Anyone tried the G8 Alpha USA 390 Lumen LED For Surefire 6P?

[Kevin1322]

The Arctic Trader on Ebay has a G8 Alpha USA For Surefire 6P / LED Bulb that they say is getting 390 Lumens, cost is $34. I can't find anything on CPF about this seller or the G series Alpha drop ins. Has anybody used these and if so, what do you think about them? Thanks.

 

[Gunner12]

Haha, what a LIE! I'm wondering if he knows what LED the drop-ins uses, much less what it can actually do.

The best Cree XR-E LED (R2 bin) get around 260 lumen at max recommended drive current. The LED will be severly overdriven to get 390 lumen and neither the batteries nor the LED will last long at all. The R2 bin is hard to find, the drop-in probably use a Q5 or lower bin.

Also $34? I'd suggest you get a few of these drop-ins. They are probably similar performance wise (for all you know, the eBay seller might be buying that drop-in, taking off the sticker, and twisting the spring a bit). It probably doesn't have an R2 bin emitter either but it's much lower in price and has proven to be a good budget priced drop-in (judging by what has been posted here).

:welcome:

 

[Kevin1322]

Thanks for the welcome and info Gunner. I had a feeling about these. I was more surprised that there were not more posts against this place than anything. I have been looking at that drop in. Seems to be a good budget one. Dave seems to be making some real power pact ones, and then there are the Malkoffs. I might end up going with the Dree R2 for $41. It sounds like it is getting more throw. Still, what a great way to upgrade lights for $10! Sweet!:twothumbs

 

[bigchelis]

Thanks for the welcome and info Gunner. I had a feeling about these. I was more surprised that there were not more posts against this place than anything. I have been looking at that drop in. Seems to be a good budget one. Dave seems to be making some real power pact ones, and then there are the Malkoffs. I might end up going with the Dree R2 for $41. It sounds like it is getting more throw. Still, what a great way to upgrade lights for $10! Sweet!:twothumbs

I have the Alpha G8 and at least 3 of the Cree R2 and Cree Q5 at Deal Extreme. IMHO they are the same overall. The Alpha G8 probably makes around 150 lumens. I also have the Dereelight Cree R2 at 1.2amps and it it makes right under 200 lumens as tested by MrGman. My R2 from Dereelight was the 4.2v max 3 mode white warm version.
Alpha G8: Way to expensive for a low quality bin. Also, the board on mine went out after about 10 hours of use.
Deal Extreme R2: best bang for the buck.
Dereelight R2: Great beam with OP reflector and the 3 modes allows for longer runtimes when needed.
Malkoff M60: to my eyes it seems brighter than all of the ones previously mentioned. It has the greatest side spill and the beam quality is arguably the best in the industry. I would pay the extra $15 and get the Malkoff M60 over the Dereelight. It has heatsinking technology that no other P60 uses and the beam is just amazing. If you absolutely have to have 3 modes then go with Dereelight. I think the Dereelight with a smooth reflector out throws the Malkoff M60, which is why I have the Dereelight R2 4.2v max.


When the alpha G8 worked I compared beamshoots of it against the Malkoff M60. The Malkoff was brighter, threw further, and had more side spill. The Alpha G8 at least had a huge donut, but it was clearly no where near 200 lumens.

lovecpf:welcome:lovecpf

 

[kramer5150]

No first hand experience.
Pricey and questionable output specs. Stick with the more reputable brands, or DX if you are on a tight budget.

 

[Kevin1322]

Thanks bigchelis,

Great info!:thumbsup:

 

[Kevin1322]

Thanks kramer!:thumbsup:

 

[foxtrot29]

There is another thread on this drop in and their ridiculous claims. I just don't know where it is. lol

 

[bigchelis]

There is another thread on this drop in and their ridiculous claims. I just don't know where it is. lol

For a Surefire 9P it says over 400 Lumens.:devil:

It must be a super duper high quality R2. lol.....

 

[Marduke]

For a Surefire 9P it says over 400 Lumens.:devil:

It must be a super duper high quality R2. lol.....

Must be T5 bin.....

 

[Mjolnir]

Maybe they are insinuating that their LED is of bad quality and will explode if used, which could theoretically result in a short burst of 400 lumen light...

 

[LightJaguar]

Maybe its one of those MC E drop ins like the one from DX. If thats the case then 300 lumens is about right. Right?

 

[bigchelis]

Maybe its one of those MC E drop ins like the one from DX. If thats the case then 300 lumens is about right. Right?

I have it and just sent it over to Nailbender in the custom section to look at, since it stopped working

I can assure you it is 100% a single Cree emitter. The vender doesn't disclouse what type of Cree it is.

 

[kramer5150]

I have it and just sent it over to Nailbender in the custom section to look at, since it stopped working

I can assure you it is 100% a single Cree emitter. The vender doesn't disclouse what type of Cree it is.

Oh noes!! which one died? the DX MC-E or Alpha G8 ?

 

[bigchelis]

Oh noes!! which one died? the DX MC-E or Alpha G8 ?

The Alpha G8 was the one that died. I am having Nailbender make it run at 1.4amps. He thinks it is a Q5.

I also want to try out the P60 Diamond Dragon he has. He said initially it is 2amps then drops to 1.5 due to not enough heatsinking. It must be a thrower for sure.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

DM51, PM sent.

 

[Convert]

I unfortunately dropped dime on one of the G8's a couple weeks ago, before I signed up here and knew any better. When it arrived, it was actually marked G9 (??), not G8. I had to pull off the outer spring for it to fit in my G2, even though they advertise a "perfect fit" right out of the box. With 2xCR123s, it appears to be putting out right around 100 lumens. Maybe a little more...I'm still new at this whole flashlight thing (which is quickly become a rampant addiction), so my eyes might not be able to tell a huge difference yet.

One thing in the positive for The Arctic Trader - their shipping was LIGHTNING fast. I had this thing in my hands in 3 days, and they are supposedly in China. As for the bulb, I will say that it is quite a bit brighter than the P60 lamp, but thats not saying much lol. 390 lumens is an out and out lie though. I sent them several e-mails after I bought the light asking them questions about it, but never got any response. After I recieved it, I gave them positive feedback but stated my opinion in the comments section: "Brighter than P60 bulb but NOWHERE near 390 lumens. 100 at most. Wont buy again."

The next day, I got an extremely pissed off e-mail from them spouting a whole bunch of nonsense about how I can't compare xenon to LED because the output is so different, and that I needed to do my research before "slandering" their company, blah blah blah. Here, let me dig up what they sent me...

Hi there,
You really should do your research before making permanent comments on ebay. You made the Big mistake of comparing a Xenon to and LED.. The Surefire LED is 80 lumens and the Surefire Xenon is 60 BUT the Xenon is 250% brighter ...That is because Lumens is NOT a measure of brightness of a light beam it nothing more than Volume... Our LED that you recieved is about 500% brighter than the Surefire 80Lumen led...and that is an LED to LED comparison. You were simply wrong Scientifically provably wrong.. We sell Alpha Because their brightness is Guaranteed! Please be carefull next time to not slander a company as you did,,, but thank you for at least keeping it positive.

I ripped these guys pretty good in response...which I will not post here lol. I haven't heard from them since, nor will I ever do business with them again.

 

[foxtrot29]

I unfortunately dropped dime on one of the G8's a couple weeks ago, before I signed up here and knew any better. When it arrived, it was actually marked G9 (??), not G8. I had to pull off the outer spring for it to fit in my G2, even though they advertise a "perfect fit" right out of the box. With 2xCR123s, it appears to be putting out right around 100 lumens. Maybe a little more...I'm still new at this whole flashlight thing (which is quickly become a rampant addiction), so my eyes might not be able to tell a huge difference yet.

One thing in the positive for The Arctic Trader - their shipping was LIGHTNING fast. I had this thing in my hands in 3 days, and they are supposedly in China. As for the bulb, I will say that it is quite a bit brighter than the P60 lamp, but thats not saying much lol. 390 lumens is an out and out lie though. I sent them several e-mails after I bought the light asking them questions about it, but never got any response. After I recieved it, I gave them positive feedback but stated my opinion in the comments section: "Brighter than P60 bulb but NOWHERE near 390 lumens. 100 at most. Wont buy again."

The next day, I got an extremely pissed off e-mail from them spouting a whole bunch of nonsense about how I can't compare xenon to LED because the output is so different, and that I needed to do my research before "slandering" their company, blah blah blah. Here, let me dig up what they sent me...



I ripped these guys pretty good in response...which I will not post here lol. I haven't heard from them since, nor will I ever do business with them again.

I didn't buy one, but did question the seller about the drop in. Initially he refused to tell me what kind of emitter was in it, saying something along the lines of "Surefire doesn't release their emitter type, so why would we... blah blah... proprietary, blah, big secret, blah..."

Then later admitted it was "probably a cree" but stuper duper high quality. lol

 

[SFG2Lman]

I did happen to purchase one of these as well, but I got the "Alpha G10 Supra" rated at 10000 lux, i guess they gave up on the lumens thing because it wasn't good to compare against the surefire's out the lens lumens. It seems to work well in my little G2 with no overheating. Their shipping was fast, and the light is considerably brighter to my eyes. I would guess 2-3 times brighter than the stock P60L pill, but thats an eyeball guess. I might throw a beamshot comparison in here when i find the charger for my camera. As my first drop-in I am impressed. I just can't seem to find anyone else who knows anything about what kind of bulb they use...etc etc. Hopefully this will drum up some attention.

 

[bigchelis]

I did happen to purchase one of these as well, but I got the "Alpha G10 Supra" rated at 10000 lux, i guess they gave up on the lumens thing because it wasn't good to compare against the surefire's out the lens lumens. It seems to work well in my little G2 with no overheating. Their shipping was fast, and the light is considerably brighter to my eyes. I would guess 2-3 times brighter than the stock P60L pill, but thats an eyeball guess. I might throw a beamshot comparison in here when i find the charger for my camera. As my first drop-in I am impressed. I just can't seem to find anyone else who knows anything about what kind of bulb they use...etc etc. Hopefully this will drum up some attention.

If you go to Dealextreme.com, you could purchase the Cree R2 for under $10 delivered and you are likely getting the same LED, but for alot less money.:wave: