Is this a good deal?

Hi, ive lurked these forums for a few weeks now, and im really interested in getting the [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Solarforce L2GF-R2M-18650(300 lumen model with 5 modes) with the [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Trustfire 18650 x2 Li-ion Batteries w/ Charger and a [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Solarforce UV LED Bulb. now, im looking at spending 65$ if i toss in the color filters (yeah, im a dork)

im sorry if this is the wrong place to post this question, but ive seen a few people say that Solorforce Flashlights are pretty decent for the money, but besides wanting to get a few more thumps up or down on the company, i want to know if anyone has ordered from solarforce store.

The only good flashlights ive ever owned are an old Rayovac Highbeam 45 lumen and a newer craftsmen 170 lumen flashlight which is way to heavy to really carry around comfortably. It also eats 6 AAA batterys pretty quick which is a big downside since id rather not spend 25$ on a charger and another 20$ for 6 AAA rechargables. thats almost the cost of this flashlight, charger, filters, and UV bulb.

Also, the UV bulb is mostly for fun since ive never owned one before
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Welcome to CPF, GrimCreaper.

I have removed an advertising link from your post. You'll find several other threads about Solarforce lights here and in the MarketPlace.

It isn't a bad deal. It should put out a lot more light than you're used to for something that size.
Personally I'd go for nicer 18650 cells than the Trustfires. Reguardless be sure you read up on proper use and safety for Lithium Ion cells. Having a multimeter is a must imho, especially if you're not investing in a better charger.
The UV dropins are pretty neat, just be careful, they can be a danger to vision if mis-used.

I personally think that colored filters are kind of a waste when using (as in using for an important task) an LED light. LEDs emit a lot of blue and yellow light, which combined appears white to our eyes... that's about it. Not a lot of green or red to speak of so it is kind of inneficient to use filters. You'd be better off just using a lower (white light) mode to preserve night vision with red for example. Nonetheless filters just like the UV dropin are fun to play with so there's no harm in it just for kicks.

edit: oh yeah...
:welcome:

I had no problems with solarforcestore at all. My light arrived after 12 days (calendar days, not working days).

Thank you for the info and sorry about the link, i was just trying to make sure it was a reputable website worth buying from

ill be grabbing the solorforce in just a moment and i wont get those colored filters, between your info and thinking of the 7.00$ extra, ill save the little bit of money.

Thanks again for the information!

Thank you guys for the information, ill be nabbing myself a solorforce in just a moment

and thanks for the info on the UV bulb, ill be sure not to stare at it or shine in peoples faces Ive never purchased through PayPal before.. should be fun.

and on the batteries, why is the multimeter needed? are Li-Ion batteries prone to problems or something? sorry, im a complete noob at this stuff in general. ive always used AA or AAA batteries for my lights in the past and have always had easy access to really cheap Eveready Gold 20 packs of AA.

GrimCreaper said:

Thank you guys for the information, ill be nabbing myself a solorforce in just a moment

and thanks for the info on the UV bulb, ill be sure not to stare at it or shine in peoples faces Ive never purchased through PayPal before.. should be fun.

and on the batteries, why is the multimeter needed? are Li-Ion batteries prone to problems or something? sorry, im a complete noob at this stuff in general. ive always used AA or AAA batteries for my lights in the past and have always had easy access to really cheap Eveready Gold 20 packs of AA.

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Short answer: For some piece of mind, you can opt for protected 18650 li-ion batteries. They have built in protection to prevent them from getting too depleted. Cells sold by AW here on the forum are highly preferred.

You need to treat Lithium-ion cells with respect or they can catch fire and even explode. If they are overcharged they go boom. If they are discharged too deep they will get damaged and may go boom while charging. If they are discharged too fast they will go boom. Protection cirquits are a last measure to prevent these three booms from happening. Even if you have quality protected cells, don't count on the protection cirquit, handle the cells in a safe manner. If a Li-ion cell gets too hot, it will also go boom. If the heath does not come from the cell itself, the protecion cirquit won't protect anything. So don't throw them in fire or leave them on a furnace or whatever. Any temperatures above 60°C are too hot for Li-ion cells, but they won't start going boom untill they have reached 120°C.



I would advise you to read up on the use of Li-ion cells here on CPF, but here are a few rules you need to stick to when using them:

-Never, ever, leave a Li-ion cell charging unattended. Some people will say you can't safely go to the bathroom while charging Li-ion cells, IMO that's a bit over-cautious. But don't leave them alone for more than 15 minutes. There is no charger under $50 which will quit charging by itself when the cells are full. So, when the green light comes on on the charger, you need to take the cells off. 15 minutes extra charge won't hurt, 18650's can probably handle an hour or two of trickle charge without any danger, but don't count on it. When the green light comes on, you need to take the cells off the charger within 15 minutes.

-Check your cells before and after charging with a multimeter. A $10 multimeter from whatever store which sells them in your area is sufficient, but you need one. If it reads below 2.8 volts the cell has been overdischarged. Toss it. If it reads above 4.3 volts it has been overcharged. Consider yourself lucky nothing happened and toss it. A normal charged Li-ion cell measures around 4.1 - 4.2 volts. A normal discharged cell measures between 3.0 and 3.3 volts.

-Keep track of your Li-ion cells! Children, unknowing partners or other people who accidentially pick one up and think it's a 1.5 volt cell will probably do dangerous things with them. So tell everybody in the house not to touch your cells and keep them somewhere nobody (playing visiting children etc.) will accidentially pick them up.

-The cell you get with the Solarforce L2 light is an unprotected cell. You can use it safely if you strictly abide these rules. When buying new cells, I would advise you to buy protected cells, as an extra precaution. Normally the protection cirquit should never come into play, you need to be responsible enough when using your Li-ion cells or stick to NiMH rechargeables, but it is an extra precaution. Think of it like this: acting responsible with your cells is equal to wearing your seatbelt in your car, the protection cirquit is an airbag. You don't have to feel unsafe in an older car without one, but when you buy a new car, you pick one with airbags. And, it's not because you have an airbag that you don't need to put your seatbelt on anymore: the seatbelt is still the most important protective equipment in your car.

Li-ion cells are a very good technology, but you need to treat them with the respect they deserve. If you do that it is perfectly safe to use them.

GrimCreaper said:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]i want to know if anyone has ordered from solarforce store.[/FONT][/FONT]

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I have ordered from SolarforceStore twice in the last couple of months.

Quick service and the best bang for the buck, especially for international folks.

An 18650 flashlight body, 5-mode drop-in, holster, and free shipping for only $25 is an excellent deal and very hard for anyone else to beat.

I've priced the same setup from a different vendor and it was $15 more for the exact same configuration.

Thanks again for the extra info, ive never dealt with Li-Ion before. one thing i came across in another post (sorry, forgot which post, just copy+pasted the info into a text file)


4.2 volts 100%
4.1 about 90%
4.0 about 80%
3.9 about 60%
3.8 about 40%
3.7 about 20%
3.6 empty for practical purposes
<3.5 = over-discharged

is this generally a good thing to go by JBorneu? or can i effectively take them a bit lower and still be ok (as you suggest, 2.8 is near dead and should be tossed)

and on the multimeter, i should be able to get one easily enough i hope. i work at a retail store that sells a lot of basic Craftsmen products... the sad part is, i take care of the area these are in but i cant remember for the life of me if we have basic ones or wall current testers only.


one last set of questions (i think) based on reading some posts in the battery forum. Its a good idea to keep the battery charger within hands reach to occasionally feel the batteries for excess heat. i should keep a fire extinguisher near by as well, and keep the charger away from flammable stuff? just trying to play it safe for the most part... id rather not have a small explosion with fire ruining my day. seems almost like more trouble than its worth. how would the NiMH 18650s fair with this product? from what i understand though, the NiMH ones arent as easy to find since they are what the Li-Ion replaced?

by the way, thank you all who have posted, youve been a great help and thank you Black Rose and JBorneu for giving conformation of the store site.

Black Rose said:

I have ordered from SolarforceStore twice in the last couple of months.

Quick service and the best bang for the buck, especially for international folks.

The light itself with drop-in, battery, holster and free shipping for only $25 is an excellent deal and very hard for anyone else to beat.

I've priced the same setup from a different vendor and it was $15 more for the exact same configuration.

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Well its the best bang for the buck if you want non authentic Solarforce parts. Solarforcestore has been known to mix and match with less pricey brands to save on cost. So you don't get an authentic product and they saddle you with under achieved products.

I rather pay for something I know is going to be authentic directly from Solarforce and dealing with a friendly person who is dedicated to making sure his products are of correct specification.

GrimCreaper said:

4.2 volts 100%
4.1 about 90%
4.0 about 80%
3.9 about 60%
3.8 about 40%
3.7 about 20%
3.6 empty for practical purposes
<3.5 = over-discharged

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The table you have reproduced there is reasonably accurate, and an easy way to remember approximate figures for the state of charge of Li-Ion cells.

The low-voltage cut-off on most protection circuits is set at ~2.7V. The reason for this is that the voltage of Li-Ion cells will sag under load. As long as the cell "rebounds" back up above 3.0V after a short rest, it is OK. Cells can be recovered from having been discharged well below 3.0V at rest, but this should not be attempted unless the user knows what he is doing. The longer a cell is left in an over-discharged state, the more permanent the damage it will have suffered.

I think the thread now needs to get back on topic, so if you have any further battery-related queries, these should be posted in the Batteries sub-forum.

GrimCreaper said:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] I want to know if anyone has ordered from solarforce store.
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I ordered a Solarforce L2 from the Solarforce Store, $25 for the package. Great, quick service. For $10 more I got a L2M battery tube. I think that I will get more use from the L2M. It works great with a Malkoff M30WF dropin.

Hugh

Forgoten214 said:

Well its the best bang for the buck if you want non authentic Solarforce parts. Solarforcestore has been known to mix and match with less pricey brands to save on cost. So you don't get an authentic product and they saddle you with under achieved products.

I rather pay for something I know is going to be authentic directly from Solarforce and dealing with a friendly person who is dedicated to making sure his products are of correct specification.

Click to expand...

Not to defend them for that practice, but when I ordered my items in late March and early April, the only non-authentic item I got with my orders was a SuperBright R2 5-mode drop-in without memory.
It was replaced (free of charge) with a SuperBright R2 5-mode drop-in with memory that is identical to the Solarforce drop-in (same pill, driver, and reflector).

However, I have seen posts lately that folks have been getting Ultrafire holsters with their Solarforce bundles.

SolarForce store recently expanded their products to include non-Solarforce products (and some Solarforce products are no longer offered) and that has turned me off of them.

I know who you are referring to (don't think we can plug them here) and agree that the OP would likely be better served using him based on what is happening now, especially if he's in the US.