viable alternative for a M30 drop in?

Gene said he doesn't have anymore and probably won't for some time (ever?) , have a thread in the WTB section and have been watching the For Sale section.

I have a single cell CR123 (a cut down G2, a "G1" if you will) light and would like a little more output.

thanks in advance

Solarforce has some modules with an input voltage range of .8-4.2volts. If you go with 16340 only you can use any module that uses a buck circuit, although it won't be regulated after a while.

It's going to be a bit of a wait, but Gene Malkoff will be offering some sort of 'M31' in the future. I know it's not much comfort now, but at least we know that the M30s in existence now are not the last ones ever. When I say 'M31', I am speaking loosely. I don't know what it will be called, but it should be a single-cell light. I would imagine Gene is going to have his hands full for quite some time just trying to catch up with the demand for the M61.

baterija said:

Solarforce has some modules with an input voltage range of .8-4.2volts. If you go with 16340 only you can use any module that uses a buck circuit, although it won't be regulated after a while.

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thanks- the price is pretty good on that module

I've got a pm into nailbender, looks like he may have a low volt option possibly

novice said:

It's going to be a bit of a wait, but Gene Malkoff will be offering some sort of 'M31' in the future. I know it's not much comfort now, but at least we know that the M30s in existence now are not the last ones ever. When I say 'M31', I am speaking loosely. I don't know what it will be called, but it should be a single-cell light. I would imagine Gene is going to have his hands full for quite some time just trying to catch up with the demand for the M61.

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that is good news-thanks hopefully not too long

You might experience some heat issues with your cut down G2, using a drop in that runs at full bore with a single RCR123. The beauty of the M30 is being able to drive it at about 130 or so lumens with a primary CR123, without any heat issues, and then switching to an RCR123 for full bore output, that ideally in a metal host.

Bill

How about trying to get an M30 in the aftermarket? (used).

Or are people who already have them (like myself) holding onto them and not selling them?

Check out the B/S/T section for a few days to be sure.

at this juncture I'll probably stick w/ CR123's, but that's a good point on the heat that I hadn't thought about, I'm sure I'll eventually go the rechargeable route

^ I'm looking and have a WTB ad as well

I've used the M30 a fair bit on that voltage range but eventually sold it as I was looking forward to the XP-G drop-ins. Bigchelis did some OTF measurements on a few low-voltage drop-ins in a thread of his recently. The Solarforce low-voltage unit didn't do that well, ~100 lumens or so on 2xAA. The Nailbender gave some odd results IIRC, but the new Dereelight Javelin low-voltage XP-G drop-in did very well, 200-250 lumens on 2xAA. At this point I belive that this unit performs the best at the relatively low-voltage that you are looking for, although it's definitely possible that nailbender has / will be using a choice driver design at some point.

I'd definitely go for that Dereelight XP-G low voltage unit for now, but I want to wait to see what Malkoff can do this year on that as well. :huh:

^ thanks- is the Javelin drop in available on it's own- I read somewhere it was not

on another note, I visited w/ Dave (Nailbender) and said he had a XP-G R5 w/ a good boost driver that would work, so I'll give that a shot and see

mtwarden said:

^ thanks- is the Javelin drop in available on it's own- I read somewhere it was not. On another note, I visited w/ Dave (Nailbender) and said he had a XP-G R5 w/ a good boost driver that would work, so I'll give that a shot and see

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Yes, I checked on the D J drop-ins, they are available individually for ~$37 or so. I'm sure that nailbender won't steer you wrong tho. :thumbsup:

Good luck and be sure to post back in your thread with your results. (Either of the two sounds like a good choice to me).