1xCR123 Based XM-L Pocket Light

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RichS

RichS

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I'm looking to get a fairly high-output pocket light, and am lookng at a 1xCR123 based light running an XM-L. The Crelant V31A seems like a decent choice (and comes in neutral which I like). But are there any others I should consider before pulling the trigger on the V31A?

Thanks in advance!
 
I really like my Sunwayman V11R. If you run it on the RCR rechargables it puts out over 500 lumens.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far!

The Crelant V31A claims to run the XM-L at 1A for ~450 lumens. From what I've seen so far, this is being driven harder than other 1xCR123 lights I looked at including the above two. I should mention I want to run it on a CR123 vs. a 16340 for runtime and ease of use. Are there any other single 123 lights that drive the XM-L this hard on a non-rechargeable?
 
Based on Selfbuilt's reviews, of the lights he's tested, the Eagletac D25C clicky XML puts out the highest lumens on a lithium primary (also 450). I would think a low voltage Quark X head would also put out about 400 lumens since it can do that on 2xAAs, but you would need an optional 1x123 body. At current sale prices, this setup would be ~$55, but have more battery options (2xAA, 1xCR123 or 16340). Add another $17 for a AA tube and you could also run 1xAA/NiMh/14500.

(note: I don't count lights that go direct drive to be compatible with Li-ion).
 
RichS said:
Thanks for the suggestions so far!

The Crelant V31A claims to run the XM-L at 1A for ~450 lumens. From what I've seen so far, this is being driven harder than other 1xCR123 lights I looked at including the above two. I should mention I want to run it on a CR123 vs. a 16340 for runtime and ease of use. Are there any other single 123 lights that drive the XM-L this hard on a non-rechargeable?
Click to expand...


I thought that 450 lumens is with a rechargeable on the crelant?
 
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RichS said:
I'm looking to get a fairly high-output pocket light, and am lookng at a 1xCR123 based light running an XM-L. The Crelant V31A seems like a decent choice (and comes in neutral which I like). But are there any others I should consider before pulling the trigger on the V31A?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

1 X CR123/16340 lights w/XM-L emitters are some of my favorite lights by far and I have several of the newer lights. The Niteye Eye 10, Sunwayman V11R are probably my favorites due to the mag control ring UI's and high output exceeding 500 OTF lumens but the Eagletac D25C, is a strong favorite as well, and would be my first choices for a 1 X CR123/16340 and IMO are the best currently available.

I also have two of the new Crelant V31A's only w/the XM-L U2. I like these lights but they have their good and bad points...

The good:

Cost is only around $30, roughly half to a third the cost of the others I mentioned.
Has mode memory.
As you've seen, it's available in neutral, but I'd add that the XM-L U2 is the warmest binned U2 I've seen thus far in any light.
The beam quality is excellent w/a large diffuse hotspot and very nice large artifact free, bright spill. The reflector is also rather deep for this size light and throws slightly better than some lights in this category.
It maintains regulation w/16340's and I'd guess easily hits the 450 lumen claim and probably more, but is noticeably dimmer w/3v primaries although on par w/other 1 X CR123 lights using only 3v primaries.

The bad:

Some of the initial lights that shipped (I got one) had a glitchy driver causing flickering. Returned it and the next two I got both has a spongy feeling forward clicky that exhibits some "bounce" causing the light to drop from high to medium on it's own (occasionally) while cycling through the H-M-L modes.
The switch and head seem to be sealed and I don't think can be serviced by the end user (I could be wrong but I see no way of removing the switch from the inside or out).
The light/medium grey ano looks great, but probably won't be as durable as HAIII.
No holster or lanyard included.

I ended up keeping these 2 V31A's because the simple memory enabled UI and fantastic beam quality and output, especially at this price point, outweighed the spongy switch and other initial QA issues.

*(Also, it's worth mentioning that I delt w/Mark @ MD-Lightsource who was great in dealing with me and sending back two lights, and beyond generous in throwing in some extra swag for my trouble...a truely honest guy who I would readily recommend for Crelant products)!

Hope this helps...
 
cyclesport said:
1 X CR123/16340 lights w/XM-L emitters are some of my favorite lights by far and I have several of the newer lights. The Niteye Eye 10, Sunwayman V11R are probably my favorites due to the mag control ring UI's and high output exceeding 500 OTF lumens but the Eagletac D25C, is a strong favorite as well, and would be my first choices for a 1 X CR123/16340 and IMO are the best currently available.

I also have two of the new Crelant V31A's only w/the XM-L U2. I like these lights but they have their good and bad points...

The good:

Cost is only around $30, roughly half to a third the cost of the others I mentioned.
Has mode memory.
As you've seen, it's available in neutral, but I'd add that the XM-L U2 is the warmest binned U2 I've seen thus far in any light.
The beam quality is excellent w/a large diffuse hotspot and very nice large artifact free, bright spill. The reflector is also rather deep for this size light and throws slightly better than some lights in this category.
It maintains regulation w/16340's and I'd guess easily hits the 450 lumen claim and probably more, but is noticeably dimmer w/3v primaries although on par w/other 1 X CR123 lights using only 3v primaries.

The bad:

Some of the initial lights that shipped (I got one) had a glitchy driver causing flickering. Returned it and the next two I got both has a spongy feeling forward clicky that exhibits some "bounce" causing the light to drop from high to medium on it's own (occasionally) while cycling through the H-M-L modes.
The switch and head seem to be sealed and I don't think can be serviced by the end user (I could be wrong but I see no way of removing the switch from the inside or out).
The light/medium grey ano looks great, but probably won't be as durable as HAIII.
No holster or lanyard included.

I ended up keeping these 2 V31A's because the simple memory enabled UI and fantastic beam quality and output, especially at this price point, outweighed the spongy switch and other initial QA issues.

*(Also, it's worth mentioning that I delt w/Mark @ MD-Lightsource who was great in dealing with me and sending back two lights, and beyond generous in throwing in some extra swag for my trouble...a truely honest guy who I would readily recommend for Crelant products)!

Hope this helps...
Click to expand...

Wow - great info! Thanks so much for taking the time to formulate such a detailed response. I couldn't pass up the $29 price point, plus I'm a "neutral only" kind of guy and sometimes have a hard time finding what I want in neutral/warm tint - so I pulled the trigger on this one. But, I looked at that D25C and it's calling my name too....

Thanks for everyone's input!
 
JetBeam RRT-01! It fits your criteria, and similar to the Sunwayman mentioned earlier, can put out 500lm on an RCR (but only for 20-30 mins i believe). I've been using primaries and I believe the posted output is 220 lumen max (but at 1.5 hrs) which is plenty bright for this small of a light. It's a rotary control (which I absolutely love) but understand it's not for everyone. If you're a moonlight mode fan, this is the light for you. You can dial it down as low as you could possible ever use.
 
Olight S10 Baton

If you have not already have a look at selfbuilts review and look closely at the output and runtimes on both CR123 and RCR123. I totally understand wanting to use cr123 because you don't like the runtimes on rcr, I was pretty impressed with what the S10 can do and this is the first time I've went with RCR and just used CR123 as backup.
 
Here's an alternative if you don't mind a more chunky light.


Solarforce L2M 2012 Edition ($10.99 from Solarforce Sales)

The L2M is great as you can run in 1xRCR length or 2xRCR/1x18650 length if you want.

Forward clicky and nicely designed and built.

I'm running mine with a Manafont Ultrafire 3 mode (H/M/L) XM-L T6 drop in ($15) which I think is over 800 lumens OTF. It really is very bright a nice even beam even with a SMO and the larger head means it has fairly ok beam distance/throw too. I'm running mine on 1xAW RCR.

This particular drop in won't offer the best run time and it isn't great for prolonged use. But it is hugely affective and pocket friendly. And of course being a p60 means you have lots of drop in options if you want more run time, more throw, more flood.
 
cyclesport said:
I also have two of the new Crelant V31A's only w/the XM-L U2. I like these lights but they have their good and bad points...

The good:

Cost is only around $30, roughly half to a third the cost of the others I mentioned.
Has mode memory.
As you've seen, it's available in neutral, but I'd add that the XM-L U2 is the warmest binned U2 I've seen thus far in any light.
The beam quality is excellent w/a large diffuse hotspot and very nice large artifact free, bright spill. The reflector is also rather deep for this size light and throws slightly better than some lights in this category.
It maintains regulation w/16340's and I'd guess easily hits the 450 lumen claim and probably more, but is noticeably dimmer w/3v primaries although on par w/other 1 X CR123 lights using only 3v primaries.

The bad:

Some of the initial lights that shipped (I got one) had a glitchy driver causing flickering. Returned it and the next two I got both has a spongy feeling forward clicky that exhibits some "bounce" causing the light to drop from high to medium on it's own (occasionally) while cycling through the H-M-L modes.
The switch and head seem to be sealed and I don't think can be serviced by the end user (I could be wrong but I see no way of removing the switch from the inside or out).
The light/medium grey ano looks great, but probably won't be as durable as HAIII.
No holster or lanyard included.

I ended up keeping these 2 V31A's because the simple memory enabled UI and fantastic beam quality and output, especially at this price point, outweighed the spongy switch and other initial QA issues.
Click to expand...

I also have purchased this light. I agree with your evaluation, it is a good deal at this price. However, I can't keep it on the high level (450 lumens) more than a few minutes. This is with batteries (RCR) fresh off the charger. After one or 2 minutes, it will fall back to medium level. When I cycle through the levels with a light press on the switch, it will double flash on high, settling on medium instead. I think it might be a problem with the battery not being able to withstand the high current demand (1A), but I could be wrong. My batteries are protected Trustfire and Battery Junction. I am waiting for Nitecore batteries (4A capable according to the manufacturer).

What do you think: is it a battery problem or a defective switch/circuit?
 
I know it's not XML, but the Nitecore EC1 has a very high output on a 16340. One of the furthest throwing CR123 lights available. A REAL 400 lumens OTF and over 6000 Lux.
 
rpelle22 said:
I also have purchased this light. I agree with your evaluation, it is a good deal at this price. However, I can't keep it on the high level (450 lumens) more than a few minutes. This is with batteries (RCR) fresh off the charger. After one or 2 minutes, it will fall back to medium level. When I cycle through the levels with a light press on the switch, it will double flash on high, settling on medium instead. I think it might be a problem with the battery not being able to withstand the high current demand (1A), but I could be wrong. My batteries are protected Trustfire and Battery Junction. I am waiting for Nitecore batteries (4A capable according to the manufacturer).


What do you think: is it a battery problem or a defective switch/circuit?
Click to expand...

Interesting? As I already stated, I have two of the V31A's and up till reading your post I thought this was a case of cheap switches (bounce) causing the drop from high to medium when trying to select high...but you're stating your V31A drops down after a full two minutes?!! If that is literally the case, then it has to be the driver electronics. My two lights sometimes drop from high to medium immeadiately as though it's caused by the switch...there is no delay as you state, hence my speculation that this was/is switch related. *I have tried many different 16340 brands and all do the same thing so I don't think it's battery related, although I always let my Li-ions drop to nominal, and don't use batteries fresh off the charger.

The reason I have two is that I complained to the dealer I bought them from, and he let me keep the defective light sending me another free replacement. The replacement V31A was fine at first, but then it ultimately started dropping from high to medium as well (although not nearly as often as the other). Since he essentially let me have two lights for the price of one, I dropped the issue and just live with the problem since it is only a minor glitch and the lights are still usable.

Your problem sounds worse however with this two minute delay in drop, and would contact the dealer and ask for another light, or refund. I believe Crelant has a widespread issue with either the switch or driver in these lights...too bad because they have one of the best beam patterns of any XML-U2 light I have seen, maintain regulation w/16340's, and are a bargain if you could get one that worked.
 
cyclesport said:
Interesting? As I already stated, I have two of the V31A's and up till reading your post I thought this was a case of cheap switches (bounce) causing the drop from high to medium when trying to select high...but you're stating your V31A drops down after a full two minutes?!! If that is literally the case, then it has to be the driver electronics. My two lights sometimes drop from high to medium immeadiately as though it's caused by the switch...there is no delay as you state, hence my speculation that this was/is switch related. *I have tried many different 16340 brands and all do the same thing so I don't think it's battery related, although I always let my Li-ions drop to nominal, and don't use batteries fresh off the charger.

The reason I have two is that I complained to the dealer I bought them from, and he let me keep the defective light sending me another free replacement. The replacement V31A was fine at first, but then it ultimately started dropping from high to medium as well (although not nearly as often as the other). Since he essentially let me have two lights for the price of one, I dropped the issue and just live with the problem since it is only a minor glitch and the lights are still usable.

Your problem sounds worse however with this two minute delay in drop, and would contact the dealer and ask for another light, or refund. I believe Crelant has a widespread issue with either the switch or driver in these lights...too bad because they have one of the best beam patterns of any XML-U2 light I have seen, maintain regulation w/16340's, and are a bargain if you could get one that worked.
Click to expand...

I think indeed that I will return the light to the dealer (MD-Lightsource) and ask for a replacement. I hope that not all these lights are defective. I bought it mainly for the high level, so it is pointless to have another light that can output 128 lumens! I took a chance with this new brand but I should have stuck with the established ones (Jetbeam, Nitecore, etc).
 
rpelle22 said:
I think indeed that I will return the light to the dealer (MD-Lightsource) and ask for a replacement. I hope that not all these lights are defective. I bought it mainly for the high level, so it is pointless to have another light that can output 128 lumens! I took a chance with this new brand but I should have stuck with the established ones (Jetbeam, Nitecore, etc).
Click to expand...

Mark (MD Lightsource owner) is an honest dealer, and is certainly aware of this problem...no doubt he'll take care of you. He'll probably personally check the function of a replacement light, if requested, to make sure you get a working light. As I said both of my V31A's occasionally drop from high to medium, but it happens instantly (no 2min. wait as yours does) and I simply cycle back to high so I tolerate it. I guess for me, the exceptional beam pattern and tint outweigh the minor glitch. :shrug:

Sometimes a 2nd or 3rd production run of product sifts out the initial light's manuf. problems, so this may have been corrected by now?
 
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