Still waiting :(
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Still waiting :(
Shit they take a while to get here.. I have ordered several lights from Aliexpress.com : Buy Convoy C8 Cree XML2 U2 1A LED Flashlight,torch,lantern,lanterna bike ,self defense,camping light, lamp,for bicycle from Reliable flashlight batteries suppliers on Shenzhen Convoy Electronics Co., Ltd.. | Alibaba Group and they have taken just over 2 weeks to get here. I highly recommend the light in the link too :)
I've got one of those Convoy C8 lights - fantastic sized.
Not the spotlight-like Maxtoch, but still great on a rifle.
The main thing with delivery times is China Post. Their times vary hugely. Sometimes I'll get things in two weeks and other times in two months but it does get here.
Yep have had stuff arrive in 10 days, then next time Chinapost is 6 weeks. You just have to be patient, order it and forget it. Outcome is good though - great gear at a fraction of price of locally sold stuff.
Little C8 good as a short to medium range light. They run anywhere from 15-32k lux from my experience - dedomed from 30-65k lux. Try to order the SMO (smooth reflector) and not the OP (orange peel reflector) as SMO throws further. Good on shotties.
Yeah I spoke to Amanda via email and she said there has been a hold up as the Christmas rush is gearing up, lots of stuff to be sent around the world. Hope they get here before Christmas.
And I also have this beast on the way Courui D01 1200Lm CREE XM-L2 3-Mode Super-bright LED Flashlight Torch (3 x 18650 Battery)-30.63 and Free Shipping| GearBest.com
3 18650's in parallel - shouldn't need to worry about potected batteries too much?
75mm head! Bigger than those Maxtoch things.
With a little mod of a resistor I should get around 4.5A and I'll run a XM-L2 U3 on copper
Hello Logs - in developing the Maxtochs we specifically designed lights for hunters, lights which had to incorporate key features.
We designed them with XML leds/copper boards/AR lens/good size reflectors etc to be very powerful in standard form -about 82k lux for the M24 and 120k lux for the 2X - so no modifications really required. But we also knew that in 10 mins we could dedome them to 170+ for the M24 and about 250k for the 2X, which is huge. We designed them with heads that are NOT too big (63 and 68mm) so they will fit on scopes easily with common mounts, and we designed them with 25m tubes so they will fit standard scope rings. We built them light - just 270gms for the M24, and 440 for the handheld 2X. We developed them aiming for ideal beam balance - long distance spot (hence the v high lux readings) plus good beam spill for scanning areas quickly. We set their amps/current levels to give them acceptable runtimes - not performance only.
We wanted a high performance hunter torch off the shelf - not something which would need to be modded with resistor mods, different drivers, high currents etc - mods which often cause short run times, reliability, and heating issues. 99% of buyers here don't do this stuff. It is possible and alot of budgetlightforum guys have done it, to mod the 2X to 350-400k lux performance, and a highly modded M24 would also be over 300-350k, but that's not the market here - not what kiwi hunters do.
The stock Maxtochs are designed to meet all the base criteria. By comparison when modding up the little C8s yes you can get them over 100k lux with alterations to boost current to 4-5 amps plus dedoming but you encounter probs with heating in some, reliability issues, and short runtimes. Can be fun to do but from direct experience over last few years almost no kiwi hunters will do heavy modding - they just want to buy something online and at most send it off to gadget or sneeze etc for a dedome. So we don't focus on the modding route much.
With the bigger Courui D01 you mention above - this looks a good light but we've long learned that doesn't necessarily mean a good hunter. Its very heavy at 472gms - getting on for twice the weight of the M24, and it has alot less output at just 60k lux (Blf tests). Stock its heavier than the 2X, but it has only half of the 2X's 120k output. It also has about a 46mm tube - fitting no standard rings for mounting, and has a big head at 75mm which can also cause mounting issues. In fact its too heavy for a scope light, and it has not enough output for a good spottie. Would dedome to about 125k - alot less than the lightweight M24's 170+k - and half the output of a dedomed 2X. By comparison the M24 is ideal for both scope mounting or spottie.
So it is possible to buy cheaper lights and mod them up but there are often issues, and thats what we wanted to avoid with the Maxtochs. We've designed them from scratch to be designated hunter lights ex factory, with high enough performance that buyers don't need to touch them. We did a hell of alot of light experimenting to arrive at this point...a few good ideas and plenty of reject lights :) There are some excellent makes of lights out there like Olight, Dereelight, Thrunite, Fenix, Armytek, Black Diamond etc - some very dear - but the challenge was building one that was right for kiwi hunting conditions, and that's what the guys put into the Maxtochs.
So have fun with the torch buying and modding. As you get into it I hope the criteria for hunting lights above will help you avoid lights that sometimes look promising but end up on the shelf. Plenty of people reading this have got them or had them....... :) I know we have....:O_O:
Very informative post there mudgripz and I take on everything you said! But there may be a small misunderstanding here.. Your post seems like you think I was saying that the Courui is better than the Maxtoch's - I'm not, I think those Maxtoch's you and the blf guys have designed look awesome for the price! I just want this Courui as a host to see how much I can get out of it - I love playing around with electronics to see what I can make :P and I couldn't really do any mods with a Maxtoch because they're already good!Obviously the Courui isn't going on the scope, the modded C8 can do that job! But I like the idea of 3 parallel cells (much more simple and safe than 2 series) and that 75mm head has got to throw :cool: and weight isn't a problem with a handheld.
Anyway, just want to make it clear that I am not putting down the Maxtoch's in any way, I just want a light that isn't already 'good to go' so I can mod it :)
Have some fun with the Courui.... and if you get it up to 2-300k lux perhaps we can send you a 2X sample to see if you can get 4-500k. Goods threads on this on blf.
There are gazillions of lights out there and picking out good options/hosts is tricky. Easy way to lose money..... We tried lots from different companies, and even with Maxtoch in last 2-3 years they have sent 1-2 boxes full of lights at times for us to test (like variations on C8s/ headlamps/ zoomie XMLs/ deep reflectors/shallow reflector test models etc) and we've rejected virtually the lot. The only light that really stood out was the original Maxtoch SN6X-2 - it had the performance and size specifications we wanted so we developed from there. The present M24 is the fourth generation development of that line of lights.
Blf will give you plenty of light host tips. And Richard - a very experienced modder and light retailer at Mountain electronics in the USA always stocks good stock lights and hosts for mods:
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index....tegory&path=80
Work has decided to issue us with recharchable torches to save money on batteries, WOOHOO :thumbsup: I thought it was a good idea :)
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I am stilllllll waiting for mine, its been over 6 weeks now!
Is there 100 Lm difference between the m24 and m24s or is extra money just for the strobe light
As has been mentioned many times goods ex China can take anything from 8 days to a couple of months or so. Average by chinapost is 2-4 weeks. If people require stuff quickly its better to ask about EMS mail or Fedex etc.
With Chinapost its free but you really just have to order then be patient. Couple of times a year orders are notably slow - they are christmas time and around chinese new year which is Feb 19 in 2015 - big holiday period over there.
If anyone has a worry email Amanda at Maxtoch on: amanda@maxtoch.cn She is very helpful.
Check out Ace beam torches at Outpost Supplies NZ
They only seem pricey, google them for information on their performance. These torches /search lights are very powerful, not toys.
do a discount for the forum boys and we will tell you how good they are
I need a new torch after one of my 4 y.o's admitted putting it in the recycling bin. It was a Fenix TK11. It was a good piece of kit. WAS.
Hi Scoped
Get a idea of which torches and how many are interested and we will work out a group deal
Thanks
Well it finally arrived today! Had a quick wee comparison with my led lenser p7 and the difference is amazing! All is forgotten about waiting for it for so long.
Gadget and I did a range of stock and dedomed testing on the Maxtoch M24 and 2X torches last night, looking at possible upgrades. We fitted and tested two new LEDs - the XML2-U3 (upgrade of present XML2-U2), and an XPL type LED.
The standard M24 torch in the experiment read 82.4k lux on the meter with its stock U2 LED. When we fitted the XPL it read 85k lux - about a 3% gain. But we were unable to dedome this XPL led because it has a different silicon bubble compound over the LED and would not peel off. This led no use to us if can't be dedomed.
We then fitted the new U3 led and in the stock M24 it read 90k lux, and in the 2X 138k lux - a 10% output gain. Dedomed the M24 with U3 jumped to 185k lux (a big 860meters ANSI), and the 2X an estimated 275k lux. Makes the M24 even better for scope mounting - very powerful and just 270gms..
Conclusion: the new U3 is a good improvement, making these even better performers. If people are ever doing some work on their torches it wil be good to fit the U3s, but otherwise I would not bother as the 10% gain will be fairly hard to pick out in the field. Some of the 2Xs will touch 280k lux (1060 meters) with the new U3 dedomed, and that is one powerful wee light esp for just $93NZ delivered.... :)
Not bad at all... we will suggest Maxtoch fit all lights with U3s from this time.
The X2 is the easiest to de-dome as you can screw off the reflector bell almost level with the LED. How are you doing the de-doming. With heating I'm on a 99%+ success rate having done a couple of hundred with 1 failure.
CREE XM L2 U3 Cool White LED Emitter with 16mm Aluminum Star-in Diodes from Electronic Components & Supplies on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
Used my maxtoch quite a bit, its an older one i think and i really like the tint of the light. Have used alongside the lenser X7R and the maxtoch seems to have more reach but certainly not a better light by any stretch as it has just a bit tighter spot for close work scanning.
Whats an equivalent light to the X7R that doesn't carry the same price tag but has the adjustable spot etc? @gadgetman @mudgripz
What sort of scanning range are you looking for? Looking at the X7R on the web I would say it is likely to get inefficient when zoomed to a spot. Possibly something like a humble 501b would do.
If i could get a light that had a maxtoch tight spot at the upper end and just something a bit wider at the lower end i would be happy. The X7R is about as wide as i would want it when its at full zoom, when you decrease the x7R it has to much flood.
I don't find the maxtoch has quite enough flood, but nearly
Quick pick To illustrate different colour of these lights, x7r on left
Doesn't show the flood of the x7r
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There is always a compromise. Possibly the best alternative would be an Maxtoch without de-doming. The de-doming narrows and intensifies the beam as well as warming the tint.
It has been working almost text book like, I just turn on the light for about 5 mins and then just pop the dome off which seems to be the easy bit. When I go to turn it back on thou it's a no go.
The ones wherei thought I might have been a bit rough seem to work.
Amanda was good enough to send me some replacements which was good.
The more I think about it my success rate might be more like 30%
That is a very low success rate. There are likely to be better deals on the U3's but you have to be wary. Make sure anything U2/U3 has a silver surface to the LED carrier. If it is green it will not be what you are after.
I heat the board from underneath till the solder melts, remove the new LED. Swap boards heat the second board till the solder melts, remove the old LED and carefully place the new LED. As the solder solidifies and 'takes' the LED I pop the dome. M24 and 2x have different boards.
X7R has distance rating of 320m which equates to about 30k lux. That means its more of a short range torch. By contrast the earliest Maxtoch rates at 48-52k lux stock, and dedomed is about 100-110k. Maxtoch beam designed for both longer throw and useful flood - and that's what we use it for.
In terms of price the new Maxtoch M24 is $85 delivered, and pumps out about 82k lux standard with very good flood plus tight hotspot. 170k+ dedomed. The led lenser is $335 here, or $289 on special at GC - not the same versatility, down alot on performance, and 3 times the price.
Did a meter and field test review recently with the bigger Led Lenser X14 compared to a new Maxtoch M24 - no comparison really in terms of overall value/performance. However - if you're doing lots of short range shooting only - 0-75m or so the Led Lenser flood would be useful.
http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...och-m24-17937/