Cree and 18650 Lith-Ion?

Hi guys!

I have been waiting patiently for the "announced" Pila Regulated Cree emitter for the GL2. Sadly it has yet to rear its head into the light of day!

So I have this question, is there another light out there that runs off an single 18650 Lith Ion and is regulated? Im looking for at a one cell light (or 2 CR123's) the option would to run either would be a huge plus. Money isn't really the issue in this case (Im willing to spend the coin), but build quality is going to be of the highest importance! Waterproofing isn't nessisary though it should be splashproof or useable in the rain. Im probably looking for more of a flood than a throw in this lamp. As with anything the longer the runtime the better. :naughty: I would like to find something with a Clicky tail switch if possible! Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Stephen

Lumapower M1 XRE

+1 - M1 is everything you just asked for - and more.

+1 and it is beautiful

The M1 looks like a great light, but the runtime curves on an 18650 are less than ideal.

Regulation?
Hey guys... Im just a little confused. I looked at the M1... looks exactly like what I am looking for. However, I have become a little confused?

If this light is indeed "regulated" in my understanding of the term, should it not then have 100% light output and then just kinda shut off?

rather we get this description:

Best runtime with 18650; max to 50% --> 250 minutes +; max to 25% --> 400 minutes; 600 mins to Dim.

Click to expand...

Does this mean the the light steps down as the battery dies or what?

Also Gnufsh? Best runtimes are supposed to be produced by the 18650 battery what do you mean its curves are less than ideal?

Thanks again for all your help guys

Stephen

I mean it's not flat regulation. Check out the graphs on flashlightreviews.com.

What I want is a flashlight which will run regulated on one 18650 or one cr123 with a spacer and a warning to NOT use 2 cr123s.

The Huntlight FT-01PJ Luxeon is regulated, 3hrs of even light output with an 18650. A Seoul emitter is an almost direct replacement. I've done it to mine. Here's a run chart compliments of chevrofreak.

http://lights.chevrofreak.com/runtimes/Huntlight%20FT01.png

Troop#26 said:

Regulation?
Hey guys... Im just a little confused. I looked at the M1... looks exactly like what I am looking for. However, I have become a little confused?

If this light is indeed "regulated" in my understanding of the term, should it not then have 100% light output and then just kinda shut off?

rather we get this description:

Does this mean the the light steps down as the battery dies or what?

Also Gnufsh? Best runtimes are supposed to be produced by the 18650 battery what do you mean its curves are less than ideal?

Thanks again for all your help guys

Stephen

Click to expand...

hi stephen, your describing the perfect regulator. in reality, this is what regulators TRY to do, but they usually are a little inefficient, so you usually get something between regulated and non regulated.

"I'm probably looking for more of a flood than a throw in this lamp."

The M1 has much more of a throw than a flood. It focuses most of the light into a smaller hot spot than other Cree models. I believe the expensive Huntlight may have the best flood of any of the high quality off-the-shelf Cree models currently available.

Your best bet is to mod an existing light and change the driver to one a buck boost from the shop. Any good two cell hosts would work.

The Lumapower M1 Luxeon is in fact fully regulated on both CR 123 cells and a single 18650. The Lumapower M1 Cree is however ONLY fully regulated when being run on CR 123 cells. It does have very long runtime on a single 18650, but it is not flat regulation. It is slightly sloping. I still think that it is one hell of a light, but I am waiting for Lumapower to release a fully regulated version of the light and I'll be all over it!

Troop#26, I use my KL5 with a TB 18650 body and get 2 hours runtime of flat regulated light, bounce + lightmeter. Leef is making 18650 (2XCR123) bodies being sold at lighthound.com I recommend the Surefire KL5 because of its superior build quality. Cree, Seoul leds sound great, but there are few manufacturers who are really making quality lights for them. What is available is ok, particularly price wise, but the Surefire KL5 is really excellent. I recommend buying a brand new, recent manufacuture KL5 because I do believe that Surefire is using the best Lux V emiters now. What CM says is good advise, having a good light switched out for a Cree, or Seoul emitter, but my good old (not too old) KL5 kicks butt and has good runtime.

Bill

The other way you could go would be to get one of the Cree G2 dropins, put it in a G2 or Brinkmann Maxfire and mod the light to accept an 18650. I've never tried to so mod the G2, but with the Maxfire, all you need to do is replace the inner sleeve with a single flat run of copper.

Personally considering how much longer the M1 runs with the 18650 than on two CR123As, I can easily live with the mild drop-off. Keep in mind, it only runs in regulation for 1:20 while you get over three times the runtime with an 18650.

adirondackdestroyer said:

The Lumapower M1 Luxeon is in fact fully regulated on both CR 123 cells and a single 18650. The Lumapower M1 Cree is however ONLY fully regulated when being run on CR 123 cells. It does have very long runtime on a single 18650, but it is not flat regulation. It is slightly sloping. I still think that it is one hell of a light, but I am waiting for Lumapower to release a fully regulated version of the light and I'll be all over it!

Click to expand...

I am as well. The M1 looks like a great light, except I want better regulation on 18650s. The same applies to the huntlight, except it needs current regulation at lower levels instead of using PWM.

BTW, has anyone tried this one from kaidomain
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=1254

The runchart they have there looks pretty much like regulated to me... although it has its waves...

I've actually ordered one last week, but the order status still says "Collecting from supplier(s)" whatever this might be...

If all they say on this page is true, it might be a pretty good 18650 for this kind of money.

LightScene said:

"I'm probably looking for more of a flood than a throw in this lamp."

The M1 has much more of a throw than a flood. It focuses most of the light into a smaller hot spot than other Cree models. I believe the expensive Huntlight may have the best flood of any of the high quality off-the-shelf Cree models currently available.

Click to expand...

it's true that the M1 is much more of a throw than a flood if you use the reflector (whether smooth or OP) but you can get an amazing flood if you remove the top bezel which holds the reflector. For most other leds, you usually end up with a very broad and dim light that's not very useful but with the M1 on high, the flood beam is very usable. Someone had earlier suggested fitting the top bezel without the reflector but I found that this made the beam dimmer as compared to leaving out the top bezel completely - prob because the inside of the bezel absorbs rather than reflects the light.