What a great week for me, my Tank turned up today!

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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Hi everyone. I hope your all OK.

Yesterday, my Convoy S2+ arrived, which really impressed me.

Today, my tank007 E09 arrived, along with its Sanyo eneloop battteries! I ordered the torch from china, and the batteries from south Korea, so It really is lucky they came on the same day! Even ebays estimate is in the future for these batteries delivery time, so that was a touch. (Postman work Saturdays in the UK, not sure if its the same in the USA).

Now, it is daylight so I can not really test it properly, I will tonight, although full and half power are visible across the lounge on the wall with daylight shining in through the large bay window, low is not visible on the wall but is on the floor, and I think it could be that mode that makes it a literal lifesaver because of the longer battery life (20 hours at 10 lumens, 60 lumens for 3 hours, and under an hour for full power at 120 Lumens is claimed in the manual).

Now, have they updated this torch? It says it is rated at 120 lumens, and does appear to be visually on high just below medium on my S2+(I know it is not possibly pushing out 400 lumens, it is kind of a mix between low and medum on the S2+), which I find amazing from a AAA battery, as I thought it output around 72 lumens in high mode?

In all honesty, this will probably get more use than the convoy as it will always be on my keyring.

I also tested eneloops claims that the batteries come full[EDIT:as someone pointed out, they do not claim this, just the batteries are ready to use. They was full though according to my nitecore charger], I put them in my nitecore charger and yes, it showed a full battery (great charger BTW, charges everything from AAAA to C Ni-MH or Ni-CD, then 26650 down to 10440(AAA) in lithium Ion).

So, in two days I got my two torches, and am very impressed with them, and they was worth the wait. Only thing I have trouble with was getting the keyring loop though both holes, so I put it through one which is actually better anyway as the torch can be moved more freely, instead of it jutting out to the left.

I will do a 1 AM test of this mini beast tonight (Our streetlights go off 1AM to 5AM Monday-Saturday, then on Sunday they go off at Midnight untill 5 or 6, not too sure when they start up on a Sunday, but this is the only time I get real darkness as I live opposite a rugby field, behind that is a large 18 hole golf club, I will go there to test as there is no lighting at all and you can not see your hand in front of your face if the moon is covered by clouds).

Gets a bit spooky over there if I am honest, so I will be taking both flashlight and backup batteries lol.

2

ChibiM, The word “full” might not be precisely right, but surely you’ve heard/read that Eneloop pre-charges the NiMH cells. In fact it is on the packaging. Shouldn’t you of all people know this? :wink:

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It is refreshing to hear so much enthousiasm for these basic lights, it reminds me that brighter and further all the time is just not necessary, some stock lights are extremely good already.

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Damn. Looks like conan has become a lost cause too :stuck_out_tongue:

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Yes, he's beyond rescue

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Ahh I see, they come ‘ready to use’ not ‘fully charged’. I have edited my orignal post to reflect this, as there could be a difference. According to my nitecore they were full though, so I think they do pretty well with the ready to use claim :slight_smile:

Also, does anyone know if they have updated the tank for more lumens? As it claims 120 full, 60 half, 10 low, but I think that may well be inflated. It is very bright for its size though, it seems brighter than my S2+ on low, but a bit less than medium when the tank is on high.

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i have E09 Tank too, claimed 120 lumens. My Fenix LD10 120 lumens shines wider though. it's a good light.

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You seem to be a very reasonable person. You will do well here. :wink: But, my position is that the difference is practically negligible between the two terms, as your test showed. They are pre-charged at the factory, so if they are not very old stock, they should be pretty close to fully charged still by the time they reach you. The only problem I could see with the claim of ‘Fully Charged’ would be that as they get some age on them, the charge will eventually be significantly less than full.

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Going to delete my previous posts :)

done!

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Conan I have both lights. You have a ‘perception’ that it is brighter because it has a rather defined hotspot as opposed to the S2. I assure you, the S2 is definetely brighter. The beam is just so smooth and dispersed that you get tricked into thinking it is less.

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It’s really tough to compare lumen output between lights of differing size with your eyes. Even in the same light with different mods a couple hundred lumens can be difficult to tell the difference.

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Oh I am sure the S2+ is brighter in reality, its just the tank is very impressive, especially for its size. It’s on my keyring now, so I guess that makes it my ‘EDC’ :).

But, the S2+ has a much larger battery,and can draw much more power from that battery to power the LED (Are they called ‘bins’? Or is that a different part?) and is also an amazing torch for the price.

I had a £30 budget just for one torch, with that I got a 18650 torch that to me, is the brightest I have seen, and a great Keyring torch that is also handy, plus batteries, with a few pounds change. I am impressed to say the very least.

EDIT: Forgot to add, I will test the tank in the pitch black tonight, see how it does with the streetlights off and in a field lol

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“…the LED (Are they called ‘bins’? Or is that a different part?)”
.

No - “Bin” refers to the brightness Rating ( luminous flux) of the LED. - Not all LEDs are created equal, so when testing they (figuratively) ‘toss’ them into “Bins” as a means of grading.

Thus a XM-L2 U3 “Bin” will be brighter than a XM-L2 U2 Bin.

http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20and%20Modules/XLamp/Data%20and%20Binning/XLampXMBL.pdf

Hopes this helps,
-Chuck

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Ahh, I get it. Mine is the U2 bin, the fact there is a brighter one astounds me? What are brighter torches for? Blinding demons lol?

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Conan,

There is only a 7% brightness difference between adjacent bins.

Thanks,
-Chuck

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lol this kind of comment makes it clear you are new on this forum. At 2.1amps you are probably seeing 600-750lumens out the front of your S2+. Many of us here have been horribly jaded and now that is just weak sauce to us. My brightest light is around 5000 lumens, but a few members here have lights that will do well over 10,000 or even 20,000 lumens. Is it necessary? Of course not. But it sure is fun 8)

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:smiley:
I love it. Reminding us all how spoiled and jaded we are.

If your interested at all in a second small sized 18650 light, I would recommend the BLF Eagle Eye A6 Group Buy. It pushes this XM-L led and form factor to the max. A “Demon blinder” but it has a bunch of lower modes, even a super low “moon light” mode.

The BLF Eagle Eye A6 is an effort by BLF member to majorly improve an already great light. Custom driver (designed by a BLF member), fabulous firmware / driver software (designed by a BLF member Toykeeper) plus mods to be sure it can handle the high power.

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Right you guys are:-)

Now it seems like everybody needs At Least 100 lumens just to do anything…

Being an older “gentleman”, I well remember how life was back in the Stone Age, and then along comes this:

27 Lumens!!!

This became my Standard for what a really Good flashlight should be.

I still take my 4D Incan Mag out just for kicks about every week… Maybe these new fangled LED lights are making us go blind?

:slight_smile:

Thanks,
-Chuck

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Say it ain’t so Chuck! The LEDs can’t be the problem, they’re the solution!

Seriously though, if we are growing more light insensitive lately, I would probably attribute it more to lack of good nutrition in our youth, and the amount of LCD/LED/AMOLED screens we are constantly staring at.

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Sorry, Pilotdog68… I know that you said something, but I can’t seem to get my monitor brightness turned up enough to see what it was:-(

What ever it was - Have a Great Day! :slight_smile:
-Chuck