Cree Q5 LED torch - £3.42 delivered

gjgm said:
Also have a look at banggodd.com, also free deliver- i ve gone for the lithium battery and chargers. I somehow seem to have so many damn cree torches I keep triping over them now, but the mini one is really a total steal.
I've ordered quite a bit from banggod with no issues at all, but I got little pee d off over a 2 quid lost order, but a little pressure they saw the daylight ;)
I am still ordering; keep the order low so you dont get caught on import, but as postage is free, why bother adding the order together ?!
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I had 5 of these delivered last week for the grand total of about £12, no p&p costs. They really are excellent torches.
 
Anyone found a cheap charger for the 14500 AA Li-ion batteries? The ones i found had very bad reviews.:confused:
 
MrB said:
Anyone found a cheap charger for the 14500 AA Li-ion batteries? The ones i found had very bad reviews.:confused:
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I've just bought these, both superb:

Batteries: http://amzn.to/1iOOjnD
Charger: http://amzn.to/1m7pkkb
Note: this has 230V and 12V inputs, as well as a cover which allows the temperature measurement to be more accurate.
 
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nigelmercier said:
I've just bought these, both superb:

Batteries: http://amzn.to/1iOOjnD
Charger: http://amzn.to/1m7pkkb
Note: this has 230V and 12V inputs, as well as a cover which allows the temperature measurement to be more accurate.
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Now that one looks much better than the ones i have looked at, do you just use a US to UK plug adapter? I bought the Ultrafire batteries thinking they are the same as my Surefire torch which they are not. (a momentary lapse of reason with brain)
 
MrB said:
Now that one looks much better than the ones i have looked at, do you just use a US to UK plug adapter?
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It's got an IEC C8 socket on it (figure of 8 type) so I have plenty of leads, but if it came with a US plug I didn't notice.

I was surprised how robust it is compared with my Energiser AA charger, which is going in the bin (or eBay) along with about a kilogram of NiMH batteries. I don't think I ever found a torch with a charged battery while I was using them.
 
nigelmercier said:
I've just bought these, both superb:

Batteries: http://amzn.to/1iOOjnD
Charger: http://amzn.to/1m7pkkb
Note: this has 230V and 12V inputs, as well as a cover which allows the temperature measurement to be more accurate.
Click to expand...

I had a brilliant idea last night, which was going to make me my millions.
Just looked online and it's been done: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360812084280

A dummy AA battery, to use in a pair with a 14500 in devices that take an even number of AA cells. If the extra 0.6V per pair is a problem, make one with a diode in it.

[Later] You can even get ones to hold your stash!
 
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Fantasie 19 said:
Arrived today... in a word, superb.. amazing light quality...
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A summary ...

CREE G3 Q5 400 Lumens mini Flashlight Torch
£2.44 with FREE P&P http://amzn.to/OcfAH6
These take an AA battery, or 14500 Li-Ion
14500 Li-Ion, 4 for £7.99 with FREE P&P http://amzn.to/1iOOjnD

CREE XML-T6 1000 Lumens mini Flashlight Torch
£4.41 with FREE P&P http://amzn.to/1iKd7x0
These take 18650 batteries, 2 for £3.99 with FREE P&P http://amzn.to/1uKhWxY

Charger
£12.89 with FREE P&P http://amzn.to/1m7pkkb
Note: this has 230V and 12V inputs, as well as a cover which allows the temperature measurement to be more accurate.

I plan to do some light output and longevity tests with the first torch, comparing AA with 14500, watch this space.
 
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nigelmercier said:
There are 17 pages of reviews, what does Greybeard say?
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Copied n pasted:

Posted on 10 Dec 2013 17:45:32 GMT
Last edited by the author on 10 Dec 2013 18:34:52 GMT
Greybeard says:
Just do the maths. Both lumens and watts are energy flow rates, so they can be inter-converted. A 100% efficient LED would convert at the rate of a little less than 700 lumens per watt. As an aside, a couple of years back Cree were trumpeting 231 lumens/watt "in the lab", so there's a way to go yet, but let's go with that maximum efficiency.

1000 lumens cannot be delivered for less than about 1.5 watts of power. The sorce is approximatelly 4.5 volts (3xAAA). if it were capable of high current without drop, the current requied would be around 325 milliamps (mA).

Now here's the thing: an AAA can deliver less than a tenth of that without the voltage dropping; in fact even 30mA would be hammering the cell.

Other suppliers on here quote 7W / 300 lumens. Actually 43 lm/W seems low for an advanced LED, but anyway seven watts out of three triple-As? Puhleeeze!

I have one of these - a real Cree one. I hope so anyway, the provenance is a lot stronger than most of the listings here. It is a good piece of kit for what it is and I guess it possibly pushes out 10 lumens at best. I have a lot of LED lighting in the house and a few of the luminaires push out a rated (and certified) 740 lumens. Against one of those I get about a 72:1 luminance ratio (estimated by a distance ratio for equal luminance of about 8.5:1)

My Cree doesn't eat batteries but it is a tad heavy on them (I have poor low-light vision and this time of year my flashlights get a lot of use). Ball park guess - 15 mA drain tops, which implies an efficiency of about 150 lm/W. Credible, just about...

This offer breaks no UK laws - the offer is made in Hong Kong as are many others for this item, and the website itself is not 'located' in the UK - we know that from the tax stories. But it puts me off that misleading listings like this are allowed to stand. Then there's the question of who is looking at your purchasing, reviews, comments...
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Just received my 400 Lumen ones today. As it's not dark yet I thought I'd give them a test run. Used a NiMH, nominally 2000mAh battery, in each and set them running. They lasted on, as far as I could tell, full beam for just about an hour and then started to tail off with look-under-the-stairs useable light for another 20 mins.
I reckon for this type of torch that's pretty damn good.
 
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