P60 R2 Dropins

I have seen these P60 dropins that claim to be R2 emitters with 290 lumens on eBay. I am not sure about them as the description says "CREE Q5 XR-E P4 Bulb - R2 290 lumens max"

Looking through the sellers other items they do carry Q5s and P4s for less money.

The seller is in Hong Kong and did not reply to my question about the incorrect description.

Anybody actually buy one yet?

1 Mode
http://cgi.ebay.com/R2-290-lumens-CREE-LED-Bulb-6P-9P-Surefire-Flashlight_W0QQitemZ350022003148QQihZ022QQcategoryZ106988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

5 Mode
http://cgi.ebay.com/R2-290-lumens-CREE-LED-Bulb-6P-9P-Surefire-Flashlight_W0QQitemZ350022003148QQihZ022QQcategoryZ106988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Well, for one thing - you can be damn sure it's not putting out anywhere near 290 lumens with 600 mA of current going to whatever LED is in there.

A much better option would be a Dereelight:

http://www.dereelight.com/drop-in-modules.htm

You probably wont be able to detect a difference in an R2 at 1A and a Q5 at 1.2A (Q5 will still, likely, be brighter...)

Yeah, looks like a lot of eBay mumbo jumbo to me. Plus, even the Solarforce Q5 modules are outshined (literally) by the BOG, Wolf Eyes and Dereelight Q5s. So if it was an R2 from them, my thoughts are that it would still be a lesser performer.

After reviewing the beam shots from the bellow link, I would only really say the Wolf Eyes and Malkoff outshined it.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/186080&highlight=solarforce

These shots do not show the throw well but in the photos the Solarforce looks stronger than the BOG and is barely tagging behind the Dereelight(Mostly because it is ringier).

So for the price, if it is a R2 emitter, it may be a better value than the others. I have searched all the forums I could find for Solarforce issues and have seen none outside of the L60x line of lights. Everyone that has one seems to praise them, and many claim best bang for the buck.

Please note I am not promoting Solarforce, I don't own anything made by them.

I am just a guy that has spent a couple hours of my free time looking for the best deal on P6 clones and drop-ins. Solarforce seems to be the best quality for the money especially if they offer R2 emitters for that price.

The reason I am looking at these is that I need 3 of them, and I will only use them every few months. I have a P3D Q5 I use every day and the 3 lights I get need to be at least that bright. I may strap one to my M4 for "home" protection as well though.

Simply put, I am looking for a super deal on really bright lights, and I think I am not going to be able to beat the Solarforce L2s with R2 Drop-ins.

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ericgst, an R2 running at 600ma in a P60 drop-in for around $20 is not a bad deal. You get a better runtime to sacrifice some lumens.

Of course we can talk about regulation and tint bin ect...
... but in this light game, you win some, you loose some.

Go for it!

anyone know if you can pop these open and change the driver? If yes, then I say go for it, and change the driver to something that doesn't...well, suck.

Also, anyone know the Vf on an r2?
Phil

ericgst said:

I have seen these P60 dropins that claim to be R2 emitters with 290 lumens on eBay. I am not sure about them as the description says "CREE Q5 XR-E P4 Bulb - R2 290 lumens max"

Looking through the sellers other items they do carry Q5s and P4s for less money.

The seller is in Hong Kong and did not reply to my question about the incorrect description.

Anybody actually buy one yet?

1 Mode
http://cgi.ebay.com/R2-290-lumens-CREE-LED-Bulb-6P-9P-Surefire-Flashlight_W0QQitemZ350022003148QQihZ022QQcategoryZ106988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

5 Mode
http://cgi.ebay.com/R2-290-lumens-CREE-LED-Bulb-6P-9P-Surefire-Flashlight_W0QQitemZ350022003148QQihZ022QQcategoryZ106988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Click to expand...

How did you tell which is one mode and which is five mode, both auctions say the same thing.

Never mind. I see you pasted the same links by accident I assume. Looks like a very cool drop in.

Yes that was a mistake...

5 Mode
http://cgi.ebay.com/R2-5-mode-290-l...yZ106988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

"CREE Q5 XR-E P4 Bulb - R2 290 lumens max"
they have 3 bins in one description? maybe its a tri emmiter light.

Mercaptan is right, no way youre getting 290 lumens, even emmitter, even 100% eefficiency,not at 600ma anyway. R2s are rated 114 (roughly) at 350ma if i am not wrong. Closer to 190 at 600ma

Crenshaw

pbs357 said:

Yeah, looks like a lot of eBay mumbo jumbo to me. Plus, even the Solarforce Q5 modules are outshined (literally) by the BOG, Wolf Eyes and Dereelight Q5s. So if it was an R2 from them, my thoughts are that it would still be a lesser performer.

Click to expand...

Well it's probably because the people who do the descriptions on ebay have no idea what they're typing and are most likely copying the numbers from somewhere else. From my experience, Solarforce makes decent flashlight products that are on par with other Chinese companies like Ultrafire. The reason why Solarforce's P60 drop-ins are outshined by others is that the driver they use is only putting out 600mA to the LED...as someone just said here, it won't be as bright but will have longer run time.

Besides, the driver in these drop-ins aren't that hard to swap out. I've been using the 800mA DX driver in the ones I swap or do myself and they work great.

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3256

So many choices...but hey, just let the flashaholic in you take over and buy many different drop-ins...I did. :thumbsup:

I wonder how many people involved in this conversation have actually SEEN any two of the competitors with their own eyes..........

I believe most of what you read is based on "beamshots" and conjecture, not experience. What's the old saying? Believe half of what you see, and nothing of what you hear.

The Solarforce has every bit the throw and hotspot brightness of any of the others here. While they all have different beam profiles, they are all VERY similar when it comes to overall output. If you want to debate something, debate build quality and customer service. That's where the extra $$ is being arguably well-spent.

Don't believe everything you read. Get a couple of them and compare for yourself.

Please note this is not a personal attack...

But, aren't side by side comparison beamshots, from a digital source, with fixed exposure settings, at set distances to target really the only way to objectify the differences between similar products, without "believing what you hear" from people's subjective perceptions? Believe me, I am from the CPF school of "buy both," but whenever possible I try to buy smart - not that that always happens.

I do buy from DX and eBay. But one thing I've learned is if I'm going to be skeptical of anything, it'll be of the zero feedback seller eBay description every time over the digital beamshots and writings of fellow enthusiasts in a dedicated subject matter website.

So yes, buy them all if you can and care to but let's not discredit the opinions and especially the hard work and research many here have done. I think they do it because they enjoy sharing the info and want to help protect others from bogus product claims... nothing's worse than spending hard earned money only to be let down with a dim light or worse, one that doesn't work when you really need it.

Yeah, I pulled the trigger on one just because I don't mind a $20 experiment. I realize the seller has a zero feedback rating, but having been there myself that I realize you've got to start somewhere. When I get it, if it does turn out to be a decent product then I will leave him a positive feedback. I've always taken a quantity approach to this hobby and I don't mind spending a little to play around with something new or different. I build and tear apart these cheap aftermarket P60 LED drop-ins all the time, so I don't mind it if I end up tweaking with it. As far as buying stuff from DX, KD or ebay (from the Hong Kong/China based sellers), I'd say that I'm at least minimally satisfied with the products I get from them 95% of the time...and when you're taking the quantity over quality approach, that's really good. That's not to say I don't pick my spots to buy a quality product (I do own Surefires that these drop-ins go into), but the reality is that I have ALOT of flashlights.

I'm glad that you went ahead and ordered it because I was curious about this drop-in. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.

generic808 said:

I'm glad that you went ahead and ordered it because I was curious about this drop-in. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, if I can find this thread by the time the thing arrives. Shipments from Hong Kong usually take 2 weeks to get to me here in California. But c'mon, it's only 20 bucks...and the way I see it is if you can't afford $20 here and there in this hobby, you probably should find a new one. Anyone who has an interest in this Solarforce R2 module should just buy it to play with. If you don't like it, just post it for sale at CPF Marketplace...should be worth the price just to try anyways. But with said, my general experience with these common aftermarket P60 LED drop-ins has been positive for the most part or at least has never been negative.

We shall see.

+

If an R2 drop-in was for sale on DX (even running @ 600ma) people would be buying them out.

By the way, I went with this guy:
I need a drop-in with wide V. input.

http://cgi.ebay.com/300-Lumen-CREE-...eZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

One of the best deals I ever got off eBay was from a guy with 0 feedback. Sellers have to start somewhere..:naughty:

~ Is it me, or does that pill look like a Deree.

orbital said:

+

I

~ Is it me, or does that pill look like a Deree.

Click to expand...

Yep, and they are interchangeable. Though my Deree doesn't have the sloppy soldering.

orbital said:

+

If an R2 drop-in was for sale on DX (even running @ 600ma) people would be buying them out.

By the way, I went with this guy:
I need a drop-in with wide V. input.

http://cgi.ebay.com/300-Lumen-CREE-...eZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

One of the best deals I ever got off eBay was from a guy with 0 feedback. Sellers have to start somewhere..:naughty:

~ Is it me, or does that pill look like a Deree.

Click to expand...

Yeah I've been waiting for DX to sell newer P60 LED drop-ins, but they haven't sold Q5 versions and so I don't think they'll have R2 ones any time soon...unless by the time they start selling anything higher than a P4 drop-in that Q5s are no longer made and they just have to sell whatever bin is out at the time. That's one I ordered too and I got a message last night that it shipped so hopefully I'll have it in my hands soon.