GreyShark
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2008
- Messages
- 359
Ever since I tried the 1166 I had for my Mag in my D26 Sunlight with 3x IMR 16340 I've been wanting an EDC pocket hotwire solution for my C3. I'm not sold on boring the C3 yet because while that would get me 18mm cells it wouldn't work as well with AA and I'm paranoid of the thin o-ring area. So while looking for a good combination of output and runtime it struck me that primaries might be worth considering. Though they have more mah than any 17mm Li-Ion besides the 17670 they don't hold voltage as well. I tried an A19 on for size and while a little long it was workable. I find it is most comfortable with an SW01 because it adds a pommel to resist the light slipping out of the hand and the fins on the tail cap make it easy to access constant on with one hand by thumbing the twisty from a reverse grip. Hmm... that sounds vaguely perverted...
Anyway the four cell length was acceptable to me but at a 2 amp draw the primaries will only deliver about 2.25v each, or 9v total. This isn't enough to get anything interesting out of the 1166 but in another thread in which I was pining away for an IMR 18350 ElectronGuru suggested that I should try out the 1331 instead of the 1166 on 3x IMR16340. Well my 1331's arrived today so after being pleased with their IMR performance I decided to test them on primaries. I would estimate the output at a solid 500 lumens.
I have an integrating tree at 100 yards I use for comparison. After assembling the C3(4) with 1331 I tested it against my M60W powered by 2x IMR 16340's. The 1331 on primaries was far and away brighter up close and delivered more light on target at 100 yards than the M60W. Next I ran it against the SureFire P91 on 2x IMR 16340 just to be sure I wasn't wasting my time on the 1331 solution. The P91 certainly is very bright and I hear it draws 2.7amps, about 1/3 more than the 1331. The 1331 however put out a lot more light over all and was slightly but noticeably brighter at 100 yards after 10 minutes on primaries than the P91 is on fresh IMR 16340's.
After 20 minutes it was too close to call at 100 yards but the 1331 did have a larger, brighter spill so was definitely putting out more light over all. By this time the 1331 did look a little more yellow than the P91 on fresh batteries does.
At 25 minutes the 1331 had a bigger spill than the P91 and it was still neck and neck at 100 yards. After 30 minutes had elapsed for the 1331 on primaries the P91 on fresh IMR 16340's finally overtook it but it was still close at 100 yards. The 1331 fell off rapidly after that and by 35 minutes it was weaker and more yellow. It still produced light after 40 minutes but it was orange and considerably weaker than the M60W.
I should note that the C3(4) with 1331 gets very hot, very quickly. I ran it for 5 minutes, then rested five minutes before running it another five minutes. At this point it was so hot I didn't dare run it any longer so I let it rest till everything cooled down. This is definitely an intermittent use only light.
All in all I'd say this combo is a winner if you want a ton of output from your un-bored light with a respectable runtime and can accept the length of a 4 cell body. It is shorter than a 3x AA MiniMag and people used to do okay with those.
There are two other interesting options in this size range. One would be a 1274 on 2x 17670. It should give more powerful output for a little under half an hour and have the advantage of being rechargeable. Another would be to use an A14 instead of an A19 and then run the 1331(or 1166 if that flashes) on 3x 17500. This would be running the cells hard though and they therefore might not deliver the hour of runtime I would hope for.
If somebody releases a LiMn 17500 for us 3 cell SureFire users I'd buy them in a heartbeat and use them to run the P91. While not quite as bright as some of these other options it's still a very strong light and it should have a runtime of around 20 minutes on those batteries(I would guess the IMR 17500 would have an 800/900mah capacity). As it stands protected Li-Ion 17500's just don't have what it takes to run the lamp. Then there is the possibility of the 1185 in conjunction with an A14. You'd have to lose half a volt or more from the fresh off the charger level but that's possible and if it worked out you'd have a pocketable light with 1400+ lumens of output and a little under 15 minutes of runtime.
Anyway the four cell length was acceptable to me but at a 2 amp draw the primaries will only deliver about 2.25v each, or 9v total. This isn't enough to get anything interesting out of the 1166 but in another thread in which I was pining away for an IMR 18350 ElectronGuru suggested that I should try out the 1331 instead of the 1166 on 3x IMR16340. Well my 1331's arrived today so after being pleased with their IMR performance I decided to test them on primaries. I would estimate the output at a solid 500 lumens.
I have an integrating tree at 100 yards I use for comparison. After assembling the C3(4) with 1331 I tested it against my M60W powered by 2x IMR 16340's. The 1331 on primaries was far and away brighter up close and delivered more light on target at 100 yards than the M60W. Next I ran it against the SureFire P91 on 2x IMR 16340 just to be sure I wasn't wasting my time on the 1331 solution. The P91 certainly is very bright and I hear it draws 2.7amps, about 1/3 more than the 1331. The 1331 however put out a lot more light over all and was slightly but noticeably brighter at 100 yards after 10 minutes on primaries than the P91 is on fresh IMR 16340's.
After 20 minutes it was too close to call at 100 yards but the 1331 did have a larger, brighter spill so was definitely putting out more light over all. By this time the 1331 did look a little more yellow than the P91 on fresh batteries does.
At 25 minutes the 1331 had a bigger spill than the P91 and it was still neck and neck at 100 yards. After 30 minutes had elapsed for the 1331 on primaries the P91 on fresh IMR 16340's finally overtook it but it was still close at 100 yards. The 1331 fell off rapidly after that and by 35 minutes it was weaker and more yellow. It still produced light after 40 minutes but it was orange and considerably weaker than the M60W.
I should note that the C3(4) with 1331 gets very hot, very quickly. I ran it for 5 minutes, then rested five minutes before running it another five minutes. At this point it was so hot I didn't dare run it any longer so I let it rest till everything cooled down. This is definitely an intermittent use only light.
All in all I'd say this combo is a winner if you want a ton of output from your un-bored light with a respectable runtime and can accept the length of a 4 cell body. It is shorter than a 3x AA MiniMag and people used to do okay with those.
There are two other interesting options in this size range. One would be a 1274 on 2x 17670. It should give more powerful output for a little under half an hour and have the advantage of being rechargeable. Another would be to use an A14 instead of an A19 and then run the 1331(or 1166 if that flashes) on 3x 17500. This would be running the cells hard though and they therefore might not deliver the hour of runtime I would hope for.
If somebody releases a LiMn 17500 for us 3 cell SureFire users I'd buy them in a heartbeat and use them to run the P91. While not quite as bright as some of these other options it's still a very strong light and it should have a runtime of around 20 minutes on those batteries(I would guess the IMR 17500 would have an 800/900mah capacity). As it stands protected Li-Ion 17500's just don't have what it takes to run the lamp. Then there is the possibility of the 1185 in conjunction with an A14. You'd have to lose half a volt or more from the fresh off the charger level but that's possible and if it worked out you'd have a pocketable light with 1400+ lumens of output and a little under 15 minutes of runtime.
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