Duracell Durabeam Ultra 1300, $18.99 at Costco.

For an inexpensive, high-power light, Costco has the Duracell Durabeam
Ultra for $18.99. Pair this with a Twofish Cycleblock, or other
handlebar mount for C cell diameter lights, and you'd have a pretty good
light.

It has a zoom head for spot to flood, and has the optimal beam pattern
for cycling. Three modes, high, low, and spot. Only two hours on high.

Already I see individuals trying to resell these on Amazon and eBay for
$32-35.

I wonder if it will work with rechargeable batteries. There was an
earlier model that self-destructed when used with rechargeable batteries.

On Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 1:08:16 PM UTC-7, sms wrote:
For an inexpensive, high-power light, Costco has the Duracell Durabeam
Ultra for $18.99. Pair this with a Twofish Cycleblock, or other
handlebar mount for C cell diameter lights, and you'd have a pretty good
light.

It has a zoom head for spot to flood, and has the optimal beam pattern
for cycling. Three modes, high, low, and spot. Only two hours on high.

Already I see individuals trying to resell these on Amazon and eBay for
$32-35.

I wonder if it will work with rechargeable batteries. There was an
earlier model that self-destructed when used with rechargeable batteries.

nothing works with 'rechargeable' batteries

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 12:08:13 -0800, sms
wrote:

For an inexpensive, high-power light, Costco has the Duracell Durabeam
Ultra for $18.99. Pair this with a Twofish Cycleblock, or other
handlebar mount for C cell diameter lights, and you'd have a pretty good
light.

The C cells can't handle the current required to produce the 1000(?)
lumens advertised output. I think we went through this exercise about
a year ago in the newsgroup. Yep... here's the thread with my
comments:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!searchin/rec.bicycles.tech/duracell$20c$20battery$20liebermann/rec.bicycles.tech/berJaWgijFI/-D-4KvRALREJ
At some point, I recall that I declared it a scam to discharge and
sell undersized non-rechargeable batteries.

It has a zoom head for spot to flood, and has the optimal beam pattern
for cycling. Three modes, high, low, and spot. Only two hours on high.

My calcs show 1 hr.

Already I see individuals trying to resell these on Amazon and eBay for
$32-35.

I wonder if it will work with rechargeable batteries. There was an
earlier model that self-destructed when used with rechargeable batteries.

I looked at them when during my last Costco run. They sure look like
the exact same flashlight, although the packaging was a bit different.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 11/12/2015 9:04 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 12:08:13 -0800, sms
wrote:

For an inexpensive, high-power light, Costco has the Duracell Durabeam
Ultra for $18.99. Pair this with a Twofish Cycleblock, or other
handlebar mount for C cell diameter lights, and you'd have a pretty good
light.

The C cells can't handle the current required to produce the 1000(?)
lumens advertised output.

Are you referring to lumens or Chilumens?

The flashlight draws about 10 watts at full power. There are 4
batteries, and the current on high is about 2.1 amps.

This is certainly enough for 1300 lumens with current LED technology.

It is not enough for two hours of continuous run time. But I think that
they are probably basing the two hours on intermittent use.

I looked at them when during my last Costco run. They sure look like
the exact same flashlight, although the packaging was a bit different.

Actually they will go much greater than 2 amps. If you bypass the
control circuit in the rear cap the current goes up to about 3 amps.

Two things I've always liked about the spot to flood lights is that
there is almost no hot spot, and that the spot to flood capability allow
the light to be used effectively in different riding situations.

I saw one bicycle specific light at Interbike that had spot to flood
capability, but it was not yet on the market. I posted a scan of it
earlier, http://oi59.tinypic.com/fz3g3l.jpg. Interesting that it
solves two issues at once, the beam spread issue, and the aiming issue.

On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 1:14:09 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:
Snipped
I saw one bicycle specific light at Interbike that had spot to flood
capability, but it was not yet on the market. I posted a scan of it
earlier, http://oi59.tinypic.com/fz3g3l.jpg. Interesting that it
solves two issues at once, the beam spread issue, and the aiming issue.

There is no image of the actual beam patterns.

Cheers

On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 11:04:56 AM UTC-6, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
At some point, I recall that I declared it a scam to discharge and
sell undersized non-rechargeable batteries.
Jeff Liebermann

When I saw the title to this thread, I thought "Why is Duracell, a battery company, selling flashlights?" But now I understand the reason for Duracell to try to sell Chinese prison slave made flashlights. Its just like if Exxon, or Conoco, or Shell, or British Petroleum decided to make cheap Chinese cars.

On 11/12/2015 1:14 PM, sms wrote:
On 11/12/2015 9:04 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 12:08:13 -0800, sms
wrote:

For an inexpensive, high-power light, Costco has the Duracell Durabeam
Ultra for $18.99. Pair this with a Twofish Cycleblock, or other
handlebar mount for C cell diameter lights, and you'd have a pretty good
light.

The C cells can't handle the current required to produce the 1000(?)
lumens advertised output.

Are you referring to lumens or Chilumens?

The flashlight draws about 10 watts at full power. There are 4
batteries, and the current on high is about 2.1 amps.

This is certainly enough for 1300 lumens with current LED technology.

It is not enough for two hours of continuous run time. But I think that
they are probably basing the two hours on intermittent use.

I looked at them when during my last Costco run. They sure look like
the exact same flashlight, although the packaging was a bit different.

Actually they will go much greater than 2 amps. If you bypass the
control circuit in the rear cap the current goes up to about 3 amps.

Two things I've always liked about the spot to flood lights is that
there is almost no hot spot, and that the spot to flood capability allow
the light to be used effectively in different riding situations.

I saw one bicycle specific light at Interbike that had spot to flood
capability, but it was not yet on the market. I posted a scan of it
earlier, http://oi59.tinypic.com/fz3g3l.jpg. Interesting that it
solves two issues at once, the beam spread issue, and the aiming issue.

A flashlight can be a headlight in the same way a water pipe can be a
handlebar, or some baling wire can be a spoke.

The less you know, the better it seems to you.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 13/11/15 06:34, Jeff Liebermann wrote:


On the other foot, a fully weaponsized flashlight focuses to a spot
and sets fire to whatever it illuminates.


Nah, but this is probably more realistically advertised, and it seems to
LED and controller may catch fire if used on high beam for too long!

https://www.outdoorswarehouse.com.au/Olight-M3X

--
JS

On Fri, 13 Nov 2015 09:48:45 +1000, James
wrote:

On 13/11/15 06:34, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On the other foot, a fully weaponsized flashlight focuses to a spot
and sets fire to whatever it illuminates.

I guess I should mention that the focused light is what is expected to
set things on fire, not the heat generated by the inefficiency of the
LED's and the controller.

Is that a light at the end of the tunnel, or a fire?

Nah, but this is probably more realistically advertised, and it seems to
LED and controller may catch fire if used on high beam for too long!

https://www.outdoorswarehouse.com.au/Olight-M3X

Hardly. They lie. Let's try checking the numbers:
Cree XM-L2 LED
Claimed 1200 lumens for 1.5 hrs using 2x 18650 Li-Ion batteries.
Looking at the Cree data sheet at:
http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20and%20Modules/XLamp/Data%20and%20Binning/XLampXML2.pdf
The graph on the Outdoorwarehouse page at:
https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server100/46csjp/products/1821/images/12635/FOL_M3X_2014_olight_led_torch_runtime__96904.14180 16223.1280.1280.jpg?c=2
shows that it really puts out 800 lumens after it warms up. That's
more reasonable because on Pg 3 of the Cree spec sheet shows that the
maximum safe output for the LED is about 700 lumens at 2 amps (cooled
to 25C which somewhat is cheating).

From the graph on Pg 5, at 2A, the LED has a voltage drop of 3.15V or:
3.15v * 2A = 6.3 watts
Using the science fiction luminous efficacy of 100 lumens/watt, that
should produce 630 lumens, which is less than the recomended maximum
of 700 and nowhere close to claimed 1200 lumens.

So, how long will the battery last? The above graph claims that the
18650 cells are rated at 3400 ma-hr. That might be true at very low
currents, but at 2A, it's much less. I only have a 3A discharge curve
for a cheap junk Ultrafire cell:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/LiPo/Ultrafire%20LiPo%203000%20ma-hr%2018650.jpg
which produces about 0.8amp-hrs capacity. I'll be generous and call
it 1A-hr at 2A draw. There are two cells, so they total 2A-hr. If
the light draws 2A, it will run of 60 minutes, which is somewhat less
than the claimed 1.5 hrs.

Ok, they lie less than the usually gross exaggerations. Offhand, I
would estimate that every spec was cranked up by about 50% on this
light.

How about 13,800 lumens using 12 LED's?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Crazyfire12-LED-Flashlight-13800-Lumen-5-Modes-12x-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-Flashlight-Torch-Light/2023830336.html
One small step toward megalumens.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

I wonder if it will work with rechargeable batteries. There was an
earlier model that self-destructed when used with rechargeable batteries.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCC

OUTSIDE THE MUD FIGHT FOR A MINUTO...
IS SMS SEEING A TREND HERE WITH THESE LIGHTING POSTS ?