OttaMattaPia
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2016
- Messages
- 135
Got this nice little headlamp off ebay for about $12.00
It's very adjustable, reasonably comfortable and has 3 settings.....On High, On Low, Blinking (why the heck the Chinese keep putting a blinking setting baffles me)
The claimed lumens are way off but I estimate on AAA's and AA's on low setting it's around 300 lumens and on high about 400 lumens
On 18650's I would estimate 450 lumens on low and probably around 700 lumens on high (it's pretty darn bright on 18650's on high, probably too bright for the close up work I will usually use it for, Harley and motorcycle repairs)
The LED's are Cree XM-L T6 type
Photo 1
So far I really like it.
It has the ability to use AA, AAA or 18650 batteries which I thought was cool although this is probably and old set up just new to me.
Pretty ingenious regardless when it first entered the markets.
Plus, it has a convenient USB port so you can just plug it into any USB port for re-charging on the go.
(Or maybe the USB port is an OUT port so you can charge another USB device with it? Not sure.)
Photo2
It has this awesome little adapter that lets you use all three of the above battery types.
Photo 3
Seems very sturdy and the on off switch and everything feels well made. Not chincy like some items I've bought from China.
I'm running on low power on the 3 different sets of batteries to see how long the runtime is on the various rechargeable batteries.
Right now I'm running it on 3 x 900mAh AAA batteries.
I will note that using 3 AA batteries is not exactly a "perfect" fit. It seems the cradle to hold the 3 AA batteries is a bit tight and causes the batteries on the end to "ride up" slightly.
It's not a big problem but it seems they needed to make the AA battery cradle about 1 or 2 mm's wider than they did. If you have very thick AA's it may be a problem.
Yesterday I wore it and ran it the entire time on 3 AAA, 900mAh HarborFreight NiMh batteries. I got 2.5 hours and it was still going although when I checked the battery voltage they were
down to 1.28v on all three. Still, 2.5 hours is plenty long for most things I need the headlamp for. And if I'm out working in the field, I'll probably bring my IMR, 3400mAh 18650's and will probably get more than 5 hours run time I'm guesstimating. With 3 AAA's the headlamp was quite comfortable and I was not in a hurry to remove it like some headlamps I've worn.
I like it so much, I bought another.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/11000LM-2X-...9f304fd&pid=100010&rk=3&rkt=6&sd=311720149425
.
.
But I do have one concern that maybe someone can help address......
When running on
3 rechargeable AA's the fully charged voltage of course is around 1.42v x 3 = 4.26v
3 rechargeable AAA's the fully charged voltage of course is around 1.42v x 3 = 4.26v
2 rechargeable 18650's's the fully charged voltage of course is around 4.20v x 2 = 8.40v
Obviously, when I run it off of 2 x 18650's there is a lot more voltage so the light is MUCH brighter.
Isn't that likely not so good for the LED's ?
It's very adjustable, reasonably comfortable and has 3 settings.....On High, On Low, Blinking (why the heck the Chinese keep putting a blinking setting baffles me)
The claimed lumens are way off but I estimate on AAA's and AA's on low setting it's around 300 lumens and on high about 400 lumens
On 18650's I would estimate 450 lumens on low and probably around 700 lumens on high (it's pretty darn bright on 18650's on high, probably too bright for the close up work I will usually use it for, Harley and motorcycle repairs)
The LED's are Cree XM-L T6 type
Photo 1
So far I really like it.
It has the ability to use AA, AAA or 18650 batteries which I thought was cool although this is probably and old set up just new to me.
Pretty ingenious regardless when it first entered the markets.
Plus, it has a convenient USB port so you can just plug it into any USB port for re-charging on the go.
(Or maybe the USB port is an OUT port so you can charge another USB device with it? Not sure.)
Photo2
It has this awesome little adapter that lets you use all three of the above battery types.
Photo 3
Seems very sturdy and the on off switch and everything feels well made. Not chincy like some items I've bought from China.
I'm running on low power on the 3 different sets of batteries to see how long the runtime is on the various rechargeable batteries.
Right now I'm running it on 3 x 900mAh AAA batteries.
I will note that using 3 AA batteries is not exactly a "perfect" fit. It seems the cradle to hold the 3 AA batteries is a bit tight and causes the batteries on the end to "ride up" slightly.
It's not a big problem but it seems they needed to make the AA battery cradle about 1 or 2 mm's wider than they did. If you have very thick AA's it may be a problem.
Yesterday I wore it and ran it the entire time on 3 AAA, 900mAh HarborFreight NiMh batteries. I got 2.5 hours and it was still going although when I checked the battery voltage they were
down to 1.28v on all three. Still, 2.5 hours is plenty long for most things I need the headlamp for. And if I'm out working in the field, I'll probably bring my IMR, 3400mAh 18650's and will probably get more than 5 hours run time I'm guesstimating. With 3 AAA's the headlamp was quite comfortable and I was not in a hurry to remove it like some headlamps I've worn.
I like it so much, I bought another.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/11000LM-2X-...9f304fd&pid=100010&rk=3&rkt=6&sd=311720149425
.
.
But I do have one concern that maybe someone can help address......
When running on
3 rechargeable AA's the fully charged voltage of course is around 1.42v x 3 = 4.26v
3 rechargeable AAA's the fully charged voltage of course is around 1.42v x 3 = 4.26v
2 rechargeable 18650's's the fully charged voltage of course is around 4.20v x 2 = 8.40v
Obviously, when I run it off of 2 x 18650's there is a lot more voltage so the light is MUCH brighter.
Isn't that likely not so good for the LED's ?
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