recommend me an equal to an armytek predator 2.5 for throw and efficiency?

[ven]

Congrats, hopefully it should meet your requirements nicely. Reg fuel, loops are only 1.2v nominal and usually (presuming in this case with driver) it will be 3v-4.2v. So anything bellow will not power it . Not sure if the driver could be adapted, but then you could run the risk of running an 18650 too low(bellow 2.5v for example).

For emergency use, i would simply recommend another flashlight. Its always useful to have spare cell/s but even more use if a spare cell is in a light ready to go!. Not only does a spare light get you out of issues like flat cells, failures but also if the light is lost. So IMO a back up is pretty much a must...........you could get a standard c8 with xpl HI for $20 ish as a back up, or another maybe more compact light(for ease of carry) like the s2+ to name one for $15 ish.

 

[mickb]

Thanks again mate, forgot to reply

 

[mickb]

Hi folks my c8 arrived. Was wondering if could get some advice. I am probably doing something basically wrong and obvious. I inserted an olight 3600mah battery which is not full power but still plenty of charge into it and it won't turn on. It produced a flash of light just as I start screwing the end cap on, and then nothing. It happened twice actually, when I tried another battery. Both these batteries came out of my nitecore EC4GT which is running very brightly on them. Maybe they are lower charge than I thought?

 

[mickb]

Got a very low powered beam, like under 50lm or so with a fluttering/strobing type effect as I pushed the FC button in. Then nothing. My batteries must all be low on charge I am thinking.

 

[ven]

Check the cell/s voltage first off, if near 3v it could be triggering LV.

 

[mickb]

Is that with a voltmeter? Will take them into the local electronics shop tomorrow and borrow one, also get a new battery if need be. Just charged the batteries to full, not sure why they run my other light but not this one.

 

[ven]

Yes multimeter , or if the charger has a V readout it will give you a good enough idea. 4.2v us 100% charged, 3.0v is pretty much flat! Or near empty as most lights cut off at 3v. Are the cell/s making good contact, head tight to body and tail cap tight to body. The light would have been tested before sending out, i would hazard a guess its something your end, be it cell/s or charger.

 

[mickb]

Thanks, charger is nitecore intellicharger i2 for charging two batteries. It, batteries and nitecore EC4GT bought new earlier this year, batteries probably been charged from halfway to full three times, including tonight. I will start substituting components to work it out. It came on so I have started trying to program it.Using the momentary function seemed okay, as soon as I full click the light it doesn't stay on the light flickers and turns itself off. I also can't full click to get it on from off. Only momentary works. Now I just shook the light and it went back to being dead for all presses. Now its going low to high if I full click it. Now shook it again and its off totally. Maybe its a contacts problem? Well I will buy some more batteries before I embarass myself, it may just come down to that.

 

[mickb]

its back on full power but if I shake it a little it goes to low or turns off.

 

[mickb]

Randys test report showed battery used was a 'sanyo GA' . Are there differences between 18650 battery lengths?

 

[ven]

There is a difference in length yes, by shaking the light and it blinks or turns off is a contact issue. What are the cells you actually have?

Maybe button top sanyo GA (10a 3500mah) and protected would suit the light. KeepPower to name one brand do the GA cells in this format.

 

[mickb]

Thanks again Ven. The ones I have are Olight protected 3600mah as here. https://www.liteshop.com.au/content/olight-panasonic-3600mah-protected-li-ion-18650
This light needs to be able to handle recoil, preferably with whatever batteries I have on hand. I'll have to get in contact with Randy I think. Thanks again for the info.

 

[ven]

At 67.8mm, they are on the shorter side, i think a slightly longer cell should work as your light will(or should not)be tripping the pcb(not high enough demand presuming you got it dialled back in output.

Not cheap!! but bright nite have the keeppower 3500mah cells in as do urbanoutback, 2 for 38 aud which is not too bad. These are 68.8mm so 1mm longer..............can make all the difference with contact. Speak to Randy 1st, may be as simple as stretching the springs a little. Just check with him 1st

 

[eh4]

Predator with XB-H emitter is under 50$ now.
I like my XB-H warm better than my XPL HI warm, it's putting out less light than the HI, but the focus is tighter.

 

[mickb]

randy has said its the opposite, the protected cells are too long, the convoy host can have problems with it. I didn't realise these lights were unprotected use. He made a few suggestions about tinkering the retaining ring in relation to the switchboard to see if that works, but I am not that keen. I am a remote site contractor, have money for buying new lights, not much time for tinkering. I think this is what happens when industrial users branch into custom projects. If any Aussie members want it for the price of postage PM me and I will ship it. Not sure on postage to the US or UK, but same deal applies. I am sure it is a great light for certain users.

 

[mickb]

Does anyone have a link to the stock C8 convoy lights, and know whether these run with protected cells?

 

[mickb]

disregard my question on the C8's , looks like they are a bit tight with protected cells in general.

 

[ven]

Yes long cells can also cause issues, I just presumed with shaking it , it was a little loose inside. All you need to do is simply buy a couple of Sanyo GA 3500mah cells, or a couple of Sony vtc6 cells. No need for protected cells anyway as it has low voltage protection built into driver.

 

[mickb]

Thanks Ven, the literature he sent also said cannot be used with CR123 which was actually one of my intentions. I didn't realise the light would have problems with unprotected and be CR123 incompatible as well. Its probably obvious stuff to flashaholics to check this sort of thing during the order.

The offer still stands if anyone wants it.

 

[Swedpat]

I think XB-H v3 is an equal to XP-G 2.5. Actually they are very similar in as well output an throw.