RyanA
Flashlight Enthusiast
I just received my Five Mega Prince 2x18500 today in the mail. I have to say I am more pleased with this light than any other I have owned. It's that awesome. Let me begin by saying that the machining is incredible and the design is very logical and in that sense quite aesthetically pleasing. The knurling not only looks good but affords a solid purchase on the light. A little bit about the light itself. It was originally designed for use with 2xLi-ion and lower voltage G4 bi-pin lamps like the WA1111 (larger cells [18500] were needed for current demands) The light has a forward (can be used for momentary activation) clicky that has a very solid feel. The clicky should be just fine for this the 1185 as it has been used with lights pushing more current, like the 1111. It comes with the standard 40mm stippled reflector and an add-on turbo bezel with smooth reflector area. The reflector fits the 1185 like a glove, just as I suspect it does most of the WA lamps. Anyways so although the IMR (Li-Mn) cells are relatively new around here, and the light may not have been designed with them in mind, three IMR 16340 cells (CR123a size) will fit just fine nonetheless and handle the current and voltage demands of an 1185 lamp. :naughty:
So I fired up my all mighty 15 dollar ultrafire charger (w/ aluminum charging spacers) and cooked the cells up to about 4.11v on the DMM. I was a bit itchy as this is in instaflash territory as indicated by Lux's destructive bulb test. I took the light outside and it fired up just fine. The beam has a bit tighter hotspot with less artifact when the turbo addition is used. However both beams have a good amount of flood just due to the volume of light. The beam is about typical of any 1185. The advantage lies in it's new found pocketablity. It fits very nicely in most jacket pockets or even heads-up in the front jeans pocket. However the downside is that runtime is going to be fairly dismal. After a few ten second bursts I removed the cells and checked them on the DMM again, this time they came up at about 3.88v.
But for my purposes it makes a really nice portable flash-bulb.:D
If you're interested the light can be purchased here along with the 1185 bulb
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=200782
Cells can be purchased from lighthound
http://www.lighthound.com/AW-IMR163...MN-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery_p_0-2626.html
Have fun roasting the neighbors cats!
So I fired up my all mighty 15 dollar ultrafire charger (w/ aluminum charging spacers) and cooked the cells up to about 4.11v on the DMM. I was a bit itchy as this is in instaflash territory as indicated by Lux's destructive bulb test. I took the light outside and it fired up just fine. The beam has a bit tighter hotspot with less artifact when the turbo addition is used. However both beams have a good amount of flood just due to the volume of light. The beam is about typical of any 1185. The advantage lies in it's new found pocketablity. It fits very nicely in most jacket pockets or even heads-up in the front jeans pocket. However the downside is that runtime is going to be fairly dismal. After a few ten second bursts I removed the cells and checked them on the DMM again, this time they came up at about 3.88v.
But for my purposes it makes a really nice portable flash-bulb.:D
If you're interested the light can be purchased here along with the 1185 bulb
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=200782
Cells can be purchased from lighthound
http://www.lighthound.com/AW-IMR163...MN-Rechargeable-Lithium-Battery_p_0-2626.html
Have fun roasting the neighbors cats!
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