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Flashaholic
Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Just wanted to know if anyone had the MTE Z Power flashlight with them and how does it complare with the other Cree flashlights like the P1D CE or the Huntlight or the D Mini. Can anyone help me out? because I bought one of them and am very curious about its performance.
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Flashaholic*
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
I don't have either of those others to do a direct comparison, however, I just got my Z-Power light in today and am quite impressed with it. Regulation on it does seem to be pretty good -- I ran a couple of cells in there that were somewhat worn down to begin with, and the light produced absolutely consistent output for quite a while, then quickly dropped output -- this gives feedback as to when it is necessary to change the batteries.
The light I believe is voltage-regulated, (as opposed to current regulated like the Fenix lights) and the multi-levels are accomplished with a two-level switch in the tailcap, one with a 7-Ohm resistor. I would say that at close range, high (a bit over 4W total, including driver and resistor losses) and low (about 2W) look only slightly different, however, for long range the high mode is noticeably brighter -- I would say run it on low (half the total power consumption) most of the time, and only switch to high as needed.
One drawback that I did not like is the interface on the tailcap -- the stock one is off -> low -> off -> high -> off. This means you have to turn the light on then off again to switch brightness, and the next time it comes back, it is the level that you didn't find useful before. My "fix" was pretty simple in that I had a Vinet onhand that I bought from Dealextreme earlier -- I simply swapped the tailcaps. The Vinet tailcap is off -> high -> low -> off, also with a 7 ohm resistor. (I'm considering swapping in a higher resistance so that the "dim" mode is somewhat dimmer -- the low on this is actually still very bright.)
Build quality seems to be quite nice, the light feels fairly durable. Also, heatsinking is quite effective, when running the light on high, the entire body heats up consistently.
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Flashaholic
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Hi, trinity
can you post some beamshots if possible?
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Have you tried it with fully charged 3.6v RCR123 batteries? I noticed on mine the light on high is bright warm white for about a minute then the tint shifts to a dimmer blueish tint. I then installed 2 3.0v RCR123 batteries and on high the bright stays warm white without any problems. This light is nice, but it is not as bright as I thought it would be for a SSC P4 light. I am comparing to some Cree modded lights that I have.

Originally Posted by
2xTrinity
I don't have either of those others to do a direct comparison, however, I just got my Z-Power light in today and am quite impressed with it. Regulation on it does seem to be pretty good -- I ran a couple of cells in there that were somewhat worn down to begin with, and the light produced absolutely consistent output for quite a while, then quickly dropped output -- this gives feedback as to when it is necessary to change the batteries.
The light I believe is voltage-regulated, (as opposed to current regulated like the Fenix lights) and the multi-levels are accomplished with a two-level switch in the tailcap, one with a 7-Ohm resistor. I would say that at close range, high (a bit over 4W total, including driver and resistor losses) and low (about 2W) look only slightly different, however, for long range the high mode is noticeably brighter -- I would say run it on low (half the total power consumption) most of the time, and only switch to high as needed.
One drawback that I did not like is the interface on the tailcap -- the stock one is off -> low -> off -> high -> off. This means you have to turn the light on then off again to switch brightness, and the next time it comes back, it is the level that you didn't find useful before. My "fix" was pretty simple in that I had a Vinet onhand that I bought from Dealextreme earlier -- I simply swapped the tailcaps. The Vinet tailcap is off -> high -> low -> off, also with a 7 ohm resistor. (I'm considering swapping in a higher resistance so that the "dim" mode is somewhat dimmer -- the low on this is actually still very bright.)
Build quality seems to be quite nice, the light feels fairly durable. Also, heatsinking is quite effective, when running the light on high, the entire body heats up consistently.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?

Originally Posted by
FlashKat
Have you tried it with fully charged 3.6v RCR123 batteries? I noticed on mine the light on high is bright warm white for about a minute then the tint shifts to a dimmer blueish tint. I then installed 2 3.0v RCR123 batteries and on high the bright stays warm white without any problems. This light is nice, but it is not as bright as I thought it would be for a SSC P4 light. I am comparing to some Cree modded lights that I have.
FlashKat, check out my post (#23) on this thread. Mine had the same problem, but I fixed it.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=151955
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Flashaholic*
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Have you tried it with fully charged 3.6v RCR123 batteries? I noticed on mine the light on high is bright warm white for about a minute then the tint shifts to a dimmer blueish tint. I then installed 2 3.0v RCR123 batteries and on high the bright stays warm white without any problems. This light is nice, but it is not as bright as I thought it would be for a SSC P4 light. I am comparing to some Cree modded lights that I have.
I actually recharged the same batteries, dropped them in, and it was immediately working the same as before -- no noticeable problems.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
FlashCrazy & 2xTrinity
It looks like you guys are both running CR123 3.0v RCR123 3.0v batteries. I tried 3.6v RCR123 batteries which top off at 4.2v each. I found that it will turn blue if over driven. I am not having any problems running with 2 RCR123 3.0v batteries.

Originally Posted by
FlashCrazy
Last edited by FlashKat; 02-17-2007 at 11:30 PM.
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Flashaholic*
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
It looks like you guys are both running CR123 3.0v RCR123 3.0v batteries. I tried 3.6v RCR123 batteries which top off at 4.2v each. I found that it will turn blue if over driven. I am not having any problems running with 2 RCR123 3.0v batteries.
Nope -- I'm running the 3.7V CR123s from Dealextreme, topped off at 4.15V each. Never has the led looked blue. One question -- is the body of your flashlight getting warm to the touch after a minute or so? Mine warms the entire body evenly which seems to dissipate the heat fairly well. Running in the "dim" mode causes the tailcap to feel slightly warm (where the resistor is) as opposed to the whole body though.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
The body is getting warm evenly. I guess I will check all connections and heatsinking. If that does not work then I will stick with RCR123 3.0v batteries. Thanks for your help.

Originally Posted by
2xTrinity
Nope -- I'm running the 3.7V CR123s from Dealextreme, topped off at 4.15V each. Never has the led looked blue. One question -- is the body of your flashlight getting warm to the touch after a minute or so? Mine warms the entire body evenly which seems to dissipate the heat fairly well. Running in the "dim" mode causes the tailcap to feel slightly warm (where the resistor is) as opposed to the whole body though.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
I'm using 3.7V rechargeables from Battery Station. They're protected cells, 900 mAH according to Battery Station. They top out at 4.15V on my charger.
I was ready to send the light back...it got pretty nasty green/blue after a few minutes. Now it's perfect...the tint is whiter right from the start, and doesn't change. Before, it started white for a few seconds, then got progressively green/blue.
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Flashaholic*
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Flashaholic
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Flashaholic
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Thanks for the pics Trinity
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Mine got very warm and smelled of fumes when I first lit it up.
I'm using 3.6 Volt battery's.
It's now perfect.
THE HEAD IS FOCUSABLE AS WELL.
However don't screw in too far as mine then goes out.
One screw was also only just started in the heatsink.
Last edited by rufusdufus; 02-18-2007 at 03:47 AM.
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Retired Administrator
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?

Originally Posted by
rufusdufus
One screw was also only just started in the heatsink.
Mine was the same the negative terminal screw so it may have lead to problems in the future, the light doesn't depend on the screws to hold the star, the aluminium screw in ring does that.
Norm
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Flashaholic*
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
However don't screw in too far as mine then goes out.
One screw was also only just started in the heatsink.
I think these two may be related. I noticed the exact same problem right after taking the photos. I went to test the light and it would not come on but started to warm up, so I figured I accidentally shorted something. As I was unscrewing the tailcap, so it was not putting pressure on the batteries, the light came back -- so it had to do with pressure. With my DMM, when the batteries were "pressed in" the light went out and current went up to 1.2A (not a total short -- that could pull several amps from lithium batteris) I opened the whole light up, found that one screw in the heatsink only part way screwed down, finished screwing it in and the problem went away. What a weird problem to have.
That's an excellent point about the focusing though. There's quite a bit of room to rotate the head before it unseals from the o-rings, enough to comfortably change from throw to flood. I put some WD40 on my threads and the focusing seems to work fine.
Last edited by 2xTrinity; 02-18-2007 at 04:15 AM.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Hey FlashCrazy,
I was CRAZY enough to take your advice about the thermal compound and it works perfectly!!!!!!! It was a slight challenge since I did it when I was tired. Thanks For the advice.

Originally Posted by
FlashCrazy
I'm using 3.7V rechargeables from Battery Station. They're protected cells, 900 mAH according to Battery Station. They top out at 4.15V on my charger.
I was ready to send the light back...it got pretty nasty green/blue after a few minutes. Now it's perfect...the tint is whiter right from the start, and doesn't change. Before, it started white for a few seconds, then got progressively green/blue.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?

Originally Posted by
FlashKat
Hey FlashCrazy,
I was CRAZY enough to take your advice about the thermal compound and it works perfectly!!!!!!! It was a slight challenge since I did it when I was tired. Thanks For the advice.
Excellent!! I'm glad I could help. I really like this light. I also have the Glimt 10W Luxeon K2 from DealExtreme. I really like that light too, but it pulls 1500 mA on high. The MTZ is just as bright, if not brighter, on high...and it does this pulling half the current, only 750 mA. Much easier on the batteries...I like that. The switch on the MTZ feels perfect too...not as stiff as the Glimt switch, and is flawless in operation.
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Flashaholic*
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?

Originally Posted by
FlashCrazy
Excellent!! I'm glad I could help. I really like this light. I also have the Glimt 10W Luxeon K2 from DealExtreme. I really like that light too, but it pulls 1500 mA on high. The MTZ is just as bright, if not brighter, on high...and it does this pulling half the current, only 750 mA. Much easier on the batteries...I like that. The switch on the MTZ feels perfect too...not as stiff as the Glimt switch, and is flawless in operation.
Ouch, in just about every case I can think of, claiming that an LED is 10W is (fortunately) an outright lie done as a marketing gimmick... in the case of the Glimt it sounds like it's actually true :lol: That light must get quite hot seeing as it's producing more than double the heat of the MTE and it's about the same size.
I also had a Vinet from Dealextreme that wasn't getting a whole lot of use until now (except for raiding the tailcap switch to use on the MTE) Unfortunately my MTE tailcap switch is now back on my MTE light -- although the tailcap from the Vinet works on the MTE, the MTE tailcap does not work on the Vinet. I just now ugpraded my Vinet to use a Cree -- popped out the original reflector with a small screwdriver, soldered in a new star from DX. Unfortunately, that reflector didn't work at all -- it was completely out of focus. I ended up dropping in a reflector from one of my Elly lights (which is using an optic at the moment), which works beautifully. The Vinet is direct drive, single CR123A. Due to Lithium's fairly level discharge curve I get 800mA on high, 350mA on low for the majority of the battery runtime.
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Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Too bad you did not have the original VINET "MTE" version with an aluminum reflector....I installed a Cree in the MTE version and it is great having a really nice wide focused beam that has decent throw, and floods a large area. It is slightly brighter than my Surfire U2 on ceiling bounce and wall shot in a room.

Originally Posted by
2xTrinity
Ouch, in just about every case I can think of, claiming that an LED is 10W is (fortunately) an outright lie done as a marketing gimmick... in the case of the Glimt it sounds like it's actually true :lol: That light must get quite hot seeing as it's producing more than double the heat of the MTE and it's about the same size.
I also had a Vinet from Dealextreme that wasn't getting a whole lot of use until now (except for raiding the tailcap switch to use on the MTE) Unfortunately my MTE tailcap switch is now back on my MTE light -- although the tailcap from the Vinet works on the MTE, the MTE tailcap does not work on the Vinet. I just now ugpraded my Vinet to use a Cree -- popped out the original reflector with a small screwdriver, soldered in a new star from DX. Unfortunately, that reflector didn't work at all -- it was completely out of focus. I ended up dropping in a reflector from one of my Elly lights (which is using an optic at the moment), which works beautifully. The Vinet is direct drive, single CR123A. Due to Lithium's fairly level discharge curve I get 800mA on high, 350mA on low for the majority of the battery runtime.
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Flashaholic*
Re: Does anyone have the MTE Z Power?
Too bad you did not have the original VINET "MTE" version with an aluminum reflector....I installed a Cree in the MTE version and it is great having a really nice wide focused beam that has decent throw, and floods a large area. It is slightly brighter than my Surfire U2 on ceiling bounce and wall shot in a room.
If one of those becomes available, especially with a Cree already installed, I'd buy at least one. I do think DX could use a good compact single CR123 Cree flashlight, as it is a lot easier to carry than a 2 CR123, or 18650 based light. I'm definitely impressed though with my MTE -- best throw of any LED light of mine by far (short of replacing my bulky 2D magLED with a Seoul somehow... I don't think I can solder something that small)
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