Which P60 drop-in?

[rice rocket]

Lookin' for max reasonable output out of a P60...

I'm lookin' at something floody for a bike light. MC-E, P7, SST-50, or the Linger Special dual XP-G's are on the table. Opinions? P7 @ 2.5A or 2.8A seems to be the cheapest option. I have an MC-E drop-in from DX, but it's only being driven at 1A despite being advertised as 2.8A. I have a SST-90 on a 20mm star too, but the star doesn't fit in the P60 format (and I don't think the 90 is as efficient as the 50?).

I'll be using it primarily as a bike light aimed down, so most of the time on strobe (so figure half the power consumption, and a lot of cooling w/ the passing air).

 

[psychbeat]

you should check if nailbender can do a Linger Special
with a strobe or SST50. both are between 4 and 500 OTF
I think.

Ive been using his SST50 for downhill mountain biking and
its awesome but I wanted something a little more floody
for handlebar mount so I ordered a warm linger.

 

[bigchelis]

The DX MC-E P60 drop-in......I have tested 3 of them for OTF lumens and they make 2A with a good IMR 18650 cell. They all make about 350~370 OTF lumens at 2~2.5A.


Now, if you have the Javelin hosts and use 3 NiMH AA cells instead of a single IMR 18650 you will get 550 plus OTF due to NiMH AA not saging as much. I even tried using those new 1.6v Green AA rechargeables Frys sells and it was close to 600 sustained OTF numbers....

What battery are you using???????

 

[rice rocket]

They changed their drivers...I'm only pulling 1A max.


DX has a P7 drop-in now for $17. Supposed to put out 2.5A to a C-bin. Hmmm, do I risk it again? I guess I can purchase additional drivers to wire in parallel if they lie about it again.

 

[rice rocket]

you should check if nailbender can do a Linger Special
with a strobe or SST50. both are between 4 and 500 OTF
I think.

Ive been using his SST50 for downhill mountain biking and
its awesome but I wanted something a little more floody
for handlebar mount so I ordered a warm linger.

The Linger special isn't very efficient from what I read? Heats up quickly.

SST-50 sounds good, but maybe overkill for a P60? How much amps can you safely run through this thing on a P60?

 

[kramer5150]

They changed their drivers...I'm only pulling 1A max.

... not necessarily. If your 18650 cells are tired/worn and have high internal resistance, then they are going to be the limiting current draw factor. Its not uncommon for used 18650 cells to only pass ~1A.

With healthy IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~3A.
With healthy non-IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~2.5A.

 

[rice rocket]

... not necessarily. If your 18650 cells are tired/worn and have high internal resistance, then they are going to be the limiting current draw factor. Its not uncommon for used 18650 cells to only pass ~1A.

With healthy IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~3A.
With healthy non-IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~2.5A.

I have 3 LiCo cells, all brand new. All three pull the same at the tailcap.

 

[psychbeat]

The Linger special isn't very efficient from what I read? Heats up quickly.

SST-50 sounds good, but maybe overkill for a P60? How much amps can you safely run through this thing on a P60?

Im going to send my Linger to BIG C when it get it so we'll have to see.

my SST-50 is only running @ 2.5 A regulated- my C2 gets warm
but not crazy hot- Ive got aluminum strips n AS5 on the pill-run it
on high till cutoff all the time w no problems. the single mode are 2.8A
regulated so a little brighter I guess. its usually cooled pretty well
on the bike when Im going down - I turn it off on climbs or run it
on low to save power. I get about an hour on high.

I want a p60 helmet/headlamp host now... waiting on a couple
of people whom are in the prototype process...
the magicshine HL is the best cheap thing going right now...

 

[rice rocket]

I guess my real issue is why use an SST-50 @ 2.5A when the P7 puts out the same?

 

[psychbeat]

none- except for the SST having a nicer looking beam
usually. In fact, the P7 might be a little brighter anyways.

Personally, I dont care what the beam looks like besides tint
being nice and a buncha flood for my bike mounted lights..

I like a more concentrated beam for my Head/helmet tho.

good luck on yer quest!

 

[mpkav]

I know your looking for a drop-in but I just saw this in the dealers corner and thought it was interesting!!!!

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=224831

 

[psychbeat]

^^^
yeah thats the "magicshine" bike light.

theyre pretty popular and CHEAP for what they are.

usually u need to waterproof the batt pack and
add thermal paste to em- pretty dang bright too!