P60 drop-in suggestions for 2x18650 Leef?

I need a LED drop-in for this 2x18650 Leef body.

I want it to run nicely on both 2x18650 AW protected cells and also on 4x123 primaries which obviously rules out any Malkoff modules. (I don't want to use a spacer).

I read the P60 drop-in FAQ but nothing really stands out plus most of it is of questionable quality.
I want something as high quality and high performance as Malkoff and at least as bright. 300 lumens would be nice.

Looks real interesting.

Question, does it really achieve the stated 280 lumens? If so, it should be noticeably brighter than Malkoff M60 drop-in module.

It is nearly the same output as a Malkoff. Different beam type though. Wolf eyes drop in's have good throw but manage a very generous and highly usefull bright spill.

You would have to shoot out alot more than 290 lumens to be able to see the difference in output with your eyes alone.
Say for instance 200 from one and 350/400 from something else, then you could tell a difference.

Sgt. LED said:

It is nearly the same output as a Malkoff. Different beam type though. Wolf eyes drop in's have good throw but manage a very generous and highly usefull bright spill.

You would have to shoot out alot more than 290 lumens to be able to see the difference in output with your eyes alone.
Say for instance 200 from one and 350/400 from something else, then you could tell a difference.

Click to expand...

I can tell a 40 lumen difference...

If Malkoff M60 is rated at 235 factual, not paper lumens does that mean that this Wolf-Eyes module is less than 235 lumens?

What's the mAh consumption and is there an advantage run-time wise over Malkoff?

etc said:

I can tell a 40 lumen difference...

Click to expand...

So you're saying that you can see the difference between 3000 lumens and 3040 lumens???

Or maybe you mean see the difference between 1 lumen and 41 lumens... I can see that, and so can anyone else....

Most people mistake beam shape and CCT differences for total lumens when making visual comparisons. Side by side, with enough time to experiment (I'm talking about having several minutes and a white wall), I'm sure some people could probably distinguish the difference between 240 and 280 lumen (within the range I suspect you are claiming to be able to see the difference). However, both flashlights would need to have an LED with the exact same CCT and exact same beam shape coming out the front. In actual use, nobody would be able to distinguish the difference. Even a slight difference in beam shape or CCT can make it impossible to distinguish such a difference.

If Malkoff M60 is rated at 235 factual, not paper lumens does that mean that this Wolf-Eyes module is less than 235 lumens?

Click to expand...

The MalkOff is pushing a high bin cree to ~1.1-1.2A, any other module that pushes a similar bin cree to a similar drive level is going to have similar emitter lumens, the difference between driving a Q5 or R2 at 1.0A, and 1.2A, is very little in actual performance, it's around 10%. Most of the modules available out there these days are pushing a decent emitter to around an amp.

The MalkOff combines about a 10% gain in efficiency from the TIR optic, and about 10% output from the higher drive level than most competing buck regulated modules. Those factors, combined with the fact that a TIR optic puts more light into the center and immediate spill beam, and less in the "wide" spill beam (where a ton of light goes on reflectored LEDs), can make the MalkOff stand out as a much better performer than many reflector based alternatives, but it depends on your preference. I happen to like the strong spill-beams inherent to reflector LED setups, but appreciate what TIR optics can do when properly selected for an application. So again, I go back to the fact that you really cannot compare the 235 lumens of a MalkOff with a TIR optic to "290" or "280" or "250" or "310" or whatever the latest greatest number that is being plastered on the side of the latest LED drop-in with a reflector. The comparison doesn't matter because the beam shapes are going to be different. In any case, we're talking about a *similar* amount of emitter lumens, and a similar amount of total power consumption. Generally speaking, the MalkOff is going to be brighter in total output than most of the reflector based cree drop-ins by 10-20% depending on what module it is stacked up against.

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Having said all that you do have a number of options that will run on the 4xCR123 as backup.

Wolf-Eyes modules rated up to 13V
Popular R2 dropin from DX (SKU: 11836)
LumensFactory D26 LED 3.6-13V models (available with selected warmer color temps)
DereeLight 1SM-2 or 3SM. (Available in R2 or Q5 or 5A Q2 warm white).

There are probably others, but these are the ones that come to my mind right now... The 3SM with it's 1.2A drive level is probably going to be the most impressive of the bunch, but not by enough difference to really matter IMO, but I have no idea what the actual drive level of the WE module is, the LF and 11836 modules run about 1 amp at the LED.

I'm not sure if it's worth $64 for the Wolf-Eyes module, considering that the MalkOffs are only $50 and are hand made.

Eric

Great post as always Eric. You deliver such effective posts time after time! Again you should get an award.............

However the price of the Malkoff VS Wolf-Eyes is not revelant to this case since he already has a Malkoff and he wants a 12V input allowance and Gene gives us 9V tops (for now).

You mentioned the LF LED which I had forgotten about! Stupid me, I have 2 of them. Fantastic value.
I can put faith in WE - LF - and the DereeLight but not in anything of DX. Popular or not.

I've got two, 2x18650 tubes for my 6P's as well. The thing is, I wouldn't give up the great beam shape of my M60 and M60L for anything.

So the way I look at it, if I want to run CR123's for any reason, it only takes 30 seconds to unscrew the 2X and replace it with the original to pop in a couple of primaries.

Plus, there are times when I want have a pocketable light, and that's when I'll change out the tubes.

I've got lots of lights, and the Malkoff (for me) exhibits the best beam shape (and brightness) of all of them.
The only one I like as much is the 120P, but that's a different class of light.

Is there theoretically possible to build a M60 Malkoff with a greater input range, up to 13V?
So I can run it on 2x18650 or 4x123, fine either way.

If Gene can do that, maybe that should solve my problem.

etc said:

Is there theoretically possible to build a M60 Malkoff with a greater input range, up to 13V?
So I can run it on 2x18650 or 4x123, fine either way.

If Gene can do that, maybe that should solve my problem.

Click to expand...

With the Malkoff M60 you can run 2x18650's right, but not 4 x 123's?
My 18650's = 3.8v so two of them are less than 9v max.

4 cr123's will be 12v to 13v.

I wanted to run the 3 18650 leef with the Malkoff, but I have to stick with the 2 18650 in efforts to not burn the bulb.

bigchelis said:

With the Malkoff M60 you can run 2x18650's right, but not 4 x 123's?

Click to expand...

That is correct. Which is why the current version of M60 does not make sense in a big lite such as 2x18650 Leef or FiveMega (I have both).

And I don't want to use a spacer. What for? I could just use a 2x18500, same OAL as 9P and runs fine on 3x123.

...

Wow you sure do like posting pics of that light
Is it because its long:laughing:

(sorry couldnt resist)

I have both malkoff and wolf eyes, and I can recommend both.
They are not the same but they are both excellent dropins.
I have the old version of the HO 3-13v cree wolfeyes only 170 lumen rating
Its damn bright, the beam is very pretty (nice spot with tons of useful bright sidespill)

double post, I changed the tailcap on it and wanted to shoot a new pic.