Streamlight ultrastinger

vicv

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An older light now but how are they? I've found two with one good battery, three cradles, and 7 extra LA for $50 I'm looking at buying. Seems very fair. What is the wattage of the bulb? I presume around 6V and 2A?
 

snakebite

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i would be tempted.
ultrastinger uses a 5 sc stick.
so 6v at whatever capacity.
i have tested real 4ah sc nimh so they should be availible.
stock nicd 1.8ah.
 

bykfixer

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Don't know about voltage, amps and that sort of thing regarding the ultra stinger but do know that's one bright little flashlight.
A local yocal and I were discussing flashlights one bright sunny day a few years ago on a concrete parking lot. He says "yeah I'll get one of those LED numbers some day but this one does just fine." I said "pretty bright huh?" and he shined it in my eyes quick-like. I said "holy (four letter word)! Can't see!!" his partner said "what that old thing? Check this out" and shined a 6P in my face…ugh!

My first 6P arrived a few days later. Never did buy an ultra stinger since Mrs Fixer gave me a 375 lumen stinger LED for Christmas that year.
 

thermal guy

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I have one and love it. I keep it in the cradle on my wall next to my bed. It's old school but throws pretty damn good. I use it sometimes when I hear something making noise in my backyard.
 

thermal guy

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Thermal....do you have anything to compare to? Like a 6 cell mag? I think this should be a bit brighter. I find a 6 cell mag very bright
You mean a 6 cell incandescent mag? I'd say it throws a lot better. Little brighter as well. It's a narrower beam then the mag. Like I say I really like mine. It doesn't come close to what you can get with a mag led however.
 

fivemega

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What is the wattage of the bulb? I presume around 6V and 2A?
Incand UltraStinger
-----------------------
Bulb: 6 Volt
Bulb current: 1.8 A
Battery made of 5 NiCad sub C
Battery voltage: 6 volt
Battery capacity: 1800mAh
Flashlight length: 11.5"
Head bezel diameter: 60mm

SuperStinger is 5 cell (6 V) version of Standard incan Stinger.
ULtraStinger is 5 cell (6 V) version of incan HP Stinger.

ULtraStinger battery is made of 5 NiCad sub C (6 volt) with battery diameter of 23mm and length of 213mm
M*gChrger battery is made of 5 NiCad 1/2D (6 volt) with battery diameter of 32mm and length of 180mm
There are also NiMH version of both batteries with higher capacity and longe run time.


 
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vicv

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So I bought it. They've been well used but otherwise pretty good. The cigarette lighter plug needed to have a wire soldered on inside to fix it. I ran both lights at 10 minute intervals(heat) and the bad battery lasted around 25 mins before significant dimming. The good one lasted 50 minutes. Looking at light output, it's a pretty nice beam although not as white as a mag 6 cell pr xenon on two 18650s or a tad customs 7212 on 3x cr123s. About the same colour as a lumens factory eo4 on a fresh charged hb2 cell and tailcap spring bypass.
I presume being a "tactical" light the bulb isn't driven as hard to make it more robust.
Also I've ordered a new NIMH battery stick to see if even my good one is dropping a bit too much under load.
Now looking forward to when it gets dark so I can actually see what it can do!
 

vicv

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First off I didn't realize how handy it would be to just have the light hanging on the wall in a charging cradle. That's cool.
Brought it for my nightly dog walk. Not a bad light. But I was expecting it to be brighter. I'd say it's roughly the same as a full sized mag with 2 18650s and the 6 cell xenon pr bulb. The tads customs 7212 bulbed mag is brighter. Maybe the battery is dropping under load too much? But the colour looks right for a well driven halogen bulb.
And I think the standard smo mag reflector throws better too although not as nice of a beam.
All in all I'm pretty happy. I was already well covered for 200-300 lumen full sized incan flashlights, lol, but more can't hurt anything but the wallet!
 

snakebite

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good deal!
btw the nimh should be fully charged then taken off charge.
they dont like trickle charging.
and dont be surprised if a new pack really wakes it up.
when i get these surplus(any rechargeable device) often the agency that replaced them did so when it was time for consumeables.
the ir suffers first and even if a lot of capacity still remains it will be dimmer.
 

vicv

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Thanks. I always thought that about NIMH as well. But the stream light website specifically says that it's best for the battery to keep it in the charger when not in use
 

fivemega

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btw the nimh should be fully charged then taken off charge.
they dont like trickle charging.
As I mentioned earlier,
Ultra Stinger charger charges the pack at 180mAh which is 1/10 of NiCad 1800mAh pack.
Now if you can find for example pack of 5400mAh, then trickle charging is 1/30 which will not harm or cause any big problem.

But the stream light website specifically says that it's best for the battery to keep it in the charger when not in use
They don't want you be surprised with drained battery 3~4 weeks after removed from fully charged.
 
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vicv

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Thanks for the info. They cancelled the order anyway as apparently before sending out they tested the stick and it did not meet specifications. So I ordered their NICD stick. It's only 1600mah . The official streamlight battery is $70 here so I thought I'd take a gamble on an aftermarket one.
Also, I'm not sure if my battery needed conditioning from sitting in a box for years. But the light is getting better from use and charging. The output is getting whiter. Significantly. And brighter. It's impressive now
 

vicv

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So with a new battery and getting a proper focus on the head, this thing is awesome. For the first time I've discovered a light that can have too much throw in all instances. Like walking in a narrow trail in the woods. Had to use an L2P with eo4 in that instance. Still a bit too bright!
But ya this is an incredible light. And with a charging cradle, it's always ready to go at max output. Makes a person wonder why surefires like the m6 is so popular around here. I mean ya it's a nice light. And with the mn20 it would output a similar amount of lumens....for the first 20 or so minutes before the batteries were running down. And to not waste $30 with a batteries you have to keep running it until it got very dim. With this thing he's throwing on the charger and it's at full power the next time you use it.
Not to start a surefire vs streamlight thing. And these lights were designed for different uses.
All that to say I like this light a lot
 

thermal guy

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I'll tell you this. my streamlight TL3 is just as bright and throws just as far as my surefire M3 and damn near as far as my M4! It's crazy.
 

bykfixer

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There was a short period of time when SureFire bought bulbs from Streamlight. Streamlight was nearly bankrupt from losing a huge lawsuit for patent infringement. SureFire needed a bunch of bulbs and quickly. So Dr John Matthews injected some much needed cash into the veins of Streamlight. Soon after, ironically the Streamlight Scorpion was in direct competion with the SureFire 6P for a huge US military contract. But once both gained a foot hold in the world of hand held flashlights both agreed to no longer compete for the same contracts.

Streamlight has quietly gone about the business of supplying law officers, fire personnel, rescue folks and many blue collar workers a good product at a decent price. SureFire went after the market where people dodge bullets or kick in doors for a living. Their target market was folks with an even more extreme line of work than cops and firemen.

In the 2nd hand market Streamlight has always taken a back seat to SureFire concerning resale value. But to a flashaholic that means a great product can be had on a budget.
 
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