Zebralight H50 Q5 1AA - BEAMSHOTS, RUNTIMES & more

selfbuilt

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Well I was going to try my H50 with a LiIon for you Selfbuilt but it appears to have died after only a weeks use. :sigh:
I'm sorry to hear that - I hope they make it right for you quickly.

I'm hoping mine is an anomaly with its insanely bright Hi mode on Li-ion. Thermal runaway and heat death of the emitter seem a very real concern if anyone were to run it like this.

But since I plan to use the light exclusively as a traveling companion, I won't be running Li-ions anyway (Eneloop with energizer L91 backup :)). But as swxb12 pointed out, alkaline isn't too shabby in a pinch either. ;-)

See you all when I get back in a few weeks ... :wave:
 

Philbee

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My replacement ZebraLight H50 arrived this morning so all is well again, boy did I miss this versatile little light!

Many thanks to George for the excellent service.

:twothumbs
 

selfbuilt

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Just an update - I'm back from my travels, and got to play with the Zebralight a little more. Didn't really get to use it extensively, but it worked perfectly whenever I did whip it out. :)

I find it makes a nice book light on Low/Med when clipped on a shirt pocket. Very handy in my carry-on travel bag when the airplane seat light was burnt out!

I'll try to get around to the lower mode runtimes soon, but a bit backed up with actual work at the moment. :kiss:
 

ViReN

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Just an update - I'm back from my travels, and got to play with the Zebralight a little more. Didn't really get to use it extensively, but it worked perfectly whenever I did whip it out. :)

I find it makes a nice book light on Low/Med when clipped on a shirt pocket. Very handy in my carry-on travel bag when the airplane seat light was burnt out!

I'll try to get around to the lower mode runtimes soon, but a bit backed up with actual work at the moment. :kiss:

+1 Zebralight H50 Q5 is one of sweet lights.
 

ViReN

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Off the track... isnt it time fenix-store.com change it's name :D... ooh good idea... let me send a PM
 

WadeF

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Great review as always Selfbuilt! :) I've had my Zebralight H50 Q5 for awhile now and I love it. It's a great addition to my arsenal of lights. :) It makes a great book light for reading in the dark. :)

I brought these to David's attention at fenix-store and he decided to bring some in. The long wait when ordering from Zebralight directly was killing me, so now people can get one much quicker by ordering from fenix-store.com!

I've also seen people putting the extra GITD rubber light holders on the headband and sticking Fenix lights in them. :) So you can have the Zebralight up front, and a Fenix P3D, etc, on the side for your spot light/high beam. :)
 

selfbuilt

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The long wait when ordering from Zebralight directly was killing me, so now people can get one much quicker by ordering from fenix-store.com!
It's good that David is selling them now. But when I bought mine, I paid $55 ($50 plus $5 for EMS shipping), and it got here in under a week. Don't know if that deal is still on, though. (hmmm, just checked, and their website seems to be missing?)

I've also seen people putting the extra GITD rubber light holders on the headband and sticking Fenix lights in them. :) So you can have the Zebralight up front, and a Fenix P3D, etc, on the side for your spot light/high beam. :)
That must make for a funny looking contraption on your head. :laughing: But it's a good point - you could use the extra GITD holders for additional lights. The P3D is a bid of a tight squeeze, but it does fit ...
 

REDLINEVUE

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Does anyone know if you can get this thing wet?? I have read a few reviews and even went to both the zebra and fenix site... neither mention anything about water resistance... or proofing? any ideas?
 

BackBlast

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Has anyone done a low mode runtime test? I've been using low quite extensively and I don't seem to be getting anywhere near their claimed 3.5 days. I would guess that I'm getting about 20-30 hours.
 

WadeF

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Has anyone done a low mode runtime test? I've been using low quite extensively and I don't seem to be getting anywhere near their claimed 3.5 days. I would guess that I'm getting about 20-30 hours.

What kind of battery are you using?
 

Patriot

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what's the difference between zebralight Q5 and H50 Q5? both with cree

I didn't see anyone respond to you cy but they're the same light. It's a Zebralight and the model is the H50 which uses a Q5. :)
 

BackBlast

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What kind of battery are you using?

Eneloop and similar, a few different rechargeable cells.

Even if the run times were based on Lithiums, I'd expect ball park 2+ days and that's not what I seem to be seeing.

Mind you I'm eyeballing the runtime, but after I use it as a nightlight for my boy. ~8 hours or so on a fresh cell, I'll throw the eneloop in the Maha-C9000 in the morning and it'll charge up ~800 mah, which is over 1/3rd the cell. I realize there is some overhead in the charge process, but it projects a runtime at around 20-30 hours - which is about the same as what I think I've observed in completely depleted cells (left on and forgotten about in my son's room).

I have two different Zebralights, and I'm noticing the same behavior with both. So it doesn't appear to be a fluke.
 

selfbuilt

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]Does anyone know if you can get this thing wet?? I have read a few reviews and even went to both the zebra and fenix site... neither mention anything about water resistance... or proofing? any ideas?
Zebralight says "waterproof" on the packaging, and I suspect it is reasonably water resistant given the double o-ring in the tailcap (and the lexan covering over the emitter). Haven't tested this, though. :)

Has anyone done a low mode runtime test? I've been using low quite extensively and I don't seem to be getting anywhere near their claimed 3.5 days. I would guess that I'm getting about 20-30 hours.
I've just started the Lo runtime on alkaline (in order to compare to my other lights, which were all run this way). Depending on the results, I may try an Eneloop later.
 

selfbuilt

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You are not going to believe this ... but my datalogger failed at exactly 3.5 days into the low mode alkaline run! :mecry:

I was sampling at 30sec intervals, and the logger stopped when it hit 10,000 (must be a pre-set limit). That's 5000 mins, or ~3.5 days. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until the next morning (~4 days), at which point the light was no longer producing any output. :ohgeez:

I'm afraid I don't have time to tie up the lightbox for another 4 days, so we will have to live with the mystery of when the light cut-out between 3.5 and 4 days. :sssh:

At least that tells us that Zebralight is very honest in their marketing! I may try to do a rough eneloop test outside the lightbox to see how it compares.
 
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RGB_LED

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selfbuilt, once again, another fantastic review! Concise review, excellent personal observations, great beamshots that add a lot of context for anyone who hasn't seen this light in action. I especially liked the fact you included multiple battery types (Alkaline, NiMH, 14500 Li-Ion). :goodjob:

The H50 is definitely one of the most unique and usable lights that are currently available; I enjoyed using mine so much last fall that it will now become a mainstay for my camping trips (as long as my friends don't complain about the blinding 120+ degrees of light around my head) and also around the trailhead before my night mountain-biking.

Does anyone know if you can get this thing wet?? I have read a few reviews and even went to both the zebra and fenix site... neither mention anything about water resistance... or proofing? any ideas?
REDLINEVUE, the power went out in my building a little while ago and I had to shower in the dark so I took my H50 out and propped it on the side of the tub... :eek: The light got wet but no moisture entered the light (I checked afterwards). I also placed the light in a tub of water to test runtimes with no issues.
 

dfred

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selfbuilt, yes, thanks very much for the detailed review w/runtime graphs. You posted this thread literally the day after I'd ordered my H50... It provided me with the opposite of buyer's remorse during my wait for arrival. :)

In what I think was the first thread mentioning the Zebralight, I said I'd buy one if it was good -- after receiving mine I really do think it is great!

(And, BTW, there's a minor hour/day typo in the first sentence of your last post.)
 
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selfbuilt

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I enjoyed using mine so much last fall that it will now become a mainstay for my camping trips (as long as my friends don't complain about the blinding 120+ degrees of light around my head) and also around the trailhead before my night mountain-biking.
I know what you mean about the wide field of light - not a lot of fun for those around you in a cramped environment. Part of the reason I still like my SSC-modded Petzl Tikka XP for camping-type activities (you can switch the diffuser on or off, and can get different color diffusers).

But the Zebralight is just so versatile, it's hard not to love it. I really like using it as a reading light on low/med with the pocket clip (when I'm sitting, that is). I travel a fair amount, and tightly focussed reading lights always bugged me. The Zebralight is great on a plane when the built-in reading light is burnt out (which seems to happen to me a lot) and you don't want to look like a dork in a suit with a headlamp on. :nana:

Thanks for the positive comments everyone ... glad you are enjoying the review. :wave:

P.S.: and thanks dfred, typo fixed. :)
 
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