# Lichao POLICE 7W -- Review



## Derek Tomes (Mar 25, 2009)

G'day all. I read CPF every once and a while for reviews, mostly looking for good caving lights. I just picked up a cheap little torch the other day and I thought I'd review it here. 

The good points:


Case is solid
Runs on 3 x AAA batteries
It comes in a nice cardboard box
That's about it for the good points...
 






On the Negative Side of the equation...


I had to open it up because, out of the box, it didn't work.
Opening it up, I discovered that there is a lot of empty room in there
One of the the wires to the Zhongsheng ZS20HBA emitter was TIED on, not soldered... 


 As far as I can see googling the emitter, it's only 1W, not 7W...
The light it puts out is about the same as my 1W Luxon headlamp, after a couple of hours of caving.
Does anyone know who "Lichao" is?
Where can you find info on the Zhongsheng ZS20HBA emitter?


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## 1996alnl (Mar 25, 2009)

Your a brave soul taking that light into a cave.


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## jirik_cz (Mar 25, 2009)

From my experience all those flashlights with "police" printed on them are the lowest quality and lowest output of all flashlights on the market.


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## Gunner12 (Mar 25, 2009)

Watts mean nothing. A "1W" emitter can be driven at 3 watts and a "3w" emitter can be driven at 1 watt. Also a previous gen high power emitter driven at 1 watt will have half or less output then the current gen high power emitter at the same power.

It's probably another generic emitter, so around previous gen Luxeon perfomance at best.

Also 3AAA isn't a very good powersource. Total capacity around the same as a single AA battery and dims quickly if using alkaline batteries.

How much was it?
Where did you buy it?

:welcome:


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## kramer5150 (Mar 25, 2009)

I hope thats not one you take caving... LOL....

Welcome to the forum.


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## Marduke (Mar 25, 2009)

I hope you didn't spend more than $2 on that POS. Any more than that and you were cheated.


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## StarHalo (Mar 25, 2009)

The "Where To Begin" indicator lamp is lit 

But I'll give it a try..



Derek Tomes said:


> The good points:
> 
> 
> Runs on 3 x AAA batteries


That's not a good point - any other battery format has more energy density than AAA, meaning you're taking up a lot of space for very little power. 3xAAA is just a poor design all around, so when you see it, you have a good idea of just how much effort was (not) put into the design of the flashlight.



Derek Tomes said:


> I had to open it up because, out of the box, it didn't work.


If it can't survive the trip from the factory, how will it fare being dropped in a cave? (More importantly, how will you survive the cave once that happens..)



Derek Tomes said:


> One of the the wires to the Zhongsheng ZS20HBA emitter was TIED on, not soldered...


More evidence of how much thought was put into the light..



Derek Tomes said:


> Does anyone know who "Lichao" is?
> Where can you find info on the Zhongsheng ZS20HBA emitter?



These should have been questions asked prior to purchasing the light. "Who actually made this?" "Do these companies have a reputable history?" etc.

The long and short of it is, you probably would have been safer going into the cave with a MiniMag, which is definitely not recommended.

You should read up on this forum and educate yourself on modern flashlight design and manufacturers before re-entering a cave. Some flashaholic sage advice: Everyone wishes that they had just skipped all the cheap lights in the beginning and had just gotten one or two good lights.

Flashlights are just like tools at the hardware store; there's the cheap crap and then there's the serious tools..


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## Search (Mar 25, 2009)

Sheesh StarHalo 

I think he just wanted to buy it and warn people lol

If, however, you really would consider using this..

I'll send you a 6PL free of charge


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## Zatoichi (Mar 25, 2009)

Search said:


> If, however, you really would consider using this..
> 
> I'll send you a 6PL free of charge



I was just about to head off into a cave with one...


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## BBnet3000 (Mar 25, 2009)

i sure as hell would not take that into a cave

im guessing thats like a really cheap knockoff of the 3xAAA led lenser and its ilk. even when they arent cheap knockoffs like that, the 3xAAA battery config pretty much sucks compared to 2xAA


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## Outdoors Fanatic (Mar 25, 2009)

Pure quality...


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## nohcho (Mar 25, 2009)

That's just sad.


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## Outdoors Fanatic (Mar 25, 2009)

I bet it is *Type 0-HAA* (_Hardly any Anodizing_) ?


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## Mjolnir (Mar 25, 2009)

Outdoors Fanatic said:


> I bet it is *Type 0-HAA* (_Hardly any Anodizing_) ?



Otherwise known as black spraypaint?


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## mossyoak (Mar 25, 2009)

HEY PEOPLE HE DIDNT TAKE IT IN A CAVE... he was saying its as bright as his 1 watt headlamp after a few hours caving with the FRIGGIN headlamp. read people read...


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## Sgt. LED (Mar 25, 2009)

"One of the the wires to the Zhongsheng ZS20HBA emitter was TIED on, not soldered"

WOW that is so _bad_! 

Now you have to bump up the heatsinking, swap the emitter to a K2, swap the reflector to OP Al, swap the lens to UCL, try to fit in a McClicky, order GITD switch boots, buy GITD O-rings, see if you can run it on 1 18500 AW cell, order a GdUP board form the shoppe, decide to custom order a Ti bezel, mill some tritium slots in it, find some tritium, put good lube on the threads, and then you can brag about having the coolest Lichao light *EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*


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## Federal LG (Mar 25, 2009)

Mjolnir said:


> Otherwise known as black spraypaint?





Jesus Christ, where did you buy this Lichao POLICE light ?

Just tell me... I´ll gather my team to strike the place with a "take no prisoners" command!


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## Sgt. LED (Mar 25, 2009)

You know now that I give it a second look it reminds me of a Hi-Point pistol.

Not much of a gun but a decent boat anchor or head smasher. This light is the same thing, bad as a light but good to smash something with. It even has the same spray painted, cast iron look to it!


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## seaside (Mar 26, 2009)

I saw couple POLICE brand (?) flashlights, and none of them is for police use. Heck... they are absolutely cheaply made. I don't even recommend it to anyone unless he/she is my enemy who wants to go cave with it.


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## vali (Mar 26, 2009)

Dont make fun of the guy, please. Be a bit respectfull. Try to give him constructive advice instead. :whoopin:

Please, dont use that one in a cave unless you want to risk your life. There is nothing bad using it in "normal" applications where a "unexpected" fail will not carry any danger. Use trusted flashlights in critical situations. 

If you like and want to buy cheap things read this https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/223240 but dont trust your life on them either.

If you want REAL high quality lights prepare yourself to spend a bit more and read the forums. If you get lost with so many brands and models, ask for advice. After getting your first premium light you will understand most of ppls comments on this thread.

Wellcome btw. :welcome:


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## 270winchester (Mar 26, 2009)

with a quality, trusted name like Lichao, I expect nothing less than perfection.



Outdoors Fanatic said:


> Pure quality...


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## Search (Mar 26, 2009)

Sgt. LED said:


> You know now that I give it a second look it reminds me of a Hi-Point pistol.
> 
> Not much of a gun but a decent boat anchor or head smasher. This light is the same thing, bad as a light but good to smash something with. It even has the same spray painted, cast iron look to it!



Thanks god I'm not the only one who knows this.

I had a friend buy one once. We went and test fired it and..

From 10 feet away it had trouble hitting a watermelon. Forget hitting where the crosshairs were.

I sat there for thirty minutes at about 20 yards shooting at one. Never did I come close and I'm a good shot.

Piece of crap fell apart later.


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## Outdoors Fanatic (Mar 26, 2009)

Mjolnir said:


> Otherwise known as black spraypaint?


Not ordinary spray paint, but 100% LEAD paint! The Chinese's specialty..


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## oregon (Mar 26, 2009)

Derek Tomes said:


> Does anyone know who "Lichao" is?
> 
> Where can you find info on the Zhongsheng ZS20HBA emitter?


 
Lichao is the name of a person.

I could not find the data sheet on your emitter, unfortunately.

Thank you for your post and welcome to CPF. Please keep posting your impressions of portable lighting that strikes your fancy. Your sacrifice helps to keep me from buying everything myself. 

All the best,

oregon


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## 1996alnl (Mar 26, 2009)

mossyoak said:


> HEY PEOPLE HE DIDNT TAKE IT IN A CAVE... he was saying its as bright as his 1 watt headlamp after a few hours caving with the FRIGGIN headlamp. read people read...


 
Oops,i think that was my mistake.
I assumed Derek took his headlamp and the flashlight into a cave.

Derek,don't take these comments to heart. CPF has a great bunch of folks here who help each other out.There's no better source for information on this hobby online.

Oh and welcome to CPF!


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## polkiuj (Mar 26, 2009)

Hey can I have a 6PL free of charge too? xD



Search said:


> Sheesh StarHalo
> 
> I think he just wanted to buy it and warn people lol
> 
> ...


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## Outdoors Fanatic (Mar 26, 2009)

:bump:Bump this awesome light!! :thumbsup:

Group buy anyone?? :devil:


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## derekrol (Apr 16, 2009)

I have one of these flashlights myself

When i first got it i removed the ZS20HBA emitter and resoldered both wires going onto the emitter
I then put some thermal paste on the thread and put it back together

as the first post says its more like 1W of output
and i mesuared 200ma of drain off the 3AA batterys

1.5v * 3 + 4.5volts
volts * amps = watts
4.5 * .200 = 0.9
if this is corect its just under 1W and not the 7W it say on the box


but still i keep it in my glove box and it have not failed on me yet


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## mertinator (Mar 22, 2012)

thanks for the info!


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## Bullzeyebill (Mar 22, 2012)

Moving this to Budget Lights.

Bill


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## qwertyydude (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm surprised no one is asking for beamshots.


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## jh333233 (Apr 13, 2012)

Derek Tomes said:


> G'day all. I read CPF every once and a while for reviews, mostly looking for good caving lights. I just picked up a cheap little torch the other day and I thought I'd review it here.
> 
> The good points:
> 
> ...



As a very local chinese, i never heard of this brand
Im willing to pay $5 for it

Dont blame anyone if youve become Unfortunate of The Cave


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## jh333233 (Apr 13, 2012)

qwertyydude said:


> I'm surprised no one is asking for beamshots.



From the pic or the name,
Mighty CPFers already know beamshot is unnecessary for judging the quality


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## Bullzeyebill (Apr 19, 2012)

Old thread. Let's terminate it.


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