2021 build: Leef 3x18650 Halogen flashlight

LEDBE
chillinn

chillinn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
2,527
Location
Mobjack Bay
This is the plan, pretty straight forward, hope to start soon to complete by early next year,
  • Lumens Factory Seraph M Series Modular Turbo Head,
  • Tad Customs Halogen G4 bipin socket,
  • Leef 3x18650 from fivemega and
  • 4xFM1909, also from fivemega (and many ubercheap 20W 12V G4 halogen bipins from eBay),
  • 2x 3xKeepPower IMR18650 20A 3500mAh (for about ~38 minutes runtime), and
  • z41 in Seraph tail cap

Thinking about the tail switch is giving me issues.

What is more ideal for the lamp?

1) stock Surefire z41 twisty
2) McClicky
3) zero resistance twisty
4) Judco 10A clicky
5) something else?

I am assuming two things about other switches; first, that there is no way I could acquire an AW softstart, and that a LightSaver Miser can't handle that many amps (though I will probably sacrifice one to find out).

What tail switch should I use?
Please help me understand what is important for the tail switch in a high amp (5.5A) flashlight.

Thanks all.
 
Last edited:
A twisty tailcap like the Z41 is nearly indestructible. It can handle very large currents. The Seraph switches are rated for 3 Amps if I remember correctly.

chillinn said:
This is the plan, pretty straight forward, hope to start soon to complete by early next year,

Lumens Factory Seraph M Series Modular Turbo Head,
Tad Customs Halogen G4 bipin socket,
Leef 3x18650 from fivemega and
4xFM1909, also from fivemega (and many ubercheap 20W 12V G4 halogen bipins from eBay),
2x 3xKeepPower IMR18650 20A 3500mAh (for about ~38 minutes runtime), and
z41 or Seraph tail cap

Thinking about the tail switch is giving me issues.

What is more ideal for the lamp?

1) stock Surefire z41 twisty
2) McClicky
3) zero resistance twisty
4) Judco 10A clicky
5) something else?

I am assuming two things about other switches; first, that there is no way I could acquire an AW softstart, and that a LightSaver Miser can't handle that many amps (though I will probably sacrifice one to find out).

What tail switch should I use?
Please help me understand what is important for the tail switch in a high amp (5.5A) flashlight.

Thanks all.
Click to expand...
 
325addict said:
A twisty tailcap like the Z41 is nearly indestructible. It can handle very large currents. The Seraph switches are rated for 3 Amps if I remember correctly.
Click to expand...

Thank you! FWIW, I never intended to use a Seraph switch, just the tail cap. But now knowing the stock z41 twisty will be fine, leaning towards that for simplicity, might swap guts into Seraph tail cap eventually... just for aesthetics. z41 were once relatively easily to find, painless to acquire. I need to start watching for a better price than what I'm currently seeing.

Edit: just took another look. I can get the internals of a z41 and an empty Seraph tail cap together for about half the price of a z41. That is so weird. But works for me.
 
Last edited:
Ooooh i lime your plan.
I have also 3x18650 body paired with M6 head and SW02 switch, TadCustoms G4 holder and WA1331
Need to find one AW so i can use FM1909


Sent from Tapatalk
 
You got the sweet tail cap. AW SoftStart do change hands from time to time... not sure I really care. I do not know how long the FM1909 will last, but eBay is full of really inexpensive Chinese G4 halogen bipins. Those not expected to last, but fistfuls are still available for almost nothing. I'm sure they won't have much run-life... but at that price, who cares? I just want to run G4 halogen.

Been reading old Lumens Factory threads. Wow the complaints about the BK anodizing on the LF turbo head. Poor Mark. I just want something that works, and I am pretty pleased the parts are still available. Generally, when in use, you can't really see the flashlight itself, just its beam.
 
I run a McClicky in a FM tailcap,
Was told good for up to 5A.

Running WA1185 though.
 
Greenbean said:
I run a McClicky in a FM tailcap,
Was told good for up to 5A.

Running WA1185 though.
Click to expand...

That is my understanding, also. 5A should be fine. McClicky's are nice also because they are easily found and don't cost a fortune. But something inside says to go as low resistance as possible, that would mean twisty zero rez, but I don't know I can find a ZRT. I don't understand why makers such as Oveready will only do limited runs, sell out, make profit, then leave money on the table by not producing more for the demand to have in stock available for sale. I just don't get it.


I can't remember the specs of WA1185. Does it run on two or three cells?
 
I bought some of those ubercheap G4 bulbs.

Compared to the Philips I had on my only G4 light, theywere utter crap.
Very yellow, some filaments broken, bent filament posts and so on.
 
RobertMM said:
I bought some of those ubercheap G4 bulbs.

Compared to the Philips I had on my only G4 light, theywere utter crap.
Very yellow, some filaments broken, bent filament posts and so on.
Click to expand...

For about 14¢ each, that is what I am expecting. LOL
I don't mind yellow incan... esp. if that simply means "warm."
 
WA1185 is a 9.6V bulb and can be run on 3 cells.

chillinn said:
That is my understanding, also. 5A should be fine. McClicky's are nice also because they are easily found and don't cost a fortune. But something inside says to go as low resistance as possible, that would mean twisty zero rez, but I don't know I can find a ZRT. I don't understand why makers such as Oveready will only do limited runs, sell out, make profit, then leave money on the table by not producing more for the demand to have in stock available for sale. I just don't get it.


I can't remember the specs of WA1185. Does it run on two or three cells?
Click to expand...
 
HURRY! HURRY!

The Tad Customs site will be offline at the end of this month, so you don't even have 10 days to order your parts... Tad has not so many parts left and when they're gone, they're gone. I just ordered for over $400,- on bulbs and adapters, also the ones for the SF M3 and M6!


chillinn said:
This is the plan, pretty straight forward, hope to start soon to complete by early next year,

Lumens Factory Seraph M Series Modular Turbo Head,
Tad Customs Halogen G4 bipin socket,
Leef 3x18650 from fivemega and
4xFM1909, also from fivemega (and many ubercheap 20W 12V G4 halogen bipins from eBay),
2x 3xKeepPower IMR18650 20A 3500mAh (for about ~38 minutes runtime), and
z41 or Seraph tail cap

Thinking about the tail switch is giving me issues.

What is more ideal for the lamp?

1) stock Surefire z41 twisty
2) McClicky
3) zero resistance twisty
4) Judco 10A clicky
5) something else?

I am assuming two things about other switches; first, that there is no way I could acquire an AW softstart, and that a LightSaver Miser can't handle that many amps (though I will probably sacrifice one to find out).

What tail switch should I use?
Please help me understand what is important for the tail switch in a high amp (5.5A) flashlight.

Thanks all.
Click to expand...
 
325addict said:
HURRY! HURRY!

The Tad Customs site will be offline at the end of this month, so you don't even have 10 days to order your parts... Tad has not so many parts left and when they're gone, they're gone. I just ordered for over $400,- on bulbs and adapters, also the ones for the SF M3 and M6!
Click to expand...

where did you see that info? to me the site just says "dont order due to covid"
 
ma tumba said:
where did you see that info? to me the site just says "dont order due to covid"
Click to expand...

Confirmed,

Tad Customs said:
Due to Covid-19 the postal services have been suspended.

Please do not place order and please come back in a few weeks.
Click to expand...

Been like that for some time.

325addict, spill it. What are you talking about?
 
Last edited:
In the meantime, what does the board think of these

A = W/V

So really I want amps, not watts, right? So the higher wattages are not as impressive as the lower wattages at 12V? No, that's not right. The higher the watts at 12V, the higher the amps.

I don't understand the T numbers, T3.5, T4... I thought G4 was G4...? What are these T numbers I see listed in lamp specs? Also seeing GY numbers, GY6.35, etc., I don't understand.

Edit: I take it that GY6.35 is not G4

Nope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi-pin_lamp_base

G4 has 0.65mm-0.75mm diameter pins 4mm apart.
G6.35 has 0.95mm-1.05mm diameter pins 6.35mm apart.
GY6.35 has 1.2mm–1.3mm diameter pins 6.35mm apart.
 
Last edited:
I had extensive email conversations with Tad and he told me he would shut down his site at the end of THIS month, but he was able to send to a limited number of countries, including the USA, UK and... the Netherlands!

A part of his email:

"[FONT=&quot]I no longer make bi pin adapters for Surefire or Maglite, so once the stock has been sold out I will close the business. I made these adapters since 2016, and since early this year the business has been shut down due to Covid-19. Until now I am able to ship to the USA, UK or a small number of countries. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Please visit my website for the details of bi-pin adapters and bulbs:
http://tadcustoms.com/flashlight.htm

This website will be closed by the end of this month (September). In the future I will only sell on my Ebay store (with higher price and shipping cost):[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]https://www.ebay.com/usr/t.customs
And once those adapters and bulbs in my stock are sold out I am not selling any more. It is too time consuming making these and it is getting difficult to source Xenon bulbs. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So sadly, this may again be your last chance to buy these. I hope someone else in the future can make these."

That is more than clear enough to me, I just ordered for $400,- + on goodies from him. Dozens of bulbs and a LOT of adapters for my M3, M6 and PR to bi-pin adapters... this is my LAST CHANCE![/FONT]

chillinn said:
Confirmed,



Been like that for some time.

325addict, spill it. What are you talking about?
Click to expand...
 
325addict said:
I had extensive email conversations with Tad and he told me he would shut down his site at the end of THIS month, but he was able to send to a limited number of countries, including the USA, UK and... the Netherlands!

A part of his email:

"[FONT="]I no longer make bi pin adapters for Surefire or Maglite, so once the stock has been sold out I will close the business. I made these adapters since 2016, and since early this year the business has been shut down due to Covid-19. Until now I am able to ship to the USA, UK or a small number of countries. [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT="]
Please visit my website for the details of bi-pin adapters and bulbs:
http://tadcustoms.com/flashlight.htm

This website will be closed by the end of this month (September). In the future I will only sell on my Ebay store (with higher price and shipping cost):[/FONT]
[FONT="][URL="https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fusr%2Ft.customs&data=02%7C01%7C%7C3f201dc4f0034f495f5f08d85d15ef1c%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637361696065251545&sdata=ujtGur5THlDzAE9ZDlrvSJYMbJGW3BDvdakZSmPNMOw%3D&reserved=0"]https://www.ebay.com/usr/t.customs[/URL]
And once those adapters and bulbs in my stock are sold out I am not selling any more. It is too time consuming making these and it is getting difficult to source Xenon bulbs. [/FONT]
[FONT="]So sadly, this may again be your last chance to buy these. I hope someone else in the future can make these."

That is more than clear enough to me, I just ordered for $400,- + on goodies from him. Dozens of bulbs and a LOT of adapters for my M3, M6 and PR to bi-pin adapters... this is my LAST CHANCE![/FONT]
Click to expand...


Well, I have had about enough of the bad news. I can only hope for better news soon, and that we may look forward to the beginning of the end of incompetence, subterfuge, deception, xenophobia, intolerance, and death. (better? ok.)

Tad's product I call matchless, and the convenience and decent prices will be sorely missed. Let us hope, regardless, that Tad remains safe and healthy, and let's show our gratitude by cleaning out his remaining stock quickly, and continue to support him at his eBay store so that future incan explorers will have the necessary tools to run great lights.

Thank you, Tad, for being a bright spark in the darkness when nearly all other incan lights have been extinguished.

Long live fivemega and Lumens Factory!
 
Last edited:
@325addict thanks for the info. the ebay store you referred to has now zero items for sale, too bad
 
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