3 watt lux led 2xcr123 rechargable ?

Northernflame

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
145
Hello.

I'm looking for a LED FL with very good battery life and around 3 watts with a charger and 4 lion batteries .

Any sugestions?

Yes i did try ebay.. Unfortunately it's mostly 7-9watts now. I'm not in the market for a ummm flare..
 

cy

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 20, 2003
Messages
8,186
Location
USA
try to stay away from lights that use multi li-ion cells. for max runtime find a light like surefire U2 that take single 18650.

or surefire L4 using one 17670 li-ion. much less complications when charging single li-ion cell.

lights that can use single R123 like mclux PD, ARC LS, HDS, etc give excellent runtime and safety of using single cell.

this thread is a good starting point for charger info..

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=157773
 

2xTrinity

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Joined
Dec 10, 2006
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2,386
Location
California
I'm looking for a LED FL with very good battery life and around 3 watts with a charger and 4 lion batteries .

Any sugestions?

Yes i did try ebay.. Unfortunately it's mostly 7-9watts now. I'm not in the market for a ummm flare..
Don't believe any of those 7-9W claims -- they are generally just drawing only 3-4W, same as any other LED flashlight, it's more of a marketing gimmick. More important than the wattage (which just yells you how fast the flashlight will suck your batteries dry) is the lumen output -- One of the Cree or Seoul flashlights will be almost double as efficient as the Luxeons, so one of those with multiple levels will be your best bet for long runtime and high brightness. There are many available for a reasonable price, too.

I would stay away from EBay personally. If you want bargain, I'd say try Dealextreme.com or Kaidomain.com. They will be cheaper than anyone on ebay for the exact same thing, and they're more likely to refund your money or send you replacement parts if your light fails. You can get one of their 18650 based Cree or Seoul Lights, some batteries, and chargers for around $40. Ultrafire C2 Clone is a good deal at $22 -- I don't have this one yet, but have two on the way. Also, the Venture at Kaidomain for $19 is a respectable Cree light as well -- fairly well regulated, nice build quality, runs a few hours, there's also a simpe two-level switch. Kai sells a kit with that light, a charger and battery for $30, a spare battery will cost another $6.

If you have a higher budget, something like the Lumapower M1 Hunter is great, around $80 from batteryjunction.com -- there you get the ability to run 2xCR123 for maximum brightness, or 18650 for long runtime with slightly lower brightness (4 hours high, 24 hours low). That light received 5 stars from Flashlightreviews, and has lots of attention to detail (hard anodize, coated lenses, gold plated contacts, durable construction etc).

18650 has more energy than 2xCR123 in about the same size, and regulators will generally be more efficient running off 3.7V, so you will see longer runtime with 18650 based lights than 2xCR123. Lights that take both though are usually good,as you have flexibility, and they have to have a decent regulator built-in just to be able to work on both types of batteries.
 

Northernflame

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
145
Hello and thanks for the replies.

Here's what i can say:

Reason for rechargable lion is that normal (half decent) cr123 batteries are about 15$ each here in Canada. Lasting about 2 hours in total makes it very VERY expensive for a day to day use FL.

3xAAA FL's even with 900mAH nimhs last half as long as ex; a F62aa FL single AA flashlight (same led).

I sold my surefire (cr123) as it was very un-economical , and the fact i was not as impressed by it.

I know that what i'm looking for is very limited. However to find a FL that is larger than AA and smaller than C .

The Ultrafire C2 Clone looks impressive. Though not much in reviews yet

Thanks again.

P.S. Fenix perhaps..
 
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LED_Thrift

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Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
1,874
Location
Northern NJ, USA
The Fenix L2D-CE uses two AA batteries and has very good runtime considering the amount of light out the front. You may be able to get by - light wise- with using just the medium level, which has a tested runtime to 50% of 12h 25min and puts out as much light as a Streamlight PP 4AA Lux [ this is on NiMH rechargable AAs]. It also has a lower power level and two higher levels. It's not Lithium powered, but has performance that was common only to lithium not too long ago.
 

Northernflame

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Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
145
LED_Thrift said:
The Fenix L2D-CE uses two AA batteries and has very good runtime considering the amount of light out the front. You may be able to get by - light wise- with using just the medium level, which has a tested runtime to 50% of 12h 25min and puts out as much light as a Streamlight PP 4AA Lux [ this is on NiMH rechargable AAs]. It also has a lower power level and two higher levels. It's not Lithium powered, but has performance that was common only to lithium not too long ago.

Thanks LED_THRIFT.

I'm familiar with Fenix paticularly the L2P . Which impressed me with it's battery life, and near 40 lumens output.

At lease when the batteries went out you knew the batteries were near 100% drained. Great for nicads.
 
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