Fenix L1D w/ L2D Q5 Head or Nitecore D10 R2 poll

[BentHeadTX]

I beg to differ. I see a difference right here... notice how it doesn't say L1D or P2D... it says L2D Premium Q5.... the lettering is different...:goodjob:

CaNo,
I am running a L1D Q5 head on a L2D body and a L2D RB100 head on a L1D body.
I admit it, I don't read directions! 🙂

 

[CaNo]

CaNo,
I am running a L1D Q5 head on a L2D body and a L2D RB100 head on a L1D body.
I admit it, I don't read directions! 🙂

I hear ya bud! haha I'm a trial and error kind of guy myself. How does that RB100 differ from the Q5? Any huge difference in brightness throw that you noticed? Because i swap out my L2d Q5 head amongst the stock l2d body and the l1d body i purchased separate. I posted an ad on marketplace for anyone selling a Q5 head, but no biters. So i think im going to settle for 4seven's non-q5 head to put on the body not being used and slap both of them on my bike so i can successfully illuminate my path on my nightriding. It just kills me that i can only use one at a time... What type of led does the "non q5" head they sell on 4Sevens have? Is it the RB100? or a lower Q bin?

 

[BentHeadTX]

I hear ya bud! haha I'm a trial and error kind of guy myself. How does that RB100 differ from the Q5? Any huge difference in brightness throw that you noticed? So i think im going to settle for 4seven's non-q5 head to put on the body not being used and slap both of them on my bike so i can successfully illuminate my path on my nightriding. It just kills me that i can only use one at a time... What type of led does the "non q5" head they sell on 4Sevens have? Is it the RB100? or a lower Q bin?

CaNo,
Welcome to the legend of the Lumileds RB100, get some and enjoy the story. Waaaay back in September, 2007 Lumileds came out with the RB100 LED to compete with the Cree XR-E series. Lumileds had the RB80, RB90 and RB100 so the war was on. All was good with the initial RB series but one of Lumileds contractors then made a change to their epoxy that holds the die in place. This caused a large recall of all RB series LEDs from a specific date in October,2007 onward. The LEDs would fail when the epoxy failed.
I picked up my L2D RB100 in Sept 2007 and it was rated 150 lumens or so. The reason I picked it was the smaller LED should of had better throw, had a lower forward voltage and it was more yellowish than the sterile white of the Crees. The light was for helmet use and I ran it in 2AA mode for the winter. When light returns to the planet, I swap it over to a 1AA to make it smaller and lighter.
L1D RB100 VS L1D Q5 Now things get interesting! I have run the RB100 and Q5 heads on 1AA or 2AA depending on my needs. I LOVE the fact that I can tailor my helmet light to my needs with 1AA or 2AA. This is what I have noticed:

Brightness The Q5 is brighter than the RB100 but not by much
Throw The Q5 has more throw than the RB100 but not by much
Beam Quality The RB100 wins since the LED is smaller and not ringy
Runtime RB100 = 2 to 2.5 hours Q5 = 1.5 to 2 hours (RB wins)
Tint RB100 is yellowish Q5 is very white RB is better for viewing plants and off-road trails, the Q5 is better for the street.

These days I am using a L2D Q5 for a helmet light and my wife prefers the L1D RB100 since it is much lighter and has a longer runtime.

Personally, I am waiting to see what 4sevens has up his sleeve with his new series of 1AA and 2AA lights to see if they have more throw. The Cree XP-G has about 40% more output and won't have ring artifacts on the beam. The Q5 puts out 94 lumens per watt and the XP-G 132 lumens per watt so there will be a noticable jump in output. That is the puppy I am waiting for and they should be out near the darker time of Sep/Oct this year.

The standard L series Fenix lights use the P4 bin. The P4 puts out about 25% less light than the Q5, hope that helps.

 

[CaNo]

CaNo,
Welcome to the legend of the Lumileds RB100, get some and enjoy the story. Waaaay back in September, 2007 Lumileds came out with the RB100 LED to compete with the Cree XR-E series. Lumileds had the RB80, RB90 and RB100 so the war was on. All was good with the initial RB series but one of Lumileds contractors then made a change to their epoxy that holds the die in place. This caused a large recall of all RB series LEDs from a specific date in October,2007 onward. The LEDs would fail when the epoxy failed.
I picked up my L2D RB100 in Sept 2007 and it was rated 150 lumens or so. The reason I picked it was the smaller LED should of had better throw, had a lower forward voltage and it was more yellowish than the sterile white of the Crees. The light was for helmet use and I ran it in 2AA mode for the winter. When light returns to the planet, I swap it over to a 1AA to make it smaller and lighter.
L1D RB100 VS L1D Q5 Now things get interesting! I have run the RB100 and Q5 heads on 1AA or 2AA depending on my needs. I LOVE the fact that I can tailor my helmet light to my needs with 1AA or 2AA. This is what I have noticed:

Brightness The Q5 is brighter than the RB100 but not by much
Throw The Q5 has more throw than the RB100 but not by much
Beam Quality The RB100 wins since the LED is smaller and not ringy
Runtime RB100 = 2 to 2.5 hours Q5 = 1.5 to 2 hours (RB wins)
Tint RB100 is yellowish Q5 is very white RB is better for viewing plants and off-road trails, the Q5 is better for the street.

These days I am using a L2D Q5 for a helmet light and my wife prefers the L1D RB100 since it is much lighter and has a longer runtime.

Personally, I am waiting to see what 4sevens has up his sleeve with his new series of 1AA and 2AA lights to see if they have more throw. The Cree XP-G has about 40% more output and won't have ring artifacts on the beam. The Q5 puts out 94 lumens per watt and the XP-G 132 lumens per watt so there will be a noticable jump in output. That is the puppy I am waiting for and they should be out near the darker time of Sep/Oct this year.

The standard L series Fenix lights use the P4 bin. The P4 puts out about 25% less light than the Q5, hope that helps.

 

[CaNo]

I was disappointed to find out today that the Nitecore D10 does not have constant brightness! I guess I got spoiled with my Fenix lights...

The Fenix only dimmed down 5mins before the battery was completely empty.

I took a brand new battery and I believe only after 20 mins of use, the Nitecore went from 145 lumens... to 90 lumens.... :duh2:

 

[Marduke]

Sounds like a 14500, a dead battery, or a crappy battery. The D10 is well regulated.

 

[CaNo]

Sounds like a 14500, a dead battery, or a crappy battery. The D10 is well regulated.

I use 2650mah NiMh Duracell Rechargeable batteries. I am hoping it is one of the batteries that havent been used in a while that lost its charge through time. I replaced it with new batteries and am crossing my fingers i didnt get a defective D10. Marduke, the chart you linked says 1hr 19min to 50%... Does that mean 50% brightness (which may explain why it seemed like it dropped that many lumens with the other battery?) or 50% battery charge remaining?

 

[Marduke]

I use 2650mah NiMh Duracell Rechargeable batteries. I am hoping it is one of the batteries that havent been used in a while that lost its charge through time. I replaced it with new batteries and am crossing my fingers i didnt get a defective D10. Marduke, the chart you linked says 1hr 19min to 50%... Does that mean 50% brightness (which may explain why it seemed like it dropped that many lumens with the other battery?) or 50% battery charge remaining?

50% initial brightness is the CPF standard of "runtime". This roughly corresponds to the end of regulation within a couple minutes. The battery is usually nearly fully depleted at that time.

As for your cell, using charged and not discharged batteries to obtain the full runtime is kinda.... common sense..... 😗

 

[CaNo]

50% initial brightness is the CPF standard of "runtime". This roughly corresponds to the end of regulation within a couple minutes. The battery is usually nearly fully depleted at that time.

As for your cell, using charged and not discharged batteries to obtain the full runtime is kinda.... common sense..... 😗

I have a box in which i put all my charged batteries into, so i know which ones are used and which ones were fully charged. I am assuming at the moment that it may be one of the batteries i may have skipped over for a month or so.... this is putting in consideration that these are not Eneloop batteries, and do not retain their charge as well as an Eneloop over time...

 

[Marduke]

And when is the last time you did a refresh or capacity check to even know their health?

If you're using an el-cheapo charger or have never conducted any maintenance, the cells may have been murdered already.

 

[CaNo]

And when is the last time you did a refresh or capacity check to even know their health?

If you're using an el-cheapo charger or have never conducted any maintenance, the cells may have been murdered already.

I try to recharge atleast once a month, no more than 2 months. It shouldnt have a problem since my charger is from Duracell themselves, and the batteries i use are Duracell...

 

[Marduke]

It shouldnt have a problem since my charger is from Duracell themselves, and the batteries i use are Duracell...

That doesn't necessarily mean anything. The majority of the chargers on stores shelves are cheap "dumb" timed chargers. They charge at X current for Y hours, then shut off. They do this regardless of charge state. Doing routine "top offs" on such a charger will quickly kill a cell, since the cell is only 10-30% depleted over a month, and the charger would try to pump a 100% charge into it.

I suggest you read up on proper NiMH use and maintenance in the battery forum.

 

[ImGeo]

To be more gentle in phrasing:

Most battery chargers that come with batteries are anywhere from 15 minute to 2 hour chargers that are often "dumb" by some standards--meaning it shuts off when the battery heats up a lot (meaning that it can't charge anymore, and the electricity sent to the battery converts to heat) or when the timer ends (which means even if you put in a fully charged battery, it will charge until the timer ends).

"Dumb" battery chargers often slowly kill batteries, especially the 15-minute chargers.

What is being suggested is you get a charger like the Maha C-9000, LaCross BC-900, or the LaCrosse BC-700 (what I have, from Amazon.com, $25). These chargers are much more intelligent, stop charging when the voltage reaches its max, and has many features, such as setting the charging current, reading the voltage of each battery, charging batteries independently (so you can insert a depleted and a semi-full battery and charge them together without having to overcharge one). Basically, it's a very nice charger for $25.

And: with one of these "intelligent" chargers, you are able to tell the actual capacity of the battery. For example, if the battery on the label is rated at 2650mAh, and has been charged by a "dumb" charger for a year, the capacity may have dropped to 1000mAh. With a "intelligent" charger, you can do a test to check its actual capacity.

 

[CaNo]

To be more gentle in phrasing:

Most battery chargers that come with batteries are anywhere from 15 minute to 2 hour chargers that are often "dumb" by some standards--meaning it shuts off when the battery heats up a lot (meaning that it can't charge anymore, and the electricity sent to the battery converts to heat) or when the timer ends (which means even if you put in a fully charged battery, it will charge until the timer ends).

"Dumb" battery chargers often slowly kill batteries, especially the 15-minute chargers.

What is being suggested is you get a charger like the Maha C-9000, LaCross BC-900, or the LaCrosse BC-700 (what I have, from Amazon.com, $25). These chargers are much more intelligent, stop charging when the voltage reaches its max, and has many features, such as setting the charging current, reading the voltage of each battery, charging batteries independently (so you can insert a depleted and a semi-full battery and charge them together without having to overcharge one). Basically, it's a very nice charger for $25.

And: with one of these "intelligent" chargers, you are able to tell the actual capacity of the battery. For example, if the battery on the label is rated at 2650mAh, and has been charged by a "dumb" charger for a year, the capacity may have dropped to 1000mAh. With a "intelligent" charger, you can do a test to check its actual capacity.

Thank you very much for your recommendations! I will definitely look into purchasing one of these chargers since the batteries necessarily are not cheap, and I never really knew about these situations until you mentioned it. :thumbsup:

 

[BentHeadTX]

Thank you very much for your recommendations! I will definitely look into purchasing one of these chargers since the batteries necessarily are not cheap, and I never really knew about these situations until you mentioned it. :thumbsup:

CaNo,
Since you actually LIKED reading all my babble concerning the RB100 VS Q5 LEDs, I can save you time with new chargers. Get the Maha Powerex C9000 battery analyzer, charger device and play with all the modes. It is great to have an analyzer that will break in your batteries, tell you the capacity of them and has peak voltage, temperature monitoring, negative delta V detection and all that jazz.

Why the C9000? Because you hang out on flashlight forums and find LED bin codes interesting. Face it, you are sucked into the vortex so might as well get the skinny on your batteries. My Eneloops have been perfect for the last two years and the C9000 always performs. After all, it is pretty cool to write the true capacity on the battery label. 🙂

 

[CaNo]

CaNo,
Since you actually LIKED reading all my babble concerning the RB100 VS Q5 LEDs, I can save you time with new chargers. Get the Maha Powerex C9000 battery analyzer, charger device and play with all the modes. It is great to have an analyzer that will break in your batteries, tell you the capacity of them and has peak voltage, temperature monitoring, negative delta V detection and all that jazz.

Why the C9000? Because you hang out on flashlight forums and find LED bin codes interesting. Face it, you are sucked into the vortex so might as well get the skinny on your batteries. My Eneloops have been perfect for the last two years and the C9000 always performs. After all, it is pretty cool to write the true capacity on the battery label. 🙂

Yes, i did get sucked into that VRTEX... lol After getting one of those chargers, i gotta get me some of those eneloop batteries as well.

 

[DHart]

Thomas Distributing is your source to be trusted for super low prices, superb customer service, and no hassle guarantee. Maha C9000 and Eneloops. Their Eneloops are FRESH too!

 

[CaNo]

How are their shipping charges within the US?

 

[DHart]

GO check 'em out.

 

[CaNo]

GO check 'em out.

I did, I just did not want to put my information all in if someone already had ordered from them and would happen to know if their shipping rates are an arm and a leg, or like 4Sevens, included in the price.