I'm finally hearing(seeing) the pelican's roar!

Finally got some of my M@g 2D ROP parts in and got it working with the low bulb so far...will update here with pics when its complete...with 2 - 18650 protected trustfires and no resistance mods i measured 8.2volts on the batteries in series and 1.95 amps at the tailcap...not sure but probably in the neighborhood of 600 -700lumens :twothumbs

Its brighter than i thought it would be! Its got good throw on tight focus...still waiting for alu reflector, then i'll pop in the borafloat with it...running no more than 15 - 20 second bursts so far...but i'm impressed with the output (i'm used to leds and dim incans) I heard the high bulb is a little more sensitive to voltages in my battery setup..Question: since my li-ions top out at 8.4volts on full charge, would i need a soft-start if i decided to try out the high bulb? I dont want to have to keep ordering bulbs to replaced ones getting burnt too quickly

I don't think your protected cells can take the large start-up current surge a cold HI bulb will demand without the protection circuit in one of your cells kicking in. The HI bulb will draw more than 4.1 amps steady state.
Will that current discharge rate exceed the maximum safe discharge rating of your cells?

I've never popped a ROP HI bulb using hot off the charger top quality unprotected 18650 cells in a 2C that has all of the low resistance mods done to it.

The ROP LOW bulb on a pair of 18650 cells is one of my favorite combinations.
Very good throw in a smooth reflector and really nice and white.

I think the low bulb would be about 600-700 lumens at the bulb, but taking into account all the losses it should be 350 lumens out the front. But 350 lumens is still pretty bright though.

I could never get ROP-hi to fire on protected lithiums - YMMV. I didn't want to putz with an NTC, so I went the NiMH route for my ROP-hi but I keep the li-ions around for the low bulb... can't beat the runtime with a stick.

I've also never poof'd a ROP HI bulb with fresh li-ions. AW 18650 cells would light it with a quick double pump of the switch, though I wasn't a fan of hitting those cells with that amperage. Mine is built in a 2C, and I am currently using KD li-ion C cells. They light the HI bulb first press every time and only cost $8 but aren't protected. So I use it intermittently, and as a fun light until I can save up for AW's C cells.

Thanks for the feedback, guys...i'm gonna wait til i put the final touches on this ROP-lo build before i take a chance on the 'hi'...i may just save it for another(roomier) host...then invest in some more robust batteries and good charger(so much for keeping my battery collection simple, lol)...

Chrontius: Are your nimhs setup in a aa>D type battery carrier? How many cells do you have in the light and how are the runtimes with the high bulb?

ZardHex said:

Thanks for the feedback, guys...i'm gonna wait til i put the final touches on this ROP-lo build before i take a chance on the 'hi'...i may just save it for another(roomier) host...then invest in some more robust batteries and good charger(so much for keeping my battery collection simple, lol)...

Chrontius: Are your nimhs setup in a aa>D type battery carrier? How many cells do you have in the light and how are the runtimes with the high bulb?

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Yes, I'm using a Fivemega 6AA-2D adapter bought on BST. It's eating six cells, and I've yet to carry out a runtime test. Some napkin-back math puts it at about a half hour on my 2000 mAh Eneloops... if I get around to sticking some fully charged cells in there and timing it, I'll let you know how it goes. Perhaps the next time there's an extended non-hurricane blackout, I'll use it as area lighting.