Thanks for the updates! Very informative.
I'm a little confused about the low voltage and the light cutoff. The first night when the light cut off, I guess the light didn't step down? Or were you experimenting with the levels so it was hard to tell when the light stepped down? And in you earlier post you mentioned the light when it cutoff was about 3.55V, but your newer post mentioned the cut off is about 2.8V?
But anyways, thanks for all your work and keeping us updated! I didn't pay attention to this light until the first reviews/impressions came in and am now a bit interested. Looks like this light is a good balance between a thrower/flooder to me..
sorry for the response delay - on travel all day yesterday till after 2200.
The first evening the light cut out while I was on my evening walk in a dark area of a warehouse district bordering on some woods. I had switched levels several times, but at the time of cut-off, I was looking at a spot where a warehouse meets the woods - not at the light - and did not notice a level change. I did not use turbo since the light was already warm from previous checks of turbo vs high output.
During that walk, I did not see either a red light or a step-down - the light abruptly cut off. Only later did I understand that I could have broken the circuit by loosening the tailcap, waiting a bit, re-tightening, and I probably would have had an output before returning to the apt.
It took about 1/2 hour before I returned to my apt and actually measured the cell open-circuit: 3.55v. However that half hour was relatively long and sufficient to recover from the cut-off voltage of ~2.8v back up to ~3.5v. That recovery is not inconsistent with a first discharge on a new large-capacity cell.
Only later when I explored the actual cut-off voltage by repeatedly running the light down to cut-off w/o any charging did I discover what the actual cut-off voltage really was, and that the red light was visible before cut-off, albeit short. I had to be quick on measuring the OC voltage since the cell recovered fairly quickly until it really was discharged to ~2.8v. Only at the very end of testing did I realize that the light also dropped from high to med just before cut-off.
First impressions can be deceiving! Nevertheless, discovering the limits of a new light during actual use commonly entails unpleasant discoveries.
All in all, a nice light. good output/runtime for the size and 26650 cell. and rechargeable in-light. Would I purchase the R50 Pro? not sure if the bump in output is worth the bump in price. The charging cradle is of little use for me, maybe for my nephew, although he already has the R40.
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