My new torch

[Pesty]

GallardoOwner said:

Hope somebody can help, finding it hard to think of christmas presents for myself so thinking a good torch.

it will be used around a large garden so does not need to be overly portable as its unlikely to leave this site

would like it be very bright

not really fussed about the budget, can I get a recommendation without me going through 25 pages ( sorry ! )

Nitecore tm15 or tm26

It's the only thing that will do your land justice I imagine however for a lot less

Alternatively I have one of these and for £64 can be beat for throw and battery life. I'm very happy with mine 300 plus meter throw. Budget on some decent 18650 batteries and a charger 25 quid

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fenix-TK35-light-modes-Lum...

[Pesty]

Digger said:

ell... there is one very subtle difference between the two

If you mean the colour they have them all colours on ebay

[itsnotarace]

Just bought myself a Nitecore MT1C, some RCR123A's and a Nitecore Intellicharger v2. Fantastic little torch for it's size and weight and the charger is bloody awesome

[LordHaveMurci]

Can anybody recommend a decent intelligent charger, preferably to charge AAA, AA, C & D cells?

[cuneus]

LordHaveMurci said:

Can anybody recommend a decent intelligent charger, preferably to charge AAA, AA, C & D cells?

No D though

http://www.nitecore.co.uk/Shop/Products/Batteries-...

[giblet]

Any recommendations for an AA only charger? I have 2 packs of Eneloops that I charge with my boggo 7dayshop charger. It seems to take around 24 hours to charge them though.

[itsnotarace]

Yeah the Nitecore Intellicharger is excellent with Eneloops, about 3-4hrs - plus you can charge them individually instead of having to do them in pairs

[S6PNJ]

I bought a Techno line charger a few years ago - similar to this one. Mine can charge at up to 1A I think, across all 4 batteries, so pretty beefy! It has a discharge/test mode where it will charge and discharge until it sees no gains and thus 'refreshes' the battery to its fullest capability. It will then just trickle charge maintianing the battery at peak charge until you want to use it. Cost me about £40 but now also seems to go by the name of LaCrosse BC-900. I think I got mine from Amazon.

[cuneus]

S6PNJ said:

I bought a Techno line charger a few years ago - similar to this one. Mine can charge at up to 1A I think, across all 4 batteries, so pretty beefy! It has a discharge/test mode where it will charge and discharge until it sees no gains and thus 'refreshes' the battery to its fullest capability. It will then just trickle charge maintianing the battery at peak charge until you want to use it. Cost me about £40 but now also seems to go by the name of LaCrosse BC-900. I think I got mine from Amazon.

http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technoline-BL700.asp

[S6PNJ]

cuneus said:

http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technolin...

That's the one! Only mine was http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technolin... (or at least the earlier version of it!)

[robsa]

Hi fellas,another sad torch lover here.... I have a great, adjustable beam LED torch I bought years ago from LIDL, but I was tired of it pulling my trousers down due to size/weight and recently it has started playing up so I went in search of something smaller.

I bought this:

http://www.blacks.co.uk/equipment/111727-life-syst...

And I have to say I am mightily impressed by it! The reach and beam width is perfect for surveying buildings and we used it walking through heavy woodland in a rainstorm Sunday night and it was brilliant (literally!). Battery life is fantastic and it's so small I can forget it is in my pocket. Highly recommended! It uses those little fat camera batteries (CR2) and I have just ordered a set of AW's and a charger for it.

[flat-planedCrank]

cuneus said:

S6PNJ said:

I bought a Techno line charger a few years ago - similar to this one. Mine can charge at up to 1A I think, across all 4 batteries, so pretty beefy! It has a discharge/test mode where it will charge and discharge until it sees no gains and thus 'refreshes' the battery to its fullest capability. It will then just trickle charge maintianing the battery at peak charge until you want to use it. Cost me about £40 but now also seems to go by the name of LaCrosse BC-900. I think I got mine from Amazon.

http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technoline-BL700.asp

Hmm, that looks like a good bit of kit ^

I use eneloops on my camera flashgun & my Lenser P7, is that sort of charging set-up worth it?


If so, what are the other options for chargers like that?

Think I may mention it to Santa

[300bhp/ton]

giblet said:

Any recommendations for an AA only charger? I have 2 packs of Eneloops that I charge with my boggo 7dayshop charger. It seems to take around 24 hours to charge them though.

Check out the Sanyo Eneloop web page. They offer a range of chargers.

[nessiemac]

flat-planedCrank said:

cuneus said:

S6PNJ said:

I bought a Techno line charger a few years ago - similar to this one. Mine can charge at up to 1A I think, across all 4 batteries, so pretty beefy! It has a discharge/test mode where it will charge and discharge until it sees no gains and thus 'refreshes' the battery to its fullest capability. It will then just trickle charge maintianing the battery at peak charge until you want to use it. Cost me about £40 but now also seems to go by the name of LaCrosse BC-900. I think I got mine from Amazon.

http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technoline-BL700.asp

Hmm, that looks like a good bit of kit ^

I use eneloops on my camera flashgun & my Lenser P7, is that sort of charging set-up worth it?


If so, what are the other options for chargers like that?

Think I may mention it to Santa

Certainly is FPC. I have that charger and use with my 7day shop batteries (2900mAh) in my flash guns and perfect combination!

[buzzer]

Bloody hell... I really do have a problem... Just received 2 torches in the post that I had forgotten I had ordered... Where is the best place for therapy?

[flat-planedCrank]

nessiemac said:

flat-planedCrank said:

cuneus said:

S6PNJ said:

I bought a Techno line charger a few years ago - similar to this one. Mine can charge at up to 1A I think, across all 4 batteries, so pretty beefy! It has a discharge/test mode where it will charge and discharge until it sees no gains and thus 'refreshes' the battery to its fullest capability. It will then just trickle charge maintianing the battery at peak charge until you want to use it. Cost me about £40 but now also seems to go by the name of LaCrosse BC-900. I think I got mine from Amazon.

http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/technoline/technoline-BL700.asp

Hmm, that looks like a good bit of kit ^

I use eneloops on my camera flashgun & my Lenser P7, is that sort of charging set-up worth it?


If so, what are the other options for chargers like that?

Think I may mention it to Santa

Certainly is FPC. I have that charger and use with my 7day shop batteries (2900mAh) in my flash guns and perfect combination!

Cheers. Is the BL1000 worth the extra over that BL700?

The 'AccuPower LCD Fast Charger IQ328' also looks good to, anyone know anything about it? http://www.amazon.co.uk/AccuPower-Fast-Charger-IQ3...

[RYH64E]

buzzer said:

Bloody hell... I really do have a problem... Just received 2 torches in the post that I had forgotten I had ordered... Where is the best place for therapy?

That's happened to me a few times, always a nice surprise when something turns up in the post that you've ordered an forgotten about, and if you're buying one you might as well buy two at the same time...

[Nigel_O]

Oh bugger - Just like the various Watches threads, this thread has got me needing stuff I didn't know existed until a day or two ago...

I've had a trusty 5D Maglite (incandescent) for years and always enjoyed the weighty feel of quality, even if the beam was a bit feeble.

I've also known the "power of LED" for some time - as I'm often under the bonnet of a car or two, I've had rechargeable LED inspection lamps for some time and always been impressed by the light spread and durability.

For my last birthday, my son bought me another inspection light - this time with some form of super-bright LED - amazing piece of kit - two or three times brighter than the 21-LED inspection lamp I've been using for the last few years.

Anyway, when I went to check the Maglite a couple of days ago and found that one of the cells had leaked, I spotted the opportunity for a replacement or improvement. First up was to order a Cree LED bulb replacement for the Maglite - just fitted it tonight and been very impressed by the range of the beam (still with 5 D cells in it) It lit up trees and hedges and the far end of a field at least 100 yards away. Bit spooky when 40+ sheep turned to look at me though - 80+ eyes staring back from the dark was well weird....

However, a browse of this thread has got me thinking - the LED in the Maglite quotes 220 lumens, but I'm seeing links to tiny little torches, run by a single AA or an 18650 that's putting out 5+ times more than my Maglite - are they REALLY that good?

I'm thinking that a few sub £10 specials will make great Christmas pressies (if I hadn't left it a bit late)

I'm not committed enough (yet) to go spending £50, £100 or even several hundred on a torch, but I wouldn't mind knowing the best buys for say £5(ish), £10 and £20 and also, whether its worth lashing out on the higher voltage batteries (and, I assume, the charger to go with them)

Finally, I'm wondering about the AA to D cell adapters - I've seen versions that hold a pair of AA cells in a D cell sized case, meaning I could get ten AA rechargeables in my Maglite - anyone had any experience of these (or would I be better putting the money towards another unit?)

[defblade]

Nigel_O said:

However, a browse of this thread has got me thinking - the LED in the Maglite quotes 220 lumens, but I'm seeing links to tiny little torches, run by a single AA or an 18650 that's putting out 5+ times more than my Maglite - are they REALLY that good?

I'm thinking that a few sub £10 specials will make great Christmas pressies (if I hadn't left it a bit late)

I'm not committed enough (yet) to go spending £50, £100 or even several hundred on a torch, but I wouldn't mind knowing the best buys for say £5(ish), £10 and £20 and also, whether its worth lashing out on the higher voltage batteries (and, I assume, the charger to go with them)

Finally, I'm wondering about the AA to D cell adapters - I've seen versions that hold a pair of AA cells in a D cell sized case, meaning I could get ten AA rechargeables in my Maglite - anyone had any experience of these (or would I be better putting the money towards another unit?)

The maglite LEDs are not the best, and tend to drop in brightness fairly rapidly due to poor heat sinking - to be fair, they're a bodge into a body that was never designed to take them. You probably won't really notice the drop though as you reyes will adapt as it goes.

Certainly most 18650 cree lights should put out600-800 "real", out-the-front, lumens. Take chinese lumens with a big pinch of salt though.

I wouldn't bother with the AA to D adaptors though, just go (protected) lithium. 18650s pack soooo much more voltage and amp/hours into the space there's no contest. Buy a pile of SK68s for friends and family, stick a few pins in the 18650 page for yourself... they're cheap enough to have a play with. This one's nice if you like throw - (relatively) deep, smooth reflector = nice tight hot spot, with useable flood around it.

[Nigel_O]

defblade said:

I wouldn't bother with the AA to D adaptors though, just go (protected) lithium. 18650s pack soooo much more voltage and amp/hours into the space there's no contest.

I was looking at a couple of torch modding sites, where they've used a sleeve in the Maglite to allow use of 18650 in series. My only worry is that the spec on the XPG-R5 LED I've bought from thetorchsite says it runs best at 4v+ and at "up to 9V". Five D cells in series gives about 7.5 volts, but five 18650s is going to be nearly 20v - surely this will fry the LED?.