Acebeam K60 (1xXHP70, 4x18650) Review

[windstrings]

No doubt, if I remember right we're talking about 7000 cells!

 

[candle lamp]

Done and +1 to the ranks of the K60 owners: me. Quick writeup on first impressions:

After playing with it for a little while, EVERY OTHER LIGHT I have looks dim. Even on partially depleted IMR batteries, which don't run the 5K level at full blast (I haven't had time to charge them), the K60 is VISIBLY brighter than the TK75 on fresh cells. The ring UI is so much nicer, and makes the K60 a surprisingly practical light: if you set aside the size, coming as I do from the days of much larger lights (eg various Maglites of considerable length), it's actually really quite useable.

Firefly mode is very charming - amazingly, it is dimmer than all other lights I have (various SF, Fenix, and an Olight). Perhaps this is my first true firefly light.. ironically, my most powerful as well. I know, right?

High mode gets really toasty, really fast: I was thinking gloves might be a nice accessory. But we are talking about the obvious here: a 42+ watt front end. You know what you're asking for if you decide to get something like this. This is not a light for beginner owners, just like the insanity-class hotwires (back then, 3K+ lumens) were mainly acquired by those with a familiarity of how to feed and tame the beast, or at the very least, were committed to learning how. That having been said, today's insanity class LEDs are much safer, and easier to operate than the risky hotwires of old. To put it into perspective, once upon a time, we were pulling a mere 3K lumens from over 120 watts of power.

Thank you Acebeam: great job on the K60. For a light with so much power, it is surprisingly practical and useable as well.

Thanks for the nice feedback. KevinL! 🙂

Thanks for another great review, candle lamp!

Thanks for your support. thedoc007! 🙂

 

[HumanLumen]

I know that this Flashlight blinks at low cell voltage, but oes this Flashlight have under-voltage cut-off? HL

 

[candle lamp]

I know that this Flashlight blinks at low cell voltage, but oes this Flashlight have under-voltage cut-off? HL

Hi HL,
As shown in the runtime graph, the light has no low (under) voltage cut-off function. Instead, the light only blinks to indicate the low battery warning.

 

[dintun100]

Hi candlelamp,

Do you still own Supbeam K40 (Xm-L 1147 lumens) flashlight ?
my email : [email protected]

Thank you.

 

[candle lamp]

Hi candlelamp,

Do you still own Supbeam K40 (Xm-L 1147 lumens) flashlight ?
my email : [email protected]

Thank you.

Sure. I still have the light. It's a good thrower light. :thumbsup:

 

[Summer Heat]

I really love using this light for nighttime fishing. However, the K60 low battery voltage indicator is just a major drawback for my purposes. With Thrunite 18650 3.6V 3400mah protected batteries, I am getting 55 minutes on level 5 (3400 lumens) and then the low voltage blinking occurs, and it will keep running strong for another 25 minutes with the blinking feature.

The low voltage blinking feature kicks in when my batteries are at 3.6V which does not seem very low at all.

I am thinking of purchasing Panasonic 18650 3400mah unprotected batteries. Do you think those will help me maximize the amount of time I can get with this light without having to see the low voltage blinking? If I can just get 20 more minutes without having to see the voltage indicator that would be perfect for my fishing trips.

Thanks

 

[Summer Heat]

candle lamp, have you measured the voltage on your unprotected batteries the moment the K60 started to flash low voltage? I got a response from Acebeam that the low voltage warning is supposed to start at 12.4V. If the 4 batteries are in series, that would mean the low voltage warning should begin when the batteries are at 3.1V. Is this theoretically correct? I am not sure why my K60 starts the low voltage warning when the batteries are at 3.6V.

 

[candle lamp]

I really love using this light for nighttime fishing. However, the K60 low battery voltage indicator is just a major drawback for my purposes. With Thrunite 18650 3.6V 3400mah protected batteries, I am getting 55 minutes on level 5 (3400 lumens) and then the low voltage blinking occurs, and it will keep running strong for another 25 minutes with the blinking feature.

The low voltage blinking feature kicks in when my batteries are at 3.6V which does not seem very low at all.

I am thinking of purchasing Panasonic 18650 3400mah unprotected batteries. Do you think those will help me maximize the amount of time I can get with this light without having to see the low voltage blinking? If I can just get 20 more minutes without having to see the voltage indicator that would be perfect for my fishing trips.

Thanks

Sorry to say, any unprotected batteries will not much help you extend the runtime without the low voltage warning blinking. You should be careful of the overdischarge of the cells.

candle lamp, have you measured the voltage on your unprotected batteries the moment the K60 started to flash low voltage? I got a response from Acebeam that the low voltage warning is supposed to start at 12.4V. If the 4 batteries are in series, that would mean the low voltage warning should begin when the batteries are at 3.1V. Is this theoretically correct? I am not sure why my K60 starts the low voltage warning when the batteries are at 3.6V.

I didn't measure the voltage for the K60.
Yes, theoretically it is 3.1V. However, when multi cells are discharged together in series, voltage on one or some of them will drop faster than the others. Many including me observed this unequal discharge in series, and I've observed the unequal discharge in this situation with K50 V2 on 4xPanasonic 18650 (3100mAh) unprotected cells in my runtime test. The resting voltages of the cells after runtime test & recovery were respectively 2.86v, 3.04v, 3.06v, 2.84v. So I guess if I don't stop running the light properly, some cells would be drop to less than 2.5V. In fact, it must happen this way. It would be really weired if all four cells were at same voltage.

After the batteries are discharged and unloaded (i.e., turn it off), the cells revover in voltage. How much the batteries recover depend on the discharge current. There will be high voltage recovery at a high discharge current (e.g., 3A~4A), but nearly very low (or no) voltage recovery at a very low discharge current (e.g., 0.1A~0.2A).

Even though the low voltage blinking feature kicks in when your batteries were at 3.6V, I think all four cells were not 3.6V (i.e., one or two cells were 3.1V). Almost voltage recovery happens for a split second.

Most 18650 batteries today are hybrid (i.e., not pure ICR or IMR) and have 2.5V discharge cut off voltage. I assume if Acebeam has a plan to extend the runtime without a low battery warning flickering, there may be two methods in general. The first is to reduce the low battery warning voltage, and the second is to make the light eventually step down to the lower output levels as the battery capacity depletes. But in any case, hope the light has automatic shut off feature for both protected and unprotected cells.

 

[Summer Heat]

Wow. Thank you so much for your time and thought. I did not realize there was a lot more to batteries than what I already thought I knew. After careful consideration, I decided to purchase another K60 with unprotected batteries to use as my backup fishing light to my other K60. As a backup, I think unprotected batteries should do fine since I wont run them down very low.

The K60, is honestly, the best flashlight I have ever owned. I feel very confident that even as flashlight technology advances, this flashlight wont be obsolete anytime soon.

 

[brightnorm]

Deleted/irrelevant

Brightnorm

 

[eebowler]

Great review candle lamp! Thanks 🙂

 

[windstrings]

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/38570#comment-742494

RE uneven discharge-Just noticed this K60 warning over at Budget Light Forums.

Brightnorm

K60 has no internal charger so it's a non issue.

Discharge is no different than any light.. Series connections, either they connect or they don't.

Just use same type and brand and age and you should be fine.
But that applies for any lithium light, don't mix batteries from different lots of you want to keep things balanced.

 

[MAD777]

Great review candle lamp! I can definitely see this light in my future. Looks to have a reasonable balance of throw & spill.

 

[windstrings]

Among the heavyweights, maybe the most versatile and best bang for the buck!

 

[candle lamp]

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/38570#comment-742494

RE uneven discharge-Just noticed this K60 warning over at Budget Light Forums.

I can't find any issue on my K60 such as cell charge and discharge voltage imbalance. The K60 has no built-in charger in the light. That's quite an another topic, in my view.:thinking:

Great review candle lamp! Thanks 🙂

Thanks for your support. eebowler! 🙂

K60 has no internal charger so it's a non issue.

Discharge is no different than any light.. Series connections, either they connect or they don't.

Just use same type and brand and age and you should be fine.
But that applies for any lithium light, don't mix batteries from different lots of you want to keep things balanced.

Thanks for your reply for me.

Great review candle lamp! I can definitely see this light in my future. Looks to have a reasonable balance of throw & spill.

Thanks. MAD777! Yes, K60 will give you a good balance of throw and spill.

Among the heavyweights, maybe the most versatile and best bang for the buck!

And it's a well-made light! 🙂

 

[windstrings]

When you get just one alarmist without confirmation of an issue existing with others it always makes me think a competitor is stirring the mud.

 

[ven]

Well candle lamp,my light arrived today and made up with it . Great build quality and knurling which is better than i thought it would have been. Easily matches the thrunite tn35vn i have(which is a nicely made light). Heat sinking,shaved dome and heat treated bezel are the differences over the standard version along with throw at 230kcd measure by Justin.
Not tested yet(not dark here) fully,probably be weekend now when time allows.



Bezel pic




🙂

 

[candle lamp]

Well candle lamp,my light arrived today and made up with it . Great build quality and knurling which is better than i thought it would have been. Easily matches the thrunite tn35vn i have(which is a nicely made light). Heat sinking,shaved dome and heat treated bezel are the differences over the standard version along with throw at 230kcd measure by Justin.
Not tested yet(not dark here) fully,probably be weekend now when time allows.



Bezel pic




🙂

Wow! Looks great. :thumbsup: Finally, you've gotton it. I'm anxious to see the test result. 🙂

 

[ven]

Thanks candle lamp🙂

Soon as I get some free time I will venture to the county park at night and have a blast!!

Cheers Ven 🙂