New here have some questions

Quick rundown how i ended up here

2 weeks ago i was looking for good AA replacement for my old and tired 4d maglite, asked around and ended up getting a Convoy m1,18650 panasonic 3400mah and charger. Safe to say the maglite is getting the long term storage treatment.

Im still looking for some good AA budget lights. One i came across was the Spinik68 or SK68 cree. Problem is i see prices ranging from $2.70 up to $16.99. Is it the same light? Whats up with that?

If its the same light i will def pick one up for under $5.

Still need a bigger AA light, 2-4 would be nice, 6 AAs is pushing it and 8 is just too much imo.

So what should i get?

What i need:
AA/14500
>300 lumens
< $20
2 modes would be nice if its single its not a deal breaker
More flood than throw would be nice
Adjustable focus even better but not a deal breaker if it isnt


Im still fairly new to this but im no noob when it comes to rechargable batterys and lions having multiple lipo packs for rc cars myself.

I am new to 18650s though, the one i got is unprotected as a high mah protected cell would not fit the convoy m1

Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated, thanks for reading

Have you considered upgrading the Maglite? Malkoff or FiveMega makes some really nice upgrades. I would much prefer it fixed up than a Spinik! Just a thought.

They are the "basically" the same lights. There several manufactures in China that make these. Some vary in quality, and the higher price does not necessarily reflect the quality. Its a roll of the dice.

$20 is a tight budget. But if you are flexible by $7 I know the light I would buy: DQG CREE XP-G2 R5 180LM 3Modes EDC LED Flashlight AA/14500

or if you can live with out the 14500 feature:
Cree XP-G2 R5 Brass 3-Mode AA Mini LED Flashlight

Those can be found on Banggood. Btw, if you have never ordered from there, it is a slow boat from China shipping. So be patient. lol


See what you think of the DQG. I think its worth the extra $7 investment.

Welcome to CPF, Rider57!

Rider57 said:

What i need:
AA/14500
>300 lumens
< $20

Click to expand...

Not saying the above is impossible, but probably not very realistic. Or useful.

To obtain >300 lumens, one would likely need ~3W input power. With a single AA that's 2A @ 1.5V, at a more realistic 1.2~1.3V that's ~2.5A. Disregarding conversion losses, that is. To actually do that job (while keeping conversion losses in bounds), you need a relatively high-tech light. Which will cost you. And give you perhaps 30~45min runtime at that ouput - at best. If you bring in say, 3 or 4 AA's, you might as well get an 18650 based light, which will give you a nicer form factor for same kind of power/energy as 3-4 AA's.

To summarize: I'd go for a bit more realistic goals. Up the budget a little to get in range of such high-tech AA powered lights. Or if you need that >300 lumens output on the cheap, go for another 18650 based light. Or make do with a lower max output.

Adding a nice & small AA powered light to that Convoy M1, will give you better tools for different uses.

Those Sipik SK68 clones are junk, really. :thumbsdow They're relatively well built - given their extremely low cost. But that's all.

Upgrading the maglight? Id rather not lol im so done with that baseball bat, its more of a home defense weapon now but..... How good are these upgrades? Worth doing?

If i must up my budget i will, my original budget was $30 and ive already spent $40 on the M1 charger and batt. So in reality im way over budget as i dont even have the light i originally intended, i hope i didnt catch the bug, that will get expensive.



Maybe i should clear up the lumens. From my limited knowledge i had understood that 300 lumens on a 14500 was doable. I know switching to alkalines will leave me in the 100 range and thats ok. 1-6AA is fine but id prefer 1-2

SK68s are junk. I kinda knew that going in but its the cheapest 300 lumen on a 14500 i found. Ill be using this little light as an EDC at work. I do construction so this light wasnt gonna last very long to begin with, its gonna get plaster on it, concrete, thrown in a bag to getscratched and banged up by other tools. My thinking was getting a cheap light so when itdies its easy to replace ratherthan get an expensive tougher light thatwould probably get destroyed as well.

Things that have killed my lights at work before in the past include:

Accidentally getting jack hammered
30ft drop
Thinset mix powder
High heat

The SK68 will be my edc at work where the other AA will be my around the home task light, the latter will get infinetly better treatment

Im very new to these flashlights so if there is anything wrong with my reckoning please do let me know

Thanks guys

Some nice 1xAA Lights: EagleTac D25A Clicky, L3 Illumination L10C, Nitecore SRT3, Zebralight SC52W, Sunwayman V11R (W/Extender tube)
Some nice 4xAA Lights: Sunwayman D40A, Thrunite TN4A

So many great lights out there!

For an AA light,i like my Fenix e25 bursts,2xAA,burst of 260lm...........nice light for around $10 over budget BUT only AA compatible


Cheap then Crelant v11a,AA/14500
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?356605-Crelant-V11A-Review
:welcome:

Rider57 said:

Maybe i should clear up the lumens. From my limited knowledge i had understood that 300 lumens on a 14500 was doable. I know switching to alkalines will leave me in the 100 range and thats ok. 1-6AA is fine but id prefer 1-2

SK68s are junk. I kinda knew that going in but its the cheapest 300 lumen on a 14500 i found.

Click to expand...

I bought a Ultrafire Sipik 68 clone for grins.... it does ~50/135 lms (on flood) on 1x NiMh/14500, respectively, in my lightbox (US-ANSI).

But yeah, a true 300-700 lms on 1x14500 is doable from some of the more well know know manufacturers... but not <$20.

Rider57 said:

SK68s are junk. I kinda knew that going in but its the cheapest 300 lumen on a 14500 i found. Ill be using this little light as an EDC at work. I do construction so this light wasnt gonna last very long to begin with, its gonna get plaster on it, concrete, thrown in a bag to getscratched and banged up by other tools. My thinking was getting a cheap light so when itdies its easy to replace ratherthan get an expensive tougher light that would probably get destroyed as well.

Click to expand...

Mate, get a couple. I love the SK68 clones. When it comes to these lights, no need to over think it. Get a single mode though, just easier. The one thing you'll find is that run time will be rather short. Not all SK68's are the same but the ones I have draw 1.5A from a 14500 so I only get around 30 minutes run time.

One little trick to get these to run longer is to mod it into a 2xAA light (not 2x 14500 though). Slight increase in brightness over a 1xAA and more run time.

To get a light with that many lumens, specifically on AA or 14500 batteries, you're going to have to up your budget a bit, especially if you want a good quality light. Honestly, I would broaden my horizons on the type of battery used. You can get an awesome flashlight for under $40 that has 500lm on a CR123, which has actually become my favorite kind of light. AA or 14500 batteries are easier to acquire but a good flashlight on a CR123 isn't bad and you can still get the CR123's pretty cheap.

Look into Thrunite for some bright lights on a budget.

Wow guys thanks for all the help, ill start researching the lights mentioned above and take my pick, ill post before buying in case some one has objections or a better option.

Thanks to all the advice im revising my needs to

AA/14500
=or< 300lms

I have a charger that will do 18650s and 14500s so i dont want to get a c123 light as this will add extra cost in purchasing a new charger and said batterys.
Id rather put that money towards another light.

One thing that has me confused, why is my 700lm M1 $20 and a 200lm AA $40+. Seams it should be the other way around

Edit: just saw most of the lights suggested and wow $50-70+. Only ones i saw worth the price were the tna4, fenix e25 (and some other fenix AAs) and the v11a.

Rider, remember price is not always relative to a stated Lumen output. That is kinda the wrong way to think about things.

Over budget many of the suggestions were. I was keeping you in your budget. Has your budget now expanded? Or are you still trying to stay in the $20 range on a 18650 light? There are some really good options for that battery platform if you are.

One of my favorite 18650 right now is the BLF Special Edition at Banggood. I like it so much, I have 4. lol Killer, "semi custom" budget light out of the box. Tons of work went into the make up of this light. Pretty sure, Banggood offers a discount code too. $29 This light puts out a real 800 plus lumen on turbo.

I don't think you can find a true 300 lumen light for under $20. Especially an AA light. I think $30 is probably more realisitc, and it will find you a higher quality light. I, personally, would stay away from the no-name brands. Not saying it won't work, but it is buyer beware on those things.

You might want to check out the Thrunite Archer 2A V2. It puts out 430 lumens on 2xAA. However, does not take 14500. If you want 14500, the Eagltac D25a is a good 1xAA light, but you're looking at $40 on sale.


Sent from my iPad using Candlepowerforums

Bernek1, not true. You can find a true 300 lumen light for under $20. Now running a single AA would be hard. But slap a 14500 and let her rip.

Rider57 said:

Ill be using this little light as an EDC at work. I do construction so this light wasnt gonna last very long to begin with, its gonna get plaster on it, concrete, thrown in a bag to getscratched and banged up by other tools.

Click to expand...

For that use a few 'expendable' cheapies may indeed be the better choice (and those Sipiks not too bad when aiming for $5 / pop).

Rider57 said:

One thing that has me confused, why is my 700lm M1 $20 and a 200lm AA $40+. Seams it should be the other way around

Click to expand...

There's no strong relation between cost and lumens output, really. It isn't hard to put together a high-output light. What's harder is build a light well, or build it such that it will last. Or one that looks good, is relatively compact, efficient, and has a nice UI.

So what you pay for is the amount of effort & thought that went into building the light. $5 will get you something that's slapped together in a hurry from lowest-common-denominator parts, $500 will get you a custom light that's more like a jewel & might be with you for a long time. Between those extremes, pick what best suits the purpose.

Take a look at the Xeno E03. Can run on AA or 14500 with no problem, under $30 (might be possible to find it for under $20 if you are patient and your shopping fu is strong), and will give you 200 lumens on AA, and more than 400 lumens on 14500. Also available in multiple colors, and cool/neutral/warm tint, depending on what you like.

Berneck1 said:

You might want to check out the Thrunite Archer 2A V2. It puts out 430 lumens on 2xAA. However, does not take 14500. If you want 14500, the Eagltac D25a is a good 1xAA light, but you're looking at $40 on sale.

Click to expand...

The Neutron is the most powerful 1 or 2 AA light made and will do over 600 on 2AA. It'll pull 700 on 1x14500 (best batt for the light actually) and still out power (200+) anything on an 1x Eneloop. QC is not the best though - many folks have had issues, and mine has become finicky reaching 300+ Turbo on 1x Eneloop.

(note: add ~100 lumens to the above outputs if using a Thrunite/Zebralight/Selfbuilt scale).

For "beater" lights, I picked up a 3pk of tasco 3aaa lensers for $20 @ Sam's. 250lm. Cree xre. If I bust, lose, get clepto'd, etc. I won't cry about it. They use a clicky so no batt drain. I stuff 3 Energizer lithium primaries in them...... it can get a lil warm on high.
Low/high/strobe.
Has all the basic features one would want/need for cheap.

I know nothing about tints, i didnt even know there were any until after buying my M1 so i cant really say what i like having only seen one (1A tint). What i do know is some tints sacrifice brightness and i dont want that.

"There's no strong relation between cost and lumens output, really"

I just figured, higher lumens = better driver-better led= more money, totally understand the "build quality" plays a big role part. I dont need a NASA approved aerospace nano material flashlight body though lol This will be my "around the house light" its gonna be babied.

On that note i need another flashlight. Come August im going camping. Having a nice AA/14500 >200 lumen light would be nice. On this one id def need multiple modes, a 5-30 lumen low for tent stuff, 30-50 med for campsite stuff and a high for hiking duty. If my "house" light and this light could be the same one id be even happier, although having 2 new lights would be nice ha ha

With my new SK68 on its way i find my self in the need for some decent mah 14500 for reletively cheap, found a bunch on ebay but dont know which ones i can trust to be safe and have true mah. Someone care to point me in the right direction. Not looking to break the bank but also not looking to blowmy fingers off.

@sams? Sams club? Also have a pic of the beaters?

The spinik68 was purchased hoping to outshine and outlast this el cheapo in the middle

These (plus the m1) are all the lights i own btw. The el cheapo and lantern have a blue tint to the light where im sure all you know the mag has a 92' saturn pos headlight tint

Also stay awayfrom ( )fire lights? They seam to have ok lights at great prices, some even use the xml2. Most of their lumen claims are way off but im sure real world lumens fall in an acceptable range. They cant all be bad right

Rider57 said:

I just figured, higher lumens = better driver-better led= more money,

Click to expand...

There's something else to consider: runtime. High lumens from a 'pocket rocket' is nice, but only serves for show if it empties the battery in minutes. For that reason, if I need a bit more light from a small EDC, I find myself mostly using modes in the ~100 lumens range. A good 1x AA light keeps that up for perhaps 1.5~2 hours, a decent 1x 18650 light keeps that up for 8+ hours. Beyond that, higher output brings me little advantage in terms of doing a job, mostly just more battery swapping.

Sure, in theory different modes can cover all those needs, but that doesn't help you if you picked a light with an on/off or low<->high driver.

Also stay awayfrom ( )fire lights?

Click to expand...

Some of those ( )Fire lights aren't even that bad! More importantly: stay away from ( )Fire branded rechargeable Li-ions, which are usually much lower capacity than claimed, bad quality, sometimes even dangerous construction. And one other brand I want to mention specifically: GTL, which is known to overstate capacity by ridiculous amounts. :hahaha:

For 18650's my shortlist is Sanyo/Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Sony (cells made in Japan or Korea). Other brands are re-packaged cells of those manufacturers (at best), "unknown" (?), or (more likely) poor quality junk. I don't think this is much different for 14500 Li-ions.

Probably one of the best 14500 cells currently out there is the UR14500P (can be found both under Sanyo, or Panasonic brand), which has ~800 mAh capacity. If you stick to using that with a reliable Li-ion charger and 1x AA lights, the bare (unprotected) cell should be okay. If unsure about that, look for a (protected) brand name battery that has this cell inside. Cheap 14500 cells that claim to have (far?) above 800 mAh capacity, is most likely marketing bs, and simply won't perform as claimed.

Note that a decent AA NiMH will have similar energy capacity as a 14500 Li-ion. So there isn't much point in using a 14500, other than those high-output modes in a light that supports the Li-ion's higher voltage.

I just picked up a Finix 2 AA E20. It has 3 modes and a 250lm high and is nice and throwy. Best AA light I have..