I wasn't too majorly thrilled about the HO-4 untill I ran it on a 18650.., the 17670s just don't push it into really white territory.... works fine, just isn't as bright... but I don't worry too much about that... I look at it this way- if it's a tad bit less white and bright, then it will probably last a LOT longer than a bulb being driven really hard.[/QUOTE
mdocod said:
as far as the HO-9 on a pair of RCR123s...
You really must use AWs protected high current cells for this, it's the only way I would recommend it. The power consumption is walking on the fine line of safety but should be fine for at least a few hundred shallow discharges before the cells should be replaced... Runtime is about 23 minutes till the cells shutdown, I recommend cutting off the run at around 15 minutes and recharging. The first 5 minutes is beautifully bright and white, after that it turns to a slightly yellower output but is still plenty impressive, slowly diminishing... at about the 15+ minute mark it is noticeably dimmer and orange in output, no more impressive than a G90/P90 at this point but still functional... since shallow discharges are healthier for these cells I would just suggest a recharge anytime you have more than 5 minutes on the setup (when practical)...
I was running it on a 17670 but have a 1 x 18650 C-C leaf body on the way so will give it a try with that (also have a EO-4 on the way to try)
It is AW's cells that I am using, this will be my belt light for work and so will be used just as you describe above, anything more than a few minutes useage on a shift and I bung a spare set in and take the others home to top up.
Thanks for all the info