Thanks for the info, seeker333, and yes, I'll update if I get good results.

No prob; Ziemas covered this:

Update on my broken P7 (dropped):

I played around with a voltmeter and a wire, and managed to pinpoint the problem. It's either the driver circuit board, or one of the wires that connect the circuit board to the LED. I bypassed it with a wire and the LED lit up fine. Unfortunately I can't get at the problem because the whole assembly soldered into the brass heatsink.

You could buy a new driver from dealextreme if you wanted. They're like $4. You'd need to rig it up outside the flashlight, though, if you can't get the old one out.

I can buy a soldering iron, but which circuit board should I get?

The P7 page says:
3.7V ~ 50mA (low) ~ 2000mA(High)
4.2V ~ 70mA (low) ~3200mA(High)

The circuit board with the highest output on Dealextreme.com is 1A.

thank you, i found the perfect gift for the girlfreind this xmas.
http://www1.dealextreme.com/producti...ku_18698_7.jpg

The threads on the page for the emitter (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12721) discuss alternate means, however.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=201392 Apparently, you can still get 2.8A through the 7135 driver?

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...iverSetupb.jpg

Has anyone compared the:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16501
to the many many models 2, 5 or 8 mode P7s that claim 900 lumens.

I hadn't yet found this forum when I bought my MTE M3-2 Cree MC-E 8-Mode 700-Lumen LED Flashlight with Assault Crown (1*18650), the trustfire charger and trustfire protected 18650s.

I've ridden in total dark and love the output. I can now ride comfortably at 18 - 20 MPH on my commute where before with my Cateye head light I had to strain my eyes hoping to see something in the road before it was too late to react. The Cateye was good for being seen in strobe mode, but now "I" can see.

Now I ordered a Shiningbeam L-Mini 18650 Cree Q5 Flashlight "Version 3" Black $31.90 for a helmet mounted light. It'll be easier to point the light where I want it than turning the handle bars.

"Let there be light!"
jw

I have a P7 and an MC-E. The MC-E has a slightly brighter hotspot but I can't tell the difference when riding.

I may order this:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1879 18650 Rechargeable Lithium
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13060 P7
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3499 18650 Digital Battery Charger

Any critiques? I appreciate any help.

600mA charger for a 2400mAh 18650 will take a lot of time.

On the flashlight, take that "ships in 1 to 3 days" comment with a grain of salt. Mine showed "waiting on supplier" for four days, and now it's been "order received-in stock" for three days.

Huh? Do you know of a faster one which actually cuts off at 4.20v and doesn't cost $200?

Dang, thats a nice looking bike. How does it ride compared to higher end aluminum bikes? I just got the P7, what flashlight mount are you using?

sku.6105

1A charge for a single and 0.8A or so for 2 at the same time.

those batteries, they won't work with that charger.
you want either sku.4757, sku.6979, sku.5790 which go up to 4.2V, are protected and have higher capacity.

Jaa, those DX chargers aren't famous for overchaging. :rolleyes:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6105

well, if you want quality you can count on...

personally, I haven't had a single battery overcharge and die on me with the 6105.

Have a look at the comments under your charger at DX. Sometimes it's better to spend a bit more money on a decent product, especially if it uses electricity......

Let me finish that sentence for you.......well, if you want quality you can count on...go with a Plia.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=201323
http://www.flashlightz.com/product.p...product=171829

yes, that's the charger I wanted to say, but I totally forgot the name of it.

I paid the premium for the Pila IBC charger. I used the $10 dealextreme Trustfire charger before.

You get what you pay for. The Trustfire charger was a piece of crap. Only one side ever worked.

I bought this one from batteryspace:

http://davidclary.com/images/charger.jpg

The description is here

This is the one recommended by batteryspace for the 18650 I ordered from them. I haven't used it on the 18650 yet because I'm still waiting on the flashlight from DX; however, I have used it with a CR123 that I use in my Romisen RC-N3 Q5. So far so good, however, if you read enough posts on CPF, you might end up too scared to plug in any charger with a Lithium battery in it! :)

New P7 hits the marketplace.. I have bought many flashlights from this vendor and have always been happy. He sells the best performing 18650 batteries.. Here is the P7, he tells me twice as bright as Q5 but over 2+ hours of burn time in high mode

http://cgi.ebay.com/SSC-P7-LED-Flash...QQcmdZViewItem

The light has been shipped and will arrive by Saturday.. I will of course run burn time with AW, Trustfire and his cells and see what the true runtime is.. Here is a link to his cells, they gave me about 10-15% better runtime over any other cells.. Only downside is that they are unprotected..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rechargeable-3-7...QQcmdZViewItem

I'm already there just from reading these forums.

Not really, but I sure try to keep an eye on things when I'm charging. Don't know if the paranoia is justified or not.

With cheap chargers and cheap (or unprotected) cells there is reason to be worried. With quality cells and charger there is much less reason to be worried.

Well, I do have protected cells but the charger is the cheapie from DealExtreme.

It's your call. Personally I've found that it's far cheaper in the long run to buy quality in the first place.

Have you tested the voltage of your cells hot off the charger to see if they are being over charged?

I've been using cheap for over 3 years.
4 unprotected $2.99 rc123 cells and a nano charger.
but then I'm only using them in single cell lights.
I did have a AAAA cell explode in a streamlight penlight, it was a loud pop.

That's just not something I'm willing to risk due to a few dollars extra for a better battery on my helmet mounted light.

me neither but it was a regular alkaline battery that exploded.
besides we all have some sort of Lion battery in our pockets, belts or bags.

To me it's still worth the extra few bucks for a quality battery from a known and tested source. AW batteries are top quality, and really not that expensive.

I fully understand, I used to be on CPF a lot.
back then I've researched the cells and nano charger I bought and there appears to
be no issues and I'm still using them. and they were bought from a reputable dealer
who's still around this day. YMMV. caveat emptor and all that stuff.
perhaps I'm lucky but we all have some sort of Lion in our pockets, bags or belts.