My Quick NiteCore D10-EX10 Review

[regulator]

Hi ecallahan,

3.7 volt rechargable cells will work fine in the EX10. I am using the 14500 cells in the D10 and they work great. The 14500 cells actually top out at over 4 volts fully charged off the charger. The D10 works at top efficiency with these cells.

 

[ViReN]

TIN,

Excellent Review. :twothumbs Love the run time comparison.

 

[HoopleHead]

Question:
Turn on to max now click it off. From off in clicky mode press 3 times. What happens?

It should go to low directly from off, but I'm wondering if it flashes bright in the process.

mine flashes bright, no matter how fast i press it

 

[Rat6P]

Thanks for the great and super fast review!

I can live with the small flash before going into low..........many fenix lights have it and its no big deal, you adapt.

I really dont like this remember last mode thing though.
I thought It would be better if the one mode you can change the output stays at the level you programme it to, UNTIL you actual re programme it again.
Not say....you programme it..... then you go into high or low mode and then the light comes back on in either one of those because thats what was used last. This is going to be too much of a cluster to remember what mode the light will come on
.....:sigh:

This sounds like the only flaw in the light for me.

 

[4sevens]

mine flashes bright, no matter how fast i press it

Make sure the piston is lubed. Also, make sure theres not too much either

 

[wild68fury]

Nice review,

How would you rate the brightness of the EX10 compared to the Fenix P3D RB100 or Q5?

 

[this_is_nascar]

Nice review,

How would you rate the brightness of the EX10 compared to the Fenix P3D RB100 or Q5?

Don't have one to compare it to. Sorry.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Edit #2 has been added to Post #1, to show runtime on a Duracell battery.

 

[I came to the light...]

Thanks for the great review! To tell the truth, I'm a bit surprised that the Ra-100 is brighter. I had thought nitecore's new "torch lumens" was pretty honest...

Two questions. First, can you get lux numbers @ 1m, both for the hotspot and halfway through the spill? Also, do you have any li-ion cells to test with? I think the last question is pretty important, as, despite the manufacturer's claims, most light are considerably brighter with a li-ion cell.

 

[m16a]

Thanks for the great review! To tell the truth, I'm a bit surprised that the Ra-100 is brighter. I had thought nitecore's new "torch lumens" was pretty honest...

Two questions. First, can you get lux numbers @ 1m, both for the hotspot and halfway through the spill? Also, do you have any li-ion cells to test with? I think the last question is pretty important, as, despite the manufacturer's claims, most light are considerably brighter with a li-ion cell.

I used my D10 with an energizer NiMH, then tried it very briefly with a newly charged ultrafire UP14500. I could not see a visible difference. So there really is very little difference IMHO.

 

[I came to the light...]

I used my D10 with an energizer NiMH, then tried it very briefly with a newly charged ultrafire UP14500. I could not see a visible difference. So there really is very little difference IMHO.

Thanks for checking. However, I would still apreciate a runtime graph, as it can be very hard to tell the difference by eye, especially when you can't have the same two lights on at the same time.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Eneloop testing is occuring right now. When completed, I'll try to do an AW cell.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Edit #3 has been added to Post #1, for Eneloop results.

 

[this_is_nascar]

I just started the AW-14500 runtime test on the D10 and I can tell you, the initial brightness is much brighter than the start of the L91 testing. I'm a bit concerned about how hot this light is going to get. It good pretty damn hot with the L91. I can only imagine what's going to happen with the 14500.

 

[4sevens]

I just started the AW-14500 runtime test on the D10 and I can tell you, the initial brightness is much brighter than the start of the L91 testing. I'm a bit concerned about how hot this light is going to get. It good pretty damn hot with the L91. I can only imagine what's going to happen with the 14500.

Just a quick point (if you don't mind TIN), some of the heat is from boosting from
a 1.5v to the needed 3.5-4.0v. Typicial efficiency for the best converters is 70%
since it's quite a high boost from such a low V. That means you're losing 30%
in heat alone. This can't be avoided and is the case for all 1.5V single cell lights.
Also, any internal resistance in the battery turns to heat too - keep in
mind 3x the current is going through the battery compared to the LED.

However the 4.2v Li-ion will be bucking so there is much less losses in heat.
Buck circuits are much more efficient and there is less current going through
the battery

 

[this_is_nascar]

Just a quick point (if you don't mind TIN), some of the head is from boosting from
a 1.5v to the needed 3.5-4.0v. Typicial efficiency for the best converters is 70%
since it's quite a high boost from such a low V. That means you're losing 30%
in heat alone. This can't be avoided and is the case for all 1.5V single cell lights.
Also, any internal resistance in the battery turns to heat too - keep in
mind 3x the current is going through the battery compared to the LED.

However the 4.2v Li-ion will be bucking so there is much less losses in heat.
Buck circuits are much more efficient and there is less current going through
the battery

Good stuff. I'll keep that in mind. I just checked and it's not as hot as with the L91 yet. I'l continue to monitor and report back. Who said an old-dog can't learn new tricks. :nana:

 

[Oddjob]

Hey TIN thanks for the review and graphs!

Quick question: What is it about the Nitecore PD action that you like over the Arc6 and McGizmos? I think you wrote in your Arc6 thread that you were not to fond of the piston drives. Thanks again.

(I did not have time to read through the whole thread so sorry if you have already addressed this)

 

[this_is_nascar]

Hey TIN thanks for the review and graphs!

Quick question: What is it about the Nitecore PD action that you like over the Arc6 and McGizmos? I think you wrote in your Arc6 thread that you were not to fond of the piston drives. Thanks again.

(I did not have time to read through the whole thread so sorry if you have already addressed this)

In short, the following:

-- much easier activation.
-- much more reliable activation, meaning, once active it stays active without thumb slipage, numbness, slipping off, etc.
-- no kilroy to d*ck-around with, bend, adjust, break, etc. The entire end of the Smart-PD makes contact with the activation ring, whereas the PK must touch the kilroy that sticks out slightly. It makes for an off-center contact-patch.

They are the physical aspects of the Smart-PD that I prefer. The software aspects bring it to even a higher level.

 

[matrixshaman]

Thanks TIN for the excellent review and runtime charts. Having seen those charts I'm even more impressed with this light. Having discovered the PTFE liquid lube from you (I'm sure it was you that I learned about this from - the Radio Shack stuff or similar) I was wondering if you had tried lubing the piston with it? I did the main body threads and it now turns about 4 times easier than before. While the piston drive isn't that hard to push I think I might like it to be a bit lighter in touch. However I'm wondering if it might become too easy to activate unless it was locked out. Probably no more so than a light touch clickie. What do you think?

 

[this_is_nascar]

I lubed the bezel o-ring and threads, but have not touched the PD. I haven't even removed the PD from the sleeve it's be working so nicely.