3w MXDL - anything same price but better?

[joedm]

I'm looking for a fairly short < 15cm flashlight that I can use to mount on my bike. However I only want spend around 15 USD for it. No need for any fancy lithium cells, just need AA or AAA (alkaline or rechargeables).

I heard about the MXDL about 6 months ago however just wondering if there are any other cheap Luxeon or other options that also produce the same or better output for relatively the same price?

 

[Northern Lights]

Look around here; they have many types of led luxeon type lights, including mxdls, I will send you to the link with the bicycle mount. Click on the flashlight>luxeon links and then you will see listings by the irrelevant wattage catagories.
http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/luxeon-flashlight-torch-mount-bike-bicycle-p-346.html

 

[Meduza]

http://kaidomain.com/products/sku126.html
For 30$ you get a complete rechargable 3w cree flashlight with battery and charger...
that is going to be a lot brighter than your mxdl, and rechargable so no battery costs.

http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.101
http://kaidomain.com/category2.html

 

[LEDninja]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1003
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.851

Warning: You get wgat you pay for.

If you can wait keep an eye out for sales on the minimagLED.
http://lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2169

 

[joedm]

thanks for the replies guys.
I had a look at some of the online stores in the links above, however only kaidomain had good output graphs and descriptive reviews for it's lights. I'm after runtime graphs which show the lumens vs time for each light. Also looking for beam shots, not at a blank wall but more real world scenes like a track or a bush or the side of a hourse.

So I guess there's no easy answer to my question? I'm just going to have to do the leg work myself.

I really just wanted something that outputs approx 80 lumens or greater over a 1.5 - 2.5 hr period using standard AA, AAA batteries that can be picked up at any store and doesn't require a specific charger.

I'm thinking of buying 8 to 10 of these for a group of bicycle riders that i ride with, so i want to be sure of the output of the light before I buy and I want it to be cheap within reason.

I can buy the 3w MXDL for around $12 - $13 USD if buying more than 5 items so unless anyone knows off the top of their heads of a cheap light goes for around the same price but produces better output & runtime than a 3w MXDL then it looks like the MXDL is the way to go.

btw, I've already emailed qualitychinagoods to ask them if they have anything better than the MXDL for around the same price however i haven't received a reply as yet.

Thank you for your suggestions as well however a light that costs twice as much will not be considered at this stage. I may buy 1 cree light for $30 for myself to compare against the batch of 8 MXDL's. Thanks again.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

Have you tried ebay

 

[Norm]

Joe the the MXDL has a shocking LED as it comes, most people are buying these purely to mod.
Norm

 

[joedm]

Isn't it a 3W Luxeon? I don't know what bin it is.... but 3W?

I'm really new to this whole Leds and flashlight modding thing...
I've only built 1 light myself, a 5W bike light which I followed some instructions from a bike forum. Used a Buck Puck and 12 NIMH batteries.

I bought a $3 headlamp from "The Reject Shop" and used the housing and lens that came with it. The lens seems to magnify the light and what I ended up with was a really bright light with heaps of spill. Throw is about 25 meters or so. I haven't seen anything brighter than my light when I've been out riding but then again I don't ride on dirt track at night.

Anyway, so I'm new to this. Like really new.
And I want to buy a cheap light that my buddies and I can use when we go riding (on sealed track/road) at night. The track is dedicated to bikes so it's really only meant to light up the darkest sections (in case a branch has fallen on the track) and to let riders (going the opposite direction) know where we are.

Anyway, please forgive my ignorance if I am asking really stupid questions.

 

[Scattergun]

Or buy a Elly flashlight together with a Cree-star and make a single AA Cree-light with over two hours of runtime and 60 lumens! You´ll get both parts for under twenty bucks!

 

[joedm]

so would an elly with a cree xr-e p4 mod be brighter than the 3w MXDL's?

 

[kanarie]

so would an elly with a cree xr-e p4 mod be brighter than the 3w MXDL's?

about the same or a bit less. the cree will run 2 - 3 times as long (got two 3w MXDL's a CR123 version and a 3x aaa version)

 

[joedm]

thanks for the reply.

So if I hear you correctly, there's not much diff except that the ELLy would run for longer?

Elly $7 + CreeP4 $7 = ~$15.
3w MXDL = $12-$15.

 

[IdiotsAbound]

Are you talking about these lights?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/3-WATT-LUXEON-LED-TORCH-FLASHLIGHT-3w-w_W0QQitemZ200076478414QQihZ010QQcategoryZ117110QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If so, I have one of these from that ebay seller and I am so impressed that I bought two more from him. They are quite bright white a pure white light, brighter than my AAA MiniMag which I threw away once I saw how this performed. I let it run for 2 hours and it was still quite bright and not even warm to the touch.

The housing is a black anodized aluminum with a rear on/off switch. I dropped this light a couple times while lit at work on a concrete floor and the light didn't even flicker. Didn't even scratch the anodizing.

I compared this light to a friend's 1-watt Luxeon and mine was brighter for sure. Overall, I am very happy with this light, especially at $10.50 shipped. Hmm, I should order more. It only took a week and a half to ship from HK to Ontario Canada and some of my friends want one after seeing mine.

On a side note, did I just read a cree led could be easily swapped in on this light? If so, how can I modify mine to do it? If I can easily make it much brighter than it is now, I would be in flashlight heaven lol.

 

[2xTrinity]

thanks for the reply.

So if I hear you correctly, there's not much diff except that the ELLy would run for longer?

Elly $7 + CreeP4 $7 = ~$15.
3w MXDL = $12-$15.

The Elly + Cree would run for longer, but the biggest advantage in my opinion is that the Elly will only require one AA cell rather than 3AAA cells when it comes time to replace them. That's a major advantage as far as I'm concerned. -- replacing the cells in those adapters is annoying, not to mention more than three times as expensive if you are using primaries.

Also, you could similarly upgrade the MXDL ($15 + $7.25 = ~$22.25 plus a little time) to the Cree and get around double the brightness, all else equal. However, in the case of the MXDL, since you're switching from a Luxeon, the Cree may not be aligned correctly out of the box which may require modifying the reflector of elevating the LED with a copper spacer to work properly. I'd wait to see if anyone else has actually modified that exact light before attempting it.

 

[kanarie]

since you're switching from a Luxeon, the Cree may not be aligned correctly out of the box which may require modifying the reflector of elevating the LED with a copper spacer to work properly. I'd wait to see if anyone else has actually modified that exact light before attempting it.

I performed an upgrade from theMXDL standard no name luxeon to a Luxeon K2
There is plenty of room to give it a nice focus with a turn of the head; so no prob. here I think.

 

[kanarie]

since you're switching from a Luxeon, the Cree may not be aligned correctly out of the box which may require modifying the reflector of elevating the LED with a copper spacer to work properly. I'd wait to see if anyone else has actually modified that exact light before attempting it.

I performed an upgrade from the MXDL standard no-name luxeon to a Luxeon K2 (warmer color and +20% light)
There is plenty of room to give it a nice focus with a turn of the head; so no prob. here I think.

If you do a cree mod you better use only (1,2v) NiMh batteries (max 3,6v) because it is non regulated

 

[2xTrinity]

If you do a cree mod you better use only (1,2v) NiMh batteries (max 3,6v) because it is non regulated

Actually, if anything, you're more likely to overdrive the LED running NiMH. (Although if you're speaking about regulation from the perspective of consistent brightness as opposed to protecting the LED then yes, NiMH is better) Even though they have a lower nominal voltage, under load they have lower internal resistance so they will actually deliver more current than fresh alkalines. However, if they are driving a Luxeon in there, then that means they probably already have a resistor in series. You could check this with a ohmmeter by touching one lead to the (+) battery contact, and another to the (+) LED contact on the star.

 

[kanarie]

However, if they are driving a Luxeon in there, then that means they probably already have a resistor in series. You could check this with a ohmmeter by touching one lead to the (+) battery contact, and another to the (+) LED contact on the star.

just did 0.0 Ohm so direct drive without resistor (also can't see any resistor), luckely it runs on AAA they can only provide bout 0.6A (measured max)

Do you know what a Cree will do at 4,5 V ??? smoke??

 

[beefy6969]

Any other types of flashlights to mod from dealxtreme or qualitychinagoods? Hopefully under $20?

Must be CREE or Seoul based. Must be super simple, an idiot can install. I want the best bang for your buck!

 

[lightbug]

Some one mentioned Ultrafire 602A is a pretty easy mod.
lt should be around $13 to $15 dollars if you can find it.