900-lumen flashlight!?

[hahnyc87]

Check out this link: http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.900 lumen#903

How are there SO MANY so called 900 lumen flashlights that are single led? Is this accurate? Are these really THAT bright? How far can it throw a beam? Has anyone ever tried these? I'm just really confused. My Fenix P1D CE Q5 is insanely bright and is like 185 lumens... 900!?

 

[precisionworks]

"Powered by 1 x 3.7V 18650 rechargeable battery" ... that's the part I'd question. A P7, driven at 2800 mA by a LiIon C-cell (or LiIon D-cell, or multiple NiMH cells) will easily produce 800 lumens out the front.

The DX light might make 900 bulb lumens, on a sunny day, with a good tail wind, going down a steep hill

 

[themanoffez]

They all use the SSC P7 Led. Are they 900 lumens? Nope. Most of them barely break 500 (depending on the current to the LED). A good one would do 700 lumens, but that's at the emitter, and you lose some before it leaves the glass.

I have one of them (Aurora AK-P7), and they are ridiculously bright. Fun lights, but not particularly useful.

 

[MrGman]

The correct answer is: Its not a single LED it is 4 LED dice on one substrate running in parallel together. I believe its 4 of the P4 dice and its called the P7. Each LED die is good for about 225 lumens providing you can provide enough current to run all 4 in parallel because you have no choice to do it any other way. Its capable of making that much light if you can provide at least 10 watts of power to it. The power source being the batteries and the conversion through the driver circuit are the real limiting factors. There will be some loss across the reflector and through the lense but I have no doubt that the quad LED can source 900 lumens if its given all the power it needs to do it.

Whether or not any of those low budget flashlights have enough of a quality driver to run it to those levels and keep it there and survive real world use for a run time of say 2000 hours on time is another question.

2 X 18650 batteries have enough energy to deliver the power to do it for a certain period of time, the question is will the driver circuit really do the job in those cases of converting the higher voltage to lower voltage and 2.8 amps of current. 1 each 18650 can't really hold up to that kind of power draw for very long and since the voltage does sag those lights that run off one are typically putting out only in the 500 plus lumen range, even with a so called "regulated" driver.

themanoffez do you know how much current your unit draw's from the batteries on a fresh charge?

 

[StarHalo]

How are there SO MANY so called 900 lumen flashlights that are single led? Is this accurate? Are these really THAT bright? How far can it throw a beam? Has anyone ever tried these? I'm just really confused. My Fenix P1D CE Q5 is insanely bright and is like 185 lumens... 900!?

The P7 emitter is technically not a single LED, since it has four dice (the actual light-emitting element). DX is not known for accurate lumens ratings, but compared to your P1D, any P7 light will indeed be insanely bright. Strangely, while DX has some phenomenal thrower flashlights, their P7 models are not set up for throw, rather a median/general-use beam. DX is also not known for long-term reliable lights, so don't plan on leaving one of these P7 lights on for very long..

 

[yalskey]

This thing has been covered in several threads... please search.

Mine is definitely NOT 900 lumens.... maybe 400 to 500 tops.

BTW, I've used mine once for about 3 minutes, and now it is broken. It's been a pampered shelf queen. Cheap crap if you ask me.

 

[DArklite]

Imagine walking into a Dollar Store, and the sign over the door now reads "DX" instead of "Dollar Store" - you walk inside, look at the "quality" of the flashlights, and on the packaging, roughly 40% of the words are misspelled.
Get the picture now?

Buy from reputable dealers!

 

[LEDninja]

Originally SSC lists the C bin P7 as 740-900 lumens at 2.8A. So all the optimistic flashlight manufacturers list their torches as 900 lumens.

Then SSC revised the spec to 700-800 lumens at 2.8A. OOPS!

Many of the torches can only provide 2.2A. (I can not get my $45 MTE above 2.1A; I've got 2.7A from my $140 Elektrolumens 3C P7). So 2.2A/2.8A*(700-800) >> 500-629 LED lumens.

Now the torches use textured reflectors and no AR coated UCL lenses. A lot of light is lost. My estimate is 70% getting out. So about 350-440 lumens out front.

This is still much better than the best XRE/SSC-P4 lights at 200-225 LED lumens and 160-180 lumens out front.

Note most of the '900 lumen' lights tend to be floodier than the single die torches. So not more throw, just a bigger hotspot.

L-mini Q5 left, '900 lumen' MTE P7 right.

 

[NickBose]

Don't know what the probelm is with many posters in this forum when talking about SSC P7. They always try to ignore the fact that it is THE brightest LED at the moment. :thinking:
Say half the rated output - 450 lumens, would you even imagine you'd have that amount of light a year ago in a LED light? Unless you're filthy rich and can afford those rare ridiculously priced monster lights. :candle:
Now about the cheapos: I have been using a DX SSC P7 light for the last maybe 4 months, 5 nights a week, 20-40 times every night in short bursts (within few minutes). It never fails on me and it still works perfectly. :twothumbs
Believe me if you use a P7 once and provided you need seriously bright light to work in the dark (not sitting in the house watching the beams on the wall or running around your block at night trying to scare the stray dogs with your lights), you'll never want to use anything less bright.
I admit though, there's a serious problem with heat management in those DX P7 lights that I know. But as long as you use them for less than 5-10 minutes at once or switching down to a lower level intermittently then there should be no problems.

 

[FlashKat]

I bought the Aurora AK-P7 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12624 2 mode light, and it has been great. They are not made for throw, but they still throw fairly well. Short throw my P7 comes close to my Lumens Factory 700 lumen incandescent on high, and low puts out 80 lumens.

 

[ZardHex]

I wouldnt say the DX lights are crap...i bought this http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12623 2 months ago, and its primary role is riding on the handlebars of my hybrid bicycle (mostly road riding) It lights up things well in front of me, almost like a motorcycle headlight...is it 900lumens? hells no..just marketing hype...but with a single protected 18650 at full charge running about 2.6A of current i'm probably getting about 500L out the front..try getting that with a $50 dedicated bikelight :nana: It runs direct-drive, so maximum brightness fades after a few minutes, but i never notice as i'm pedaling my *** off down the road, but after awhile i know that its dimmer and time to switch batteries(no big deal for me)...and i've had it out on some very rainy rides, and it never failed on me once, even when i was soaking wet after 45min! i've also used it for standard flashlight duties around the house, yard, camping, blah, blah, blah... it is hit or miss with DX though, so some people are fed up with them for good reason...as for me? the above mentioned light is a good one, however my aurora wf-600 was a bad one (currently serving now as a testbed/guinea pig for other experiments) It definitely helps to search alot on the forums to help you decide...Hope this sheds a little more light on the subject, hahnyc87 :thumbsup:

 

[precisionworks]

Sometimes a job requires lots of light, and nothing today beats a P7 in a sputtered metal reflector @ 2800 mA. Other times, it's more important that you can differentiate colors (like finding doggy do in mixed grass/leaves), and the SunDrop, blasting out under 100 lumens, is the better choice.

The P7 is a fun light, cars & trucks give a wide berth:nana:

 

[hahnyc87]

Thanks guys. As far as searching, sorry. I was typing 900-lumen instead of 900 lumen. Which of these lights it the best for throw? I am not as familiar with all this technology as everything, so sorry. There has to be one of these emitters/reflectors that can harness the light from these LEDs and throw it far, no?

 

[Northern Lights]

Here are some links that might help, it is difficult to search for P7 with the feature disable. I modified my MTE P7 and it produces more thatn 700-800 lumens and probably is close to the 900 mark. The reflector is small compared to 52mm reflectors however. I am looking forward to building a P7 with 4 P7 emitters in it. Just vapor ware at the moment but others have done it.

P7 900 lumens MTE DX first impression
Maglite SSC P7. How to. A sort of guide.
Seoul P7 100% Variable Driver (Sideswitch)
MTE SSC P7 quick review.
Mag2C SSC P7 3x 4/5 SubC Mod
P7 light with good heatsinking?
Triple P7 mod on a 4C mag "New beam shots added"
p7 owners, use?
MTE SSC P7 2 modes Tailcap.
P7 Shortie

 

[freedom2000]

Don't know what the probelm is with many posters in this forum when talking about SSC P7. They always try to ignore the fact that it is THE brightest LED at the moment. :thinking:
Say half the rated output - 450 lumens, would you even imagine you'd have that amount of light a year ago in a LED light? Unless you're filthy rich and can afford those rare ridiculously priced monster lights. :candle:
Now about the cheapos: I have been using a DX SSC P7 light for the last maybe 4 months, 5 nights a week, 20-40 times every night in short bursts (within few minutes). It never fails on me and it still works perfectly. :twothumbs
Believe me if you use a P7 once and provided you need seriously bright light to work in the dark (not sitting in the house watching the beams on the wall or running around your block at night trying to scare the stray dogs with your lights), you'll never want to use anything less bright.
I admit though, there's a serious problem with heat management in those DX P7 lights that I know. But as long as you use them for less than 5-10 minutes at once or switching down to a lower level intermittently then there should be no problems.

+1
SSC P7 led is really a very bright led even compared to CREE Q5 (properly driven I mean)

If you have a 2 * 18650 flashlight body it is easy to get the full power 2.9A for a long time (well before being burnt after 15 min by the heat of the head...).
Cheap DX lights are not so bad, building construction can be quite good (not to say excellent...) The only problem with these light is heat dissipation.
See here if you want a simple, cheap but efficient driver that really provide 2.9A to your led as long as you have "usefull" voltage into your cells.

JP

 

[Northern Lights]

I have a head light harness, using two bands made from bicycle inner tube I attach the MTE P7 5 mode to the side.

Since it is floody it is the best head lamp I ever have had for light output and choices. I usually run it on medium beam. I use 2500 mAh 18650s and get 30-40 minutes run time.
Heat is not a factor.
I use this light every day with no problems, I use it also professionally when I work nights.
Why spend more when it is the brightest thing available even if it does not hit its full potential?

 

[frank777]

I've been using my DX purchased P7 on almost a daily basis for months, and it has been working great. But the problems people are experiencing may be due to a heat issue. I only use my P7 flashlight on my electric bicycle at night, so it always has a nice cool 15 mph wind. It never gets hot, just warm. If you buy one, I would recommend limiting your usage on high, and switching to low whenever the light starts getting too warm. But P7 lights by nature are floody. If you need throw, go with a Cree R2.