When the SSC-P7 lights first came out all the manufacturers worked hard to make sure they worked. I only read of 1 DOA light in the first 2 months.
The quality seem to go downhill on some models lately.
A
1*18650 light in all 3 DX reviews the customer had to fix problems before the light would work.
A 2*18650 light 2 CPF members reported the light died soon after arrival. Apparently the circuit cannot handle the load.
It is buyer beware time. Read the reviews at DX and here for LACK OF RELIABILITY reports before buying.
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The SSC-P7 uses up 10+ watts of energy. The smaller brighter lights can get too hot to hold on max (even my big 3C P7 M@g gets hot all the way to the tailcap though I have no problem holding it). Runtime is under 1 hour on max (1*18650). That is why I recommend getting a 5 mode. Run in medium normally. Go to max only when you need to. The circuitry seem to limit the amperage so they are not the brightest.
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In general 1st generation DX P7 torches play safe and run at 2.2A (instead of 2.8A). They worked fine. The timing of the UI of the multimodes is a PITA.
A lot of the 'fixes' is bypassing the dropping resistors and upgrading the wire to run at the full 2.8A for maximum brightness. The fix is not a problem with the torch but an upgrade by the brightness freaks.
With people asking what the pill is made of the 2nd generation torches use copper heatsinks (practically all the custom P7 m@gmods use copper heatsinks). Unfortunately some manufacturers do not know what they are doing. They put the LED on a board or star with glop, then attach the board or star to the heatsink with more glop instead of thermal epoxying the LED directly to the heatsink. This defeats the purpose of using a copper heatsink so look at the pictures carefully and if you see a board between the LED and the heatsink stay away.
With the thrower freaks refusing to buy the floody P7 lights the 3rd generation have big heads/reflectors. The heads went from ~37 mm to ~55 mm. (see picture below)
As 1*18650 cannot power the P7 for long at full brightness the 4th generation uses 2*18650. Unfortunately the circuits do not seem to be able to carry the load.
With everybody and his brother assembling P7 torches the number of problem units are increasing. A lot of manufacturers do not have R&D departments and just copy what they see others doing.
Quality control has been dropping steadily at the DX manufacturers.
I used to recommend the MTE 1AA sku1995 and Ultrafire C3. Due to recent reported problems I can no longer recommend them.
My 1st P7 torch which I am reasonably happy with (after I figured out the UI) is made by the same manufacturer as the problem 1*18650 torch linked to in paragraph 2. I do not know whether the problem is in one model or has spread to all torches by that manufacturer.
P7 3C M@g left stock 52 mm reflector,
MTE SSC P7 5-Mode right 37 mm head.
This should give some idea of how the different size reflectors affect beam shape.
