Sunwayman V11R with AA extender. User Experience!

[Howiezowie]

Just about 30 seconds with a professional die grinder. I think it would be less than 5 minutes with the average drill and sandpaper roll.
I also had a friend bore my TI extender with a lathe. He didn't get it bored enough so I finished up with my die grinder. Oh my god, titanium is tough stuff. It's well worth boring the aluminum adapter and going 17500's. The boring comes out ok with a sandpaper roll. Grinding with bits is not very pretty but will work.

Hello, this only my second post on CPF. I have a V11R with AA extender on order, with the plan to bore the extender for use with 17500s. I don't have access to professional equipment (but I have a Dremel tool with many accessories, and a 'basic' Dewalt 14.4V cordless drill.) Can you offer any specific instruction or links to instructions/guidance to accomplish this task? (I.E. A particular Dremel tool attachment, or technique for sandpaper on a drill bit – how to affix, what type of paper/grit etc.?) ALSO, any caveats to using a 17500 battery in terms of their ability to fit in the V11R? THANKS VERY MUCH! (the editing options for CPF in my browser will not allow me to hit "enter" and add new lines, so this is all one paragraph )

 

[j2k]

I've got a neutral white one, and from the beginning the extender was very loose. It would unscrew itself when I wanted to adjust the brightness. I ended up thread locking the extender since I don't really use cr123's and don't need to take it off often.

I mainly feed it 14505 from battery junction, and eneloops occasionally. I've noticed thou that on a fully charged eneloop it blinks when the ring is adjusted to full power - voltage too low??

 

[awoodby]

This is my edc on a rotating Fenix belt clip. Love the light, it's finally gotten me to move away from my nitecore's!

Only issue I've had is it burns through a 14500 (aa Li/Ion) very quickly, and never flashes to let me know I'm out of power in like 15 minutes. I went back to just eneloops or other NiMh AA's and it's working fine and long.

I wish they made a NATIVE AA, the extra bulk to hold a 123 isn't necessary. Too bad the extender doesn't let it hold an 18650 instead (same diameter as a 123)!

--Alex

 

[Lou Minescence]

I've got a neutral white one, and from the beginning the extender was very loose. It would unscrew itself when I wanted to adjust the brightness. I ended up thread locking the extender since I don't really use cr123's and don't need to take it off often.

I mainly feed it 14505 from battery junction, and eneloops occasionally. I've noticed thou that on a fully charged eneloop it blinks when the ring is adjusted to full power - voltage too low??

My guess is your eneloop is getting older and can't supply current fast enough to the light. I use my V11R to sort out my batteries. A good strong fresh charged Eneloop battery will power my light on max for a while before it starts to blink.



Posted by awoodby :

" I wish they made a NATIVE AA, the extra bulk to hold a 123 isn't necessary. Too bad the extender doesn't let it hold an 18650 instead (same diameter as a 123)! "

Did you mean 17650 ?
Usually a 17650 will fit in place of 2 CR123 batteries. An 18650 is too fat.
The AA adapter allows 15 mm extra battery length. Add 2 bored AA extenders to your V11R and you can run a 17650 in your V11R.

 

[bgyen]

I just got my V11R a couple of days ago. Also purchased the extender in case later on I want to use AA/14500. I'm just using a 16340 in it right now as I like the shorter sized V11R.

I like varying the brightness with the magnetic control ring. It functions very smoothly. Only thing I wish is that the ring stood out a tiny bit more from the rest of light's body/head instead of being so flush. Sometimes I lose track of where it is (probably just need to use it a bit more to get use to it). It might have helped if the knurling on the ring had a bit more aggressive texture.

I don't think there too many lights with variable output in the same size as the V11R. The only other one I can think of is the Jetbeam RRT-01, but it doesn't have the clicky-switch.

 

[j2k]

My guess is your eneloop is getting older and can't supply current fast enough to the light. I use my V11R to sort out my batteries. A good strong fresh charged Eneloop battery will power my light on max for a while before it starts to blink.

That's a good tip. I'll test the light with a new battery tonight, thanks!

 

[j2k]

I tried my V11R with a freshly charged new eneloop and a fresh alkaline. On both the light was blinking with the control light turned to brightest, and the highest non blinking overall output was really, really low - compared to other lights maybe 30 lumens. The blinks weren't much brighter either.

The light seems to work just fine on regular rc123's and 14505 lithium's and I'm wondering if my copy is somehow defective, or the super poor performance on AA's is typical.

 

[gunga]

I think there is a defect. I get less top end output with mine, but more like say 120-150 lumen.

 

[_UPz]

That's my SWM V11R (Mirage XM-L U3) with AA eneloop.

 

[dc38]

Necroish post, but wanted to know...has anybody tried stacking multiple extenders to make this into a 2AA light? Just out of curiosity since I might be getting my aa extender bored out to fit 17 or 18mm cells.

 

[Rosoku Chikara]

Necroish post, but wanted to know...has anybody tried stacking multiple extenders to make this into a 2AA light? Just out of curiosity since I might be getting my aa extender bored out to fit 17 or 18mm cells.

Actually, I too wondered whether or not something like that might not be possible. Assuming Eneloops, if you were going to go 2x for 2.4v why not go 3x for 3.6v? I know it sounds pretty crazy, and certainly might look strange, but I guess it would work. Wouldn't it?

Of course, it would take a large number of the standard 15mm extenders, so I was "thinking" (not seriously) in terms of having a special tube machined.

 

[dc38]

Actually, I too wondered whether or not something like that might not be possible. Assuming Eneloops, if you were going to go 2x for 2.4v why not go 3x for 3.6v? I know it sounds pretty crazy, and certainly might look strange, but I guess it would work. Wouldn't it?

Of course, it would take a large number of the standard 15mm extenders, so I was "thinking" (not seriously) in terms of having a special tube machined.

Lol...It would be a just for kicks type of light, but you know, it would be interesting just to try it out 3x eneloops would be a tad too unwieldy for my tastes. 2xaa would still be manageable

 

[Lou Minescence]

Necroish post, but wanted to know...has anybody tried stacking multiple extenders to make this into a 2AA light? Just out of curiosity since I might be getting my aa extender bored out to fit 17 or 18mm cells.

I can't bring myself to add more than 1 extender. I run a 17500 with 1 bored extender. I put a second extender on and ran an AW 17670 for a couple days. It looked strange and I took the second extender off.
As far as boring the light,18mm may be too much. 17 works fine. I never tried the 2 or 3 AA batteries with multiple extenders.

 

[jackdaws]

I'm just in receipt of a V11R. Cost me £60 (~$100). Now, I'm no major torch enthusiast - I just want a decent quality pocketable light to carry about - and I'm reluctant to spend more on the thing unless it's really worth it. I don't think the extra 2cm would get in the way, but I'm wondering whether spending another £6-10 would pay for itself in extra funtionality.

The batteries I bought for it are Torchy 3.7v 16340s. I've no idea how believable their claimed 750mAh is, but compared to the storage capacity of most 14500s I've seen, even at 650mAh (about average?), am I right in thinking that their capacity would not be greatly exceeded by your average 14500. If I'm right in this, unless I'm planning to be away from home with nothing but a V11R for a torch, the only reason why I'd want to buy an extender would be if I preferred the extra length. But then I'd have been wiser to have bought a larger torch in the first place, since every screw-joint is a potential weakness, and every o-ring can become leaky.

All this is a tentative opinion, since I'm no expert on either torches or batteries, but I'd still be interested to hear other people's thoughts.

 

[ozzie_c_cobblepot]

Received my V11R today w/ AA extender. Two problems.

First, the magnetic control ring moves quite easily. In a sense, the whole light rests on the control ring. If it moves too easily, like mine, you always need to check it before turning it on. Also, during operation, it can potentially move. If it's too difficult to move, it may have the problem that you'll unscrew the head and/or the battery compartment while intending to just change the level.

Second, the AA extender doesn't work. It's attached very tightly, and doesn't light up. While I am quite sure that I am using a freshly charged Eneloop, I am at work and will check that when I get home. I am hoping that there are no "machining problems", using the words of climberkid from post #5 of this thread.

All in all, the light functions just fine with the stock length, aside from the too-easily-moved control ring.

Not super happy :-(

-- Ozzie

 

[jackdaws]

.... the magnetic control ring moves quite easily

Thankfully, mine is fairly nicely balanced. It's a little too much drag, if anything, since I've found myself accidentally untightening the lense piece. Given the potential issue with loosening control rings, you might consider with your loose control ring to contact the vendor/manufacturer, at least to see what they think.

 

[bgm307]

First, the magnetic control ring moves quite easily.

-- Ozzie

When I got my V11R the magnetic ring was sticky with that heavy grease they use under the ring. Grease that you had to wash off , you couldn't wipe it off. I wrote Sunwayman support about it. I got a really prompt reply. I was impressed by that. They said that the grease would wear off soon and that perhaps one of their techs got over zealous in applying it since they have had complaints about the ring being too easy to move. Sunwayman obviously knows that there is problem with some lights. Mine is just right. It won't turn unless I move it.

 

[naq]

I am looking at the V11R myself. I've read that using teflon tape on the threads is an option for other flashlights as a way to increase drag and give a more stiff rotation feel. Is this a solution that might help in this case?

 

[Dreamer]

Received my V11R today w/ AA extender. Two problems.

First, the magnetic control ring moves quite easily. In a sense, the whole light rests on the control ring. If it moves too easily, like mine, you always need to check it before turning it on. Also, during operation, it can potentially move. If it's too difficult to move, it may have the problem that you'll unscrew the head and/or the battery compartment while intending to just change the level.

Second, the AA extender doesn't work. It's attached very tightly, and doesn't light up. While I am quite sure that I am using a freshly charged Eneloop, I am at work and will check that when I get home. I am hoping that there are no "machining problems", using the words of climberkid from post #5 of this thread.

All in all, the light functions just fine with the stock length, aside from the too-easily-moved control ring.

Not super happy :-(

-- Ozzie

I just got my V11R 2 weeks ago, bought mine at the local flashlight shop so I'm able to test out the light first before purchase. I actually tested 2 lights with AA extender(works well with CR & RCR) and both light failed to work, on AA and 14500. Thankfully, the last one I tried works. Btw, all the V11R magnetic ring does not move easily. I could see some grease under the ring. It's one of my fav for edc now.

 

[hiuintahs]

I run my V11R with the extender. At first nothing would work. I found that it had to be screwed on real tight to make connection. The other issue I had was the O-ring that came with the extender was all deformed and would squish out and so I had to use the spare which was fine. So SWM owes me another O-ring . My control ring is fairly stiff and I like it that way. My V25C is a lot looser.