Streamlight Siege Review --- Now in neutral white! (September 2014)

[Poppy]

martinaee,
Those run-time beam shots made a nice addition to your review. :thumbsup: Good job!

 

[martinaee]

Thanks. I'm considering getting a 2nd Siege since I have 6 D NiMh, but I think I'll just stay with one for now. If they come down in price I'll pick up another. Or maybe they'll update it but keep it using 3 D's lol :naughty:

 

[Poppy]

Thanks. I'm considering getting a 2nd Siege since I have 6 D NiMh, but I think I'll just stay with one for now. If they come down in price I'll pick up another. Or maybe they'll update it but keep it using 3 D's lol :naughty:

Yeah, but there HAS to be a "cut off point" of where we stop buying lights and lanterns that we don't need. Right?

You already made the investment in a D charger, and extra D LSD cells. Considering that most outages last only a few hours, (at least here in the US), you may find that the spare cells may sit and not get used for YEARS, unless you do a lot of camping. The quality of the Siege, and your easy neutral hack makes it a stand-out in the crowd of D cell lanterns.

When I did the testing of my Ozark Trail lantern, I thought that it would be better to have two lanterns than one. They could be run at a lower output giving less glare, and the light could be more evenly spread out in the room, or patio etc. Also as the cells deplete (as you mentioned with alkalines) they gradually diminish output, and since lumens are additive, two lanterns at reduced output is as good, perhaps better, than one.

OTOH, you may find that a 3rd gen 3D maglite or 3D defiant may make more frequent use of your spare cells. Oh boy... decisions, decisions.

 

[martinaee]

LOL yeah, I was thinking about what else actually uses D cells these days that I could use good quality D NiMh batteries in. Looks like it's time for Fenix to upgrade the TK70 or TK50. Actually I would love a 2 or 3 D cell xp-g2 light from Fenix. I know some people put xp-g2's in the TK50, but I'm not going to go out of my way to even try and find one of those anymore and then mod it or have somebody mod it

 

[markr6]

Love the "neutral white" trick!! Good great. My god how can anyone stand that cool white?!?!

 

[Poppy]

LOL yeah, I was thinking about what else actually uses D cells these days that I could use good quality D NiMh batteries in.

I am sure that StarHalo can recommend a good single D radio.

If you like McGyvering, you might make a power bank out of them, with a 3D battery box, and by stripping the electronics out of a 3AA Power bank.

 

[martinaee]

Love the "neutral white" trick!! Good great. My god how can anyone stand that cool white?!?!

LOL yeah it's pretty god awful with the cool white. I don't mind general use for cool white lights or use outdoors, but when you bring them inside as the only light source it gets kind of horrifying

That powerbank is pretty cool. Are there any of those that are built really well and do those work well with things that charge via usb? I know certain devices need higher voltage/amps to charge properly. That looks pretty flimsy for 3 bucks but maybe it works better than expected.

Star Halo is big into radios? I'll have to hit him up.

 

[Poppy]

I am far from a power bank expert. Some are fairly expensive, and others are very inexpensive. I don't know how much cost reflects a difference in the quality of the electronics. I pointed to that one simply because the battery voltage should be about right for your batteries. I believe that the output for any and all of them should be 5.0 volts at the full size USB connector.

I have a miller ML102 18650 charger/power bank. It charges by way of USB, so 5 volts in. And it boosts the 3.7 volt battery to 5.0 volts for its output so that it can be used to charge cell phones etc. I have used it to charge my son's android phone, and to test the USB cable I soldered into the energizer 300 lumen lantern with light fusion technology that I wrote about. I also charged my daughter's Ipad with it.

I had a couple of digipower power banks, they had about 2800ma 18650 batteries in them, they were used to charge a blackberry, and an Iphone. Lost one, and broke the other. Oooops

I have a couple 1800ma $5 power banks from "Five Below" the batteries were so dead that I had to hook them up in parallel for the charger put some juice into them initially, but now they take a charge normally, as they should. They probably don't have their advertised capacity, but they are working ok, for now. I tested them, and they will each charge my phone, my son's android, and run that energizer lantern, 14.5 hours on low.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Thank you again for this review!

I just read again the whole thing.

The build quality, the diffusion, the "neutral" hack...all awesome.

Wish it came in a "3x18650" version as well.

We can dream, right?

 

[GreySave]

The Fenix CL25R is 18650 (single cell) and pretty slick. Neutral tint as well. Can charge the battery using USB. I have not yet tried to solar charge mine yet but others have had success. I am hoping it will like my solar charger.....

 

[martinaee]

Thank you again for this review!

I just read again the whole thing.

The build quality, the diffusion, the "neutral" hack...all awesome.

Wish it came in a "3x18650" version as well.

We can dream, right?

LOL no problem. I hope Streamlight continues to upgrade it and see's it as a "platform" for upgrading. I bought into actual NiMh D cells so I kind of personally hope they stick with this if they ever upgrade the Siege, but that's kind of selfish and it would make sense if they made it an multiple 18650 light.

I think it's already awesome, but the main things that could be changed would be emitter tint (easy), output higher (also easy if the emitters are updated), and actually making the entire Siege BIGGER which would not only make room for a 4th D cell but also make the diffuser bigger. A problem inherent to relatively small lanterns like this is no matter how good the diffuser it still has glare if you are looking towards it because of the intensity of the light. If the lantern were somewhat bigger it reduces intensity more and more. I don't think the Siege needs to compete for brightest lantern out there per say, but if they could get the brightness to say 500-600 lumens that would be perfect. Also if they added a 4th D cell it would make so much sense for charging actual NiMh D cells as most D chargers are 4 bay. Heck I don't think adding a 4th D would make it that much bigger overall, but it would definitely give it more power/output capability. We're talking TK70 plunger status here people lol.

Maybe I'll try to ask Streamlight about their plans for it.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Is there any reason a Keeppower 26650 5200mAh cell wouldn't fit inside and power it?

Would be super easy to charge/discharge/maintain one cell, for general, non-emergency purposes, anyway!

NiMh 1.2v * 3 = 3.6v (for a long while)

Alkaline 1.5v * 3 = 4.5v (for a very short time, anyway)

 

[martinaee]

Way too long though I'd think. D cells are AA cell length and that 26650 is 18650 length, no? And I don't think you can power it with one cell unless you made all the connections three cells normally have.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I can't comment on whether it would work electrically as I've never seen the battery compartment on one of these, but yes, I realized while posting that it is most likely too long without some mucking about.

 

[martinaee]

I can't comment on whether it would work electrically as I've never seen the battery compartment on one of these, but yes, I realized while posting that it is most likely too long without some mucking about.

Yeah I didn't post it in my review. Maybe I can get one for ya.

Edit: Actually here you go and I'm too lazy to get out the dslr now. I just found this on Google images. It doesn't show deep into it, but you get the idea. The center post which makes putting the contacts in the right place every time would probably be in the way too.

 

[Poppy]

Perhaps it would be easier to convert the lantern to run on three 18500 batteries. Physically they would fit by wrapping them with a little cardboard, or plastic, but then they would need an 11mm spacer.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Main issue in my mind is that three 1.2v cells need to be in series.

Three lithium-ion cells would need to be in parallel or things would go *POOF*.

 

[martinaee]

Main issue in my mind is that three 1.2v cells need to be in series.

Three lithium-ion cells would need to be in parallel or things would go *POOF*.

Yeah pretty sure the cells run in series. I don't think it turns on with just one or two cells in there.

 

[Poppy]

Yeah pretty sure the cells run in series. I don't think it turns on with just one or two cells in there.

Absolutely, they are in series. However, it would be much easier to cut the serial connections, and solder them back, in parallel; than it would be to make physical changes to the depth of the battery box, to accommodate the 18650, or 26650 cells, which are longer than the D cell. Hmmm... run on sentence? I think so.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

26550 cells would most likely fit, if one did wish to go lithium-ion...there is an "Efest 26550 4200mAh Green LI-MN 50AMP IMR Battery" out there.

I think whether it is worth it or not really depends on how you intend to use the lantern, or, how attached you are to standardizing on one chemistry cell.

EDIT: Talk about confusing! The places I've seen the cell called it a "26550" but the battery label itself clearly says "26650." Cancel that!

EDIT #2: However, this 26500 cell might work, three in parallel:

Link