# SKY RAY 3*T6 818 XML



## raynstacy (Aug 12, 2011)

This looks like Sales Link Removed -Norm new model with 3 XML[/URL]. looks nicer than the recent 3xxmls out there


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## atbglenn (Aug 12, 2011)

Looks nice. I might have to order one and compare it to the TrustfireTR-3T6 I just got a couple of days ago.


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## ljw2k (Aug 12, 2011)

Defo looks better than the last and 4000 Lumens is a little conservative to say the least ......lol


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## r1derbike (Aug 12, 2011)

I hope it lasts longer than their previous drop-in model I own...

...learned my lesson quickly!

BWAAHAA! 4k lumens conservative. Spot-on, mate!


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## ljw2k (Aug 13, 2011)

I really like the look of this light and have bitten the bullet and ordered one with only 2x 18650 batteries it is a nice size also.

Had the Tk70 which was a fab light excellent output but the manufactures site had misleading quoted figures for runtimes and unless you know the ANSI law you might be dissapointed like me.

I won't be using it for long periods of time but it does look alot better in the quality control department than V1 and 2


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## tjhabak (Aug 13, 2011)

I like the looks of this thing too. Even though I have the 3800, this one is tempting!


Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


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## ^Gurthang (Aug 14, 2011)

My question is; is the heatsinking better than the first 3XT6 version? Hope once a few arrive someone can answer that question.


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## 2100 (Aug 14, 2011)

ljw2k said:


> I really like the look of this light and have bitten the bullet and ordered one with only 2x 18650 batteries it is a nice size also.
> 
> Had the Tk70 which was a fab light excellent output but the manufactures site had misleading quoted figures for runtimes and unless you know the ANSI law you might be dissapointed like me.
> 
> I won't be using it for long periods of time but it does look alot better in the quality control department than V1 and 2


 
Pls do report on the current measurement at the tail.


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## RI Chevy (Aug 14, 2011)

I just ordered one too. The website does not give out that much information on these.


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## ljw2k (Aug 14, 2011)

2100 said:


> Pls do report on the current measurement at the tail.




Will do Sir and to tell you the truth i have a funny feeling in my tummy this one is going to be a keeper and i am looking forward to it arriving.

It looks like it has been finished off well and the tube and head look alot better than the other versions of the 3x X-ML skyrays so maybe that they have taken note even read this forum and though ok lets get this right this time ( I hope so ) but at around £35 Uk if not i am sure i can modify it so it is efficient in heat transfer with small modifications and a little TLC.

I suspect the driver to be around a standard driver size 20mm or so and if it doesn't perform then that should not be a problem to change for a much better driver further on in time.

Lets see what Amps it pulls like you said on some fully charged AW's or alike and as mentioned above 4k lumens is a joke really but they must have also changed the driver combinations from the older 3x X-ML's .

With this being a brand new light there is little information posted out there yet and if someone recieves there's before me then please as above leave some small feedback in the post as i am sure amy other people who are reading this are also very interested in the findings and figures.


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## JS_280 (Aug 14, 2011)

Got one of these coming as we speak. My SkyRay 3800 Rev. 2 only pulls around 2.4 amps with fully charged TrustFires, hopefully this one will push a bit harder...


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## ljw2k (Aug 15, 2011)

Latest Status: Dispatched 

Mine is on it's way over the big Pond and should be with me soon and have my 4000 mAh Batteries all charged up ready to go.


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## 2100 (Aug 15, 2011)

JS_280 said:


> Got one of these coming as we speak. My SkyRay 3800 Rev. 2 only pulls around 2.4 amps with fully charged TrustFires, hopefully this one will push a bit harder...


 
That is about right, no worries. Many factors would affect that approx 0.1-0.2A difference from what the others are getting. In fact i am sure all the figures we are getting are off by at least quite a fair bit say 10-30%, due to voltage drop by the DMM itself, even if you are using good leads. And then how about driver efficiency?

The only accurate measurement which would tell you how much a light is brighter than the other, is by a lux meter, both in direct hostspot measurement of the lux intensity, and the "lumens" which is measurable with a relatively high degree of accuracy even by a reflected bounce test on the ceiling preferably flanked by 2 walls (eg corridor). This measurement is actually OTF / Out The Front. 

This tells you way more info than even the best $1000 Fluke DMM can tell you.


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## Solscud007 (Aug 21, 2011)

Im anxious to see how this light performs. thinking of getting it for my groomsmen.


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## shao.fu.tzer (Aug 21, 2011)

I ordered one the day it came out... Should be here any day now... I'll let everyone know how it is when it comes in...

Shao


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## r1derbike (Aug 22, 2011)

Still no word on drop-in or screw-in?


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## RedForest UK (Aug 23, 2011)

I heard Jim at manafont said it was a screw in. The effectiveness and contact area of the threaded section we'll have to wait to find out..


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## shao.fu.tzer (Aug 23, 2011)

No light yet... crossing my fingers for tomorrow... If this thing doesn't melt heads like the Ark of the Covenant (deja vu?), I'm going to mod it into a real monster...


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## ljw2k (Aug 24, 2011)

Got mine this morning and on inspection it has a large scratch on the head  also the 3 mode is low/strobe/high 

I have measured the current on fully charged batteries 4.15v and i get 2.1A on High.


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## shao.fu.tzer (Aug 24, 2011)

ljw2k said:


> Got mine this morning and on inspection it has a large scratch on the head  also the 3 mode is low/strobe/high
> 
> I have measured the current on fully charged batteries 4.15v and i get 2.1A on High.


 
That's bad news... Maybe you got a bad one?????????


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## shao.fu.tzer (Aug 24, 2011)

Well!!! Mine just came in today... I can confirm that it is indeed Hi-Lo-Strobe unfortunately... but now the good news - mine seems very well constructed with thick, beefy, smooth threads with a good heft... No looseness or rattling here... Now the juicy part...

Off a pair of freshly charged Trustfire grey 18650s (still waiting on the AWs to charge) I'm reading 3.216A on high and 0.232A on low! Nice mode spacing! It's almost enough to let me forgive the lack of medium mode. Low is plenty bright for most applications and obviously meant for saving your batteries. 

It is insanely bright... I didn't realize how bright it was until I put it up against my Manafont Ultrafire 3-mode XM-L T6 with an IMR in it... It's like night and day... in the old days it would be like comparing the output of an Arc-AAA with a HDS EDC Ultimate 60... That much difference... The brightness against a wall at 20 feet completely smothers the Manafont drop-in to the point where you can turn the UF drop in on and off without making any noticeable difference... Maybe I got lucky!!! But I'm happy!


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## RI Chevy (Aug 24, 2011)

Any photos or beam shots? So far they are 1 for 2. One good one and one bad one. Jeeeesh. They (Sky Ray) (or Manafont ) do not seem to be worried or care about quality control issues or have any name brand pride. These issues need to be taken care of overseas, prior to shipment. We should not be guinea pigs.


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## ljw2k (Aug 24, 2011)

Glad you are happy and as above any beamshots.

Mine is 100% going back not happy at all .


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## ljw2k (Aug 25, 2011)

shao.fu.tzer said:


> Off a pair of freshly charged Trustfire grey 18650s (still waiting on the AWs to charge) I'm reading 3.216A on high and 0.232A on low! Nice mode spacing! It's almost enough to let me forgive the lack of medium mode. Low is plenty bright for most applications and obviously meant for saving your batteries.




You say Low mode is 0.232A ..........i think you will find that there is no low on this flashlight only High/Med/strobe


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## Rod911 (Aug 25, 2011)

ljw2k said:


> Mine is 100% going back not happy at all .


Bought from Manafont? I suggest you go through a PayPal resolution as well if your method of payment was through them.

I thought I'd give these guys the benefit of doubt considering they are highly recommended in other forums and believe everything they have said, but from my purchase of of their 3800 lumen Sky Ray model, I am out of pocket AU$20 due to postage costs that ended up renegging on refunding me. Furthermore, during a number of emails toing and froing, they:

1. First said they are willing to pay for postage costs if I provide receipts - they did not do this.
2. The light came to me DoA. They had the gall to say they checked the light was working before shipping it to me - they will probably throw this line at you.
3. They mentioned that my light showed no defect. I pointed out to them that my light (the drop-in, non-"Rev 2" version) is no longer on sale on their website. To me, this is a clear indication of acknowledgement that the light is defective because they pulled it off for sale due to the numerous returns/complaints they have had on this light - it was defective from the get go. If they did check the lights before they send anything out, their QC should have picked up the problem that there was something wrong with the design of the light and shouldn't have sold it.

/end rant


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## ljw2k (Aug 25, 2011)

Upto now Manafont have been nothing but polite sending me an email with a return label.
Yes i will be out of pocket because of the cost of the postage but it is either that or keep it.
I don't think paypal dispute is necassary at the moment but will see how things iron out.

The light was advertised 3 mode High/Med/Low which it was not only High/Med/strobe .

It does stipulate on there website if your not happy you can return it for a FULL refund.


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## r1derbike (Aug 26, 2011)

Against my better judgement, I ordered one of these. It arrived in record time at my doorstep.

DOA! Nada! Zero! Dead.

Have ground continuity from tail to reflector, switch OK, voltage checks at top of battery tube, but nothing.

This is 2-for-2 bad products from SkyRay, purchased at Manafont.

This one going back for a full refund. Tried the battery tube and switch from my failed SkyRay 3800 on the 4000, nada.

Disappointed doesn't describe this; one hundred bucks spent, and still no lights.

Rod911, I feel your pain. These lights are not ready for prime time, as far as I'm concerned.


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## shao.fu.tzer (Aug 26, 2011)

Wow... I guess I'm lucky... Mine is wicked awesome so far... Seems very solid and with brand new freshly charged AW 2600s I'm now reading 3.14A on high. It's soooooo bright for the money...


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## r1derbike (Aug 26, 2011)

I got so pissed-off I removed the lock-ring in the head, removed the battery contact PC board and regulator board at once, and found the issue. There is a pin from the regulator board (+) that was not soldered to the center spring pad, from the factory. A bond was never made! There was solder on the battery + wafer, but the assembler didn't push the regulator pin far enough up to solder. 

The two sandwiched wafers are not seated against each other in mine, which leaves the internal regulator wafer angled in the lamp head. As far as I may see, there are only two through-the-board connections holding the two wafers somewhat apart.

The real shocker; the manufacturing insignias and house part numbers were buffed off several of the visible ICs in the wafer assembly.

I won't get into why this is done.

My light is a 5-mode light; High-Medium-Low-Strobe-SOS.

I'm undewhelmed with the new bezel. My glass oring was not installed properly, leaving part of it scrunched-up in the head.

The wafer(s) could have been manufactured and assembled better. A bit rough-around-the edges.

Bottom line, this is a budget light.

At least I don't have to lose money on freight back to Manafont, now.

I'm very underwhelmed at the output of the light. The head does get warm in about 10 minutes on high, but nothing like the 3800 did.

Wish the 3800 was still operational, to compare brilliance, but if memory serves, the 3800 was brighter. I have no proof of this, so don't take my word for it.

It does have a purplish hue to the beam, as another poster found.

Anyway, happy I tore into the head, to fix the issue.

I suppose it's a keeper, now that it works.

Charles


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## r1derbike (Aug 27, 2011)

One last post (I hope). No wonder the output looked underwhelming. Tried 4 different makes of freshly charged batteries, and got essentially the same tailcap current:

Hi - 1.76A
Med - .86A
Lo - .16A

Didn't measure the SOS and strobe modes, obviously.

It's almost like they put the wrong regulator in this light?


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## 2100 (Aug 27, 2011)

Man, i feel for you guys, i really do. Absolutely pure bad luck. 2 failed lights one after another! Plus very little support. My original SR3800 rev 0 failed too, but at least i managed to gun some 20hrs worth of bliss from it. LOL!  

For $100 you could have gone for the DRY plus 3 extra drivers as backup, so you use the light like forever. From CNQG, i feedbacked that the 3A driver was not putting out enough amps (it was 2 amps, but note that is a 3-cell light instead of 2-cell for the Sky Ray so voltage is higher) and I got replacement drivers sent. So support is important, there really is no need to send back the light.

I actually have 6 backup drivers for my 3 DRY lights (cold white, neutral white and warm white). Each drivers is just $4.50...no biggie.


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## r1derbike (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks for the driver tip, 2100. I'll peruse the net looking for a decent driver for the 4000. I'm curious to know how many other purchasers wound-up with a 5-mode driver, like me?

Strange one...


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## shao.fu.tzer (Aug 27, 2011)

Looks like the QC is all over the board on these lights... Hearing of all these problems... I hope mine doesn't die on me unexpectedly! I'm tempted to crack mine open and look at the guts now... It seems some people may have another driver pushing ~1.7A or so... Maybe they ran out of the good drivers and just stuck those in to meet demand... Weird...


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## r1derbike (Aug 27, 2011)

Shao, whatever is going-on in whatever factories, I'm not impressed. Hopefully, your light will continue to shine.

Meantime, I'll use my underdriven purple-hued skyray, 'til a proper driver is located.

Having fixed the light, and finding out that a 5-mode bogus driver is in it, pretty much sealed-the-deal of staying away from skyray products.

Hope others have better luck than I.

Charles


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## JS_280 (Aug 29, 2011)

As I posted on BLF, my SkyRay 818 arrived today as a 5-mode version instead of the 3-mode I ordered and is only pulling ~ 1.78A at the tailcap with 4.16v TF Flames.


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## 2100 (Aug 29, 2011)

Another Sky Ray triple just died. Fried driver, LEDs are fine. Dopmuller's on BLF.


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## r1derbike (Aug 29, 2011)

Another one bites the dust...shame. I really wanted to like these lights (3800 - 4000).

I would call the lights "FryRay", but that wouldn't be nice.


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## r1derbike (Aug 29, 2011)

JS_280 said:


> As I posted on BLF, my SkyRay 818 arrived today as a 5-mode version instead of the 3-mode I ordered and is only pulling ~ 1.78A at the tailcap with 4.16v TF Flames.


Ditto.


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## 2100 (Aug 30, 2011)

2100 said:


> Another Sky Ray triple just died. Fried driver, LEDs are fine. Dopmuller's on BLF.


 
And YET another guy reported that his SR3800 died. Anagoge's SR3800 in BLF. Looks like the casualties are coming in thick and fast.


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