Deerelight and 14500. P60 voltage questions?

The deerelight javelin has just come across my radar screen, and it appears to be a slick little light, with some interesting options at a good price.

My question is, are there any options for a P60 style drop-in that would allow me to run 2xAA or 2x14500?

I checked the sticky with the comprehensive list of P60 modules, and didn't see any that would run from 2V-8.4V, which seems like what I'd need for a regulated 2xAA and/or 2x14500 setup.

For me, it would ideally be a high output/efficiency "floody" emitter (XPG, MCE, SST, etc), that could give me 300ish lumens on 14500 and 200ish lm on AA NiMH.

Does anyone make such a beast? Is there a drawback or flaw that makes this a bad idea? As I'm sure you can tell, I know very little about the situation.

entoptics said:

My question is, are there any options for a P60 style drop-in that would allow me to run 2xAA or 2x14500?

Does anyone make such a beast? Is there a drawback or flaw that makes this a bad idea? As I'm sure you can tell, I know very little about the situation.

Click to expand...

The biggest problem here is the voltage range. 2xNiMH gives about 2.4v under load, while fresh 14500s will deliver 8.4 (!) volts fresh, and average around 7.4v. Most LED dropins have narrower ranges, and are dim when underdriven. That said, if you match the voltage range up then it'll do.

I'm looking for a similar drop-in also. There are some that are single-mode (high only) that have a broad input voltage range (3V to about 18V), but I prefer a low mode at least to have better runtime when I need it. For multi-mode, there aren't any that I know of that will support down to 3V (or lower) and over 8V while still being fully regulated. Thrunites support a wide range, but they go direct drive when below 3.6V or something. Dereelights also are direct drive below 4.5V, and may flicker as I've been told. I'm not sure if these would even turn on at 3V. There's no inherent problem with a wider range driver...it just costs more money for the driver design and companies don't want to do it (and there doesn't seem like enough demand to push them to do it). If you find one, let me know. I posted a similar thread and got no responses.

Something may exist but you may have to settle for 2xAA NiMH or 1x14500. You can do this by using the C2H body with the C2H AA extension tube on the Javelin head. That way you can use the stock P60 with 2xAA, 3xAA, 1x14500, or even a cr123a or Rcr123a

I did notice some of the wide range P60 modules in the sticky list. I'm at a loss for how a 3V-18V piece could have a bigger following than a 2V-9V setup. What "readily available" P60 size light runs on 18V? That's 6xCR123 or 4x18650 or 12xAA, how can that be a bigger market in a P60 sized reflector than 2x14500 or 3xCR123 or 2xAA?

Seems like a missing niche to me, but what do I know? Perhaps there's a technology limit I'm unaware of.

I think you are exactly right unless someone else has more info.

Since excellent quality P60 hosts are available for very little money, for example Solarforce L2 or L2p, (or L2r if you want the 2 AA/14500 support), you simply need to get two L2r's (for about $10-$11 each on ebay, including shipping), or another brand of appropriate hosts if preferred, and then get two appropriate P60 drop ins, one for ultra low voltage such as the Solarforce 0.8-4.2 V XRE-R2 which is ideal for using with 2 NiMH AA's, plus another drop-in to use in a separate host that supports a higher voltage range for using with 2 14500's.

Although, my preference with P60 drop ins is to have one host/drop-in setup for use with 2 AA Eneloops and another host/drop-in set up for use with a single or pair of 18650's.