Any new 10440 capable keychain lights?

[EZO]

I'm rolling with the Tank007, and people say it works, should I just pop one in (aka buy one) and find out?

My usual EDC keychain light is an ITP A03 EOS upgraded that I've been swapping with a Quark CR2 mini but I have a Tank007 TK-703 that I've been running on a Trustfire protected 10440 (sku-30788 DX) and it just rocks! For the money these have been excellent and reliable batteries. The same is true of the light. Tank007 makes nice products in their price range compared with much of the junk one usually seems in this category. The TK-703 has a beautiful, clean, white, smooth, tight and very throwy beam spot. A small o-ring at the base of the tail cap works great to seal any space the longer battery might create between the body tube and the cap and makes an excellent cigar grip to facilitate pushing the slightly recessed tail clicky with your thumb. Great knurling too! Careful application of a very small split-ring through one of the lanyard holes will allow keychain carry.

P.S. Hope this post doesn't get booted 'cause it belongs in the budget light forum but this thread seems to be in a bit of a gray area on that score , so I'm going with it.

 

[joe1512]

A safer way to go is by using an RCR123 in an itp A1 or other such light. It is slightly shorter than the A3, but about twice as fat. It is still small enough to go on my keychain and this is what I use.

Advantages:

* More thermal mass so doesnt heat up so fast.
* Longer battery life of course.
* SAFE. You aren't pulling 1.2 Amps out of a 400mAh rated 10440 which should pull max current of 800mA.
* Re-emphasize: SAFE. It won't blow up the battery when charging.
* You can get a Protected RCR123 with trusted brand like AW. No worries about over-discharging and creating an unsafe environment.
* You can use an existing 18650 Charger and not have to buy a special one for 10440s. All you need is a spacer and you are good to go.

Disadvantages:
* Slightly more cost for RCR version of lights. (+5 bucks for A1 vs A3)
* Bigger.

 

[roadkill1109]

The distributor sales listing says "Battery type: AAA (no 10440!)". Do you have one of these and do you run it on a 10440?

they only say no 10440 because it heats up too fast, so for those who dont give a sh*t about how hot their lights get, their worm will burnout on them. (or lesser lifespan)

 

[Outdoorsman5]

I got three ITP A3 E0S R5 Upgraded editions last week and bought two Trustfire 600 mAh 10440 Protected Li-ion batteries. They don't work in my new ITP lights, but they do work in my old Fenix LD01 Q5. Why don't they work in the ITP lights? What work in these lights? Thanks.

 

[Jay R]

They are too long. You need unprotected cells for an ITP. Also, they aren't 600mah as this is overstated. They are around 300.

 

[TooManyGizmos]

~

Protected ...... too long ?


Bad Karma ....... who knows ?


annalize and let us know .

~

 

[Outdoorsman5]

They are too long. You need unprotected cells for an ITP. Also, they aren't 600mah as this is overstated. They are around 300.

Thanks Jay R. How about IMR 10440? I've read that they are safer. Will they work better? Do they need to be unprotected as well?

 

[Jay R]

Sorry, I don't have any IMR cells so I can't tell you. Check the length on the spec. If it's close to the protected cells, they probably won't work. If it's closer to the unprotected cell, it'll probably be fine. Bear in mind that there hasn't been a single report of a normal lithium ion 10440 size cell going pop, so they are pretty safe as they are. Worst thing that has happened is people running them down too far and ruining the cell but a $3.80 for two, just buy another.

 

[kreisler]

they only say no 10440 because it heats up too fast, so for those who dont give a sh*t about how hot their lights get, their worm will burnout on them. (or lesser lifespan)

i am posting the following info in selfbuilt's review too. this is what Mike at Lumintop replied to me:

Many thanks for your email. Lumintop Worm can not run with 10400
battery. The working voltage range is 0.9V-2.2V. the currents is about
250mA. If you use 10400 battery, the worm will burn out.
(...)
Yes, you are right, it would burn the driver not the LED. You are a
professional user.

hope this helps :nana:

 

[jorn]

I have tested a imr 10440 in one of my worm's, and it smelled funny so i shut if off after 3-4 sek. Opened it up and some parts of the spring in the back was turned blue from heat. Don't know if it was some kind of short, but i dont think so because the spring was seated perfectly when i checked on it, and the brightness on my worm looked like my other aaa lights (on stereoids). The spacing between med and hi mode was so terrible with a 10440 that i wouldent consider using it anyway. The smell from the head also warned me from using this little light with a 10440.
I run my quark preon 1, maratac aaa, itp h01, liteflux lf2xt and univex aaa on 10440's with no issues other than the fast heat buildup mentioned. The lf2xt and univex aaa is made to handle 10440's. I remember someone messured the oft on the preon1 on stereoids, and it was close to 300 lumens at startup, but dropping fast.

 

[kreisler]

I run my quark preon 1, maratac aaa, itp h01, liteflux lf2xt and univex aaa on 10440's with no issues other than the fast heat buildup mentioned.

thanks jorn for the good info. my worm has yet to arrive (Argh!).
since you own several AAA-keychain flashlights, which model do you like best and for which single decisive reason (choose 1 from e.g. practicability, runtime, regulation, ultralow mode, weight, size, beautiful design, toughness, max brightness, tint, beam, ..)? (maybe we can take the preon and itp out from the discussion since they're hardly keychain lights)

In turn, for 1 single decisive reason wouldnt i ever buy the univex. No matter how good its specs were, its optical design (looks) is too much of a turn off to me. i see it and instantly my mind tells me "kreisler, you dont want such a thing on your keychain!".

 

[eagle]

i like it

 

[jorn]

At the moment i use a DQG on my keychain. It has a green tint, and i prefer neutral But it's so small on my keys that i can't take it off.. Just can't.. Can't run it on 10440, but the "tinyness" is what i love most about it. Plenty bright, with a huge hotspot

Univex has the best look , and it feels like its the best build. This thing is pretty. Got the flood optic and it matches my malkoff m60wlf in every way exept slighly better tint. This aaa has the best floody beam. They have a reflectored version of the univex. Well build chunk of ti and all threading is smooth. No real lo mode on 10440. I would guess it's somewhere near 20 lumens.

My maratac cu is out of pure copper. That is pure coolness in many ways Heats up all the flashlight more evenly when driven hard with a 10440. The ti univex is the oposite (locally hot near the led).

The liteflux is my favorite light, but its hard to find a used one. It's like a dog, you can make it do everything if you sit down and figure out how. (complex ui for programming all the stuff.) It has so many cool fetures. You can program up to 6 different modes to any level or strobe hz/intensety you like. Or you can use a standard ui. (hi lo shortcuts and ramps brightness when you press and hold.) Has the loest lo of the bunch. Messures battery voltage and blinks the voltage in morse. Lo voltage cutoff can be turned on/off for both aaa and 10440. Momentary hi from any level. Momentary on feture can be turned on/off. Shortcut to random strobe (if you want to annoy someone). When it was on my keychain, I held it like a gun. The keys was my grip and the light was resting on top of my index finger. Tumb was always on the rear clicky button this way, ready to click some combos. This has a neutral xp-e, almost the best neutral tint of all my lights. Only beaten by my old xp-e quark mini aa on 14500. My mini on 14500 is my holy grail tint wise

My itp is modded with a hi cri xp-g and is superfloody for a reflectored light. Wery shallow reflector, and i got my led sticking futher in than the stock xp-e. The result is almost all hotspot. Reminds me of the flood optic, but not as even beampattern as the flood optic. My dedicated headlamp. I like it better than my zebra h30 and it will see alot of use.

The worm has good value. Supriced me when i opened it up and saw the driver sandwitch was potted together. Got the ss and the only negative is the head is slippery, no real lo mode, and i wont drive it on 10440.

I like them all for different reasons, but i like the liteflux the most.

 

[egrep]

The finest AAA light known to mankind is the LiteFlux 2XT.

Why? The UI/Driver is crazy cool. Low voltage battery protection, multiple chemistry support, Auto Power Off. Variable rate Strobe, CUI, FUI, ramping.

The light is not made any more of course, but can be found on CPF. You can get anything from a simple Al body to those made of metals only found on far away star systems (giggle).

LF2XT is the most incredible AAA flashlight ever made.

 

[jorn]

Amen.
I wish i had a lf2xt made of dark matter from the andromeda galaxy That would cost way more than 500$

 

[kreisler]

Thanks jorn for your personal insights! Very helpful. You got them all, the best of the best, congrats! (maybe a Klarus Gold is missing *ggg*)
First i need to see if i am really really okay with the size and weight of the worm SS, then i'll keep it and wont regret. its design is timeless and beautiful (and its clones by UltraFire (or was it TrustFire lol?) and Brinyte are selling well on DX..). currently a batch of titanium DQG Tiny AAA is being manufactured so i am looking into this too. Gorgeous size, half of the worm, and not more costly.

the Liteflux looks like a lotta fun to tinker with. If it was such a great light (and i believe you guys!), why wasnt it licensed to some other company when Liteflux went down? i think it's still available on KD for ~60bucks. maybe most of all, i would appreciate the tail switch. much cooler than a twisty. (if KD really has them in stock, i would buy 1, play with it, and then sell it on CPFMP. people there seem to be crazy about this light and pay prices between 150-350$ lol)

let's see what the DOG Tiny AAA Titanium will cost, and if KD has stock on the liteflux..

 

[egrep]

There are no $60 LF2XTs or I'd buy them *all* right now. If you can find me a NIB LF2XT for $100 I'll take 50 of them.

Thanks.

 

[kreisler]

i am checking with the KD place, email sent. if they dont reply to my message, i'll try to give them a call. their website is in English so maybe they speak some English, huh.

 

[Gregozedobe]

i am checking with the KD place, email sent. if they dont reply to my message, i'll try to give them a call. their website is in English so maybe they speak some English, huh.

On their site the LF2XT page clearly states: " Soldout ". I think they had a small number available (old stock) some time back, but quickly sold out once flashaholics found out they had some.

 

[kreisler]

On their site the LF2XT page clearly states: " Soldout "

true. TODAY it says so. 2 days ago it said in GREEN something like "Will be ordered from suppliers". they must have processed my message and then changed the status. obviously.