First impressions..DX: L1P type with Seoul !! MTE 1xAA SSCP4 42180-U

[Eskimonio]

Bat,

It's not yet dark here, but I don't even think it's going to be close.

That Brinkmann 3w 3xAAA is one of the brighter lights I own, and I'm sure it will win hands down.

***SCREECH !!!! ***

I just took them both outside (there is only minimal ambient light outside now) and the stock of this single AA just went up a notch.

At 15' distance, the spill was similar in diameter for both lights. The Brinkmann has a hotspot that measures appx 1 foot dia at 15', and is easily 2 or 3x as bright as the hotspot of the MTE, which is appx 2.5-3' in diameter and is much more nebulous, not as crisp a hotspot as the Brinkmann. * Disclaimer: this is all to my untrained and very subjective eye. *

Truthfully, they may put out similar overall light per a measurement device, but it's difficult to discern, since the MTE's hotspot is larger, but less bright.

The output of the little MTE has just impressed me...I thought the 3w would summarily win, and it might have, but the race was much closer than I thought it would be when I had begun typing this reply.

** additional info

With assistance, from 15' I measured spills on the MTE and Brink 3w. MTE has spill diameter of appx 15' whereas Brink 3W had spill diam of 13'. I used my gf as a measurement baseline and since she's 5'11", my spill #s are pretty accurate. So it looks like the spill of the MTE is wider in diameter than the Brink, but less bright. The photo below and my subjective interpretations above are using freshly charged ROV Hybrid batteries.


** Edit **

Please forgive me, this is my first attempt at doing a beamshot of any kind...my photography needs big work, but in an effort to give further comparison, this is my attempt:





Low Left = L0D-CE on HIGH
Up Center = MTE SSC w/Seoul
Low Right = Brinkmann 3W 3xAAA (grey w/black plastic purch @ Target)

Flashlights held @ 15 feet away from wall...spills are not well represented here, but I have given diameters above.

 

[Gryloc]

Thanks there. Nice job explaining things. I got mine in the mail a few days ago and I need to get around to get comparison pictures. I was bored and tested the current and voltage at the battery, then I decided to open her up. I was able to measure the voltage and current at the emitter. I did so using my multimeter on the current function (though it uses that small valued shunt resistor in there making things inaccurate). I also did tests on a freshly charged Energizer NiMH AA cell, a very lightly used Duracell Alkaline battery, and then two of those same NiMH batteries tied together in parallel (the two wires were run to the contacts). I used the two rechargeables in parallel just to allow the boost circuit to suck as much current as possible (in case someone used a high capacity AA in the far future). I should have tried two alkalines in parallel cause of the higher voltages also now I think of it. With the voltage and current measurements (both input and output), I could determine a very rough efficiency figure. I ended up testing most of the readings twice over time just to make sure things were okay, and they were. Please do not use any of these measurements to slam or overly praise this flashlight (or brag or complain to others or something), because this is just a very uncontrolled experiment. I just tried my best...

First off, with Duracell alkaline AA (that I got in the blister pack with my new mini MaLED -the freshest I own currently) I got these results:
Vin - 1.05V (here, the battery was under load during measurement)
Iin - 1.26A
Vout - 3.13V (across emitter)
Iout - 0.38A
Win - 1.32W
Wout - 1.19W
Circuit Efficiency - ~90%

With the year old, freshly charged Energizer NiMH AA (2500mAh), I got these results:
Vin - 1.02V (measured under load)
Iin - 1.05A
Vout - 3.08V (across emitter)
Iout - 0.34A
Win - 1.07W
Wout - 1.04W
Circuit Efficiency - ~97% (something went wrong here, I think)

Finally, with two of the above rechargeable batteries in parallel, with the wires pressed against the contacts of the circuit, I got these measurements:
Vin - 1.16V (measured under load)
Iin - 1.59A
Vout - 3.18V (across emitter)
Iout - 0.50A
Win - 1.84W
Wout - 1.59W
Circuit Efficiency - ~86%

So, there you go. I need to do this again maybe with some new NiMH and AAs just to make sure things are correct. The current outputs were lower than I thought it would be. I thought that these were run at "3W" maybe, but they are far from that. Even if you can cram a D-sized NiMH cell in there (for higher capacity), you will only expect about 500mA to be delivered to the emitter (which from the specs sheet, you can estimate the brightness in lumens). I guess that this level of current is not that bad for a tiny light (I am used to much bigger and higher wattage lights). It just sucks seeing how much current is drawn from the poor single AA just to achieve that level of current at the LED. I might have to get a good AA Seoul light just to compensate.

Anyway, just as a warning, DO NOT give this flashlight any more voltage than what a freshly charged Alkaline can deliver!!! I tried using two NiMH cells (with a low charge ~1.15V) in series to see if the circuit can handle two cells, and it didnt like that! Output dimmed really quick and I immediately removed the power source (was on for a split second). Thats a no no. I also had an odd power source (Peltier with massive heatsinks for a special project), and that produced 1.9V and I tried that on this light and the same happened. I now know that nothing but a NiMH or Alkaline cell will work properly.

I hope this was slightly useful, especially for those afraid to open the head up (was tricky). I will try to get beamshots later, but I don't know with how busy I have been lately. Even though I removed the hot-glued reflector, it easily got reentered when I reassembled it and the beam pattern looked like it did when I got it. Okay, I really gotta go. Good luck with further tests and have fun with these bright little buggers...


-Tony

 

[Eskimonio]

Re: They've arrived !! First impressions..DX: L1P type with Seoul !!

Anyone else have any flickering with theirs or maybe brighter output compared to a L1P

Update: both of my two units exhibit this flickering...I used freshly charged batteries, and as you describe, the light flickers brighter and then darker in semi-random intervals.

I need to send one unit back anyway since it won't turn on/off with the clickie, but maybe I'll try the aluminum foil ring trick.

From your description, it looks like you put a ring of foil circumferentially near the positive contact at the head of the light? Can you give me an idea of how big the ring is and any other considerations? e.g. if it cannot be touching a certain part of the back of the contact plate or similar.

 

[Yapo]

Heres a pic of it

The aluminium foils actually been compressed when it screwed it on. and as for the body tube, mine had paint spillage on both ends... so i sanded them clean with some sand paper. Hope it helps because everyone seems to have their own problems and solutions for their torch.
http://org22.zorpia.com/0/2989/19131477.523046.jpg

 

[waiwak]

The aluminium foils actually been compressed when it screwed it on. and as for the body tube, mine had paint spillage on both ends... so i sanded them clean with some sand paper. Hope it helps because everyone seems to have their own problems and solutions for their torch.

I'm still waiting for my DX MTE to show up in the mail (it shipped Friday), but I've been following this thread to see what I should expect.

I developed similar flickering problems with my[size=-1] Advanced Auto Parts 2C Luxeon. It turned out that there is a ring (looks like a washer) which screws in to hold the electronics package in the body, and that ring had come loose. Because it was loose, the electronics package wasn't making good contact with the body. Tightening this ring solved the flickering problem.

Now, like I said, I have not received my DX MTE, so I don't know how it is constructed. But something has to be holding the circuit board, the reflector, and the lens in the flashlight head. Is there a ring under that wad of tinfoil? If there is, try removing the tinfoil and screwing in that ring tight against the circuit board.
[/size]

 

[HiltiHome]

This light needs some serious tweaking to make it usefull.

First off all there has to be a fix for the poor contact in the head.

I'm still seeking for a perfect solution,

but found an easy mod for the stiff switch:

Remove the original rubber boot, ream or drill the hole from 11 to 12mm,
mount a Fenix rubber boot an add a 8x1mm plastic disk between the rubber and the switch.

Works like it should, easy to to press with my thumb.

 

[Yapo]

lol yeh ive tried openin up the tail switch but like every other light i have it seems to be stuck on...Maybe it's a sign that I wasnt meant to be a modder. I got a golston light which is threadlocked at the head so i cant mod that...and i cant seem to open up the tail of my L1P or this light...the threads just wont budge...and ive left som scratch marks with the effort.

 

[luchs]

i was just playing with the MTE and noticed, that its head fits on the LxT body!!!

the MTE head gets quit hot cause i'm using the L123T-tube :naughty:
you're loosing the second mode.

it also fits on the MKII head, but you still can see some of its thread.
and it is also only one level of light.

this little thing has an aweful beam and is very bright.
it's very useful for nearer distance cause of it's regulary beam. you can't difference spot and beam by using. thats great!!!

 

[swxb12]

After a brief backorder, I received my MTE 1xAA Seoul light from DX.

Threads were not dirty, and certainly not lubed much if at all but it operated just fine out of the box.

I like how the light has a soft-press on the clicky so that one use the light as a momentary. You can manually strobe/sos/etc.

What I like best is the color rendition. My whitest looking light now appears blue... I used to think whitest tint was best... This MTE has a warm tint and reveals colors in the dark much more accurately than most of my other lights.

Beam appears flawless even though its a smooth reflector. I like the soft and wide-ish hotspot that blends into the spill. Great indoor or shortrange light for sure.

Outstanding 1xAA for $15 shipped. :thumbsup:

 

[swxb12]

I must mention that the momentary only works after the light is on. (soft press to turn off, release to turn on again, click to fully turn light off)