Which P60 drop-in?

Lookin' for max reasonable output out of a P60...

I'm lookin' at something floody for a bike light. MC-E, P7, SST-50, or the Linger Special dual XP-G's are on the table. Opinions? P7 @ 2.5A or 2.8A seems to be the cheapest option. I have an MC-E drop-in from DX, but it's only being driven at 1A despite being advertised as 2.8A. I have a SST-90 on a 20mm star too, but the star doesn't fit in the P60 format (and I don't think the 90 is as efficient as the 50?).

I'll be using it primarily as a bike light aimed down, so most of the time on strobe (so figure half the power consumption, and a lot of cooling w/ the passing air).

you should check if nailbender can do a Linger Special
with a strobe or SST50. both are between 4 and 500 OTF
I think.

Ive been using his SST50 for downhill mountain biking and
its awesome but I wanted something a little more floody
for handlebar mount so I ordered a warm linger.

The DX MC-E P60 drop-in......I have tested 3 of them for OTF lumens and they make 2A with a good IMR 18650 cell. They all make about 350~370 OTF lumens at 2~2.5A.


Now, if you have the Javelin hosts and use 3 NiMH AA cells instead of a single IMR 18650 you will get 550 plus OTF due to NiMH AA not saging as much. I even tried using those new 1.6v Green AA rechargeables Frys sells and it was close to 600 sustained OTF numbers....

What battery are you using???????

They changed their drivers...I'm only pulling 1A max.


DX has a P7 drop-in now for $17. Supposed to put out 2.5A to a C-bin. Hmmm, do I risk it again? I guess I can purchase additional drivers to wire in parallel if they lie about it again.

psychbeat said:

you should check if nailbender can do a Linger Special
with a strobe or SST50. both are between 4 and 500 OTF
I think.

Ive been using his SST50 for downhill mountain biking and
its awesome but I wanted something a little more floody
for handlebar mount so I ordered a warm linger.

Click to expand...

The Linger special isn't very efficient from what I read? Heats up quickly.

SST-50 sounds good, but maybe overkill for a P60? How much amps can you safely run through this thing on a P60?

rice rocket said:

They changed their drivers...I'm only pulling 1A max.

Click to expand...

... not necessarily. If your 18650 cells are tired/worn and have high internal resistance, then they are going to be the limiting current draw factor. Its not uncommon for used 18650 cells to only pass ~1A.

With healthy IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~3A.
With healthy non-IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~2.5A.

kramer5150 said:

... not necessarily. If your 18650 cells are tired/worn and have high internal resistance, then they are going to be the limiting current draw factor. Its not uncommon for used 18650 cells to only pass ~1A.

With healthy IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~3A.
With healthy non-IMR cells the DX MCE draws ~2.5A.

Click to expand...

I have 3 LiCo cells, all brand new. All three pull the same at the tailcap.

rice rocket said:

The Linger special isn't very efficient from what I read? Heats up quickly.

SST-50 sounds good, but maybe overkill for a P60? How much amps can you safely run through this thing on a P60?

Click to expand...

Im going to send my Linger to BIG C when it get it so we'll have to see.

my SST-50 is only running @ 2.5 A regulated- my C2 gets warm
but not crazy hot- Ive got aluminum strips n AS5 on the pill-run it
on high till cutoff all the time w no problems. the single mode are 2.8A
regulated so a little brighter I guess. its usually cooled pretty well
on the bike when Im going down - I turn it off on climbs or run it
on low to save power. I get about an hour on high.

I want a p60 helmet/headlamp host now... waiting on a couple
of people whom are in the prototype process...
the magicshine HL is the best cheap thing going right now...

I guess my real issue is why use an SST-50 @ 2.5A when the P7 puts out the same?

none- except for the SST having a nicer looking beam
usually. In fact, the P7 might be a little brighter anyways.

Personally, I dont care what the beam looks like besides tint
being nice and a buncha flood for my bike mounted lights..

I like a more concentrated beam for my Head/helmet tho.

good luck on yer quest!

I know your looking for a drop-in but I just saw this in the dealers corner and thought it was interesting!!!!

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=224831

^^^
yeah thats the "magicshine" bike light.

theyre pretty popular and CHEAP for what they are.

usually u need to waterproof the batt pack and
add thermal paste to em- pretty dang bright too!