Milkyspit's MC2 Thread (also Milky Tester)

[TENMMIKE]

97 ? is that all?? man there are a lot of people missing out on a sweet long run emergency light., milky you did good, i use mine often and recommend it to anybody needing a " suck the batt dry" light,its perfect for eating up all your used up primaries

BTW, so far 97 MC2 units have been shipped! Thanks all!

Thought of a fun thing to do... for whoever orders the 100th MC2, I'll include in the package the prototype Milky Tester v2 unit free of charge... a bit of Milky Candle history, and still a darned useful little tester! It's designed to check suitability of a 123 cell for use in a 2x123 Milky Candle or MC2 unit. Who's gonna get it? :naughty:

 

[PKT]

I received mine today- very nice.
I hope you'll continue to build these, I'd like another one or two sometime After XMAS.
Couldn't be happier, Thank you.

 

[SilverFox]

Some of you may be sitting on the fence, trying to decide if you want to get one of these candles or not.

Here is some "eye candy" that may help you decide...

Tom

 

[Bob_G]

Okay, okay, I'll take one

PP incoming.

Edit:

 

[milkyspit]

Okay, okay, I'll take one

PP incoming.

Edit:

Thanks! It's in the mailbox, literally.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Scott,

Here are some comments on your MC2 and the lantern version of the MC2.

Tom

 

[milkyspit]

Nice review, Tom!

Especially like the "undocumented" functionality: battery rejuvenator and NiCd/NiMH reforming aid.

BTW, folks, I've got parts on hand to build TEN more MC2 units, and if you live in USA they'll likely reach you before Christmas... if they go in the mail to you by Wednesday! I'd love to get these into folks' hands to enjoy. Who's up for one (or more)? :naughty:

 

[Bob_G]

Got it today Took it to the bathroom for my morning dump and had it figured out by the time I got done, so pretty simple (my first funny switch so I was worried.)

I like the ergonomics, that the body isn't white, the twisty action isn't grungy, a 17670 doesn't rattle (since an 18mm is supposed to fit, I thought a 17 might rattle) and that the switching is simple and intuitive.

Here's a quick and dirty garage ceiling shot on high. Amazing how round the spot is and how well centered huh? And the color is nice and warm, well, at least not blue - weird huh?

Here's a CR2 Ion on low for comparison - no reason to compare them, but it was in my pocket and the use for me would be similar.

Quick question - what's a ballpark runtime for a 17670 on high, about 150 hours?

I got this as a dedicated night stand light, so we'll see how it works out tonight, but I'm optimistic. The runtime on a full battery is the cool deal here for me, thanks for figuring it all out

 

[milkyspit]

Quick question - what's a ballpark runtime for a 17670 on high, about 150 hours?

I got this as a dedicated night stand light, so we'll see how it works out tonight, but I'm optimistic. The runtime on a full battery is the cool deal here for me, thanks for figuring it all out

Bob_G, glad it arrived safely!

Afraid the ballpark runtime is only about 75 hours on high with a 17670 cell... or 234 hours on medium... or 1071 hours on low white. Please forgive this lapse in performance.

As to the night stand duty... you may find high output to be too bright for sleeping! The original Milky Candle way back when actually only featured what are now high and medium levels... I'd added what's now low white output because for me the MEDIUM was too bright to get back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night! oo:

 

[milkyspit]

BTW, finally pieced together a little side project I've been planning for months...

[size=+1]Q.[/size] What do you get when you hack the MC2 code and alter the hardware to support a vastly higher drive level, mate the circuit with a 17670 cell plus LuxIII UWOJ emitter, plus a cut-down McR38 reflector... and stuff it all inside one of these Tektite hosts?

Tektite Tac2L LED Flashlight

[size=+1]A.[/size] The first prototype of the MC2-HP! Three digitally regulated brightness levels controlled with the tactical tailswitch... high beam output roughly 100 lumens with estimated runtime 2+ hours... medium output maybe 35 lumens with estimated runtime 7.5 hours... low beam maybe 6 lumens with estimated runtime 40 hours... nearly the entire runtime at all levels in full regulation... double O-ring sealed and totally waterproof (not a dive light though, strictly speaking). :naughty:

Entire light 5 inches long, head 2 inch diameter, body 1 inch diameter. Body machined out of solid aluminum stock, front portion of head molded of solid polycarbonate with removable rubber glare shield.

Is this sort of thing of interest to anyone besides me? Seriously.
:thinking:

 

[London Lad]

I am up for one subject to price

 

[europium]

Followup report on my MC2:

I use this as a "see enough to do business" light in my bathroom. After using up what expended CR123 cells I had (I go through more AA cells than 123s), I have used the MC2 exclusively with the 18650 Li-Ion batteries I got from AW earlier this year. These are rated at 2200mAh, and I charge them with the DSD charger (also from AW)--a charger known to only charge the batteries to anywhere from 80% to 90% of their full capacity.

I did a runtime test with the MC2 on medium white:

Start time (with a just-charged 18650): 6:30 p.m. on December 14.
End time: approximately 6:30 a.m. on December 27.
​

So the total runtime was 12 1/2 consecutive days on medium, or 300 hours! oo:

Here are a couple of photos of the MC2 in action when running on the medium-white setting (shot with a Sony DSC-H5 with Auto White-Balance):

The image above is a level view of the MC2, at its medium-white setting, sitting on the corner shelf of my shower stall. If there appears to be any green tint to the corona or spill beam, that is due to the somewhat off-white color of my shower stall. Any bluish purple tint you see is really there. No post-processing was done, but the image was cropped.

The image above is a shot from below the MC2 (sitting on the corner shelf of my shower stall) showing the spill beam as well as the spot hitting the corner of the ceiling above. Again, the green tint you see is not really there, but the bluish purple tint is there. Cropped, and also boosted midtones (to make this image comparable in brightness to the previous image). No other post-processing.


All in all I am quite pleased with my MC2. Although I really like the color of the light that the Amber LED puts out, it is a bit dim for me. I might have preferred a brighter Red LED instead of the Amber, but the Amber serves its purpose of letting me know when I need to swap out the 18650 battery for a freshly charged one.

(BTW, I have dropped my MC2 numerous times, from about waist-height, onto a hard-tile floor with no detrimental effects.)

Good job, Scott!

Eu

P.S.--As far as an AA version, I think I would prefer a 2 cell AA version designed strictly as a nightlight with just a high/low/pulsing White LED. Would this be possible to design with a Cree XR-E without doing any voltage boosting?

 

[milkyspit]

[size=+1]Update 7/14/2007[/size]

Guys, I just received a PM asking if these are still available. They are! I've got enough boards remaining to build 10 more units, then I'm more-or-less out unless getting lots of additional demand. I can perhaps mount alternate forms of 5mm or even 10mm LEDs, too, so if you've been hankering for a special version, this would be a good time to get it. Pricing for the standard MC2 is $55 per unit, and for special requests it's $60 per unit. Note that I can also build into various other formats, such as lanterns and the like.

 

[milkyspit]

Quick mention that Leef and I recently announced our Gotham flashlight. Of interest with regard to the MC2 is that the Gotham board derives its design from the board in the MC2 itself... in fact, Gotham has an 'ultralow' output level that pretty much bridges the gap with the MC2, delivering output that's about as bright as the medium setting on MC2. Gotham tailstands, too... :naughty:

More info over here.

 

[Archangel]

I use my MC2 24/7 on low with well-used cells. (grin) Who would've thought that it'd grow up to become Gotham?

 

[milkyspit]

Minor update in light of continued(!) intrerest in the MC2...

[size=+1]Update 9/16/2007[/size]

There are still a few of these left... maybe 2 or 3, plus maybe a half-dozen prototypes of various sorts. :thinking: Cost remains $55 per unit, and current shipping charges are as follows, slightly higher than before due to US Postal price increase earlier this year...

Shipping to USA uninsured costs $5.
Shipping to USA with insurance costs a total of $12.
Shipping internationally costs $29 via EMS with tracking and up to $100 insurance coverage.

A note on insurance: I cannot cover lost or damaged packages (only a one-man shop after all)... so if you're concerned about this risk, please order insurance on your package. That said, so far I've never actually had a package lost... so this is purely optional. Your call either way!

Note for international customers: I need to declare the same value for Customs that I do for insurance... please keep this in mind and tell me how much to declare as the value of your package. Up to $100 insurance coverage can be included in your shipment at no extra charge, more insurance would cost you additional, Please let me know if you wish that.

 

[Gizzy]

for a candle :thumbsup:

 

[milkyspit]

Gizzy, it's in the mail as of now. Seriously.

 

[Gizzy]

damn that was quick mailman is your neighbor? lol
anyway thank you soo much I can't wait :twothumbs

 

[Dreadalus]

for two! Yayy, finally, I don't know why it took me so long, I've wanted some of these since before I had a mother-in-law that went through 123s like crazy (macular degeneration, poor thing).

Has anybody ever stuck a white balloon on one of these for a diffuser?