I just received a Malkoff MD10...

[kelmo]

I had the module sent to my office and it just arrived on my lunch break. This will be the longest work afternoon ever! Now I know what my kids felt like Christmas Eve.

I will post my thoughts tonight after the kids are asleep.

Why do I always receive a new light when the moon is bright?!

kelmo

[PoliceScannerMan]

Sweet, looking forward to your impressions!

[cland72]

Tag for information/impressions/beamshots. Been waiting a while for a good LED replacement for my M962.

[Tommygun45]

I was thoroughly unaware that such a thing existed. Intriguing.

[Dingle1911]

Thanks kelmo, I am looking forward to it. My M3 has not arrived yet. This could be a great upgrade for when I run out of incan bulbs.

[S1LVA]

The wait is killing me too! I can't wait to hear your thoughts. I just got a brand new M3 in the mail today, the MD10 hopefully will come tomorrow!

S1LVA

[kelmo]

There is good news and bad news.

1st the good news. The light is very bright and it projects a very intense hotspot that reminds me of the M60 I once had. Some spill but it gets washed out by the hotspot when doing the hallway white wall test with the old Mark III eyeball. It has the faint Cree green tint. Fit and finish is fantastic and it has the hand engraved label we have all come to expect from a Malkoff product. You see the emitter, the tower assembly, and the potted spring. It is heavy, it feels like a bullet in hand. No blue wires like the competition has exposed in the top.

Now the bad news, I am having a connectivity problem. So the light will only fire when I shake it and it rests on the "sweet spot." I have tried it in two M3s So I cannot take it outside yet to see how it really throws. Too bad because I wanted to do a side by side with the Veleno Designs M3 module I have. I have sent a query to Gene for tech support. I suspect I just need to shim it somewhere.

Fear not lumen junkies its a Malkoff and Gene and crew will make it right. It may just need a fitting ring like the M2 shock isolated bezels need. From what little I have been able to see, it will be a barn burner.

I have an idea and will try to shim the light to see what happens. Does the base of the tower have to come into contact with the battery tube? The top of the tower fits perfectly into the reflector assembly. So I do not know if the base should comes into contact with the battery tube to complete the circuit. I think I have a spring that will allow me test it out.

I will post my results and what Gene has to say.

The teething problems are killing me!

kelmo

[kelmo]

Gene just sent me a message and it does indeed need a shim at the base. He is adjusting the length of the next run to compensate for this. For those of you who will receive one of the earlier batches he will include a spacer. For those of you like me who got their module before this issue was discovered he will send you out a spacer, just contact him. It is 0.100 to 0.125 inch is the depth of the spacer.

kelmo

[S1LVA]

Bummer! I was really looking forward to using mine this weekend!



S1LVA

[Dingle1911]

Thanks, keep us updated. I am sure you will get the spacer soon.

[cland72]

Please post when you have a chance to compare it, outdoors, to the Veleno Designs module. I'm looking for whichever unit has the furthest throw so I'm eagerly awaiting your analysis.

[kelmo]

OK I was able to fashion a spacer last night after everyone went to bed. Ironically it was a piece of the spring the Veleno Designs module came in!

It is a thrower. I easily illuminated cars and houses at 75 m despite the moon being almost full. It has a faint corona for spill. As mentioned before it has the Cree green tint. The Veleno Designs module had a very similar beam pattern. Good throw also. But this was a neutral white module so comparing the beam intensities was not possible as the Veleno was yellow and the Malkoff was a cool green side by side. I suspect if the Veleno was not a warmer tint variety the outputs would be similar as well.

Comparing this hotspot to the stock MN10 LA the Malkoff is what you get if you rounded out the oblong beam the incan projects if that makes any sense.

This sucker is tactical, not practical. It shoots a lot of light downrange in a tight beam. Its a no frills M3LT. Not a house light by any means. Tonight I will take it out to the park by my house for further observations.

S1LVA, just drop a piece of wire on the lip of the battery tube where it opens up to accept the lamp spring. Off topic in your avatar are you top roping or bouldering and what's the name of the gym?

kelmo says "Check it out!!!"

[Justin Case]

Do you have a luxmeter to measure hot spot lux? I've gotten about 11,000 lux at 1 meter for an MN11 in a Z46 head, driven by 2xIMR16340. With a Veleno M3 tower, I measured about 6,000 lux. Of course, the tail current draw was also vastly lower for the Veleno tower -- about 0.5A vs about 2.6A for the MN11.

[kelmo]

Hello J C,

I have one at work for OSHA compliance stuff but won't be back at work until Monday. I'll bring it home if I remember and shoot some measurements.

kelmo

[S1LVA]

Kelmo,
I was "bouldering"

Actually doing a mini photo shoot for the gym I used to work at. It's Ocean State Rock Climbing in Lincoln Rhode Island. It's a rock gym within a gymnastics school essentially.

Back on topic... I cut a piece off of a spring from a P60 DIY kit that I never used. Dropped it in the M3 with the MD10 and BOOM! This thing is a beast. It has a nice tight hot spot with a nice soft corona around it. It seems like there is a decent amount of spill too. Now I am going to have some fun outside

S1LVA

[880arm]

MD10's and MD60's are back in stock. I just scored an MD60 . . . can't wait for it to get here!

[kelmo]

I went on a flashlight walk with my daughter just now. We went to the open space by our house. The MD10 is a great jack rabbit spotter. Nothing hides within 50 m.

[S1LVA]

Let's bump this thread up.

Anyone else have the MD10??

S1LVA

[HotWire]

I had the same connectivity problem with the MD60 in my M3T. First I tried a spring from an old P60 dropin, then I tried a 19mm oil drain washer (which worked nicely), but I was concerned about a possible short while unscrewing the bezel while batteries were inside. So.... I soldered the washer to the spring. I've used it about an hour on and off and there is no problem with connection now. I twist my SW01 and light on, light off. The spring holds the washer centered perfectly and the washer provides the electrical and thermal path between the heat sink and the body of the light.

(Update) Gene Malkoff sent me a couple of spacers for my MD10 and MD60. They work very well! A+++

[kelmo]

Do you have a luxmeter to measure hot spot lux? I've gotten about 11,000 lux at 1 meter for an MN11 in a Z46 head, driven by 2xIMR16340. With a Veleno M3 tower, I measured about 6,000 lux. Of course, the tail current draw was also vastly lower for the Veleno tower -- about 0.5A vs about 2.6A for the MN11.

OK Justin Case here are the details;

I used an EXTECH HD450 meter in a dark room with the lights held 1 meter above the sensor.

M3 w/MD10 tower ~10,000 lux

M6 with a M3 head and a neutral white Veleno Designs M3 tower 5,700 lux

I don't have the technical means to measure tailcap current but Malkoff's website indicates a 650 mA draw @ 9 volts and I imagine the Veleno Designs towers would pull the same current.


kelmo

[Bullzeyebill]

Try measuring lux at a distance further than 1 meter, such as 6 meters, and use the inverse square law to adjust for lux at one meter. Some reflectors need more distance to focus the spot for an accurate measurement of lux.

Bill

[kelmo]

Good morning neighbor to the north.

My room is not big enough nor is my hand steady enough to do the test at 6 meters! Justin Case ran his test at 1 meter so I tried to use the same testing parameters. The beams from the M3 heads were quite uniform and did not have donut holes so I think I got an accurate ball park figure.

kelmo

[Bullzeyebill]

Good morning neighbor to the south. You no doubt have it right. It is those flashlights that show a donut hole at close range that I test further back.

Bill

[Justin Case]

OK Justin Case here are the details;

I used an EXTECH HD450 meter in a dark room with the lights held 1 meter above the sensor.

M3 w/MD10 tower ~10,000 lux

M6 with a M3 head and a neutral white Veleno Designs M3 tower 5,700 lux

I don't have the technical means to measure tailcap current but Malkoff's website indicates a 650 mA draw @ 9 volts and I imagine the Veleno Designs towers would pull the same current.


kelmo

Thanks. Good agreement with what I measured for a Veleno M3 tower. At 9.0V, I measured 0.41A draw. If the Veleno and Malkoff driver efficiencies are comparable, an 0.65A draw would suggest 1.5A drive current to the XP-G. That probably explains the difference in hot spot performance.

[cland72]

Bump - does anyone have outdoor beam shots?

[Lodogg2221]

Ill second that....beamshots PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Oh, and while we are at it, would you all get the MD10 or a custom single mode D36 from Nailbender?
Having a hard time deciding....mostly because the D36 isnt a drop in, and I dont want to goof up the light.

[kelmo]

Isn't a D36 for a 6P type light?

[chewy78]

no its 10 mm bigger for like a wolf eyes m90 rattlesnake light that runs of of like 4 cr 123s or 2- 18650 cells.

[Lodogg2221]

Isn't a D36 for a 6P type light?

In addition to what Kelmo said, it can also be used in the head of the M3, if you can get it apart to remove the original reflector....
As it turns out, Ive got an MD10 on the way...couldnt resist.
If for some reason I dont like it, Im sure I can get rid of it...but if its anywhere close to the output of the higher output bulbs, Im pretty sure it will be a keeper.

Now I cant do beamshots....well, I could, but they would be of the ridiculous amateur type. I dont even have anywhere close to go for long distance shots, nor do I know how to set up my camera so all shots would be on the same exposure, etc.

[Rat6P]

Any chance of some beam shots outside?


I dont care about shots being amateur.
If you pop one or two others in the mix for some reference they can still be helpful.