Wonder
Newly Enlightened
I carried a FourSevens QTA everyday since the end of 2012. I have used Eneloop cells with good results. I dropped some cash at the Olight Elite sale and ended up falling for the M1T Raider. Its my first EDC CR123a light and I sure like the added output over my 5 year old QTA. I use CR123a cells in several other devices so they work for me. I also picked up a RCR123a for the light at the sale. I have since found out on this forum that the Olight RCR123a PN ORB-163P06 was a poor choice. Seems OK to me so far. I walk my dogs after dark and run the light on high and it has no problem lasting 30 on 40 minute walks. After 2 walks I charge the cell. It does drop from 500 to 300 lumens after about 5 minutes each time but its not a huge change and its still bright as hell IMO. If the cell goes bad in a year I will still be money ahead as CR123a's are not cheap. The 5 lumen mode is plenty of light up close. See run times below.
I did some digging and found out the specs on Olight's website are confusing as hell and there is no downloadable manual for the M1T. I must have read the info wrong or they changed the info online. I dug up the paper manual and this is what I understand to be correct. Using a CR123a the light runs on high 500 lumens for 5 minutes (seems about right) then will run drop to 300 lumens for 120 minutes so 125 minutes total. ? I was not paying attention, was just playing with the original CR123A so no clue. When using a RCR123a it runs 500 lumens for 5 minutes (again seems about right) then will run 300 lumens for 65 minutes for a total of 70 minutes. ? Low CR123A 5 lumens for 100 hours. Low RCR123A for 50 hours (Hard to test).
Update: I did 2 test cycles to check run time on high. Stared with a fully charged RCR123A. Ran the light on high for 30 minutes. Let the light rest for 30 minutes. Ran the light again for 30 minutes/rest 30 minutes. On the third run it ran for 11 minutes and was cut off by the protection circuit in the cell. Cell read zero voltage after rest. Popping it in my Olight magnetic universal charger (just got it, testing) did not reset the protection circuit, flashing red charge LED. I reversed the leads and the LED went solid red aka protection reset. I immediately removed the cell from the charger, let it rest for 5 minutes then tested the voltage. The voltage measured 3.21 volts so cutoff was 3.21 volts. I then charged the cell (charge cut off at 4.21v) and ran the test again with basically the same results. 30 minutes on high/rest 30 minutes repeat. On the third run the battery went into protection after 14 minutes. Once reset the voltage was once again 3.21 volts. So in conclusion the claimed 70 minute run time on high sounds about right. I really love the TIR lens, the wide hot spot and great spill make it a great EDC light. I also really like the tail cap switch. Its not flush so no tail standing but the feel is just right. Not too hard and not too soft and it has momentary. The only missing feature IMO is strobe and I never needed it before so no big deal. Some might not like that the light defaults to high mode as it could play with your night vision. I run in high mode most of the time so it works for me. RIP QTA you were and still are a solid piece of hardware.
Update 8/26/18: I discovered two things I did not know. The US version has a crenelated bezel and starts on high. All other countries have a smooth bezel and start on low. I live in the US BTW. I'd like to find a non US version just for fun.
I did some digging and found out the specs on Olight's website are confusing as hell and there is no downloadable manual for the M1T. I must have read the info wrong or they changed the info online. I dug up the paper manual and this is what I understand to be correct. Using a CR123a the light runs on high 500 lumens for 5 minutes (seems about right) then will run drop to 300 lumens for 120 minutes so 125 minutes total. ? I was not paying attention, was just playing with the original CR123A so no clue. When using a RCR123a it runs 500 lumens for 5 minutes (again seems about right) then will run 300 lumens for 65 minutes for a total of 70 minutes. ? Low CR123A 5 lumens for 100 hours. Low RCR123A for 50 hours (Hard to test).
Update: I did 2 test cycles to check run time on high. Stared with a fully charged RCR123A. Ran the light on high for 30 minutes. Let the light rest for 30 minutes. Ran the light again for 30 minutes/rest 30 minutes. On the third run it ran for 11 minutes and was cut off by the protection circuit in the cell. Cell read zero voltage after rest. Popping it in my Olight magnetic universal charger (just got it, testing) did not reset the protection circuit, flashing red charge LED. I reversed the leads and the LED went solid red aka protection reset. I immediately removed the cell from the charger, let it rest for 5 minutes then tested the voltage. The voltage measured 3.21 volts so cutoff was 3.21 volts. I then charged the cell (charge cut off at 4.21v) and ran the test again with basically the same results. 30 minutes on high/rest 30 minutes repeat. On the third run the battery went into protection after 14 minutes. Once reset the voltage was once again 3.21 volts. So in conclusion the claimed 70 minute run time on high sounds about right. I really love the TIR lens, the wide hot spot and great spill make it a great EDC light. I also really like the tail cap switch. Its not flush so no tail standing but the feel is just right. Not too hard and not too soft and it has momentary. The only missing feature IMO is strobe and I never needed it before so no big deal. Some might not like that the light defaults to high mode as it could play with your night vision. I run in high mode most of the time so it works for me. RIP QTA you were and still are a solid piece of hardware.
Update 8/26/18: I discovered two things I did not know. The US version has a crenelated bezel and starts on high. All other countries have a smooth bezel and start on low. I live in the US BTW. I'd like to find a non US version just for fun.
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