a stock board. Those even protected are pretty hot.
Does https://www.fasttech.com and Kaidomain sell fake leds?
Just currious as i buy lots of them from those sites and im abit worry now
Not fakes but with fasttech anyways it is a pretty good chance that the bin and/or tint is not listed correctly.
Same here I’d like to know the opinion of you guys expert to know if it’s a good deal or not as I was a a hurry to place my order since the 15% rebate on regular price off the whole website finished at 1:00AM where I live and I’ve placed my order only 1 minute before that delay lol.
1- I’ve noticed that it is written “Authentic” on the Sky King flashlight and I’ve seen A LOT of very good reviews about it on Youtube so I feel safe with it and it wasn’t too expensive. I also own an electronic cigarette store so I have plenty of high quality 18650 batteries such as my favorite which are the (Samsung 30Q 3000mAh 20A) or either (iJoy/Efest 4200mAh) for the 26650 size.
www.fasttech.com/p/4173400
2- I’ve bought that one below too but I SERIOUSLY wonder if I should just cancel that one item or not as there’s no brand or model name at all for that flashlight and usualy when there’s too much quantity, the quality drops. I’ve seen hundreds of similar fakes on eBay, AliExpress and such website so my trust has drop even further but I don’t understand then why it would cost 2.5x more than the authentic Sky King?! I’ve also learned tonight on Youtube that you don’t get more light output by having more leds as the leds will only spread the voltage it receives from the batteries so for example… 4x18650 @ 3.7v = 14.8v which is spread by 9 leds then it gives 1.64v/each but then if I take this weird flashlight with 18 leds, okay it is 5 batteries so instead it’d do still only 1.02v/each! So I highly doubt it’s gonna do much more light and that 20,000 lumen is prolly BS as well, so is it just fake gimmick that I should cancel right away even if I’ve got 15% off it?
www.fasttech.com/p/4005900
QUESTION: I currently own an old (Trustfire XML-T6 8000L) that’s using the older version of the leds but appears to be real Cree even though I usualy don’t trust that brand name heh. Mind you it would still be hard to tell as they make such good clones these days but it does light up extremly so seems legit and quality even if the rating is BS as always with these * Chinese. The V2 of these leds are suppose to take 2x less power consumption to get the same wattage output, does that mean the new one will last twice as long before I charge my batteries? Also that Trustfire with only 2x18650 batteries… hell if I do the math then 7.4v / 7 leds = 1.05v/each so that’d be the same amount of voltage per led than the expensive #2 flashlight with 18 leds.
1: The host looks good, the picture that shows the LED’s themselves is questionable on weather they are real cree or not but they very well could be, either way you can count on an cold beam. Although for a bit more I have a modded old school 5X skyray with truly genuine XM-L2’s led’s, FET+1 driver with temperature regulation and makes around 4500 real lumens at turn on vs the ~2000 the skyray from fasttech will most likely do. I actually have 2 of them for sale, 1 of them is dedomed for more throw. Asking $65 for it. /shameless plug. When the Q8 comes out that will be the “skyray” to get for sure.
2: In this case I would cancel it for sure. There are so many better options for that price. Get a convoy L6 for $50 and spend that extra $50 on something else. The L6 will blow that thing away.
As far as how the voltage and multiple LED’s work, this is not correct. More LED’s will be brighter, assuming that nothing else is changed and they are wired in parallel. For example I get around 8500 lumens out of my 7x SRK but around 10k lumens out of my 8x versions. There are some good articles and videos on google that explain forward voltage, LED wiring in series and parallel and all this jazz.
It all boils down to adding more LED’s will generally increase output as long as you are not reaching a bottleneck somewhere else in the system. Also if it is using a regulated driver then the increase will be very small when adding another LED but this is very unlikely in a light like that.
Either way those LED’s almost assuredly fakes and even if not that are very old and I would be surprised if it made more then 3000 lumens as it comes Although I have no idea what is inside that light, it could be better made then I figure.
Although the L6 can make 6000 lumens when modded, is much more comfortable to use, will throw a beam a lot better, better tint and is basically better in every way.
Spend the left over cash on some smaller lights to finish your collection.
My must have lights for everyone include:
Skyray / Q8 style light
Convoy L6 style light
C8 / X6 / pocket thrower style light
Convoy M1 / thorfire VG10 style light
Convoy S2 / S2+ / tube Style light
With these you will have a light for 95% of situations and great hosts for modding later if you want (well except for modern skyrays without a shelf).
The only thing missing is a big thrower but there are not really any good budget options for that at this point unless you are good at modding. The convoy L2 is a reasonably good thrower though, just not enough better then the C8 for most people to “need” it, still a great light though.
Thanks to the contributors of this website I was able to identify a pretty horrific incorrect flashlight listing I purchased through Walmart marketplace. The listing was for a diving light with 3 * Cree xm-l2 emitters. I got the light in and it not only had fake leds installed, but the fake leds were of xm-l version. I would love to post the picture of the fakes here but I am having trouble loading them. Anyway I really appreciate the information available here about the fake led epidemic.
-Joey
Thanks to John I now have an easy way to post pics!
Here we go to fakeville township, China
Get youself a IMGUR account it`s totally free and i post photo`s here all the time.
John.
Thanks for your help man! Your were right on, imgur is easy to use!
Fake XHP50s used in car headlights bought from AliExpress (should I bother naming the seller?). Note that the dies are flat, not raised as in real XPH50s and the square rather than crosshatch pattern of dots, very likely a LatticeBright HP50. This one was very hard to spot.
Which LED is this? XL? XE? I can't tell by looking at LB website. Light head gets hot to 54C during long operation. Since I had it apart I put thermal paste underneath and pressed the white ring all the way down.
I received a pair of H4 led bulbs for my V-strom, I think the leds are xm2 lattice bright:
These are definitely fake. Notice the dots are aligned up and down, while true Cree xm-l2 have diagonally arranged dots. Probably a lattice bright version. Nice quality photograph however.
Thanks for your kind words, I use a cheapo extension tubes for macro shots.
Cheapo or not, it takes a better picture than my iPhone 6s. At least with me taking the picture that is!
the well known latticebright XL definitely, ( XM-L fake.
The dot arrangement and the “square” pads under the bond wires are a tell-tale latticebright fake.
is there a reference / comparison of real Cree and the newer knockoffs also 5 years ago were they really all real Cree
bottom line i am looking for a 1st CHEAP $8-15 “T6” flashlight that will not got too hot to hold after an being on HIGH for an hour (i get ~90min full brightness from my Pan-yos 3400mAh but they get too !@# HOT!!!
BTW even my 4 year old “T6” get too hot
thank you
Light output = heat.
Efficiencies improve a little over time but you can not get away from this basic law.
If you want a bright light, it will get hot unless it is very large. If you do not care how bright it is, then sure, it can give you light for a long time without getting hot but just use a low mode for that.
If your light is not getting hot, it is not bright or it is massive.
For a good light in your price range, the classic S2+ is a great light but will get hot for sure or for a little more the Convoy C8 is a very nice light indeed and should not get that hot with a stock driver, although it will still get toasty after awhile.
To keep them cool just run them in the medium mode.
i like the SiPiK SK98 clones for ZOOM, price and light output it also does a good tailstand and the front cap / lens can be removed and make for a GREAT ~180` room light but with good powerful cells it gets too hot in 20 min and it heats up my good high quality cells to a point no one would ever let them get too will i find something that i can run on high and not get hot with zoom if i spend ???
thank you
or no anything less then … say $50 will get hot after 20min on high also which is fine i will stick with the ~$5 SK98 clones and be happy with the money in my pocket
thank you thank you
Like I said, if you have 1000 lumens of output, you will have to shed about 8-11W worth of heat depending on the LED used. This is enough to get anything smaller then a C8 quite hot indeed. Doesn’t matter how much you spend, it is just the laws thermal dynamics.
You need more surface area to dissipate the heat or you need less heat to dissipate (aka, less light output).
It is easy to produce less heat, simply get a driver with good modes and use a lower mode.
To deal with the heat needs a larger light with more mass and surface area. A C8 can handle ~1000 lumens pretty well, still going to get toasty light I said but should still easily be below the burn threshhold.
So you are not fighting an issue of budget but the laws od thermal dynamics.
You either need less light output (and thus less heat output) or you need a larger light to handle the heat.
When it comes to zoomies, I don’t know of anything short of a 1405 or Z1 that will be able to run at moderate outputs for any kind of extended time frames. Even those I would question long term head shedding, never tried it myself. I don’t use zoomies much.