The Official Zebralight Thread

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WalkIntoTheLight said:
I don't know why the runtimes of the SC64w would be different than the SC600w, except for the PID levels of course. So why are they different for the other levels? They use the same LED. Don't they use the same driver? Output levels are all the same, so shouldn't the runtimes be the same too?
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Yeah I noticed the runtimes are longer than anticipated. I'm also curious as to the reason why.
 
Keitho said:
"preflash" when going to medium is a normal behavior. A lot of folks program to avoid it: put a low or moonlight mode in place of "high," so the preflash is at a lower (and therefore unnoticeable) level than your double-click ("medium") setting. A lot of people seem to have at least one group set up this way: press/hold for high, double-click for medium, single click to moonlight.
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Yeah, flipped mine like that to take care of the pre-flash and make sure my first click was to my moonlight.
 
So I'm going to pull the trigger on my first ZL, been following this company for some time now and the SC64 really seems like the ticket for me.

Two questions. 64W or 64C? I feel the HI CRI 4000k just might be a tad too yellow for my tastes but is that bad?
other question is, which battery do they prefer, the Sanyo or Sony that ZL sells?

Ive never been that picky about tint, I will say that that I had an XP-G 4Sevens years ago with the greenest output ive ever seen in my life, it went back. Are the odds that bad with the most recent ZLs?
 
Unless you are very picky about your light quality (as in you probably need to be photography-minded)... I would go for the 64w... that way you won't be in situations and wonder "what if I had 500 more lumens available?"... and if you don't have other high CRI lights to compare to, you probably won't notice as much.

I have a 62w and it's one of my favorite lights by far... I have not found a need (yet) to upgrade to the 63 or 64... I have a couple high CRI lights for specific uses, but a good neutral tint/temp with lots of lumens is just fine for 99% of tasks. I would recommend a frosted or flood ZL headlamp (H53Fc of H600Fc) with high CRI to complement your SC64 and use it as a headlamp, handheld light, or angled worklight for close-up work.

From what I have read, ZL has been getting better about tints and LEDs in general seem to be getting better. That being said... it never hurts to add a comment to your order of "please pick a very neutral tint"... it may not help, but you never know.

I have no experience with the Sony battery, but I'm sure it works fine... the Sanyo GA has served me well in my 62w and MKIV Plus and I am always amazed how much capacity is still left when I check... unless one of the resident experts on here says otherwise, I would go for the 3500 mAh.
 
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I would also go for the W version, the 4500k xhp35 is a much safer choice tint wise. I have tried a few samples of the xp-l2 ,4000-4500k and not impressed. I have found the 4500k easier on the eye, but the 4000k off for me. I don't even think the CRI is as high as stated either. The xhp35 is around 80 CRI iirc, but it is nice . I personally don't see the point in high CRI when it taints lighter colours with the yellow beam....yuk! The older xm-l2 easywhite seems a much safer choice(and nicer). The Philips luxeon T is also very nice around 85 CRI(lower output though if an issue........quality before quataty for me).

As as long as flat top, 30Q and vtc6 work very well in the ZL's.
 
Very excited I pulled the trigger and purchased my first ZL, rather my first major light purchase in a few years. Went 64W and Sanyo 18650ga
 
The Sanyo GA battery is the best choice, unless perhaps you're going to be running at max all the time.

Testing run-time of the SC600w MkIV HI at the 264 lumen output (the highest non-PID level), I get the following times before step-down occurs:

Sanyo GA: 6.6 hours
Sony VTC6: 5.8 hours
Samsung 30Q: 5.5 hours

It's clear the 3500mAh Sanyo GA is by far the best performer at moderate output levels. 14% longer than the VTC6, and 20% longer than the 30Q.

I've ordered a SC600w MkIV Plus, but I'll probably use the Sony VTC6 in that one due to the higher current demands at maximum compared to other Zebralights. I think the GA would probably still run slightly longer at max, but it would probably run hotter. For all other Zebralights, I'd go with the Sanyo GA.
 
From what I've heard the XPPL2 4000k can be quite yellow, but really it all boils down to the tint lotto. The frosted H600C with XHP50.2 has a tint equally as good as the old 5000k XML2 easywhite. I bought 3 samples and none showed strong yellow/green bias.

XHP35 HI models are pretty safe, especially considering with the flat emitter you will mitigate tint shift within the beam pattern itself.
 
I have the H53c with 90cri xpl2 4000k led. It is more yellow than a 4000k 219c, but still fine in actual use. White wall hunters will be disappointed, but for everything else, color saturation and rendering is great. The 4500k w series from Zebralight will be alot more neutral, but colors will look a little more dull when compared to the 4000k high CRI versions. The xp-l2 is noticeably better than the xpg3 high CRI in 4000k.
 
Tachead said:
It is only the positive terminal that is really weak. Although I does look like the negative can be dented too. It takes a fall on the head to dent the positive badly generally. When I dropped my SC64c on its head last week it dented my VTC6 quite badly. It was so dented it would no longer make contact on any of my chargers. Luckily, a little careful prying with a small screwdriver quickly fixed the problem.
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I'm trying a solution on my Zebralights with pogo pins to hopefully prevent dented battery terminals if I drop them. So far, I haven't experienced any issue with dents, but why wait?

I bought some cheap adhesive cardboard rings for 18650 terminal insulators. I think they were about $1 for 200 of them. I stacked them over the positive terminal of my batteries, so that the positive terminal is now recessed. the pogo pins can still contact it, but hopefully the cardboard rings will take some of the shock if I drop the light.

I used 6 rings, stacked on each other, for a Sanyo GA battery. Its positive terminal is slightly raised, so I needed a thick stack of rings to make it recessed. I use 4 stacked rings on the Sony VCT6 and Samsung 30Q.

hIrCL09.jpg



So far, I haven't noticed any downsides. The rings are slightly wider than 18mm, so they do make the battery fit more snug, but there's no problem getting the battery out of the lights. I could trim off a thin edge, but I don't think I need to.

As for the upside, I haven't noticed any. But, I don't plan to do a drop-test to find out!
 
Looks like a good idea WalkIntoTheLight!

Sure you don't want to conduct that drop test for us? FOR SCIENCE!!!!
 
Heh. Well, it's bound to happen sooner or later. I've dropped every one of my AA Zebras many times. The SC5w has pogo pins, but I'm guessing it's not as hard on Eneloops as the 18650 Zebras, since there's zero denting. But I've never dropped an 18650 Zebra yet (at least, not from any significant height), which is odd because they're probably easier to drop. Maybe it's the better knurling on the SC600 series?

On a slightly different subject, does anyone know if the SC600w MkIV Plus is built for a lot of shaking? I imagine it must be, and I'm going to be using it almost exclusively as a bike light. On trails, it's going to get a lot of bumping and shaking. I never had a problem with a BLF A6, and I presume the SC600 must be a lot tougher. Has anyone used them in extreme shock conditions, such as a light mounted on a rifle?
 
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My normal bike commute lighting is an SC64C on my helmet, and an sc600fc IV on my bar. I use cheap mounts, so they've hit the ground a few times. Amazing anodize and potting did their job, no ill effects--still pump out tons of beautiful light with amazing efficiency. I'm close to 20,000 miles with ZL on board in the past few years, can't see using anything else (well, except for my M43 to show off on my mtb).
 
Keitho said:
My normal bike commute lighting is an SC64C on my helmet, and an sc600fc IV on my bar. I use cheap mounts, so they've hit the ground a few times. Amazing anodize and potting did their job, no ill effects--still pump out tons of beautiful light with amazing efficiency. I'm close to 20,000 miles with ZL on board in the past few years, can't see using anything else (well, except for my M43 to show off on my mtb).
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Any damage from the pogo pins? I've always run double sprung lights on bicycle because I worry about the shock of hitting a bump or pothole hard. I suppose on a helmet it wouldn't be a problem because your body acts as a shock insulator but on the bars ca get jarred pretty good.
 
I've got a couple of 18650ga with some denting on the + side, but not enough to affect function, in the light or my chargers.
 
My Zebralight, with the new pogo pins setup, has destroyed 4 of my batteries. I work in tight spaces and it's prone to dropping 2-4 feet. This isn't a practical flashlight for anyone working on cars, RVs or anywhere else you might drop the light. Great for walking the dog and sneaking into the kids room at night to check on them.

Honestly, by the Zebralight hype, it was a huge regret buying one of their lights. I still use it because everything else is perfect. But I wont buy another.

Especially how Zebralight customer service dealt with it, "maybe there is something we can do in a future model."

It's destroyed two 18650GA and two VTC6. The VTC6 positive terminal held up great. The negative end is smashed in though.
 
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JoeRodge said:
My Zebralight, with the new pogo pins setup, has destroyed 4 of my batteries.
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Which light? My SC63 dented the cells pretty bad. The new SC64 on the other hand has more pins at the top, and no damage so far.

Or am I confusing it with the SC600 series? I can't get it straight. Regardless, the 5 pins on the SC64 seem to spread the load nicely.
 
SC600 series. It's got the 6 on top and bottom. Just looked at one of my VTC6 and it has a circular pattern of holes dug into the negative terminal. It's just absurd.

I had one cell damaged when it rolled off the couch.

I love this flashlight but losing 30-35 dollars in cells since about mid November is outrageous. One of the GA cells has had internal damage. It won't hold a charge and it's capacity is gone. I figured out that cell was damaged when I had charged it and used it on high for a few minutes. Went to use it on high the next day and it had dimmed down. Checked the voltage and it was at 3.39.

This is the latest VTC6:
sGVVJge.jpg
 
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