Coleman 500 Lumen MCE Light!

mikekoz

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I know this is not a brand new light, and some will turn their noses down on it, but I picked this up while on vacation, and I am impressed! This is my 4th Coleman light, and like all the others, it is well built. Besides the build quality, it also has other things going for it. First of all, it is very bright! It is not quite as bright as my Fenix TK40 on turbo, but it holds its own! It also has a nice , simple user interface, with just a high and low setting, and no annoying strobe!:grin2: The side switch is also, for me. preferable over a tail cap one on a light this size. Best of all, it does not use a battery holder!! It runs on 6AA and they slide in the bottom all + towards the head!! Here are a few photos:


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Oh...and the best part.....it was only $51.00 plus shipping from the Coleman Family Store webpage!!:D
 

rlorion

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That is a great find. I have few Coleman light and I like them and the price is definatly a good selling point.
 

blah9

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Cool, thanks for the information! I might have to get a couple of these as gifts for people.
 

Napalm

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Is that the proper way to insert batteries? If yes then it is using two groups of 3xAA in parallel? Interesting.

Nap.
 

ringzero

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I know this is not a brand new light, and some will turn their noses down on it, but I picked this up while on vacation, and I am impressed! This is my 4th Coleman light, and like all the others, it is well built.


Great find there, mikeoz.

Yeah, unfortunately there are lots of people on CPF who put down the more reasonably priced lights made for the common folk. You know, those vast unwashed masses who just don't appreciate lights with hard anodize, anti-reflective lenses, high CRI emitters, and big price tags. ;>

I've always had good luck with Coleman products. Never the very best in any category, except maybe their white gas lanterns. Usually not cutting edge products, but good, dependable outdoors products that come with a good warranty.

From looking at your pic of the tailcap, looks like it could be set up with two sets of 3 cells each in series, with the two sets in parallel?

If that's the case, it'll probably run on just 3 cells, which is a great feature.

What would you estimate the low output to be?

.
 

Napalm

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From looking at your pic of the tailcap, looks like it could be set up with two sets of 3 cells each in series, with the two sets in parallel?

If that's the case, it'll probably run on just 3 cells, which is a great feature.
.

And since it's a MCE LED. If it really runs on just 3 cells, will they light up just half of the LED?

Nap.
 

mikekoz

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Jul 19, 2007
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Great find there, mikeoz.

Yeah, unfortunately there are lots of people on CPF who put down the more reasonably priced lights made for the common folk. You know, those vast unwashed masses who just don't appreciate lights with hard anodize, anti-reflective lenses, high CRI emitters, and big price tags. ;>

I've always had good luck with Coleman products. Never the very best in any category, except maybe their white gas lanterns. Usually not cutting edge products, but good, dependable outdoors products that come with a good warranty.

From looking at your pic of the tailcap, looks like it could be set up with two sets of 3 cells each in series, with the two sets in parallel?

If that's the case, it'll probably run on just 3 cells, which is a great feature.

What would you estimate the low output to be?

.

I just took the three AA's out of the right side of the light, and low and behold...it DOES llight up with only three cells!!
Hard to tell what the low may be. I would estimate maybe 100 lumens. I would have loved to get a Fenix TK45, Wolfeyes AK6, etc, but I could not swing it at the time. I just cannot afford to always spend a lot of $$$ on a light. I looked at the ITP light that is designed like this one, but from what I have read, it is made a bit on the flimsy side. This light at $51.00 + shipping, offered a much better value than those lights for me.
 

mikekoz

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Jul 19, 2007
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And since it's a MCE LED. If it really runs on just 3 cells, will they light up just half of the LED?

Nap.


No. With three cells, all of the led's light. I would imagine the runtime of the light would not be too hot with this setup, and I am not sure why anybody would run it with three cells unless they were short in supply of AA's.
 

ringzero

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I just took the three AA's out of the right side of the light, and low and behold...it DOES llight up with only three cells!!
Hard to tell what the low may be. I would estimate maybe 100 lumens. I would have loved to get a Fenix TK45, Wolfeyes AK6, etc, but I could not swing it at the time. I just cannot afford to always spend a lot of $$$ on a light. I looked at the ITP light that is designed like this one, but from what I have read, it is made a bit on the flimsy side. This light at $51.00 + shipping, offered a much better value than those lights for me.


Running on only 3 cells is a great feature!

Can't believe Coleman doesn't even mention this feature on their website.

Running short of cells isn't that unlikely during outdoor activities, which is the market this light is intended for.

Runtime on 3 cells will be short at 500 lumens, but it might be quite decent running at the 100 lumen low.

After you've used it for a while, it'd be great if you could post how it worked out for you in the real world, its runtime on low and high - that kind of thing.


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