cehowardGS

First, on the 4000 lum 3 cree light, I figured it was something loose. But, I really am a newbie, and not too sharp on taking these things apart. When I opened the package the light was wrap with one layer of bubblewrap, but the top of the box was half open. That means the light was bouncing around in transit. Most likely what caused the looseness. Anyway, they sent me a mailer and I sent it back the next day. I should have the replacemnt in a week. Also, with instructions to pack it better.

On the charger, ha, I went with your praise along with reading some threads on the flashlight forums. I made sure I got the latest version, then I searched for the best price. Ebay had it for $27.99 with best offer and free shipping. My first two offers were declined, but the seller took my offer of $25.. From what you are posting, I am will be a happy camper with this too.

I noticed you talked about camera settings on beam shots. Well, I am below newbie on camera. I have been using a Nikon D5100 set on A, and using a tripod. The camera selects the shutter and ISO setttings.. I did noticed the shutter speeds were something like 2 to 3 seconds.. I have been getting some acceptable shots. Anyway, I am novice there too, but it is fun. When I get my light back, going to take some beam shots. When it was working. I took it out front along with one of my socalled 1300 lum 18650 lights. Gotta tell you, the 1300 lum light had a stronger center beam. Still I think I am going to like it..

Post of some pics of your beam shots with the 4000. Not only that, I want to see your mounting setup too. With two of them boys up front, that will be a mean sight!!

12smile

You also want to avoid looking directly into these light....you will see 3 blue dots for a long time.

You say it's a perfect fit into the double fish clone...that's good to hear. I ordered 2 of those $6 screw down clamps and they are at 'prepship' at Dealextreme.

There's 2 flat spots on the battery barrel and I thought of tapping 1/4 20 threaded hole there....that would open it up to photo tripod mounting devices nicely...and not compromise it's utility as a pocketable flashlight.

Do you agree it's a good choice over the 'Trustfire 18650 style' lights with the longer handles?

I droped this light into my jeans front pocket last night....don't see doing that with the 18650 style lights.

Do post your evaluation of your charger...this is a sleeper that I think more people should know about...haven't compared it to my Maha 9000 for Nimh yet.

cehowardGS

Even though I am a newbie, I know the above is a no-no. I don't even dare look directly at any flashlight, let alone these powerful torches.


Yup, it fits snug and secure in the two-fish clone.

I got one of those cheap tripods and I was thinking about mounting the light on that, with the one of those two fish mounts. Going to see how that works out.

I don't go for the longer lights with the longer handles. I don't think they would work out well for bicycles. All my lights are of this length. I got the Keygos M10, a 26650 single cell, and JMO5 Clone, another single cell 26650 coming.

On the charger, I know that is going to be a winner. For what it does at that price, it can't miss. I should have that in about 5 days.

cehowardGS

Well, these two babies came today in the mail. They are Keygos M10, 26650 powered and supposed to be 1600 lums!
Going to see how they look in the dark, I already know they will hook up nicely with the two fish like mounts.. My Nikon died on me after I took this shot. And I can't find the dam charger!!



So, it will be a couple days before I get any beam shots. Also, when my 3x Beamtech comes back, I am quite sure one of these will out shine it..IMO, that one 26650 can drive those 3x crees like it needs to be. Just my opinion, and I could be wrong..

12smile

once I find a way to provide a 1/4-20 threaded mounting area on the light I can do something like this to use it off bike.

cehowardGS

I mounted a Keygos M10 torch with a two fish type mount on a cheapo tripod I had hanging around. It works..

12smile

That light is going to be useful :0

I started thread on 26650 4x holders..

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...nding-one-Help

Got any ideas?

Eddie

cehowardGS

Eddie, on my second light it worked the first night. The second day, it stopped working. But before I send this one back, I came back and re-read this thread and the part where you went in an jingled with the springs and it started working again. Well, it did the same for me. I took it apart, wiped the threads, move the spring around a little, and screwed it back together nice and tight. It started working again. From reading what you have stated, it will keep on working. I am not looking for the moon on this light, after all, I only paid $37.75 for it. I like the way it works. It has a big spill and lets me see a broad area. I also coupled it with a thrower.. That makes it even better..

12smile

Just used the 3x Cree XM-L 26650 for the first time as a work light doing some quick roof repair...it really needs a tripod of some kind and at the very least something to keep it from rolling around.

Nice a bright....it seems to ??? up the resolution in what you can see at a distance. I have no idea at what the run time on one 26650 will turn out to bee .....expect a bike ride this week w/ both the 3x lights.

cehowardGS

Last night I messed around with the spring that one near the pill. It seems when it is in a certain position the light works. Anyway, the light worked last night. I was overjoyed. I switched back and forth with 26650 and 18650 cells everything worked. Nice and bright inside the house. Come this morning around 5am, it is raining. No problem, I eased out beater #1, put a two fish type mount on it, and put on the 3x cree light. Flick it a couple times, it works. Geared up with rainjacket, and helmet.

I did about 8 miles in the dark before I reached the train, however, the light stopped working right as I pulled into the station. I get on the train, take the light apart, still no work. I change batteries, same thing no work again. Dam, I am pissed at this on and off crap. Anyway, I have a bright 18650 light on my helmet which was more than enough to carry on my commute in the dark. Finally when I get to work, and get settled, I pull out the light. .Guess what? It now works again!! WTF!!!! It is got one more time to do this to me, and back it goes. I really like this light too. But, I don't want that on and off stuff when I am out riding in the dark.

Also, I am going to take a picture of that spring I think we are talking about. Maybe you can show me where it goes and how. I am really interested in seeing how your lights work out too..

Burton

I checked your link back and you're absolutely right of course! I'm a little disappointed as there was talk about updating the standards some five years ago.

I know some people are thrilled with their lights and thats probably more of an indication to how well our eyes can adapt to low light conditions than to the actual light output from any of the best lights being reviewed. An exposure of F4 at 4 seconds at ISO 100 is actually 32x as long as is needed to take a photograph in deep shade or at sunset (F4, ISO 100, 1/100 second), and 150x as long as required to take a photograph in bright sunlight (F16, ISO 100, 1/100 second). So any photographs depicting backyards lit up like daylight are more than a little exaggerated.

But I'd be interested in some feedback from some users: When you ride under streetlights do the streetlights still cast shadows? Or is your headlight putting more light on the ground than the streetlight and completely killing all shadows from any and all other light sources including cars and overhead lighting?

The only light I've ever personally seen that literally turned night into day over a large area was a 5ft, 5,000watt tungston TV floodlight being used to shoot a scene in the street. Kinda made automobile headlights seem insignificant.

cehowardGS

Ha, to be on the safe side, I copied, yours and Colleen's camera settings.. Being such a noob with a dslr, anything is better than what I have been doing..

colleen c

Here is the tricky part. Older light like the MJ808 P7 running 450 to 500 OTF lumens looks normal with F4, 4sec, iso100. What we see in life with ur own eyes is about what we see as on a digital picture. Higher lumens like the Gemini Olympia rated at 1700 OTF lumens will look wash out using the same setting. I tried to used less shutter speed until a picture using a high powered light on digital looks like what I saw with my eyes, but under that same setting, the digital picture makes a 300 to 800 lumens appears darker than what we see.

What is happening is that our eyes and pupil is constricting with the higher lumens light while the camera is set as absolute. The camera is recording more of the true overall brightness of a high power light and producing a washout effect on digital picture. In the meantime, our eyes is being constricted and we perceive less overall lumens while the camera was not tricked.

I think there should be at least two different camera setting to be use as standard. Each setting should correlate to the amount our eyes adjust to the brightness of the light. Problems is finding that spot since it also differs from one individual to another.

Burton

Hi Colleen! Really nice to run into yet another camera fan here on the forums, particularly another one interested in lighting! Noted your post regarding your homemade lumen measuring device and have to say I'm impressed! Great inginuity!

I agree that a camera has a hard time depicting what our eyes see, but personally feel it probably has more to do with it measuring dynamic range differently. A camera uses a linear scale and has a narrower dynamic range than our eyes which use a logarithmic system over a broader range.

The challenge is really trying to communicate how effective and usefull any one light really is, and this thread should get pretty interesting between your posts and my friend cehowardGS' contributions! If we all use identical settings and similar targets (I'm thinking street environment shots with STOP signs, overhead lighting, automobile headlights etc) we should be able to come up with some interesting info a little different from what is being published by MTBR which has an off road focus.

My own challenge has been coming up with an acceptable beam spread. I'm currently running 15/45 degree eliptical beams and the wide spread results in the light output being distributed over a larger area. Net result was that I needed to double up the lights to achieve the same intensity as a 20degree spot would give, so needed more power. But the result is nice and not surprisingly, has about the same output and power requirements as the JW Speaker SAE approved LED headlights for automobiles. OK - they are a bit smaller, but still bigger than most bicycle lights. What I like myself besides tge light output is that they're completely waterproof and will last forever.

Burton

How are things? I'm thinking that if you pick up photography as fast as you picked up motorcycle racing you'll be ahead of me in no time!
Am currently working on a wiring harness to feed the latest light array for the mtb. Probably looking at about about 80 watts and 6,000 effective lumens split between a high/low beam combination. Just trying to keep up to you!

12smile

Just bought a chinese washing maching..Haier apartment sized from Walmart.
The lack of documentation is shocking to an American...

There is an un documented process with these lights ....there is a "20 second issue"...if you click through the modes,
High, Med, low, flash, sos. the chip is still counting the 20 seconds if you:

Put the light down and turn it off,

and then

Pick it up and turn it on within 20 secs.

it will come on but at the NEXT SETTING......if you were on high it will turn on at medium and so on.

I think sometimes YOU NEED TO RE BOOT THE BRAIN OF THE FLASHLIGHT...

I'm thinking remove the tailcap and let it be un powered for an interval (20 seconds????) and then reassemble.

so.....I don't think it's the speific brand or the build of the specific light but the Brain / chip may need 'rebooting'

Somebody in China knows (the designer / manufacturer) ....it's just that his English isn't good and he can't get to this forum to explain.

ANY CHINESE GUYS WHO KNOW WHAT'S UP WITH THESE LIGHTS?

Please speak up.

So...I think the grounding of the spring surrounding the head can be sensitive

Plus

"Re-setting / Re-Booting" the brain may be touchy and that's independent of your specific copy of the light or your specific supplier.

So far so good on mine.

colleen c

Thank you, but my pet poodle was not impress with my Home made Integrating Sphere. I purchase the 14 inch Jolly Ball from Amazon. I was not sure if it will work or not, but I figured I can give it to my dog if it won't since the Jolly Ball was a toy for dogs anyway.

When I first open the box, my poodle was all joyful and started rolling and pushing it around with his nose. After some visual examination, I made a decision the Jolly Ball will work as a sphere. I took it away from my poodle and you should have seen the expression on his face when I started cutting it in half to gain access to the inside of the ball. Needless to say, he was not too happy about that. Ha ha.

Now I have to order another Jolly Ball to replace the one I "borrow" from him. The things I do for the love of my pet.......

cehowardGS

Is that spring surrounding the head, supposed to be attached/connected or just loose? Mine is loose.

I am waiting for your ride report. I rode with mine this morning, and she cut off right at the end of the first leg of my commute. At work, it came back on..
On the way back home, not dark out, so I am on blinky. However, when I hit a bump, it changed modes on its own.. I dunno!!

12smile

Mine's been working flawlessly, but upon reading your post I took it apart...my large outer spring surrounding the 'drop-in' has a nice snug fit on it's inner/smaller end.

After reassembly it was working intermittently.

I futzed with it and it's fine now.

OBSERVATION:

This may be an area of 'Hand-Fitting'....where the tension and actual shape of that spring needs...final fine tuning by the owner....kind of like Gunsmithing.

I own several guns which have required 'Fluff & Buff' procedures and a 'Break in period' where the final fitting of parts is perfected.

CONCLUSION:

You may have the same issue with any of these lights but ultimately you should be able to tweak it so it works 100% of the time...I will not be happy if performance is flaky and I do not think I will have to put up with that.

Futz with it untill it's 100%

cehowardGS

You are RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!

To make a long story short, I was on the verge of sending this back. In fact, the seller has already sent me a Return Label to return it for a refund. However, before I sent it back, I took some DETAILED pictures of the light and posted in on flashlight forum. The feedback I got was great. Just what you have suggested, seemed to be the problem. However, I didn't catch on until one of the forum members directed me to a thread where a user had the light disassembled, and pointed to the same spring. My spring was LOOSE. That was the cause of the on and off, and the changing of modes when I hit a bump.

Here are the before and after pictures..

Before, when it was not working and changing modes on its own.. You see that loose spring, that was just setting around the pill!





Now, I opened up the light and took the spring, and squeezed it so it would fit tight around the pill, no movement. In fact, I could pick the front assembly of the light up by the spring.

Like this (after)


Here I am picking the unit up by the spring..



Now, the lights works. I took the light in my hand and shook it hard, it work. The other day, it was changing modes when I rolled over a bump or the street was rough. Going to do that test tonight.

If that passes, I will not be sending this light back..

12smile

Good, it sounds like you'll get it to 100%.

My light project has jelled considerably...it's 2:45 am and I'm headed back to the garage for a final tweak of the design.

Bought 6 DPDT switches and some aluminum today....It's good I'm taking my time...the fine tuning of an inch here and an inch there is going to make a difference....still waiting on my DX light clamps.

I will document this w/ Well lit DSLR PIX During assembly and use.

Gorilla taped 4 26650 cells in series to test output and one of the cells ********** triggered it's safety circuit???? don't know...I'm going to make a holder from off the shelf C cell holders.


More later.

cehowardGS

How is it working out???

The light is working great now. It is a flooder too. I am running it with my Keygos M10 which has a good throw. Together those two are killers in the dark.

12smile

Your mounting looks convenient and functional.

The big news is the Cardboard prototype is done...the finished Light Panel / control box will look 90 some percent like this.

I have Aluminum Diamond Plate sufficient to build it but may want to buy something a little nicer....like dull aluminum.

The top area will feature a lid that opens into a dry compartment holding a 4x 26650 battery holder and 3 of the little controller boxes that came with the flashing LED light panels.

That dry box will be a cube of about 5-6 inches.
On the front it will attach to a plate of Aluminum 5" x 14.5" and the top panel of the box will attach to a larger plate that will be bolted to the handle bars on one end and have an area cut out to be the door to the dry compartment.

On the bottom the box is supported by a pipe attached to the center of the bottom of the box and clamped to the fork tube on the other end. If you look closely you can see that I adapted a seat tube and joined it to a bar clamp. It will be plenty sturdy.

I just need to make it now...Design and assessing the needs are done.

I will have 3 panels in the rear (2.5 x 7.25 " each) red to the rear and amber on either side. In front the top 2 bars will be white (quite bright) and a red and blue underneath.

I will be able to choose always on or one of the 3 strobing / flashing patterns built into the electronic controller. The strobing gets your attention. The other two are 'Wig/Wag' patterns that alternate the panels.

There will definately be a YouTube Vid

This is 'Over the Top' after much fiddling I now know how much 'Over the top' and it's reasonable...I anticipate abundant conversations on the bike trails.

I'll have to document it here: https://minneapolisbikelights.wordpress.com/
It's a wordpress blog I've been using to collect info regarding the Legalities etc...I can just refer people there.

Still waiting on my DXExtreme order of the 2 light clamps....waiting a month for something from China isn't working for me

More Pix to follow.

cehowardGS

Yup, this is youtube action all the way. Looks dam exciting and functional. One thing for sure, when you come down the road, they (everybody) is going to know you are there !! That's a goody!!!

Waiting on the rest!!

cehowardGS

Update on the two fish type mount and the BeamTech 4000.

For the last two days, I have been riding with the BeamTech 4000 and the Keygos M10. The Keygos M10 is a 26650 light too, however, it is lighter. The Beamtech 4000, on short rides stays still. However, as I get into the ride, because of the weight of the BeamTech, the whole mount tilts forward. I had to keep pulling it back up. Whereas, on the other side, the Keygos stayed still. I can only attibute this to the big head, on the BeamTech. Again, the mount wholes the light securely, the light doesn't move around in the mount. The connection of the mount and the handlebar is where the weight of the Beamtech makes it slip. Maybe there is a fix, will look into it..



Update on the two fish mounts and the BeamTech 4000. As you can see the BeamTech