Wolf-Eyes VS others..(pics)

[Robocop]

My friend Owen was over tonight and he had some heavy hitters to compare my new 13 Volt D36 to as well as my Duty light sporting the 9 volt D36. The players are the Digilite 9V-HP, the TL-3 by Streamlight, the SF-SRTH with N2 lamp assembly.

I am using the 13 V D36 in my Raider body with 3 unprotected R123 cells and the 9 V D36 in my new 6MX body using 2 unprotected R123 cells. Once again my camera is not the best however it does give an idea of how well Wolf-Eyes can compete with beautiful color as well as incredible spill light. All shots are inside from a fixed point. Distance to the end of the hallway is about 45 feet. Owen is using SureFire bodies for the 9V-HP as well as the D26 lamp....enjoy the pics and sorry about the crappy camera

Left to right: 9V-HP, 9V-D26, 9V-D36, 13V-D36, SF-SRTH w/N2 lamp, TL-3


DigiLite 9V-HP


Wolf-Eyes 9V-D26


Wolf-Eyes 9V-D36


Wolf-Eyes 13V-D36


StreamLight TL-3


SureFire SRTH with N2 Lamp

 

[Tico]

Very useful & nice, thanks !

 

[Robocop]

The suprise performer of the lot was the newest 9 volt D36 that I just got from WE. It is focused perfect and has a beautiful tint along with a perfect blend of spot and spill.

The 13 Volt D36 will also suprise you as the pics appear to show it as more of a huge flood however it throws that flood very well.....you just have to see it outside to believe it. It very brightly illuminated my neighbors entire back yard and when I say entire back yard I mean the whold yard from a distance of at least 100 feet. It does have a huge spot that is clearly visible with that perfect blend of spill also...the pics do not do it justice. There is a weird ring in the corona up close and if I am being picky I would complain however the output is so good I do not notice it during use really.

For my duty needs the 13 volt D36 is perfect as it has enough throw for most needs but will illuminate an incredible amount of area. It would be perfect for building searches and right now the only downfall is having to use these R123 cells in my Raider body...the runtime will most likely be very short. I am now wanting to buy the M90 package with extender to allow the use of 3 of the 150A cells for longer runtime.

The throw of the TL3 is amazing for the cost of this light and Owen is very tough on his lights and this TL3 has never failed him....for the cost it is a great deal and competes well with many higher price lights.

I really do like the D26 as well and it has that great tint for an incan as well. I am not sure how Wolf-Eyes does it however for me their tinting has always been very consistent and very white to my eyes. It has great spill however does not illuminate as much as the D36 lamps.

The SF SRTH is truly a beast when it comes to throw and that huge bezel looks very intimidating. I have always liked this light and again owen had beat the crap out of it and it keeps on going. It also has a weird ring thing in the corona up close but again you do not notice it outside. It was clearly the best here as far as throw however tint and sidespill was not as good as the others. The Wolf-Eyes competes very well with it outside and throws much more light for equal distances however if ultimate reach is desired the SF SRTH is the one to have.

To say the least I am very impressed with my Wolf-Eyes lights and do plan to purchase a few more items from Pacific.....on top of their good products their shipping is very fast and the people there are really fantastic to deal with. Hope this helps others out who are considering future incandescent lights and I am now very spoiled as I am already comparing other lights I have to my Wolf-Eyes lights.

 

[Tico]

Which is the capacity of your 123 Li-ions and runtime for the 9V D36 in the 6MX using them ?

 

[Robocop]

The R123 cells were bought from LightHound and are the unprotected version with 800mAh as a claimed capacity. As far as runtime goes I have not tested it yet. I do know that you are not to run these cells down very far or it will greatly decrease their performance so run time will most likely be very short as long as you use it until it begins to dim. I have read that you are to change the batteries out as soon as they dim when using unprotected cells and for this set up it will only run using unprotected cells.

For me this is not a problem as I have several options for light while on duty...after all I am a flashaholic and always have plenty of lights handy. This set up will be used only as a back up light and will be kept in my duty bag on the passenger seat of my patrol car. I use the Raider 9D as a main light and keep a TW4 on my duty belt as a quick back up also.

 

[Tico]

Thanks !

 

[Robocop]

Can anyone tell me what is the bare minimum voltage I should take these R123 down to and still keep their life span? I have fully charged them all and each one is dead on between 4.19 and 4.20 volts so they are all very consistent.

I have not read all their is to know on these higher power incandescents however do remember reading that the high drain is not what these cells were designed for. I will be using these lights and would like to get the best performance as well as cycles before they are dead. I plan to find the lowest voltage and start a runtime test until I get to that voltage.....This way I can kind of know what the output will look like when I get to a cut off point and need to recharge.

 

[Owen]

My poor little flashlights really took a beating on this one:mecry:

That 13V D36 just redefined "flood" for me. When he says the "entire yard", that is no exaggeration. I was curious to see how the 13V LA performed, and did expect it to be very bright, but I was still surprised by the output. Not so much the hotspot, but the beam as a whole. It's putting out a tremendous amount of light compared to the 100-200 lumen 9V lights I'm accustomed to, and lights up a huge area, even at a distance.
Sure, my SRTH/N2 and TL3 can outthrow it, but they're like looking through a keyhole in comparison.
Decent runtime on 3xR123 may be wishful thinking, but that's a lot of light in a compact package. Makes me want a high(er) output incan, even if I don't have a real use for one.
Peer dominance seems a worthy enough cause...

 

[jdriller]

Can anyone tell me what is the bare minimum voltage I should take these R123 down to and still keep their life span? I have fully charged them all and each one is dead on between 4.19 and 4.20 volts so they are all very consistent.

I believe that the lowest they can safely go is 2.7v (check with Silverfox), but I wouldn't go below 3v. You have nothing to worry about there.

 

[jts]

The 12V and 13V W/E lamps are great. Both are whiter (at least on 3 x 150s) than an MN15 and MN61, all on fresh cells, and they don't do THAT much worse in terms of raw output than an MN61.

One thing I didn't care for in the 13V lamp was the bulb sat higher and thus there was a ring in the output, but it was less of a big deal in outdoors use.

I would not hesitate to recommend W/E products. My Surefire jones got the better of me, and bumped the M90 from my collection, but for anyone not looking to spend Surefire prices, the W/E are a deal.

 

[majr]

My notes on runtime on some of these lamps/batterys:

WE 3.7v D26 LA with 1x17670 AW 1600mAh new protected, in SF G2
50 mins till protection, only noticibly dimming in final minutes.

WE 9v D26 LA with 2xrcr123a lighthound 800mAh unprotected in SF G2
30 mins dims fast at end then cuts out abrubtly, not as bright or white as with 2x17500 AW in 9T body

WE 13v D36 LA with 3xrcr123a lighthound 800mAh unprotected in 9dx
25 mins dims fast at end, great usefull beam, spot in the middle then fades out to a wall

WE 9v d26 LA with 2x17500 AW 1100mAh new protected in 9T
55 minutes, dims slightly in the last minute or 2, then shuts off abruptly


TL-3 2x17500 AW 1100mAh new protected
56 minutes till dims

 

[Robocop]

Due to the good performance from these newest additions by Wolf-Eyes I have decided to order a few more toys. With our discount the 6PX can be had for 22 dollars and change so I just had to get one. I also ordered one of the 9V D26 lamps to use with the 6PX along with rechargeable 123 batteries.

I have read where some have found the 12V D36 to be actually brighter than the 13V D36 when ran from 3 R123 batteries so I also included one of these 12V D36 lamps to my order. I will try to add some beamshots of these 2 additional lamps to this thread when they arrive.

All of my current WE lights have the turbo heads so I am curious to try one of the slimmer models. I really like the way Owens D26 performed and with the slimmer design of the 6PX I may be able to carry this on my belt as a back up rather than in my duty bag. Regardless I am very impressed with the cost and performance of Wolf-Eyes products thus far.

 

[Robocop]

Majr thanks for the runtime information as that is exactly what I needed to know. Can you tell me how your unprotected batteries are holding up with the 9V D26 and 13V D36 lamps? You mention they dim fast and fade out and I am curious are you charging them when they first dim or waiting until they fade out completely?

Also is there any way you can tell me about what the voltage is when the lamps do begin to dim? ...Thanks again for the info.

 

[Jay Tee]

One problem with these shots is that the exposure was not locked.

The D26 and the SRTH N2 were .4 sec
The TL3 was .5 sec
The Digilite and the D36 were .625 sec.

Just a grain of salt to keep in mind when comparing them.

 

[Bryan]

Really good information, thank you Robocop. Being a LEO on night shift is the probably the perfect career for a flashaholic! That's my plan at least!

By the way, can you explain what a TW4 is?

 

[Robocop]

Yes I am still not sure as to the workings of this camera however I do hope it is enough to give an idea of each lamps performance....

Bryan the TW4 is in my opinion one of the best back up lights for my use and comes in a very small package. Basically it is a 5 watt head from a SureFire KL4 using a one cell body from Vital Gear on mine. If you use a Rechargeable 123 cell it will run it at full power for some impressive output in a small package.

Search for TW4 on here and you can find much more info.....by the way it is a pricey package for the TW4 however much worth it in my opinion. Tactical warehouse I believe was the first to offer them thus the TW in the name of TW4.

 

[Owen]

One problem with these shots is that the exposure was not locked.

The D26 and the SRTH N2 were .4 sec
The TL3 was .5 sec
The Digilite and the D36 were .625 sec.

Just a grain of salt to keep in mind when comparing them.

English, please
Can you explain what that means in relation to these pictures? I haven't got a clue when it comes to camera settings...

btw, the TW4 was a KL4 picked for low Vf by its ability to work(though not in regulation) on one cell, and sold on a E1e body.

 

[Jay Tee]

English, please
Can you explain what that means in relation to these pictures? I haven't got a clue when it comes to camera settings...

btw, the TW4 was a KL4 picked for low Vf by its ability to work(though not in regulation) on one cell, and sold on a E1e body.

The exposure time is how long the shutter is open. The longer it is open the more light is let in.

Point your camera at the sun and set the exposure for .000001 Sec. The sun will look like a very dim circle.

Now take that same camera and point it at a 5mm led keychain light, but, set the exposure for 20 seconds and that lil led will look like a supernova.


Here are some very EXTREME examples

First up we have a MAG35 with 8 CBP1650s overdriving a 35 watt bulb.

Next up is a lil Fenix L1P

Everything was the same between these shots EXCEPT the exposure time. The MAG35 was 1/640 of a second and the Fenix was 1/3. A VERY exteme example.

The pictures at the start of this thread were taken with a Sony camera set to spot metering. Meaning that the camera automaticly adjusted the exposure on each shot to match what the camera concidered a "proper" exposure at the center of the picture. Notice how much difference there is in the spill while the centers of each shot all look the same. Some of the shots had 50% more light let into the camera to balance out the the shot.

 

[Owen]

Those pictures are pretty much representative of what we actually saw, IMO(I was holding the lights, he took the pics), but I see what you're saying. I'll have to look into the settings on my own camera, as I usually just make sure I'm in the same mode, same distance, etc. for beamshots.
Thank you.