Malkoff m30 and m60 and a single 18650 battery

J-FRAME

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I tried a few searches but nothing was clear.I,m have a couple 6p bodys bored to 18650 and will use one as my EDC so that I have full power everyday when i start out and will put a newly charged battery in everynight. Runtime will be second to power as I always have a matching light as a spare in my truck. Which drop in for this job and why?Thanks
 

Marduke

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The M30 is specifically designed for a single Li-Ion cell. That will give you the best performance in that setup.
 

jslappa

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+1 for the M30. Perfect balance of throw, flood, and spill. These are on backorder, unless you want to spend $170 for a custom 6P/M30 combo in the marketplace. 4 left I think. M30W will give you better color rendition, but less lumens.

I also love what my M60 MC-E Direct Drive can do in my 18650 host, but it's definitely less useful and more of a niche product. It'll light up and entire room, no matter the size, and I need that when clearing buildings at night.
 

sardian

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But,

The M60 will work well with a single cell setup also. I use an M60 with a single cell 17670 and I find it works great. With this setup you can use two CR123's if needed.

I do plan to order an M30 when they are available since it will give the longest/brightest output with single cell betteries compared to the M60.

But the M60 does work well with a single cell and you keep the option of two cells should you need to use them.
 

OrlandoLights

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Kestrel and Bullzeyebill have some interesting things to say about using the M60 and one cell at this thread:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/194879&page=4

starting at #114 and down to the bottom of the page.

After reading their posts, and talking to Gene, I decided to try the M60WL with a single AW IMR 18650 or a protected-circuit AW 18650 in the MD2. Runs in regulation for a while, then declining output, which might be a good indication of where the voltage of the battery is.
 
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DHart

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I've changed my thinking on this, thanks to Kestrel, Bullseyebill, Thermal Guy and others on the subject...

Light output and characteristics of the M60 and M30 are roughly comparable.

The M30 must be run with a single cell, because it is limited on voltage input.

The M60 is more versatile, with a voltage input up to 9v.... it can run on a single cell, two cells, or even three primaries. And the nice thing about the M60 is that when the voltage drops below 3.8, the lamp goes direct drive (not cutting off your light, but gradually diminishing it... giving you a long runtime and warning that your cell will need replacing.)

I once was a believer that you needed two cells to drive an M60 properly and have changed that viewpoint. I now run both my M30s and my M60's off a single cell, my favorite being the 18650.

If I were you, I'd get the M60 for your application.
 
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Bullzeyebill

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I've changed my thinking on this and now fully aligned with Thermal Guy and others on the subject...

Light output and characteristics of the M60 and M30 are roughly comparable.

The M30 must be run with a single cell, whether it be 16340 to 18650 because it is limited on voltage input.

The M60 is much more versatile, with a voltage input up to 9v.... it can run on a single cell, two cells, or even three primaries. And the nice thing about the M60 is that when the voltage drops below 3.8, the lamp goes direct drive (not cutting off your light, but gradually diminishing it... giving you a long runtime and warning that your cell will need replacing.)

I once was a believer that you needed two cells to drive an M60 properly and have changed that viewpoint. I now run both my M30s and my M60's off a single cell, my favorite being the 18650.

If I were you, I'd get the M60 for your application.

I do not have an M60. After reading many threads/posts on the M30 with one LiIon I did a runtime check with mine using bounce with lightmeter, using an 18650. To rule out heat as a factor I ran the M30 for several 15 minute intervals, turning the light on for 1 minute before logging a lux reading each time. From beginning to end of runs, a total of 105 minutes before a fast drop off was noted, the output reduction in output was 10%. Not too bad for the M30 and about what my KL5, Lux V model, got with one 18650, and the M30 puts out 2X the lumens.

Bill
 

DHart

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Bill... yes, I think the M30 is a goodie. But if you want some more versatility in powering options and longer runtimes without the sudden power cut, you might consider bagging an M60 to run with that 18650.
 

metlarules

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For li-ion use only I would go with M60. If you plan on a lot of use with nimh I would definitely go with the M30. I run my M30WF off of 4/3a and 4/3af cells. I get 4:20hrs and 4:55 hrs of runtime respectively. I like the M30 because I can vary the output by the batteries used. Low=nimh,Medium=cr123 primaries,High=17670&17650 li-ion.
 
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