MicroFire 24W HID Evaluation and Discussion thread

4sevens

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This thread is the split-off discussion about the WarriorII from this groupbuy:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/124886

____________________________________________________

Oh my. My warrior II just showed up. I plugged it in the charge and in
10 minutes it was ready (it must have been charged already).

Cheers to RR for a quick ship!

The warrior II has the vented holes in the head. It's been running 15 minutes
so far and it's pretty hot. Not just the head but the entire body.

Very nice size - length actually. it's a bit thick. significantly thicker than
a D mag. Reflector is nicely sputtered. clear o-rings everywhere - I suspect
silicone.

The beam - it's very similar to the 10w solarc. The characteristic pink and
blue rings. Focus is adjustable so you just have to work it to mix the two.
However, my bulb is about 3mm off center and the best I can do is match
the pink and blue as much as possible. I have two circles, pink and blue
slightly off center. (those of you have have solarc 10w HID's know what I'm
talking about) Anyway, a bit disappointing.

Compared to a 10w hid, it's noticably brighter. Less than the costco 35w
in total output. It's quite a lot of light in such a small package.

I just noticed that every now and then the HID will flicker. Kind of annoying.

Finish. I examined the entire exterior carefully when I received. There are
about half a dozen nicks and gashes. Two of which have bare aluminum.
Some QC work needed. But over it's pretty solid. The finish is not mag
shiney and yet not exactly matte. I believe it can be HA. I haven't done
the scratch test yet, but that still doesn't tell you much. Oop.. it's flickering
again. It's realy annoying.

20 minutes elapsed. It's been sitting on the table tailstand. I can't pick
it up now... it's too hot. Ambient temp is 73deg.

I'm going to finish the runtime and take some pictures and report back :D
 
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Kiessling

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Re: MicroFire 24W HID Group Buy - FLASHLIGHTS ARE IN THE MAINLAND!!!!!

4x7 ... do you happen tohave a CR123 bidy also ... for brightness and runtime comparo with the Li-Ion? :D
bernie
 

4sevens

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Re: MicroFire 24W HID Group Buy - FLASHLIGHTS ARE IN THE MAINLAND!!!!!

Kiessling said:
4x7 ... do you happen tohave a CR123 bidy also ... for brightness and runtime comparo with the Li-Ion? :D
bernie

Sorry bernie, I do not have the cr123 holder :(

runtime finished at 45 minutes. I just charged it up and am about to make
another run. I checked the voltage and it was 15.05V :eek:
That is NOT good. I hope this is not normal. This means if it's three
18650 li-ions in series, each cell is about 5v. I pulled the back of the charger
when the light turned green :( Not good news. Li-ions charged past 4.20v
will kill the cells!
 

NewBie

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Re: MicroFire 24W HID Group Buy - FLASHLIGHTS ARE IN THE MAINLAND!!!!!

4sevens said:
Sorry bernie, I do not have the cr123 holder :(

runtime finished at 45 minutes. I just charged it up and am about to make
another run. I checked the voltage and it was 15.05V :eek:
That is NOT good. I hope this is not normal. This means if it's three
18650 li-ions in series, each cell is about 5v. I pulled the back of the charger
when the light turned green :( Not good news. Li-ions charged past 4.20v
will kill the cells!


You really do not want to be charging Li-Ion cells to above 4.2 to 4.3 volts, depending on the cell chemistry.

As I understand it, the pack is a perfect fit for having three 18650 cells inside of it.

Charging them above this results in Lithium plating out of the ion chemistry, and is *extremely* dangerous for a Lithium Ion cell, due to it's chemistry! 18650 cells make the CR123A cell ventings/videos look like childs play.

Please tell me this isn't true.

Please...


Additional scoop on Li-Ion cells over here:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=106242&page=1&pp=40
 
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Kiessling

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Didn't someone say that there are 4 x Li-Ion in this thing?
Not that I listen to Li-Ion pack data, but my memory urged me to write this nonsense ... :D

45min is great for the size of the light though!

bernie


P.S.: shouldn't we start a new thread for evaluation? I think it would be better ...


EDIT: I splitted off the discussion part and started this new thread. Please continue here ... :)
 
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4sevens

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I check the diameter of the 4 cells together and there is no way that there
is 4 cells in there. I'm pretty sure it's 3 cells. Specs say it's a 12v 2a light.
hmm
 

ShortArc

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Received my light a few hours ago. The charger indicated that the battery was fully charged (well almost).

The runtime of my light was 44 minutes.

I do concur that the light is too hot to handle with time.

I am letting things cool down before recharging.

Cheers.
 

River Runner

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I fired off an email to MicroFire asking one of their design engineers to address the battery charging question. When I get a response I'll post it up here.

Lance
 

scaredofthedark

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is there a way i can lubricate the rotating to focus the head? without messing up my light like lubricating the threads for the battery
i wanna keep things nice and slippery

i really like this light so far! freakishly bright!! :lolsign:
it makes my U2 look like a minimag... when i have my minimag next to my U2
only thing that i don't like is how hard i have to screw on the battery kinda hard to get off sometimes
 
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ShortArc

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I should have added to my earlier post that the light I received does have a centered bulb, it does not flicker or have any nicks or blemishes.

4sevens, maybe you should return it for inspection?

From a thermal perspective I don't understand why they opted for vent holes.. The natural convection achieved could not have driven the temperature profile down by much. A conductive mass with fins would have been a better solution, albeit more expensive.
 

seattlite

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So, the postman came today and THESE finally showed up:

Picture002.jpg


Which contained these:

Picture005.jpg


And my birthday is still 2 weeks away. :twothumbs




Compared to my M6R/MN21, the K2000R is much brighter. As received, the light flickers only slightly when warming up to full brightness and the battery was fully charged. My M6R Ripoff holster also holds the light quite well.

Picture008.jpg


Richard
 
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That_Guy

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I addressed the 15V charge voltage in the GB thread. There is a capacitor across the output of the battery. If you discharge this capacitor you will find that the voltage is in fact 12.6V when fully charged, which is exactly what it should be.

What I think happens is the charger puts out current limited 15V and relies on the batteries internal protection circuit to trip. After the circuit trips the chargers voltage jumps up to 15V and charges the capacitor across the output to the same voltage.
 

N162E

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That_Guy said:
I addressed the 15V charge voltage in the GB thread. There is a capacitor across the output of the battery. If you discharge this capacitor you will find that the voltage is in fact 12.6V when fully charged, which is exactly what it should be.
This makes sense. I've noticed that when the battery is fresh off the charger, the first time you hit the switch there is a bright brief flash. Almost like a "Flash Bulb"
 

tysonb

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Gentlemen who have received the light,

What is your opinion on the 'vent' holes around the bezel?
How would you compare the Annodizing against that of Surefire?
Did it come with that case in one of the pics?
Are you happy with your purchase?
How does the switch compare to a Z57 clicky?
Is there a thread on the top of the bezel that will allow for a crenelated addon?


Gentlemen in the group buy in general,

Any ideas for a lanyard setup on this fella?


Thanks for your time,

Tyson
 

scaredofthedark

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my vent holes seem todo nothing the metal still gets pretty hot....
compared to the surefire iono so far it's pretty close to the U2 my U2 has worn areas around the knurling but this new light doesn't have those areas so it should hold up pretty good.
i am indeed happy with it
i don't see threads on the top of the bevel

and i dunno what kind of switch you are talking about...
and this flashlight is pretty heavy for it's size so i dunno if you wanna put it around your neck for long periods of time
 

seattlite

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tysonb said:
What is your opinion on the 'vent' holes around the bezel?
I don't like it. IMHO, I would think twice about using this in the rain and in dusty, dirty conditions.

tysonb said:
How would you compare the Annodizing against that of Surefire?
Cosmetically, The annodizing is better matched then that of SF. However, I'm uncertain about durability.

tysonb said:
Did it come with that case in one of the pics?
No case. Just a couple of blue boxes, one for the head/rechargeable battery, and the other for the charging base and power brick. Boxes look like the ones that ship with Pila batteries/charger.

tysonb said:
Are you happy with your purchase?
Yes. It throws like crazy, and its output is MUCH greater than an M6/MN21. HOWEVER, it takes about 20-30 seconds to reach full brightness. At the $400 price point, you get lots of lumens and throw in a package that is just slightly bigger than an M6.

tysonb said:
How does the switch compare to a Z57 clicky?
Clicky tail switch feels like a larger version of the Vital Gear clicky.

tysonb said:
Is there a thread on the top of the bezel that will allow for a crenelated addon?
I don't see one.

tysonb said:
Any ideas for a lanyard setup on this fella?
There are slotted holes on the tailswitch guard, which could be used for a lanyard. What type...I don't know.
 

vandrecken

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Don't have mine yet but if you want a lanyard how about narrow webbing (like for a camera or binocular strap) passed through one of those slots on the tailcap. Superglue is quite good at sticking webbing back to itelf to form a loop if you can't find a ladder buckle in a small enough size.

Cheers.
 
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