Sure, I posted some commentary on it in the 18650 forum. heres the link.
Received my SkyRay King NW from CNQ today. I didn't order it, but it looks like someone at CNQ threw in a free holster with Skyray King! One of the LEDs aren't centered perfectly, but thats to be expected with cheap chinese manufacturing nowadays I guess. I can't get over how small this light is. Now to charge up my Hi-Max 18650 batteries and see how utterly blinding this thing is! Hopefully its vastly brighter than my Fenix Tk35. ^_^
A run-of-the-mill UF 502B XM which I won. I totally love love it!! Little bit of a yellowish center tint, but not annoying at all, and it throws way better than the KD XM-L drop-in. Body arrived scratch-free and in perfect shape! It's new owner is going to love it! Well driven with a nice grip and form factor! Very nice pocket-banger!
Can someone put up some pics on how to tin foil heatsink the LED? That's new to me.
Hikelite and between rides -
This, from member Jeff:
"No worries and thanks for the great review, Foy.
My King Kong's are marked (XSL) if that makes a difference. I also have one without the (XSL) marking, but I didn't use it for testing. It's labeled INR26650E, while the (XSL) marked cells are labeled ICR26650E. I searched but couldn't find a description of the difference. Does anyone here know?
Update: After searching for general info rather than specifically 26650 or King Kong, it seems ICR cells are the typical Lithium Cobalt and INR cells are (maybe) Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese. From what I've read, the INR cells are lower capacity than ICR cells, but they support a much higher discharge rate. I also read that INR cells suffer when charged to greater than 4.1v (the article stated that the cycle life is reduced from 800 to 300 cycles).
So, based on limited research, INR seems to perform somewhere between ICR and IMR, maybe. This is all speculation on my part. Please correct any mistakes.
I wasn't able to find out anything useful about the XSL designation."
Of the 7 King Kongs I've received from IO, 4 are "INR" and 2 are "ICR" with (XSL) printed above 4000mAh. If true, his findings are interesting.
??Foy
It's not that difficult; just cut/fold a strip of aluminum foil to the right size to fill the space between the base of the reflector/pill and the body. I use a tiny piece of aluminum tape to secure one end. Wrap the foil as neatly as possible to eliminate wrinkles until a thick enough layer has been added to require force to insert into the head of the flashlight.
Before installing a cell, ALWAYS double check that the foil has not moved into a position where it can short the driver/cell!
Thanks, Foy and Jeff:
This 26650 battery discussion is turning into quite a mystery. I've sent an email to Hank at IOS asking him to clarify what cell he is selling on his site. If he is in fact selling two different chemistries, that needs to be noted and they should be broken out separately and I find it a little disturbing that you got two apparently different kinds, Foy. The King Kong battery I received from CNQ was labeled ICR26650E.
Further discussions on the 26650 cells are taking place here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7473
Received an ITP EOS A3 SS and a Thrunite Ti, both with off-centered LEDs, and both of their beams is affected, the Thrunite Ti's beam is affected quite unpleasantly.
I would like to mention this is my third product bought from the UK which has an off-center LED and other had some others type of problems. I have received many flashlight from China but none so far with an off-center LED. And paying more than I would from a Chinese vendor didn't helped with anything but fast shipping, which in turn is not making the flashlights any better or worse.
The last time i had ordered flashlights from Ch*na (HKE, worms, f e n i x l d 0 1), i asked the dealer to place a battery inside the tube and check the LED status (LED centricity, beam beauty/artifacts, and tint impression on all modes) which they did. i do trust their evaluation since they know that i know that they know that i am very critical about it.
Couldnt you, too, have asked your UK dealer to check the lights before wrapping them in bubbles?
:)
A3 SS and Thrunite Ti are nice lights!!
I have not asked that, maybe I will next time.
Actually this is the second dealer from the UK that sends me off-center LEDs.
The Thrunite Ti has one of the best knurling and i really like that but the Q.C. Passed on the box if fake or they have low Q.C. standards.
Both of the flashlights came with GP batteries inside.
Tried that, almost destroying the pill & driver. :)
Here's how it all happened:
There were nice slots in the rear of the pill, next to the driver. So I tried to unscrew the pill by pressing needle nose pliers to the slots. The pill was sitting tight, but started slowly turn around. Then it got stuck and pliers slipped, scratching the pill and driver.
I noticed that the pill was already about 1-2mm out from the body, so I tried to turn it more with groove joint pliers - just to notice that it's quite soft and there are no threads!
So I started slowly hitting the pill out, which did the trick.
=> Now the pill was out, and damage done:
- Driver scratched (but still works)
- Pill scratched from one of the slots and from sides
- Needle nose pliers in "badly deformed" shape
But here you are: Some photos showing the press fit pill and how the driver is seated:
..and then back on topic: Today I got Enlan EM-01 and Leatherman Freestyle CX:
Here's EM-01 compared to EL-01:
Nice little knife and miniature "multi"tool. I like 'em a lot! :)
Sorry about that, the last thing I wanted you to do was ruin it. It's obviously completely different from the Ultrafire C-88 pill design. It makes sense, that's were they got the extra room for the 26650s to fit without spacers.
It looks like it's gong to be a real PIA for people to change the driver compared to the screw in pill version. I have a couple on the way to mod. They will be going straight into the freezer to shrink the pill than I will heat the body until it expands enough for the pill to slide out easily. Thanks so much for making the effort to do this for me.
Wow you definitely took one for the team... thats commendable! thanks.
looks like its press-fit. I bet if you freeze the pill and heat the body with a hair dryer, they might go back together easier. I recall the older USA made Inova lights were like that, and guys would take them apart and get them back together this way.
Between Rides -
Yeah, I had no idea. I just ordered the same thing every time.
It now says "The King Kong cells are now ICR26650E."
http://www.intl-outdoor.com/kingkong-26650-4000mah-liion-battery-p-136.html
Foy
It's been a learning experience, Foy. I think the change you noted is because of an email I sent to IOS asking them to clarify the difference and update the website, as we have had several forum members receiving different type cells. Here's the response from IOS:
"Thanks for your information.
Please be advised that the King Kong cells are now ICR26650E as on our website, the INR26650E (old stock in the market) have been discontinued by the factory anymore.
Regards!"
I for one am going to purchase future 26650 cells from Lighthound or Batteryspace. They are at least accurately representing what they are selling. See this post for more info on the subject: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/7473
I absolutely love Hanks lights but battery chemistry is more than just a little important. As I said in the 26650 battery thread we're in, my second order included 4 King Kongs; 2 ICRs and 2 INRs that I blithely assumed were the same. I bet I mixed the two in my JM05 at least a half dozen times.
As I also said over there; lot-o-smarts around these parts. You guys never fail to impress and it's a rare evening when I don't learn something new at BLF. Appreciate all you do, BR.
Foy
Today i received some DD partial shipment from a split order. It completes the order and i am happy about that because it means that they do honor all discounting options no matter how many ..etc.. ( ;) )
Not worried at all about my pending 2 last DD orders. I paid for tracking just to go sure (because i wasnt so sure that they had actually shipped the 2 partial shipments of the aforementioned order with all the triple-fold bad-a$$ discounts).
I will be ending up with duplicate copies of tweezers, a hygrometer, and a diffuser .. but i can live with that. no prob.
2 packages:
- From DX, a SMO P60 empty drop-in and a 16mm-base XP-G R5 emitter.
- From Intl-Outdoor, 42mm UCL lens, GITD O-rings, and Nanjg105C 8x 7135 driver for my $12 ebay deep-reflector C8 clone.
The GITD O-Rings aren't as bright as I had hoped; my DX 24mm O-Rings are brighter. I need to setup my light meter so I can do a comparison between the UCL and standard glass lens. The next stop would be to buy a U2-bin XM-L. I think the LED in my $12 light is a lower bin as the standard C8s I'm buying from MF seem to be somewhat brighter. It may just be the deeper reflector cutting off more spill making it look that way though. The next time I receive the standard C8, I'll have to do a brightness comparison with the light meter to confirm.
<edit>
OK, the GITD O-Rings are pretty abysmal. Glow is minimal and fades almost immediately. I'm able to use one as a spacer to allow me to thread the pill completely into the body; without the extra spacer, the pill has to be unthreaded about a turn to keep pressure between the reflector and lens, otherwise the lens rattles. Having the pill fully seated should help with heat sinking. Overall, I wouldn't recommend these O-Rings. If you need O-rings for your C8, just buy the cheap ones from MF...
I got a box filled with win from my good buddy X! 
Better than the box of FAIL from the other day !