ultrafire c 8 really 1000 lumens?

[burro breath]

So I bought 3 ultrafire c8 flashlights for 9 bucks each....I bought the xml version that is supposedly 1000 lumens...I figured that it probably wasn't going to b a 1000 lumens seeing how it was 9 dollars.. So I turned a hearing at work and mounted the xml to the heatsink and used a driver that is pwm and 2.8 amps...in a side by side comparison there is no viable difference in light output between the one I made and the stock c8....I then measures the amperage from the stock c8 and I get 2.6 amps....so is the stock c8 with ths xml really 1000 lumens...or even close like in the 700 lumen range? And if it is that high of an output light then why do lights that put out the same amount of light cost so much...like a surefire or another brand name.

 

[rambo180]

So I bought 3 ultrafire c8 flashlights for 9 bucks each....I bought the xml version that is supposedly 1000 lumens...I figured that it probably wasn't going to b a 1000 lumens seeing how it was 9 dollars.. So I turned a hearing at work and mounted the xml to the heatsink and used a driver that is pwm and 2.8 amps...in a side by side comparison there is no viable difference in light output between the one I made and the stock c8....I then measures the amperage from the stock c8 and I get 2.6 amps....so is the stock c8 with ths xml really 1000 lumens...or even close like in the 700 lumen range? And if it is that high of an output light then why do lights that put out the same amount of light cost so much...like a surefire or another brand name.

You're fresh. very fresh. What batteries does it take? I would say maybe they're telling you 1000 at the emitter (which is a lie) but even an efficient light only puts out 75% of that. So, its probably MAX for a cheap light like that, 500 at the emitter, so around 400 out the front (OTF). Maximum. Probably even less, very likely to be less.

Light output isn't everything, not at all. You could easily pay over 10x as much for a surefire that puts out 400 OTF lumens. Some things to consider is anodising scratches, waterproof, drop testing, efficiency, reliability, user interface, durability, switch life, warranty, etc etc etc.

Perhaps for you, a cheap DX light is all you need. I can't imagine the everyday consumer (not security, police, millitary, ranger, etc) needing a surefire.

Start reading mate!

 

[burro breath]

So driving a xml off of 2.8 amps with an 18650 2900 mah won't give me even close to 1000 otf...what will cuz I can just soldier on a few more 7135 to bring the amperage up.

 

[rambo180]

So driving a xml off of 2.8 amps with an 18650 2900 mah won't give me even close to 1000 otf...what will cuz I can just soldier on a few more 7135 to bring the amperage up.

This question is outta my league. I don't do mods. Sounds like you'll chew the batteries pretty quick though if you wanna overdrive the LED.
You might like to consider the already crap efficiency of these cheap lights, and wonder if the circuitry, lenses and reflectors can handle the increased heat from the extra drivers.

 

[burro breath]

Well I hope someone can chime in and help me out

 

[Bigpal]

The other points that rambo brought up are what drives a price up. Machine work, quality of materials used, reliability...although some companies price gouge some not-so-spectacular products.

An XM-L driven at the max of 3 amps can put out 943 lumens. This is probably a Cree tested high in a lab. Real world, it's probably somewhat less. Driver efficiency will lose some lumens. I think driver efficiency is somewhere near 90%.

So you'd be close to 800 at the emitter. Your OTF would be about 600-650 I would guess. I still think this is respectable for a single LED. Of course, you could overdrive it by adding 7135s - brighter in exchange for LED life span and heat.

If you heatsink it well you should be ok though. Just don't go overboard and toast it. Each 350mA (right?) 7135 will give you about 60-70 lumens OTF. I base this on the fact that the XM-L puts out 290 lumens at 700mA.

I actually prefer running the XM-L with the 2.8 amp drivers that are around. It is plenty bright and don't get so hot that you can't use high continuously. This is the XM-L reference, it's from DigiKey:

Hope this helps

 

[Fichtenelch]

I also like these c8 xm-l's very much, they have a good output for low money. it's not a high-quality flashlight like any surefire, but it is very bright and i doesn't matter if you drop it. i would go for a 3 amp pwm driver instead of the 7135 drivers.

 

[51coronet]

You want to get more out the front with a budget light and keep it on a budget there are a few things you can do. Make sure the heat sinking has a good thermal path to the light body. You can do this with aluminum foil wrapped tightly around the drop in. A good thermal path and heat sinking is probably your best bet. You can solder a few chips in like you mentioned but beware you are going to be dealing with more heat. Heat will kill your output. A quality lens with anti reflective coating will alow more of the light out the front. A quality reflector will reflect more of the light hitting the sides and force that light out the front.

Quality switch with low resistance will allow current flow instead of resisting flow. Good battery of course will keep up with the emitter/driver demands. An efficient driver will push more of the current through the emitter instead of turning it to heat.
A flashlight body that will dissipate heat efficiently is also key. You want a fair amount of aluminum around the head. Look at ultrafire WF-501b vs. WF-502b the 502b is a better high outout host since there is much more aluminum to sink all that heat to.

With some time invested and minimal amount of $$ you can turn a budget light into a very reliable high output torch.

 

[Bigpal]

...You can do this with aluminum foil wrapped tightly around the drop in...

And Vin will illustrate how to do this with aluminum strips here.

 

[borrower]

Couple of minor points: I don't think the c8 takes a P60 drop-in, so the foil advice probably doesn't work here. If you do a bit of searching (sorry, don't have the link to hand), you'll find that output tapers a lot as you hit the 3A mark. (So 4A is only faintly brighter...)

 

[CarpentryHero]

The C8 is a pill stile not a dropin from what I've read. It's a decent budget light too, if you want to know how bright it is you can get a digital multi meter and test the amperage at the tailcap.
A budget light that will get you a 1000+ lumens on an good 18650 is the Ultrafire HD2010
Runs in direct drive on high, so with an IMr18650 or one of the Kingkong 26650 it can pull up too 4 amps
and has a good heatsinc for the price. Once you get over 3 amps the efficiency of the XML drops a fair bit and there's more heat generated.

One c8 to the next, the tailcap amperage might be different too.
The main reason why the name brands cost more is the research and development, as well as higher grade and more reliable parts used. Your also paying for customer service and warranty

I like the c8 it's a fun light with decent throw, but it's not what I use at work were my light needs to work every time

 

[CarpentryHero]

Also, it's hard to tell the brightness difference. A 40% increase in brightness only looks slightly brighter to the eye.

 

[Ergolator]

Could be in the ball park of 1,000 lumens if it is a real XM-L T6. Assuming that the emitter is direct drive from the battery (with no regulator to reduce efficiency of the power transfer from the battery to the emitter) at 2.8 amps the T6 will put out 868 lumens Plus or minus 7% if the emitter is at 25 degrees C. The light emitted by the LED decreases as the temperature of the LED increases. This means that the light will be at max brightness when cool. It will emit less light as the emitter heats up and as the battery loses charge.

All of this according to the Cree data sheet.