7W Golston® 2xCR123A Waterproof Super Bright

[BobbyRS]

I got my 7W from Axeshop. It does not say Golston on it. one side says "7W super bright waterproof USA ". There is nothing on the other flat side.

Bernie

Interesting..... I got my 7w from Axeshop and it says Golston on the other side. Generic Golston? Generic of a Generic? :laughing: I haven't seen an 8w that says Golston on it yet....

 

[jclarksnakes]

....I got my new cooler design "Golston" light from Dae yesterday. I put two brand new Surefire cells in it and it does not work. Of course I tried the cells in another light and they are good. This light is marked 7W Super Bright Waterproof USA on one side just like the Golston but the other side is marked MXPOWER and not Golston. I also was looking around on Ebay and found a light that looks the same as the new cooler design light for $5 and change with shipping also $5 and change. With the earlier post about this light not being bright like the original Golston and mine not working and the light looking exactly like a lower price light on Ebay I would recommend that CPF folks NOT buy this new cooler design light. But, I will say that the form factor on this light is actually pretty cool.
jc

 

[Fusion_m8]

Hi Bernie:

What's the runtime for the 7W on 2 fresh primaries? Do you reckon the output is as good or better than a typical 6V xenon(G2 or 6P)?

How would you rate the build quality on a scale of 0-10(10 being for a Surefire L5)?

Thanks heaps!

:lolsign:



I got my 7W from Axeshop. It does not say Golston on it. one side says "7W super bright waterproof USA ". There is nothing on the other flat side.

Bernie
[/QUOTE]

 

[igabo]

Just got mine from axshop as well; they've seemed to improve their shipping times quite a bit compared to other things I've heard. Anyway; when you compare it to a 6v xenon (in my case a Maxfire LX), it's just about as bright more or less, when i shine it at the ceiling when it's pitch black. The beam is much more focused than the Maxfire LX though.

http://vince.retroline.net/7W (3).JPG

(Don't ask me to test that claim :nana

http://vince.retroline.net/7W (4).JPG

I'll try to get some beamshots tonight.

 

[Randy Shackleford]

Got a Golston from Dae.


My first impressions from indoor use are lackluster. It came apart easy and I tested it as well as put some thermal compound on the back of the star. I also found it needed to be adjusted by twisting the head slightly loose to get a better focus. With two fresh surefire CR123's it reads as 4.22 V and 1009ma off my sears brand DMM (the Golston's resistor tested a 1 ohm). --> I'm certainly not getting the overdriven 5 watts others are getting with the Golston.

I have compared it to a few lights and here some images on the output of the Golston (all shots at 2 stops under exp):

--Dorcy CR123 w/ 1W SV1H-bin Lux & IMS20 reflector running on fresh a RCR123 (overdriven to about ~520ma).

--Dorcy T-Bin 3W 3AAA on rechargables reading about 3.8V.

I like the Dorcy(s) better because of the size of the hot spot(s).

Left- Dorcy 3W 3AAA, middle- Golston , Right- Dorch CR123 w/1W SV1H & IMS20


--new Nuwai ALX-352 5W runing on two fresh RCR123's. The Nuwai just smokes the Golston in every way.

Left- Golston , Right- Nuwai ALX-352 5W on 2 RCR123's


--modded nuwai ALX-1113A w/TYAK 3W 3AAA Direct Drive on rechargables reading about 3.8V. This light is real thrower, small tight hot spot (even smaller than the Golston to the eye, not in photos). Golston is about even with this one in hot spot , but the Golston has more spill.

Left- Golston, Right- modded nuwai ALX-1113A w/3W TYAK


Not too fond of the blue-green tint it, but it is easy to take apart and it sure does have a nice bulid/form-factor for a $29 light. Perhaps I just got a medicore Golston. Or, may be a test outdoors will reveal a better results for the Golston.

UPDATE: dropped a TYOJ star in it. here is what is looks like now:

Left- Golston "7W" w/TY0J Lux III
middle-Unknown Lux V in Nuwai ALX 352L
Right- Q3 TX0J Luv III w/RCR123

 

[Fusion_m8]

Funny that...

This seller is so sure the 7W is brighter than a Surefire L5, he/she put it in the item description and highlighted it!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8778657763&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Got a Golston from Dae.


My first impressions from indoor use are lackluster. It came apart easy and I tested it as well as put some thermal compound on the back of the star. I also found it needed to be adjusted by twisting the head slightly loose to get a better focus. With two fresh surefire CR123's it reads as 4.22 V and 1009ma off my sears brand DMM (the Golston's resistor tested a 1 ohm). --> I'm certainly not getting the overdriven 5 watts others are getting with the Golston.

 

[Fusion_m8]

:goodjob: :thanks:

Just got mine from axshop as well; they've seemed to improve their shipping times quite a bit compared to other things I've heard. Anyway; when you compare it to a 6v xenon (in my case a Maxfire LX), it's just about as bright more or less, when i shine it at the ceiling when it's pitch black. The beam is much more focused than the Maxfire LX though.

 

[FirstDsent]

On the other side I have "MX power®"... but no power anymore today [/b]

Glire,
Sorry to hear of your failure. It should be easy to replace it with a $3 Lux III. It's a good opportunity to directly compare counterfeit/Luxeon performance.

Interesting: Your light says MX Power, Mine says nothing, BobbyRS's says Golston, and igabo's says "Power Charge Battery 3.6V X 2" -all from axeshop. If I had to guess, I'd say the mfgr. is private labeling all these lights. I don't think Golston actually makes any of them. They're not even on Golston's website.

Igabo's looks a lot different from mine. It has a matte finish (looks like HAIII), and has a different heat sink. My heat sink is bare aluminum, and is knurled around the edge. The LED slug is mounted on the surface. Igabo's seems to be anodized, smooth, and recessed. His has a thick plastic logo on it too. What's going on here.

Fusion-m8: G'day,

I haven't a light meter so I can't calculate a runtime to 50%. Anyway I am still on my first pair of Titanium brand cells. Over 2 months so far, but I only use it a couple of minutes at a time every few days. I would love for somebody like Quickbeam to run the standard array of tests so we can directly compare this light to others.

Bernie

 

[Randy Shackleford]

Glire,
Sorry to hear of your failure. It should be easy to replace it with a $3 Lux III. It's a good opportunity to directly compare counterfeit/Luxeon performance.


Bernie

UPDATE My clone/counterfeit LUX just died (no particular reason, played with this light for 20 minutes now ).


So, I replaced it with a 3W SX1K. MUCH BETTER:wow: .

And since the 3W Lux has a lower die height... no more needing to adjust the head of the light looser to focus... it is in focus fully tightened.


Now the spot is hotter and I can see the appeal of this $29 light.

 

[BobbyRS]

Interesting: Your light says MX Power, Mine says nothing, BobbyRS's says Golston, and igabo's says "Power Charge Battery 3.6V X 2" -all from axeshop. If I had to guess, I'd say the mfgr. is private labeling all these lights. I don't think Golston actually makes any of them. They're not even on Golston's website.

Igabo's looks a lot different from mine. It has a matte finish (looks like HAIII), and has a different heat sink. My heat sink is bare aluminum, and is knurled around the edge. The LED slug is mounted on the surface. Igabo's seems to be anodized, smooth, and recessed. His has a thick plastic logo on it too. What's going on here.

Here (Post 32):
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=108299&page=2&pp=30

I spoke to the Golston reps at SHOT. I asked them about their "7W" light and they said it was a Luxeon 3 being driven at 7W.

Perhaps Golston does make these lights, but are just using the same body as these "clones". Maybe its popularity was discovered with the original Golston, now we have these other "cloned" versions by other companies that just aren't as good..... I would tend to believe this or something similar seeing how when I purchased the 7w Golston light (from Axeshop within the first day or two of offering the Golston light), at the time just about all said Golston. Now, months later, most do not. If I recall correctly, from all the posting about this light the first month or so, most were pretty impressed. It seems that the more time that goes by and the more "7-8w clones" surface, the cheaper and dimmer these lights get. Perhaps Golston is the only one worth anything. :thinking:

 

[BobbyRS]

:thinking: Hmmmmmm. It may be me being half a sleep right now, but it appears that the original 7watt light that says Golston on it is getting harder to find. I did a quick search on EBay and couldn't find any. There are plenty of 7-8watt lights now that resemble the Golston, but none say Golston..... Anyone else find anything?

Well, I guess it is official now..... I have a problem! 100th post.:naughty:

 

[igabo]

If all this is the case I wonder if Dae's Golston is the real deal.

http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/golstonreg-2xcr123a-waterproof-super-bright-recommended-p-376.html

And I thought I had a real LuxIII

 

[glire]

I did a mistake using LIR123. Dae clarified it. Those lights usually don't accept rechargeables. But there is a specific version that accepts them.

 

[Malfuntion]

I´ve been using RCR123 3,0V (recargeable) in my 7W Golston light for a couple of hour of total runtime and it still work just ok.

I did try with 3,6v once but it got rather hot and stopped working but after it colded of and I´ll canged to 3,0v batteries it started working again.

 

[pbs357]

Lexina uses a 17670 rechargeable, and indicated no noticeable loss in output (see post #98). I just ordered some 17670's and a DSD charger from Lighthound.com and will post my results. By the way, big ups to Lighthound for fixing a shipping error in 2 days flat! :goodjob:


On another note the different variations being shipped now are making me nervous :sweat: . I have one from Axshop that says Golston on the side and it is a BLASTER. Very bright, awesome throw with more of a spot plus spill type beam versus a flood beam. Just ordered 3 more, and while I don't care what it says on the side if they aren't as bright they're getting sent back.

 

[dcarch8]

I think I am the very first ones to get one of this 7 Watt light and modded it take a 18560 rechargeable Li-ion cell with the reisitor removed. It has been a few months of playing with it with no problems so far.

The other day I was with a few contractors in a dark basement, two contractors came with their 6-D Maglights. One contractor dropped his on the floor and broke both the bulb and the spare bulb. I had to pull my Golston from my briefcase to use. Everyone was stunded that the much smaller light was out shining the big Mag 6-D!!!

I won $20. They dropped the Golston on the floor five times and it was still working.

dcarch8:naughty:

 

[igabo]

Does anyone know of any places to get a compatible forward clickie or momentary/twist on off switch for this?

 

[FirstDsent]

Originally Posted by igabo
Does anyone know of any places to get a compatible forward clickie or momentary/twist on off switch for this?

Emilion's Workbench has two clickies. One says it is a reverse clickie, the other does not. I belive the latter will fit the "Golston". Others have claimed that it is a true clickie, so I'm staking my $5 to try it. I have ordered one, but haven't received it yet. I will certainly post when I try it.

I believe this light is compatible with SureFire threaded accessories. Any applicable tailcap should work including the >$45 Aleph tailcaps.

Bernie

 

[igabo]

Could you give a link? I can't seem to find it.

 

[FirstDsent]

Could you give a link? I can't seem to find it.

Sorry, Try this: http://emilionworkshop.com/oscommer...id=62&osCsid=d882baf4e0f43a17d1174b85b885568c

Bernie