What torch would you recommend?

[tenohfive]

Quick question:

Being an idiot who didn't read the product description I've ordered a torch that takes either an 18650 or 2 x 16340 (Ultrafire WF501B) for round the house/glove box duty. I might as well get some rechargable batteries and a charger for it but from some brief digging it seems that there are a lot of cheap and rubbish batteries about. Can anyone link some (preferably relatively cheap) but reliable 18650's?

[Digger]

tenohfive said:

Quick question:

Being an idiot who didn't read the product description I've ordered a torch that takes either an 18650 or 2 x 16340 (Ultrafire WF501B) for round the house/glove box duty. I might as well get some rechargable batteries and a charger for it but from some brief digging it seems that there are a lot of cheap and rubbish batteries about. Can anyone link some (preferably relatively cheap) but reliable 18650's?

Have a scoot around CPF forums as they should have up-to-date info on DX & KD Battery/charger combos. That's what I did, although delivery times are lengthy!

[JaybirdUK]

JaybirdUK said:

Would this really churn out 1000 lumens?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/power-M3-2I-XM-L-Lumen-tor...

Quite tempted and have a budget of around £60 to spend on a torch

I went ahead a bought this as I happened to have some Amazon credit and I'm very impressed! Although I have nothing to gauge it against as this is my first proper torch (damn this thread!)

It was managing to out illuminate the fire brigades torch when our electrical substation caught on fire on Saturday and blacked out the area

[defblade]

tenohfive said:

Can anyone link some (preferably relatively cheap) but reliable 18650's?

Given the possible side effects, these are possibly unfortunately named and even more unfortunately decorated, but are protected (small circuits within to help prevent over charging/discharging), have been fine for me and get reasonable write ups. Delivery times are much better with manafont....

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/protected...


And I've got this charger - batteries are atight fit but nothing has exploded yet

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/ultrafire...

[tenohfive]

defblade said:

Given the possible side effects, these are possibly unfortunately named and even more unfortunately decorated, but are protected (small circuits within to help prevent over charging/discharging), have been fine for me and get reasonable write ups. Delivery times are much better with manafont....

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/protected...


And I've got this charger - batteries are atight fit but nothing has exploded yet

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/ultrafire...

Funnily enough, I ended up plumping for some Trustfire ones having done some more digging. I doubt the 3000mah claim but they're protected and UK based:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220859965084?ssPageName=...

And the Ultrafire UF139 was what I was about to order (once I've worked out where sells it cheapest) as the consensus seems to be that it's alright as a budget charger as long as you're using protected cells.

[GC8]

tenohfive said:

I am taken by the ROP idea - now that I've found the right part of the forum/threads (cheers for that) it's all starting to make sense. Whilst a 6D ROP isn't practical for camping/running/round the house use, for work use it could be very useful. Having lots of throw for searching large open areas over short periods would be very handy. It does seem to work out quite pricey though:

Pelican Big D 3854 bulb: £10 delivered.
Camless M2 LOP reflector: £17 + shipping from US
Borofloat 52.1mm x 2mm lens: £4 + shipping from US
I'm pretty sure I've already got 6 NiMH D cells, but long term I'd have to think about 10000mah D cells - that'd be another £30.

Any idea how much of an improvement in throw I'd get going with the full ROP route over the bulb replacement you linked above?

Ive just bought a multi-pack with a 3D LED and a MiniMaglite 2AA LED, for £29:98 (inc batteries and a holster for the 2AA). Theyre both massively superior to their incandescent predecessors and hard to fault at the price. Id been looking at upgrading a 4D and a 2AA with LEDs, but even a simple upgrade doesnt make financial sense in light of these prices, I think.

The 3D is still big enough to clout someone with too.....

[tenohfive]

Can you focus the beam on the 2AA version? I did replace the bulb for a works 2AA Mag with and LED kit and whilst it was a much better light it couldn't be focused - which basically ruined it for me. I ended up buying my T7 not long after.

I've got a pair of Peli bulbs en route from the states now and when they arrive I'm going to try the low bulb and see how I get on, and eventually I probably will look at doing a ROP build.

Quick question - an 18650 to 2D converter is pretty pricey - £20 - but it just seems to be a bit of plastic and a spring. Would it be easy to replicate that by hunting round B&Q or a plumbing supplies shop for the right sized bit of plastic as an alternative? And could a replacement spring be sourced the same way (or the old spring modified even)?

[GC8]

tenohfive said:

Can you focus the beam on the 2AA version? I did replace the bulb for a works 2AA Mag with and LED kit and whilst it was a much better light it couldn't be focused

Yes you can, although unlike a normal 2AA, it goes from off to pretty much ideally focussed; you dont need to fiddle with it: traditional focussing is available though and works.

It also has an electonic 'switch' (not a physical switch, you still turn it on like a normal MiniMaglite, but if you turn it off then on again quickly then it cycles through the options) with which you can select normal, 25%, signal & SOS.

Compared to the LED version an incandescent Mini looks like a candle, with an orange output anda fraction of the LEDs light output and range. Im extremely impressed.

[Rollcage]

On a similar topic, I'm after a rechargeable handheld light to use while spannering. I would like something with a decent spread of light and that is powerful - anybody have any ideas?

If I could find something that was as powerful as the LED flaslight on my Samsung phone, I'd be laughing!

[GC8]

If I were you Id buy a reasonable cheap headlamp and an LED bulb from the torchsite.

[tenohfive]

Bought this for camping - very handy little head torch. You can adjust the aim up and down which is a nice touch.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-Cyba-Lite-Sprint-Led-...

[Waspy1]

tenohfive said:

Quick question - an 18650 to 2D converter is pretty pricey - £20 - but it just seems to be a bit of plastic and a spring. Would it be easy to replicate that by hunting round B&Q or a plumbing supplies shop for the right sized bit of plastic as an alternative? And could a replacement spring be sourced the same way (or the old spring modified even)?

Any spring will do, so long as it's smaller. Remember if you sit a spring inside the tailcap on the bottom, you need to expose some bare metal for it to sit on.

As for the battery tube, you could modify a cardboard tube (from kitchen paper for example) and stuff it with bubble wrap, or anything else you fancy.

[Traveller]

Waspy1 said:

There is simple bulb upgrade for £13.95 from here:

http://www.thetorchsite.co.uk/TTS_3_Watt_Cree_Torc...

This is a 3 watt Cree LED that puts out 180 lumens.

I have one in an old Maglite and it is a huge improvement.

Very simple to do.

Your 6 cell torch means that it is 9 volts and the specs for this bulb are 3.5 to 9 volts.....so happy days.

I bough the Cree LED above for my trusty 6D Maglite, it has made a huge improvement, perfect for the coming winter. An upgrade that is highly recommended.

[GC8]

Echoing the question that I was asked: will a converted D cell Maglite still focus?

Both the AA and D LED Maglites that I recently bought have elongated reflectors, compared to their incandescent equivalent models. This made we wonder whether a Maglite with a retro-fitted LED would still have decent adjustable beam pattern; or just lots of light everywhere.

[Traveller]

GC8 said:

Echoing the question that I was asked: will a converted D cell Maglite still focus?

Both the AA and D LED Maglites that I recently bought have elongated reflectors, compared to their incandescent equivalent models. This made we wonder whether a Maglite with a retro-fitted LED would still have decent adjustable beam pattern; or just lots of light everywhere.

My 6 cell Maglite focuses the same as with the standard bulb, just substantially, blindingly, brighter.

[GC8]

Thank you.

[defblade]

The problem with direct LED conversions on mag-lites is (very) poor heatsinking - the output of the LED falls off quite rapidly if left on for very long (more than a few secs). Although you may not notice as yuor eyes will probbaly adjust with it to a certain extent, but you will lose throw.