Help on new CREE LED light purchase. Which type LED and batteries.

[TapouT]

I'm stuck on which CREE LED to look for in a light that is in a small package (barrel of about 1" and length about average- 1-2 batteries).

I looked at a light with the CREE MCE but it only has a single 3.7 volt battery and I don't know if thats enough to push that LED a good bit.

Which CREE LED is best suited to use a single 3.7 volt battery or two 3.0 volt batteries? I prefer a light that can use rechargeable batteries as an option, so the lights that use a single 18650 or two CR123A batteries sound nice. I just dont want to be loosing tons of potential because of lack of voltage.

I want a a long throw light with a little bit of flood, but range is important.

I looked at lights with CREE MCE and XRE R2 so far. I prefer a light without any strobe functions so I dont have so many modes to go through everytime.

Any suggestions? I have been looking through the forums, but its hard to choose a decent light at a decent price. I almost purchased a UltraFire WF-502B Cree R2-WC with a rechargeable battery and charger on eBay, but feel I might want a better light.

 

[kengps]

It's not really a function of which LED....It depends on the driver. MC-E, R2, and the new SST-50 will run on a single battery with the correct driver. Some manufacturers run 2 batteries, some one...but the same LED, different driver. Some lights are single battery only, so you can't run 2 CR123's. Some will run both 1 and 2 battery set-ups. I'm not positive of this, but I think the 1 battery only lights are more efficient than the 6Volt lights that have to step the voltage down for the LED. In my opinion the best lights are all ones that run a single 18650. You'll get much more run time on a single 18650 then 2 16340 or CR123's. The MC-E LED's are very floody. You need a really large reflector to get some throw out of them, and even then the R2 will still out-throw it.

 

[LEDninja]

Cree MC-E and SSC-P7 lights are very bright but tend to be very floody.
If you want range maybe stay away from them.
For total brightness compare lumens.
For range compare Lux.
A 1 watt LED flashlight at 15-30 lumens can easily out-throw a 100 watt light bulb at 1400 lumens. So lumens does not help you that much when looking for throw range.

There are dangers in using Li-ions, especially multiple Li-ions. Before buying Li-ion based lights please read:
Using Li-ion cells in LED flashlights safely
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=235164
I would strongly recommending against buying Lithium battery flashlights for gifts. The recipient would probably not be careful with the batteries and

5 years ago LEDs require 3.6-4V to operate at full potential. Todays LEDs work at lower voltages, 3-3.4V so a single Li-ion (4.2V dropping to 3.6V) can power them up. 45 min runtime. 2 batteries will double the runtime but the 1st generation of those burn up the circuits.

One problem with very bright small lights (MC-E/SSC-P7) is they get too hot to hold pretty fast. The XR-E, XP-E, XP-G lights are better.
Reflector size is important to throw distance. How big a head can you put up with?

Ultrafire is considered a budget light. A lot of CPF members won't go near a budget light. Fleabay is not a good place to buy reliable lights.

EDIT:
Suggest you stick with 2AA/2AAA lights.
The Quark AA2 (even the older R2 on clearance will do)
The Preon kit - run in 2AAA mode for max brightness, 1AAA mode for easy pocket-ability.
Don't forget your CPF discount.
Not as bright as the above but at the low price end even the MiniMagLED should be looked at.

 

[yellow]

You have the following options (for a light that is not pocket-EDC sized any more):
2*AA,
2*CR123,
1*18650
out of them the 1*18650 houses dramatically more power (by about 1/3 more in minimum).

MC-E has four times the power consumption than XR-E (XP-G is the new single die model, well worth to use it) but only double-triple the output. And makes a wider beam - double in general.

When You have 2*AA equipment, get a Fenix LD20,
You dont have to use the additional levels, if You dont want. Turn the light off, next time on and it starts in level 1 again. Going through all the levels is necessary with the cheapo offerings.


PS: most ppl who ask such questions dont have a good charger for AA. If so, skip the whole thing and move to an 1*18650 Li-Ion light.
Aside from much more power in cell with a similar sized light, all the charging tech is cheaper.

 

[TapouT]

That give me allot to think about, thanks everyone.

The ultraFire seemed too cheap so thats why I was leary. Right now my best light is a SacredFire with a CREE XR-C and a TechLite Lumen Master that is said to have an XR-E (a little white light but no more range than the sacredfire) both use 3 AAA batteries. I use eneloop NiMH AA and AAA batteries in my lights currently and use the eneloop charger but cause I use eneloops in my Canon camera too, I will end up getting a nice charger at some point (MaHa or however its said). I keep plenty Alkaline and some Lithiums on hand too. The techlight has strobe and cause of the switch it does not work with nimh batteries.

I don't want a head too much larger than say 1.5" in dia. -with a 1" barrel.

How do I identify the driver in any lights I look at? I'm honestly not sure what if any certian specs to look for, or is this where just simply buying a better brand comes into play?

After what I read I might look for a single 18650 light with an XP-G, XP-E OR XR-E.

I looked at LED's and reflectors on cutter electronics site, what gives better throw out of reflectors like frosted, ripple, plain, and tight, medium etc...?

So many lights out there...................

 

[LEDninja]

Thrower review: DBS, Spear, MRV, Tiablo, Regal & clones: THROW, RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS!
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=190999
Throw is 1 Lux at sqrt(Lux at 1M) meters.
As 1 Lux is rather dim, assume half the calculated # for usable throw.

Dereelight directly from Dereelight or FlashCrazy.
Lumapower & Tiablo from Battery Junction.
Jetbeam from bugoutgearusa.
Fenix from 4SEVENS, EliteLED, Lighthound etc.
See this thread for links and CPF discount codes.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=181841

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3AAA lights are cheap because there is no driver. How well they perform depends on how well the LED is heatsinked to the metal body in addition to quality of the LED. The 1st light dropped from 130 to 85 lumens as the LED heats up. The 2nd one stayed at full power because of better heatsinking.
You gets what you pay for.

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EDIT:
If you have a tight budget look at the lights from shiningbeam.
The Romisens he carries are a special run for him with upgraded LEDs etc. Not the ones with the same model #s found on DX/eBay.
He has a MC-E light that runs off 6AA.
His L-mini is one of the smallest 18650 lights around. Despite no head it throws very well. Beamshot Little Mini left, MTE P7 right. Note how floody the P7 (and MC-E) beam is.

 

[TapouT]

Thanks for the info and the links! I'm looking through the reviews right now, I hope to order a new light soon.

edit* Are there any certain models or bins on LED's that are more of a white light than others? The biggest thing is, I do not want a yellowish light at all.

 

[LEDninja]

Are there any certain models or bins on LED's that are more of a white light than others? The biggest thing is, I do not want a yellowish light at all.

Cree XR-E & XP-E: WC. WD is slightly creamy. (Cree seems to have changed the binning system for XP-G. I do not have information on that.)

Lumileds Luxeon, K2 & Rebel: X0.

SSC P4 & P7: SX0