So, everything I've read says no 14500's in this light. Any thoughts on how to make it brighter? The box says 100 lumens - uhuh, yeah, sure. All and all a nice light that runs a long time on eneloops, but...like a true lumen addict, I want more.
I'd be willing to try a 14500 if I thought it wouldn't immediately kill the light.
Anyone have some good advice?
It's already using a Q2 bin, there is nothing more you could really do unless you wanted to crack open the pill and try to replace the driver with something different.
And yes, I recall reading at least one report of the light dying with 14500, although I just popped on into mine and it ran OK for a few seconds before I shut it off.
And the rating of 100 lumens is probably pretty close per the typical LED rating method. The Q2 bin is close to 100 lumens at 350mA, and the LE 2.0 is drawing ~800mA on a 1.5V E2. So, it's in the ballpark. Probably around 60 "torch" lumens.
The C-LE 2.0 is a great pocket light. It's a good PWM circuit, has 5-mode with memory, and gets decent battery life with Nimh or alkaline.
However, if you want a pocket monster, it's not it. Maybe go nab one of the Ultrafire C3 5-modes. Those have new circuits that work with 14500, and have some serious output. QC is sketchy, but it's cheap lumens.