How does the 290 Lumen CREE R2 LED compare with the Malkoff M60?

In terms of overall brightness and throw distance? Thanks.

Malkoff beat it in throw and brightness based on the example I had.
YRMV
That said the R2 super duper wasn't too bad.

I purchased the Cree R2 for a pretty penny before finding out about DX and I actually thought that the 290 lumens would be there with only 2 cr123's.:laughing::laughing: Still, 120-140 lumens is alot brighter than the 60 incan lumens from the stock G2.

I ran it with 4 cr123's and it seemed slightly brighter, but not as great as the M60/M30.

Oh yeah, I also purchased the Alpha G8 400 lumens for a Surefire G2/6P

The DX UltraFire WF-501B R2 for $17 is brighter and throws farther than the Malkoff M60 or the Deerelight P60. Its an amazing product. Don't buy the separate DX R2 dropins they aren't near as bright, for $5 more you get a good host.

bigchelis said:

I purchased the Cree R2 for a pretty penny before finding out about DX and I actually thought that the 290 lumens would be there with only 2 cr123's.:laughing::laughing: Still, 120-140 lumens is alot brighter than the 60 incan lumens from the stock G2.

I ran it with 4 cr123's and it seemed slightly brighter, but not as great as the M60/M30.

Oh yeah, I also purchased the Alpha G8 400 lumens for a Surefire G2/6P

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And the Alpha G8... hows it perform? Throw, spill, hot spot?

glenda17 said:

The DX UltraFire WF-501B R2 for $17 is brighter and throws farther than the Malkoff M60 or the Deerelight P60. Its an amazing product. Don't buy the separate DX R2 dropins they aren't near as bright, for $5 more you get a good host.

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Edit: Just saw it. Manufacturer rated at 250 lumens with 1000mA output (3v to 8.4v).

The R2 driven at 1000mA is brighter then the M30 driven at 1.1-1.2amp draw???????????

Is this the same R2 that DX sells for $12.90
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14442

I have that R2 for $12.90 and it didn't seem brighter than the M60. It does have great throw and for the money it can't be beat.

Also, Where can I get a P60 drop-in R2 from DX driven at 1.4amp draw???????? If I have to purchase the whole light thats fine, as long as the LED is P60 compatible.

supawabb said:

And the Alpha G8... hows it perform? Throw, spill, hot spot?

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The throw is limited, but it does have a huge donut. It is mainly all spill. The Malkoff M60 appears brighter indoors because of the hot spot as opposed to the smooth, wider, and softer hot spot of the Alpha G8. Outdoors the M60 seals the deal. The Alpha G8 is definietly 150 lumens at best, but it does have a soft hot spot with a huge donut for those who find that preferable.
Compared to the DX Q5 with 2 cr123's 3.7v-18v, I can only say the output appears identical. The Alpha just has more spill.

But the DX UltraFire WF-501B R2 is brighter and throwier than the M60?

bigchelis said:

Edit: Just saw it. Manufacturer rated at 250 lumens with 1000mA output (3v to 8.4v).

The R2 driven at 1000mA is brighter then the M30 driven at 1.1-1.2amp draw???????????

Is this the same R2 that DX sells for $12.90
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14442

I have that R2 for $12.90 and it didn't seem brighter than the M60. It does have great throw and for the money it can't be beat.

Also, Where can I get a P60 drop-in R2 from DX driven at 1.4amp draw???????? If I have to purchase the whole light thats fine, as long as the LED is P60 compatible.

Click to expand...

Disregard DX published Lumen specs, they are meaningless for the most part. Your M30/60 emits more lumens than either 11836 or 14442, although it might not be perceived as such due to the throwey nature of each DX module. FWIW 14442 only draws .65A on high from RCR123 cells, so I don't think it really drives the emitter that hard (I could be wrong though).

DX:18843 I think uses the same DC-DC circuit as 11836, but specs a WC tint for the emitter, so you're doing less tint lotto buying 18843.

DX does not sell a 1.4A module... AFAIK. You'd have to go the DIY route with
DX:1886
DX:15943 (note its not a pale-white WC tint, and the star will not drop into the DX pill, you'll have to unmount the emitter and reflow it onto a 14-16mm slug)
DX:3257
DX:5955
DX:5937

I think the easiest thing to do is use DX:14442 and do a driver swap with 1886, its not hard to remove the DC-DC board with an ~80 watt iron, some braid and solder-vac. The 14442 I have uses a very white tint, and IMHO would be a good starting point. I am not sure what adhesive DX uses to attach the emitter heatsink to the brass, but it has a higher melting point than the solder they use, so I don't think you need to worry about damaging it from that standpoint.

PM me if you wanted to split an order of 1886. I think they are build to order, so we'd be on a waiting list till' the batch build is released.

:thumbsup:

**edit** OOps sorry OP, this is WAAAAY off topic... Let me know and I will edit out this comment.

Mattole said:

But the DX UltraFire WF-501B R2 is brighter and throwier than the M60?

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You could be right, but from seing different DX drop-ins; sometimes even identical ones the quality varies. I just so happen to have taken pictures of the R2 in question here and the M60. I just used my Digital camera and turned off the flash. So, the one you have could be brighter but mine wasn't:thumbsdow Sometimes you just get lucky. Enjoy.
Here is the R2 on Left and M60 on Right.


R2 on Left and M60 right.

Thanks for the R2 and M60 beamshots, much appreciated!

If it was actually 290 lumen out the front then the M60 doesn't stand much of a chance, but in actually, it's probably 200 lumen max, probably more around 170 lumen then 290. Ignore the lumen output for most of the light, especially the eBay ones.

Presuming an actual Cree XR-E R2 bin in a smooth reflectored drop-in driven at the same current as the malkoff, then the relfectored drop-in should further then the M60. But if it was textured, then throw should be similar with a bit less output because on average optics are more efficient then reflectors.

That's why when I need absolute MAX throw in a D26 host I use a Deerelight drop-in with a smooth reflector, for most everything else it's Malkoff.

kramer5150 said:

Disregard DX published Lumen specs, they are meaningless for the most part. Your M30/60 emits more lumens than either 11836 or 14442, although it might not be perceived as such due to the throwey nature of each DX module. FWIW 14442 only draws .65A on high from RCR123 cells, so I don't think it really drives the emitter that hard (I could be wrong though).

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0.65A at the tailcap for a nominal 7.4V gives 4.8 watts. If the driver is say 70% efficient at that drive level, that gives about 3.4 watts to the LED. For a Vf of ~3.4V, that means ~1A to the LED. At 1A, I would expect the roughly 290 emitter lumens claimed.

IIRC, I measured something like 9000 lux at 1 meter for the hot spot for a DX11836 R2 driven by two AW16340 cells vs about 2400 lux for a Malkoff M30 driven by one unprotected Sony 18650 cell.

Justin Case said:

IIRC, I measured something like 9000 lux at 1 meter for the hot spot for a DX11836 R2 driven by two AW16340 cells vs about 2400 lux for a Malkoff M30 driven by one unprotected Sony 18650 cell.

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DX11836: I have this one too and running it with 3 cr123's fully charged I say 12.6v total I noticed it had throw in par with the M60. Do I have to run it with 4 rechargeables to see the 9000lux?

Now, that I have the P7's I want a P60 with throw too. Which is why I inquired about a P60 with an R2 drawing 1.4amp. It appears I may have to get a DIY kit from DX to achieve this.

Sorry to get your hopes up. I checked my spreadsheet and it was 8000 lux. That was with 2xAW Li-ions.

Looks like you need the 1400 ma AMC7135 drivers. What's the durability of the R2 at 1400 ma? If you get one of the DX 10 or 20 packs, I would be interested in buying one or two off of you. I'd probably desolder one 7135 and drive the R2 at 1050 ma.

Justin Case said:

Sorry to get your hopes up. I checked my spreadsheet and it was 8000 lux. That was with 2xAW Li-ions.

Looks like you need the 1400 ma AMC7135 drivers. What's the durability of the R2 at 1400 ma? If you get one of the DX 10 or 20 packs, I would be interested in buying one or two off of you. I'd probably desolder one 7135 and drive the R2 at 1050 ma.

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I just bought some 1050mah drivers from DX, they are in route. Apparently those are readily stocked.... LOL, no one likes multi-modes.

I too question the thermal stability of an R2 in a P60 at 1.4A. All my DX modules get warm after ~5-6 minutes, running at ~1A. 1.4A seems like its more a short burst kind of use.

Justin Case said:

IIRC, I measured something like 9000 lux at 1 meter for the hot spot for a DX11836 R2 driven by two AW16340 cells vs about 2400 lux for a Malkoff M30 driven by one unprotected Sony 18650 cell.

Click to expand...

I thought 2400 lux was a little low for M30, so I re did lux for mine at one meter. Battery 18650 LG 2400 (unprotrected), voltage 4.15. Lightmeter Meterman LM631. Lux = 5940. Always differences in readings from differrent lightmeters, but not 3500+ difference.

Bill

bigchelis said:

DX11836: I have this one too and running it with 3 cr123's fully charged I say 12.6v total I noticed it had throw in par with the M60. Do I have to run it with 4 rechargeables to see the 9000lux?

Now, that I have the P7's I want a P60 with throw too. Which is why I inquired about a P60 with an R2 drawing 1.4amp. It appears I may have to get a DIY kit from DX to achieve this.

Click to expand...

More voltage probably won't get you much more throw, if at all. The driver controls the current to the LED. More voltage won't do anything to the current the driver supplies to the LED.
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2400 lux seems pretty low for the M30, from what I hear I'd expect 5000-6500 lux like Bullzeyebill measured.