Dorcy 1watt 3D - huh? WoW!

[UnknownVT]

$5.48 clearance price at Target.....

Packaging and size comparison -

Heads and LED -

Construction -

Side reverse clicky switch, the heads unscrews, and it does give some focussing ability - the screwed down tight position seems the tightest hotspot position - one can get a wider hotspot before the donut hole starts appearing......

To cut to the chase I am VERY, VERY impressed.

I've had a 3D MagLite for quite awhile - wanting to upgrade to LED - but most of the LED drop-ins were "expensive" costing more than the original flashlight
- however my procrastination has allowed me to do a lot of research and reading of CPF'er's opinions - basically it boils down to looking at 3watt Luxeon level - and possibly waiting for the actual MagLite offerings to see if the market evens out to more mainstream/commodity pricing.....

So I thought a 1watt Luxeon 3D was "silly" - who'd want a 1watt level of brightness using 3x D cells?

Boy! was I in for a surprise.... dropping in 3 alkaline D cells and turning the light on - I thought it was bright.

OK, compare it to a 3D MagLite standard Krypton bulb - I thought this Dorcy was brighter - taking them outside (last night) and shining the lights at some distant tree tops - I could clearly make out the spots of both lights at approx (estimated) 100 yards....... WoW!

Since I only had 2 sets of 3D alkalines - I actually put the used batteries in the Dorcy 1w 3D and the fresh ones in the 3D MagLite.......

vs. 3D MagLite fresh batteries

Very comparable - perhaps the side-spill of the Dorcy is brighter (remember this is on used batteries and the Mag is on fresh out of the pack batteries......)

Now it may seems silly to take a comparison beamshot at only approx 8" - but this shows the entire beam and vital side-spill -

OK, so it is still "silly" - so backing the lights to approx ~4ft/1.2metres away

Now one can see that the hotspots are very comparable - this is indeed very impressive considering how tight one can focus the 3D MagLite and and its reputation for throw....

At this stage I'm beginning to realize that this light is more comparable to 3watt Luxeon level......
In fact brighter than 3watt Luxeon on standard primary CR123A -

It took 3watt on 3.6/3.7V rechargeable Li-Ion RCR123 to come close to this Dorcy 1watt 3D -

vs. Nuwai Q3 on 3.6V Li-Ion RCR123

More than just comparable - it seems that the 1watt Dorcy is Brighter!

Here's more proof.......a 4ft/1.2m beamshot comparing the hotspots.

Now this is starting to be, er-hum, controversial........

vs. LightHound V3 3watt on 3.6V rechargeable Li-Ion RCR123 - which was spectacularly bright.......

This 1watt Dorcy again seems brighter(!)
as this 4ft/1.2m beamshot of the hotspots shows......

Now I want opinions/suggestions from CPF'ers -

Is this Dorcy 1watt 3D typical? Have I got an anomoly?

I know all the flashlights I've used for comparison are very much the expected light/brightness/porformance levels -
this Dorcy 1wtt 3D would seem to be stunningly bright with tremendous throw -
so, what is going on? :huh2:

 

[srvctec]

$5.48 clearance price at Target.....

Now I want opinions/suggestions from CPF'ers -

Is this Dorcy 1watt 3D typical? Have I got an anomoly?

I know all the flashlights I've used for comparison are very much the expected light/brightness/porformance levels -
this Dorcy 1wtt 3D would seem to be stunningly bright with tremendous throw -
so, what is going on? :huh2:

I don't know because I don't have one of these yet. But if my local Target has any of these for the same price, I'm gettin' one!! Looks pretty darn good to me.

 

[interscape]

Any idea on a run time?

 

[RoyJ]

Any idea on a run time?

Here's a review of the previous gen Dorcy 3D, graph shows 50% at roughly 20 hours.

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/dorcy_luxeon3d.htm

This newer version is suppose to be brighter though. Don't know if that affects runtime significantly.

This sucks, this thing costs $25 USD up here. That's why I'm just going to wait for the Mag-LEDs to come out.

 

[catlord18]

I picked up one when I was out of town this week at a Target and it was $10 and some change. I think it was worth it. It is very bright and has a very tight focus. I think the packaging advertises a run time of 100 hours. Definitely a good buy. I would love to see a 3 watt or a 5 watt with that focus.

 

[UnknownVT]

interscape wrote: "Any idea on a run time?"

I can't do runtimes.....

However the packaging says 300 hours run time
and 100 ft. beam - I got over 100 yards! -
(OK might not be usable light - but I could still see the spot at 100 yards)

I took current draw reading with tailcap removed.

3D Alkaline set #1 (used) - 4.54V open circuit
Dorcy 1w 3D = 0.53A
3D MagLite = 0.83A

3D Alkaline set #2 (fresh) - 4.72V open-circuit
Dorcy 1w 3D = 0.63A
MagLite 3D = 0.84A

With nominal capacity rating of D alkalines at about 18Ah - this extrapolates to about 12.5 (to ~30 hours max)

I'm beginning to suspect my sample is grossly over-driven -
these readings shows that the flashlight is consuming over 2.4 to 3 watts !!!! ........ :huh:

 

[UnknownVT]

RoyJ wrote: "Here's a review of the previous gen Dorcy 3D, graph shows 50% at roughly 20 hours.
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/dorcy_luxeon3d.htm
This newer version is suppose to be brighter"

Many thanks for the link.

Newer version being brighter would seem a gross UNDERstatement -
at least for my sample of one.
My sample of the Dorcy 1watt 3D beat out the 3watt lights on 3.6V rechargeable Li-Ion RCR123 (Nuwai Q3 and LightHound V3) -
which up to today I thought were spectacularly bright......

Quickbeam's review rates the older Dorcy 1watt 3D at 34.64 throw (& 28.00 overall outpit)
compare this with his review of the standard 3D MagLite - 78.65 throw (& 23.00 overall output)

My sample of the Dorcy 1watt 3D threw at least as well as the 3D MagLite - as my side-by-side comparsion beamshots would seem to indicate and my ad-hoc comparison last night at a distance of approx/estimated 100 yards
(note: none of either the two 3watt 3.6V RCR123 driven lights nor the Streamlight Scorpion Xenon 2x CR123 would reach that far....)

 

[PJD]

Unknown...with all the hype and excitement surrounding LuxIII's and LuxV's (...justifyable hype, IMHO!), a lot of folks have a tendency to underestimate the poor, "lowly" LuxI. I put one of the PR base luxI's from a Craftsman 3XAAA Tool Light into a 3D cell Mag, and it's turned out to be a virtual "Throw Monster"! LuxI's DO put out a lot of light; they just (usually...) can't be run at as high of mah as LuxIII's safely. But when you slap a good binned LuxI into a reflector the size of a Mag or Dorcy 3D, you're putting a LOT of the emittor's lumens to good use! My LuxI modded 3D Mag is the best throwing LED light I own! I'm gonna try to "high-tail" it over to my local Target to see if I can snag one of these $6.00 Dorcy STEALS!!!

PJD

 

[rycen]

Vincent,
Any chance of you removing those two screws and looking at the underneath of the star to tell what bin the LED is?

 

[DaveG]

I picked up one a few weeks ago for $10 and change,well worth it. Love to get a couple more for $5.48.These things are bright,I like the fact that you can unscrew the head and use it as a room lamp. Some what as a Mag - light,candle mode.

 

[UnknownVT]

rycen wrote: "Any chance of you removing those two screws and looking at the underneath of the star to tell what bin the LED is?"

On the back of the star (I think - hard to read clearly) it says -

RWAHW 0211518
17 0SLXHLMW1D
LUXEON

So I assume it's an "R" bin Luxeon I -
so with a total power consumption by the flashlight of between 2.4 to 3watts -
this is over-driven by quite a large margin - right?

The Dorcy 1watt 3D is BRIGHTER than any 3watts I have, including ones on direct drive with 3.6V rechargeable Li-Ion RCR123 ......

Feedback/comments please on this?

 

[ernsanada]

Beamshot of the Dorcy 3D at 6"

 

[ernsanada]

UnknownVT,

You got a very good deal on your Dorcy. I got my Dorcy for $20.00 on sale.
I seen them on sale about a month ago going for $12.00.

My beam looks very much like the beam your Dorcy puts out. My beam tint is white with a slight tint of blue in it. I also am amazed by the throw this I watt Luxeon puts out.

 

[UnknownVT]

ernsanada wrote: "Beamshot of the Dorcy 3D at 6""

Ernest,

Many thanks for the input.

How does your Dorcy 1watt 3D compare to your 3watts -
especially those very bright ones on 3.6V rechargeable Li-Ion RCR123?

Thanks,

 

[pyro2525]

I've owned this light since early 2006, and I'm also extremely pleased with it. An interesting thing about this light is that the same light is available under the Reactor name brand (with darker colour of the body).

The reason why this out shines 3W's is because this light has a very deep reflector. It definately beats my friend's 3W in both output and throw.

The bin for my Dorcy is RYAJ

And for the Reactor version which I got for free is QX1K

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I picked up one of these for $10.48 + tax (under $12) and put in 3D cells averaging about 1.25 volts and it was brighter than I expected. I have been using it to light my room at times and it is now down to where the LED is getting about 100ma and it still makes a good bounce of the ceiling light at that rate. I would say using it like that you could possible get close to 150 hours of useful light. A great light for eating up used D cells from other stuff. If I saw these at 5 bucks each I would have gotten all of them.

 

[igabo]

$5!?!? I oughta drive down to wherever your target is.. :huh:

They're still $21 here in Sunnyvale CA, but none were on the shelf when I went today. No clearance tags, nothing. Only for 4D Mag xenon bulbs and AA Holsters, both of which I picked up.

 

[Delvance]

Nice review...wow i didn't know the light was good lol. At my work, we actually sell these lights and i was tempted to buy one sometime ago, but the $40AUSD price tag put me off *sigh*. Guess i'll just open one up at work and see whether i like it enough hrmm.

 

[matthewdanger]

I have two from a previous clearance sale and both are R bins. They are awesome lights (just make sure you get one with a centered LED).

 

[nightwalker]

How about adding a glass lens?