candle lamp
Flashlight Enthusiast
The 7G5CS U3 is an update on the original thrower 7G5CS with a top XM-L U3 emitter from Crelant. The light runs on 2x18650's or 4xCR123A's batteries.
The light comes in cardboard box with built-in packaging foam. Inside is the light, brief user guide and warranty card, spare o-rings, tailcap rubber switch boot, lanyard with a key-ring.
No belt pouch (or holster) included, so you need to figure out your own carry option.
.
.
Manufacturer Specifications from user guide :
• CREE XM-L U3 bin LED with 50 000 hour life span
• Maximum output : 920 lumen with an effective range of 500 meters
• High efficient constant current circuit and output-luminance
• Micro controller drive circuit
• Tactical High Mode, and On side switch Infinitely variable brightness system
• Hidden Strobe and SOS, Quickly click 2 times side switch --> Strobe , and quickly click 2 times again --> SOS
• Working voltage : 5VDC - 12 VDC
• Battery Types Supported : 2 x 18650 or 4 X CR123A
• Runtime : High output at 3A: 920 lumen max for 110 minutes. Low output at 0.01A : 5 lumen max for 148 hours
• Mil. Spec. Type III hard anodized aircraft grade 6063-T6 aluminum alloy
• Color : Black
• Ergonomic grip with anti-roll design
• Tactical forward tail cap switch
• Bezel : stainless steel
• High performance aluminum smooth reflector with concentrated beam shot
• Waterproof : IPX-8 Standard
• Lens : Toughened ultra-clear coated and anti-abrasion glass
• Dimensions : Length 249mm, Head Diameter 65mm
• Weight : 296g excluding battery
• Accessories : Lanyard, spare o-ring
• Specially designed for Military, Law Enforcement, Self-defense, Hunting, Search& Rescue and Outdoorsman
• Tactical-on side switch Infinite brightness accessible
• Stainless steel retaining ring on the bezel protects the head from drops and impacts
• New hybrid reflector specially designed for CREE LED, which allows for better beam quality, efficiency and throw capability
• Newly designed high efficiency broad voltage drive circuit
• IPX-8 standard waterproof
.
.
The hard (type III) anodizing is a semi-gloss black and consistent throughout with no chips on its surface. Anodizing is good on my sample. Lettering is clear and bright white against the black background. Only knurling band is present over battery tube and tailcap. The light comes with a movable rubber grip ring. There is nothing on the body works as an anti-roll device.
.
.
The light comes apart into four parts (i.e. head with a reflector, emitter/pill/electronics/side switch assembly, battery tube, and tailcap) without the use of tools.
.
.
The light has a flat stainless steel bezel ring and there's a large number of concentric ring ridges in front of the head, which give nice grip to remove the bezel ring and reflector. The light does feature a GITD (glow-in-the-dark) O-ring between the lens and reflector. There are four cutouts just behind the concentric ring ridges. The light has three large cooling fins and small ones ahead of the side switch for heat dissipation. There is a spring on the positive contact plate in the head, so flat-top batteries should work fine. But the light has no electrical reverse polarity protection function to protect from improper battery installation, so you should be careful to insert batteries correctly.
.
.
The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it. The aluminum reflector has a smooth pattern. Surface finish on the reflector (manufacturer calls new hybrid reflector) is perfect from visual inspection, with very fine radial machining lines running down the reflector cup, and well-centered XM-L U3 LED sits at the bottom of the reflector cup.
.
.
The distinctive aspects of the light are the dual-switch control and infinite ramping function. The mode-changing side switch is electronic switch, with a clear and audible click. It takes about 0.4~0.5 seconds to turn the light on actually by depressing the side switch from standby mode. This same delay does occur when switching each mode.
.
.
The battery tube has a cylindrical tube design and you can run 2x18650's or 4xCR123A's. The front half of the tube is covered with knurling and the other half with no knurling. The knurling is not very aggressive. Grip is acceptable, but the light may be slippery when wet.
The tube has two flat sides, one of which has the Crelant logo printed, and the other the model information (i.e., model name, serial number, etc.). There is a movable rubber grip ring helps with holding the light in a cigar style grip.
.
.
Threads on both ends are well machined, with the those on the rear end being anodized which allows the light to be locked-out when the tail cap is slightly loosened.
Threads on either ends on the battery tube mate well with the head and tailcap with no issues of cross-threading or grinding. The screws threads are good quality triangular-cut.
.
.
The wall thickness of the battery tube is somewhat thick, and looks sturdy.
.
.
The tailcap switch is a forward clicky. The rubber switch cap is recessed within the tail end which is stainless steel retaining ring. It means the tail switch can be a bit difficult to access, especially when you are wearing gloves. The switch has stiff tension with average travel and tactile clicking feedback. There is a band of knurling in the middle.
.
.
There is a removable & rotatable metal ring which has a small hole for lanyard attachment. It can be removed only after removing the O-ring on the battery tube. The hole on the metal ring is very small for the lobster-claw on the included lanyard, but a small split-ring is also included to make the good connection. The light can tailstand stably.
.
.
User Interface
Turn on-off by the tailcap forward clicky switch (press-on for momentary, click for locked on). When clicking the tail switch, the light always comes on in High output mode regardless of the electronic side switch in the head. Mode switching is controlled by the side switch when on. A click on it can transfer in the order of "default" High -> "default" Low -> Standby -> Cycle. The light has no memory for the last setting used. Note that "default" High or "default" Low output can be changed to two different user-defined output levels by using the infinite ramping function as described below.
Pressing and holing the side switch will ramp in the direction of the last ramp state (i.e., if ramping is from max. to min. and min. isn't reached yet, it will continue ramping downwards to min. and vice versa). When the light hits max. output, there will be three blinks. When min. output is reached, there will be a pause of about 1.5~2 seconds. To select and memorize the output level you want, simply release the side switch. Memorized output will be reset to "default" High or "default" Low output if the tailcap is locked-out or removed or the light is turned off.
There are hidden strobe and SOS modes, accessed by double-clicking the side switch when on. Double-click once for strobe, double-click twice for SOS. A single click move you back to Standby. No light is produced on standby mode, but a small current will be drawn to allow the circuit to respond to a switch clicking. The electronic side switch only works when the light is powered on by the tail switch first. As such, there is no standby current on the 7G5CS U3 when the tail switch is shut-off. So I recommend you store the light locked out at the tailcap or clicked off.
.
.
Ramp
The ramp of the 7G5CS U3 is about 11 seconds from min. to max. output level, totally 21 seconds cycle. The light has reasonable ramping time for selecting output level (i.e. from min. to max. output takes about 11 secs). There is a 1.5~2 sec pause at min. output level to help the precisely selecting of output level and also there is three blinks at max. output as shown above.
.
.
From left to right, VicLite 18650(2600mAh) protected, Skyray STL-V2, Crelant 7G5CS U3, Skilhunt Defier X3.
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.
The head size & body weight excluding battery of two lights are as follows :
STL-V2 - 61.9mm / 261g, 7G5CS U3 - 64mm / 336g
.
.
7G5CS U3 is long, as expected from a 2x18650's or 4xCR123A's powered light since the batteries are arranged end-to-end. The overall size and weight of the light is reasonable for this class. If you want to carry it and have it feel well balanced, you need to shift to a grip nearer the head. Overall grip is acceptable.
.
.
The CR123A & 18650 fit well in the tube. All types (i.e., true flat-tops, wide and small button-tops) of 18650's work fine. Overall build quality is very high.
.
.
Measured Dimensions & Weight
.
.
PWM
The above "High" & "Low" are "default High" & "default Low".
The 7G5CS U3 shows no sign of PWM at any output level. I think the light is constant current controlled. I noticet there is no buzzing sound at any levels.
.
.
Runtime
The runtime for 10% output of High output for various batteries is as follows :
1) 4xPanasonic CR123A : 45 min.
2) 2xVicLite 18650 protected : 75 min.
3) 2xNLTEK 18650 protected : 86 min.
4) 2xTorchGear 18650 protected : 85 min.
5) 2xPanasonic 18650 unprotected : 86 min.
Note that the original cell of the NLTEK is LGABD11865 (3000mAh), and its maximum charging voltage is 4.35v for full capacity. But charged it 4.2v for runtime test, so the capacity is about 2700mAh reduced with about 300mAh.
There are big blips near the end of the run which are from the low-battery warning function of the light (i.e., the light starts blinking for low battery warning at 6V). I saw the light flashed for a few minutes before shutting off.
I think the reported Crelant ANSI FL-1 runtime values are definitely over-optimistic. I'm told their runtime was based on running on Crelant 2x18650 3100mAh batteries. You could maybe get the reported 2x18650 High output runtime on 3400mA 18650 cells, but in my view, this is being deemed as very difficult, when taking into account that the 7G5CS U3 has an overdischarge protection function which turns the light off at 5.4V automatically. Therefore the light shut down abruptly when the batteries are at the end of their capacity. I noticed that High output on Panasonic 2x18650 (3100mAh) unprotected cells has almost same runtime as on TorchGear 2x18650 (3100mAh) protected cells.
Personally, I like the light with a built-in overdischarge protection function.
.
.
Beamshot
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/200sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/400sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/800sec, Auto white balance
The light shows a narrow hot spot and average sized spill beam for this class. Generally the beam is clean. A soft corona surrounds the hotspot which makes the hotspot seems slightly wider than it actually is. The spill beam region is relatively dim compared to the hot spot. The beam has a cool temperature.
.
.
[New 12.11.29]
2. Min. output
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/20sec (left) & 1/80sec (right), Auto white balance
The light has a very lower low (i.e., min. output), which is lower than most lights for this size. [New 12.11.29]
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.
3. Indoor beamshot (about 7m from the target)
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/2sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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-7G5CS U3
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- STL-V2
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.
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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.
-7G5CS U3
.
.
-STL-V2
.
.
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4. 55m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
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.
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5. 60~65m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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.
- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
.
.
.
.
6. 130m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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.
- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
.
.
.
.
7. 155m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
.
.
.
.
* 7G5CS U3 provided by Crelant for review. (Thanks!)
The light comes in cardboard box with built-in packaging foam. Inside is the light, brief user guide and warranty card, spare o-rings, tailcap rubber switch boot, lanyard with a key-ring.
No belt pouch (or holster) included, so you need to figure out your own carry option.
.
.
Manufacturer Specifications from user guide :
• CREE XM-L U3 bin LED with 50 000 hour life span
• Maximum output : 920 lumen with an effective range of 500 meters
• High efficient constant current circuit and output-luminance
• Micro controller drive circuit
• Tactical High Mode, and On side switch Infinitely variable brightness system
• Hidden Strobe and SOS, Quickly click 2 times side switch --> Strobe , and quickly click 2 times again --> SOS
• Working voltage : 5VDC - 12 VDC
• Battery Types Supported : 2 x 18650 or 4 X CR123A
• Runtime : High output at 3A: 920 lumen max for 110 minutes. Low output at 0.01A : 5 lumen max for 148 hours
• Mil. Spec. Type III hard anodized aircraft grade 6063-T6 aluminum alloy
• Color : Black
• Ergonomic grip with anti-roll design
• Tactical forward tail cap switch
• Bezel : stainless steel
• High performance aluminum smooth reflector with concentrated beam shot
• Waterproof : IPX-8 Standard
• Lens : Toughened ultra-clear coated and anti-abrasion glass
• Dimensions : Length 249mm, Head Diameter 65mm
• Weight : 296g excluding battery
• Accessories : Lanyard, spare o-ring
• Specially designed for Military, Law Enforcement, Self-defense, Hunting, Search& Rescue and Outdoorsman
• Tactical-on side switch Infinite brightness accessible
• Stainless steel retaining ring on the bezel protects the head from drops and impacts
• New hybrid reflector specially designed for CREE LED, which allows for better beam quality, efficiency and throw capability
• Newly designed high efficiency broad voltage drive circuit
• IPX-8 standard waterproof
.
.
The hard (type III) anodizing is a semi-gloss black and consistent throughout with no chips on its surface. Anodizing is good on my sample. Lettering is clear and bright white against the black background. Only knurling band is present over battery tube and tailcap. The light comes with a movable rubber grip ring. There is nothing on the body works as an anti-roll device.
.
.
The light comes apart into four parts (i.e. head with a reflector, emitter/pill/electronics/side switch assembly, battery tube, and tailcap) without the use of tools.
.
.
The light has a flat stainless steel bezel ring and there's a large number of concentric ring ridges in front of the head, which give nice grip to remove the bezel ring and reflector. The light does feature a GITD (glow-in-the-dark) O-ring between the lens and reflector. There are four cutouts just behind the concentric ring ridges. The light has three large cooling fins and small ones ahead of the side switch for heat dissipation. There is a spring on the positive contact plate in the head, so flat-top batteries should work fine. But the light has no electrical reverse polarity protection function to protect from improper battery installation, so you should be careful to insert batteries correctly.
.
.
The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it. The aluminum reflector has a smooth pattern. Surface finish on the reflector (manufacturer calls new hybrid reflector) is perfect from visual inspection, with very fine radial machining lines running down the reflector cup, and well-centered XM-L U3 LED sits at the bottom of the reflector cup.
.
.
The distinctive aspects of the light are the dual-switch control and infinite ramping function. The mode-changing side switch is electronic switch, with a clear and audible click. It takes about 0.4~0.5 seconds to turn the light on actually by depressing the side switch from standby mode. This same delay does occur when switching each mode.
.
.
The battery tube has a cylindrical tube design and you can run 2x18650's or 4xCR123A's. The front half of the tube is covered with knurling and the other half with no knurling. The knurling is not very aggressive. Grip is acceptable, but the light may be slippery when wet.
The tube has two flat sides, one of which has the Crelant logo printed, and the other the model information (i.e., model name, serial number, etc.). There is a movable rubber grip ring helps with holding the light in a cigar style grip.
.
.
Threads on both ends are well machined, with the those on the rear end being anodized which allows the light to be locked-out when the tail cap is slightly loosened.
Threads on either ends on the battery tube mate well with the head and tailcap with no issues of cross-threading or grinding. The screws threads are good quality triangular-cut.
.
.
The wall thickness of the battery tube is somewhat thick, and looks sturdy.
.
.
The tailcap switch is a forward clicky. The rubber switch cap is recessed within the tail end which is stainless steel retaining ring. It means the tail switch can be a bit difficult to access, especially when you are wearing gloves. The switch has stiff tension with average travel and tactile clicking feedback. There is a band of knurling in the middle.
.
.
There is a removable & rotatable metal ring which has a small hole for lanyard attachment. It can be removed only after removing the O-ring on the battery tube. The hole on the metal ring is very small for the lobster-claw on the included lanyard, but a small split-ring is also included to make the good connection. The light can tailstand stably.
.
.
User Interface
Turn on-off by the tailcap forward clicky switch (press-on for momentary, click for locked on). When clicking the tail switch, the light always comes on in High output mode regardless of the electronic side switch in the head. Mode switching is controlled by the side switch when on. A click on it can transfer in the order of "default" High -> "default" Low -> Standby -> Cycle. The light has no memory for the last setting used. Note that "default" High or "default" Low output can be changed to two different user-defined output levels by using the infinite ramping function as described below.
Pressing and holing the side switch will ramp in the direction of the last ramp state (i.e., if ramping is from max. to min. and min. isn't reached yet, it will continue ramping downwards to min. and vice versa). When the light hits max. output, there will be three blinks. When min. output is reached, there will be a pause of about 1.5~2 seconds. To select and memorize the output level you want, simply release the side switch. Memorized output will be reset to "default" High or "default" Low output if the tailcap is locked-out or removed or the light is turned off.
There are hidden strobe and SOS modes, accessed by double-clicking the side switch when on. Double-click once for strobe, double-click twice for SOS. A single click move you back to Standby. No light is produced on standby mode, but a small current will be drawn to allow the circuit to respond to a switch clicking. The electronic side switch only works when the light is powered on by the tail switch first. As such, there is no standby current on the 7G5CS U3 when the tail switch is shut-off. So I recommend you store the light locked out at the tailcap or clicked off.
.
.
Ramp
The ramp of the 7G5CS U3 is about 11 seconds from min. to max. output level, totally 21 seconds cycle. The light has reasonable ramping time for selecting output level (i.e. from min. to max. output takes about 11 secs). There is a 1.5~2 sec pause at min. output level to help the precisely selecting of output level and also there is three blinks at max. output as shown above.
.
.
From left to right, VicLite 18650(2600mAh) protected, Skyray STL-V2, Crelant 7G5CS U3, Skilhunt Defier X3.
.
.
The head size & body weight excluding battery of two lights are as follows :
STL-V2 - 61.9mm / 261g, 7G5CS U3 - 64mm / 336g
.
.
7G5CS U3 is long, as expected from a 2x18650's or 4xCR123A's powered light since the batteries are arranged end-to-end. The overall size and weight of the light is reasonable for this class. If you want to carry it and have it feel well balanced, you need to shift to a grip nearer the head. Overall grip is acceptable.
.
.
The CR123A & 18650 fit well in the tube. All types (i.e., true flat-tops, wide and small button-tops) of 18650's work fine. Overall build quality is very high.
.
.
Measured Dimensions & Weight
.
.
PWM
The above "High" & "Low" are "default High" & "default Low".
The 7G5CS U3 shows no sign of PWM at any output level. I think the light is constant current controlled. I noticet there is no buzzing sound at any levels.
.
.
Runtime
The runtime for 10% output of High output for various batteries is as follows :
1) 4xPanasonic CR123A : 45 min.
2) 2xVicLite 18650 protected : 75 min.
3) 2xNLTEK 18650 protected : 86 min.
4) 2xTorchGear 18650 protected : 85 min.
5) 2xPanasonic 18650 unprotected : 86 min.
Note that the original cell of the NLTEK is LGABD11865 (3000mAh), and its maximum charging voltage is 4.35v for full capacity. But charged it 4.2v for runtime test, so the capacity is about 2700mAh reduced with about 300mAh.
There are big blips near the end of the run which are from the low-battery warning function of the light (i.e., the light starts blinking for low battery warning at 6V). I saw the light flashed for a few minutes before shutting off.
I think the reported Crelant ANSI FL-1 runtime values are definitely over-optimistic. I'm told their runtime was based on running on Crelant 2x18650 3100mAh batteries. You could maybe get the reported 2x18650 High output runtime on 3400mA 18650 cells, but in my view, this is being deemed as very difficult, when taking into account that the 7G5CS U3 has an overdischarge protection function which turns the light off at 5.4V automatically. Therefore the light shut down abruptly when the batteries are at the end of their capacity. I noticed that High output on Panasonic 2x18650 (3100mAh) unprotected cells has almost same runtime as on TorchGear 2x18650 (3100mAh) protected cells.
Personally, I like the light with a built-in overdischarge protection function.
.
.
Beamshot
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/200sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/400sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/800sec, Auto white balance
The light shows a narrow hot spot and average sized spill beam for this class. Generally the beam is clean. A soft corona surrounds the hotspot which makes the hotspot seems slightly wider than it actually is. The spill beam region is relatively dim compared to the hot spot. The beam has a cool temperature.
.
.
[New 12.11.29]
2. Min. output
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/20sec (left) & 1/80sec (right), Auto white balance
The light has a very lower low (i.e., min. output), which is lower than most lights for this size. [New 12.11.29]
.
.
3. Indoor beamshot (about 7m from the target)
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/2sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
-7G5CS U3
.
.
- STL-V2
.
.
.
.
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
-7G5CS U3
.
.
-STL-V2
.
.
.
.
4. 55m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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.
- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
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.
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5. 60~65m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
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- STL-V2
.
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- 7G5CS U3
.
.
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6. 130m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
.
.
.
.
7. 155m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- STL-V2
.
.
- 7G5CS U3
.
.
.
.
* 7G5CS U3 provided by Crelant for review. (Thanks!)
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