Stealthbomber Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 So, I just purchased a bunch of tac-lights and lasers and stuff. The advert said each item came with a set of rechargeable CR123s and a charger. Bargain! thought I, and waited for them to arrive. They've arrived and I stuck the rechargeable CR123s in one of the taclights and tried it. It was INCREDIBLY bright... for about 2 seconds, then the bulb went. Oh dear. So, I whipped out the other taclight I'd ordered and tried that. Same thing. Upon closer inspection, the bulbs are all rated at 6v, which I thought was standard for a 2 cell taclight. The CR123s are all 3.6v though, rather than 3v. So, my question is, where can I buy 7.2v bulbs or should I just dump these 3.6v CR123s in the bin? Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Andrews Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Oh dear, I did the same thing............ I've been told these bulbs are available from Flashlight.com, but haven't got off my *albartroth* yet to find out. On the plus side these rechargables work really well in the G&P keyring torch. One of the best LED (4 watt!) torches I've ever had Link to post Share on other sites
Tank Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 AFAIK there is no such creature as a 7. 2v bulb. Link to post Share on other sites
tome Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 if your taclight uses d26 sized lamp units (eg surefire p60 compatible) try one of these....you won't be disappointed http://cgi.ebay.com/G-P-170-Lum-CREE-LED-F...oQQcmdZViewItem it says 4.5v-9v so 7.2v should be handled without trouble. I have something like this but rated at 100lm and it's plently brighter than a p60 surefire. EDIT http://cgi.ebay.com/G-P-200-Lm-CREE-LED-P4...oQQcmdZViewItem brighter version Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Geez! I'm gonna end up sticking a $25 bulb in a £10 light. Anyway, looks like I'll be ordering some. *EDIT* ARGHHH! I just had one of those moments of revelation. Last Sunday I was sat at home browsing ebay and I was nosing around the eHobbyasia store and I KNEW there was something in particular that I should be looking for but, as you do, I ended up purchasing a bunch of tat that I didn't really need. I just realised what I was SUPPOSED to be looking for on there. Link to post Share on other sites
tome Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Don't worry stealth - that $25 bulb will make your $10 light perform like a $100+ tactical flashlight haha. Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Don't worry stealth - that $25 bulb will make your $10 light perform like a $100+ tactical flashlight haha. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Trouble is, I need three of the bulbs and I'll probably get a couple of spares too. Link to post Share on other sites
tome Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 LEDs are different to incans in that as long as you don't go over the input voltage max and don't phsically smash them they pretty much last forever. The rating for CREE leds that they will maintain over 70% lumen output after 50,000 hours. Yes fifty thousand hours EDIT - though i have no idea of the MTBF of the circuitry driving the LED in that particular lamp unit ..... Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 This is a bit random so I'm not expecting any decent answers but anyway... Anybody know how LED bulbs do in IR? I happen to have purchased an IR filter for one of my taclights and I am wondering how it'll affect its ability to light in IR if I switch to an LED bulb. To digress slightly, it's freaking weird to put the IR filter on then switch on the light and stare at the barely-visible, dull-red glow until you realise, after a few seconds, that your face is getting hot and you're eyes are aching just like they would if you were staring at a blinding light. Link to post Share on other sites
tome Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 I'd imagine they perform pretty badly in IR in comparison seeing as the heat felt when my hand is in front of my LED torch is really very small. You never know though. Place to ask would be Candlepowerforum Link to post Share on other sites
JCYC5 Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Or just get the non-rechargeable CR123a batteries, they're 3v... ...though that would be more expensive in the long run. Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Or just get the non-rechargeable CR123a batteries, they're 3v... ...though that would be more expensive in the long run. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Long run? A Duracell CR123a from Dixons is £4.99. When the torch takes 2 and they last a couple of months, it's not gonna take long for those bulbs to pay for themselves... I hope. Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted August 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2007 I got those super-duper LED Luxeon bulbs. Not the best start. They didn't fit in the torch immediately. The torch has a collar fitted to separate the batteries from the bulb and the LED buld was too long to fit. Fortunately the collar dropped out while I was poking at it and the bulb went in after that. I also ended up de-soldering the spring from the Xenon bulb and wrapping it around the brass collar of the LED bulb to make a better earth connection. As usual, if anybody's interested, I'll take some pictures of the changes I had to make. Anyway, as to the result, let me put it this way:- Holy f**king sh*t! No kidding, this is just insanely bright. My Walther tac-light is 65 lumen and it's bright but bearable. The Ultrafire (surefire knock-off) torches are 100 lumen and they're "Argh! Get that out of my face" bright. Now, with the Luxeon LED bulbs fitted, you can just feel your eyes overloading when it shines in them. Even in daylight it just over-rides anything else you can see. For CQB, in the dark, I bet that (close-up) people wouldn't even be able to shoot at you cos it's so bright that you can't really grasp where the source of the light is. It just fills your ENTIRE field of vision with painfully bright light. On the bad side, it seems to emit absolutely NO IR at all so it's no use using it with an IR filter. I still need to keep a Xenon torch for use with my NVGs. Definately worth the $25 but ONLY if you're pretty sure it'll go in your torch. Link to post Share on other sites
daveb2 Posted August 12, 2007 Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 Going back to the original problem of the batteries being 3.6 instead of 3v is there enough room to fit a couple of diodes in the torch? - probably not but if there is. Something like a circle of double sided copper clad board with a couple of forward biased diodes sitting between one end of the batteries and the connector. Link to post Share on other sites
rifleman Posted August 12, 2007 Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 Long run? A Duracell CR123a from Dixons is £4.99. When the torch takes 2 and they last a couple of months, it's not gonna take long for those bulbs to pay for themselves... I hope. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I usually buy my CR123a batteries in boxes of 12 - at £28.10 including shipping it works out at about £ 2.43 per battery - my local chemist sells Duracell ones at £12.99 for 2. CR123a Box of twelve Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Blackgoat Posted August 12, 2007 Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 Good to know about these bulbs. Oh, and no, white LED and IR are definitely not going to perform well. The wavelength of white LED does include very little red/infrared, you still need some form of other light source for an IR filter to work correctly. Link to post Share on other sites
Tinkerton Posted August 12, 2007 Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 This is a bit random so I'm not expecting any decent answers but anyway... Anybody know how LED bulbs do in IR? I happen to have purchased an IR filter for one of my taclights and I am wondering how it'll affect its ability to light in IR if I switch to an LED bulb. To digress slightly, it's freaking weird to put the IR filter on then switch on the light and stare at the barely-visible, dull-red glow until you realise, after a few seconds, that your face is getting hot and you're eyes are aching just like they would if you were staring at a blinding light. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> LED's (at least visible ones) dont output any IR light at all. if it helps, i'm looking at buying a cheapo (around £30) from ebay, and replacing the LED with a high-power LED (available for around $10 each) I'll let you know how things go, if you want? Failing that, Surefire make an IR illuminator, designated the M1. but that'll cost a bomb. i estimate that my mod will total around £50. not bad considering the light i'm planning to use comes with two rechargeable batteries as for standard LED torches, though, i can whole heartedly reccomend a Fenix P3D (available on ebay for around £30, or from www.fenix-store.com, which is great value, free shipping, and has a huge range of things, and cheap charges/batteries (got two RCR123a's and a charger for around £15. PM me or anything if you want more info - I've also found a reliable source for 8hr IR glowsticks around £14 for a box of ten, but they arrive DAMNED fast P.S. dont stare into IR lights. becuase you can't see it, the body's blink reflexes aren't working, so it does much more damage than looking into a normal torch I usually buy my CR123a batteries in boxes of 12 - at £28.10 including shipping it works out at about £ 2.43 per battery - my local chemist sells Duracell ones at £12.99 for 2. you're being ripped off. badly. 10 CR123a's can be had for around £10, plus postage. cheaper if you order from hong kong (20 batts for £12.09 posted, or 10 for around £6.) I know that rob15 sells them, and if you look on ebay they're cheap there too. hope this's helped. Oh, and if anyone wants any more advice on flashlights or anything, head over to candlepowerforums.com - lots of friendly people, good advice, reviews, and good deals in the for sale bit Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted August 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 P.S. dont stare into IR lights. becuase you can't see it, the body's blink reflexes aren't working, so it does much more damage than looking into a normal torch <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Indeedy. Noticed that myself. Looking at Xenon tac-light with IR filter and wondering why my eyes start to ache after a few seconds then, when you close your eyes, getting strange splodges floating in your vision. Very odd. I'm pretty much sorted for lights now. I have the 2 tac-lights running on 3.6v CR123s with the Luxeon LED bulbs. I have a Xenon tac light with the IR filter clippd over it if I ever need an IR illuminator. My NVGs also have a pretty wicked LED illuminator built in. The one thing I would be interested to pursue would be finding a super-duper high power IR LED, as used by laser-taggers, and seeing what sort of IR illuminator that could provide. Link to post Share on other sites
Tinkerton Posted August 12, 2007 Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 The LED i'm looking at is 950nm, so invisible without IR amplification (no red glow) and its also 500mw, so its nice and powerful the cheapo torch ( $35 posted) has a HUGE reflector, so it'll get great range as well, which is rare with LED's, unless you get an aspheric lense (they're awesome, but tricky to get right, not that expensive though) so total, this IR illuminator is gonna cost me around probably £40, with shipping and stuff. but hey. that's a good £80 cheaper than most shop bought ones (cheapest one i've found in the UK was only 100mw and was £120! PM/msn me if you want the links and things oh, and if possible, get CREE or Luxeon Rebel LED's. they're just... better. brighter with less power consumption if you want, that is. Link to post Share on other sites
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