500 lumens for 4 hours?

[ms86]

Hi

I found a good discount on the h03 rc from skilhunt. 35 euros! Thats less than half the price of the h2r. Im currently awaiting arrival of the shipment

I bought it with two Keeppower 3500mah 10A protected cells.

Cheers

 

[samsavvas]

I can support Peter's suggestion of the Lucifer light. I have used an 'S' model for several years - it's fantastic! I note that Petr (at Lucifer) has a new light weight model - the Z1 on pre-order https://luciferlights.net/en/led-headlamps/headlamp-Z It's 108 grams! The current webpage needs updating so you'd probably need to email him for further details. He also seems to have an even smaller and lighter light using a built-in flat battery on his 'under development' page - the XS. He's given it a price so I assume it may be available soon... Sam

 

[wagonicfolding]

I might suggest a smaller light + extra batteries. The "soda can" lights can start to feel much larger and heavier when you're hiking and carrying them for hours at a time.


Emisar D4S has high-CRI options, can maintain 500 lumens and has an easy/fast to use battery check function.


Weight and bulk in a backpack is much easier to manage than in the hand.


You could also consider some of the Zebralight headlamps for high-CRI hands free but those will maintain closer to 200-300 lumens due to heat. Remember that doubling output only results in a 25% perceived increase in brightness, so don't turn down some options if they don't quite reach your target brightness.


A floody headlamp for near + handheld throwier light for distance is a popular combo. With a throwier light you can get the range you need without needing to crank the output up as much.

 

[degarb]

Just as a sanity check, no current flashlight using an 18650 will do 500 lumens for 4 hours. That would be 2000 lumen*hours and at an excellent 140 lumens per watt would need a battery with a capacity of 14.3 watthours. No such 18650 exists at the moment. Cold weather makes this task even more difficult.

You can forget the Silva Cross Trail 5x straight away since it uses a "Rechargeable 1.2Ah battery pack in a multi-attachment case" so it will cover only about an hour at best. The other four will come close though. The Lumonite Compass R is manufactured by Olight and their H2R is able to do regulated 600 lumens for 2.5 hours. I suspect the Lumonite is similar. Armytek and Skilhunt will be about the same too.

1st you need a 2s18650 buck driver with 92% efficiency. A buckpuck 1000 will do about 7 hours. Then forget a crappy high cri, go for a 202 lpw led. A triple head, well cooled mounted on an old fashioned a cpu spiked passive cooler, open bezel, aluminum reflectors, could get you 606 lumens for 7 hours.

So far, I am getting 374 lumen builds that get 10 hours, driven at 700 ma, flat output, with dimmer, which I made years ago. I usually dim just below eye detection threshold, and run routinely for 12 hour workdays. I also add a wristlight with aircraft design and 2s18650 and cpu style cooling, so I can get easily over 600 lumens for 12 hours, no changing batteries. Worn comfortably. i have avoided 1000ma, because efficiency seems best at or below 540 ma, and I would be chasing 100 lpw the harder I drive one led.

It can be done. Just not if you whore after high cri, and rather just see well. Also, ditch the single cell linear drivers and tube style lights.

we have been marching backwards in efficiency, running after cri, rather than the 240 lpw neutral throwers. Only Samsung has broken 220 lpw, but not in a high power led. I lament the decline of Cree and this forum, each day I turn on my 2012-2016 lights.

3.7 volts doesn't give enough overhead for an efficient switching buck driver. Plus, not enough power in just one lithium ion for a full day of work with a light.

I have played with 2p18650 builds, but hate the linear driver efficiency. Higher voltage is better, and the dimmable buckpuck still rules for best flashlight driver for workplace use when a bright light is necessart to wear.

 

[wjv]

I have a Skilhunt H04 RC and really like it.
Mine is the NW with the permanent diffuser lens.
I know it's a headlamp but I use it as a flashlight. 8 lighting levels to cover just about any need. Good run times and a nice flood beam with a nice natural light tint.

Very easy UI to use.

 

[sirpetr]

Just as a sanity check, no current flashlight using an 18650 will do 500 lumens for 4 hours.

I do not want to promote my headlamps, but its now possible with current best LEDs. Our S2X lamp with two XP-L2,V6 bin and one 18650 battery can do at least 470 lumens (ANSI rated) over 4 hours. Our specification is based on the lowest lumen count in the interval Cree states for this LED and bin and with little conservative 85C temperature on the chip so in reality I would guess it could reach 500lumens. Efficiency of our synchronous step-up electronics is well over 95%. Now the are available even U2 bins of XP-L2 so when you sacrifice little color consistency, you get even more lumens.

 

[tj82]

@ms86
"5) Silva Cross Trail 5x" has been replaced by the Cross Trail 6X - hence the price drop I think.


I bought the Silva Trail Speed 4XT 2 weeks ago and I'm having to return it.
it was quoted at 1200 lumen on max and 600 on Medium.
But it would not maintain the light output on even medium setting. Their product page says they thermally regulate the light, but even on a cold night run it was dimming below an acceptable level from medium.
This bad experience with Silva has been disappointing. I liked their battery setup with the included extension so I can put the battery in my pack.

I don't trust their quoted battery life either as my 4XT on medium was pulling 1 amp from the battery on a bench power supply, but they quoted 6 hour burn time from 3000ma battery... I got about 2 hours before it went into limp home mode.

I've love to be wrong if someone has an example of a Silva light which will maintain 500 for sustained hours of use (I don't care about battery weight much, it'll go in my backpack and I'm happy to carry extra packs)

@sirpetr - Are your lamps thermally limited or is it entirely capped by battery capacity?

 

[Outdoorsman5]

My vote (if I'm not too late) is an 18650 Zebralight headlight. My favorite trail running light for years has been the H600w MkIV. I ran before sun up for years, and after many years of searching for the "perfect/best" running headlight, I solidly landed on the Zebras. My light output preference was always 330ish lumens on trails and maybe 60-120 lumens max when on a road or sidewalk. The zebras have a solid headband (no bouncing around at all and very comfortable), excellent runtimes and the best UI in the business IMO. They're also super lightweight (I think the lightest in their class.) Hope that helps!

 

[sirpetr]

@sirpetr - Are your lamps thermally limited or is it entirely capped by battery capacity?

Sure, they all have thermal protection set around 60C. Such thermal throttling is the must for the safety! I made a test for you today: S2X sitting on the table in our workshop with 20C ambient temperature run on HIGH mode = 600 lumens (OTF,ANSI) cools down so good that it reached 43C at max (tested 20 minutes) and wasnt going much higher. Measured with contact temperature probe. The difference to Silva 5X/6X is full aluminium body vs. full plastic body. Thats the one most important thing, among many others, which influences cooling ability. Plastic body is cheaper because is made with injection molding in few seconds but sucks when transferring the heat from the LED.

 

[tj82]

Sure, they all have thermal protection set around 60C. Such thermal throttling is the must for the safety! I made a test for you today: S2X sitting on the table in our workshop with 20C ambient temperature run on HIGH mode = 600 lumens (OTF,ANSI) cools down so good that it reached 43C at max (tested 20 minutes) and wasnt going much higher. Measured with contact temperature probe. The difference to Silva 5X/6X is full aluminum body vs. full plastic body. That's the one most important thing, among many others, which influences cooling ability. Plastic body is cheaper because is made with injection molding in few seconds but sucks when transferring the heat from the LED.

Thank you for running the test for me today, I really appreciate you taking the time to provide real world working examples.

Knowing that it can sustain the 600 Lumen output with just passive cooling at 20 degrees is really helpful information!
I've been pouring over your site over the last few days. S2X is really very appealing! Wish it was in back stock sooner than mid Feb.

Big fan of the 1S setup with big lumen. It makes buying and swapping 18650s super simple for full night events.

is the

164 grams from the specifications page the lamp with straps, battery holder and an 18650 cell or just the lamp part on its own?
thanks again for running that test
Tony.​

 

[sirpetr]

tj82: Im sorry, we will pick new electronics circuits on the 12th February, so 13th is the first shipping date if everything goes well. We had much more orders than planned, so we sold them out, maybe also because of coronavirus when people buy things online much more than ever before. 164grams is total weight with everything included (headlamp+headband+battery tube+18650 protected battery).

Yes, I agree with you, 1S is very fine lightweight setup for everyday running and even racing. In past I have run all my 24h competitions (orienteering 24h run, ultra 24h run, 16-18h multisport competitions) with Lucifer M on MID mode = 400 lumens with runtime 10 hours which is long enough for most nights. The advantage of this setup is that 400lm gives proper intensity for all terrain sporting and you dont need to change batteries during night. On Lucifer S2X you probably would need to change battery in the middle of night to have the same brightness. But its very comfortable for running as the total weight is low and evenly balanced between the front and the back. Thats my personal experience, not marketing lies. I use my own lights nearly every day.