New Biking Lights

[tnforever]

Hey all,

So I have a few days left in which to buy my flashlight, and amongst a seemingly infinite number of choices, I've finally found my preferred set up, which is a smaller (Ultrafire WF-501/502B) flashlight with a P-60 bulb.

Embarassed to only find out a couple days ago what a P60 bulb is, but they have all the drop ins I want here, including R2s and MC-Es

My question is quite broad still:

1) What problems would there be running an MC-E with 2x123 or 1x18650? How is the run time like and what would a good solution?

2) Should I change hosts if I want to run an MC-E?

3) in a small (2x123/1x18650) setup how much difference is there between an R2 and an MC-E?

Note that this is for short bike trips on pavement (1-3 hrs), and there's a 100HKD (~USD13) difference between an R2 and a MC-E P60.

Prices here are actually significantly higher than DX, probably due partly to cost of opening a shop, and making a profit...

Again, thanks in advance!

 

[yellow]

1st, I dont like such inserts. imho they make a bad thermal path, as the reflector gets heated and from there th eheat goes to the housing. Better were the mounting plate of of the led itself being this large in diameter, that it makes a very tight fit to the housing ...
... except from that, they are nice and work (and most are so cheap, one can get a spare one every year, if there were effects of overheating to notice)

in general numbers, very general!!!
1*18650 = voltage the white led runs on,
so the current at the batt is the current at the led (if You like to go into a more real world mode, deduct 20-40 %)

single die led --> max current 800 mA, being about 200+ lumen then
quad die --> max current 4*800 mA, being about 800+ lumen (4*200+)

runtime:
single die --> 3 hours @ 800 mA (making some safe 2.5 hours)
quad --> 40 mins

for me the output of a single is enough for trail riding, but I like it small, no weight, long runtime, not too obvious (not to get caught because the guy on the other hill 5-10 Km away calls his collegue here, stating "some motorbike" drives in his forest)
Pretty sure, as soon as I would have a nice quad-led light, I would appreciate it also


problems to encounter: 1*18650 cant drive the quad very good,
better change to a 2*18650 host, incrases power and runtime considerably

 

[bigchelis]

It appears you are trying to purchase a DX type light. They make great lights and will force you to learn about lights becuase quality is a coin toss. I like them because you can stick different drivers, lens, reflectors, clickies, ect... They make good hosts, but for reliabiliy you need to look elsewhere. Especially; true if you purchase a Quad emitter..Try a Malkoff MC-E P60 drop-in with a Solarforce L2 18650 hosts. That is my favorate combo.