If you need a new flashlight

[KAG]

As Seen On TV Bell + Howell Taclight with Magnetic Base - 2pk.
Item# 851710

These are for sale at giant tiger, 2 for $20
I have never seen a flashlight as powerful as these, honestly it's insane. They're usually $50 for 2, or 20 each on amazon. I bought 2, and I'm buying more as gifts.
Check out the reviews online, I tried mine out and I'm sure someone thought I was signaling batman.

[leftoftrack]

I got mine. they're awesome

[ahramin]

What batteries does it use?

[complexintentions]

Takes a 18650 lithium ion battery or three AAA in an adapter. You'll get a much brighter light with the li-ion. My suggestion for any of these flashlights is to buy rechargeable 18650's and a charger. Higher upfront cost but will be cheaper and more reliable in the long run.

But just like the cheap flashlights, with cheap battery brands you'll generally get what you pay for. I've used a brand called "Orbtronic" off Amazon that is apparently Panasonic re-branded and they've been working flawlessly for about five years now with my own light, a Klarus tac light. You can find cheaper but they'll invariably have poor reviews.

[Cessna 180]

Your local vape shop should be able to sell you a 18650 battery and a charger and a legit brand not some knock off might explode brand. Samsungs and LG are good.

[SkySailor]

Picked up 2 pack today at Giant Tiger.

Quick question regarding batteries.
The battery holder takes 3 AAA. No mention in the (sparse) documentation about the capability of using 18650. I assume the Cree LED handles the voltage difference between AAA and 18650. Unless the 18650 is the same size as the AAA (think NOT), I'll need a battery holder/adapter that handles 18650, and WILL FIT in this specific sized flashlight.
Is this possible?
Are any of you folks actually running 18650 in this particular light?

[pelmet]

Going to Giant Tiger on-line shopping to get some for myself. They had better be a s bright as everyone is saying they are.

[Posthumane]

Skysailor - when you use an 18650 in one of these flashlights, you don't use the battery adaptor. Just take it out and put a single 18650 cell in its place. The 18650 is longer and larger diameter than a AA, about the same length as one of the AAA adaptors that come with the flashlight. You can build up the diameter of an 18650 by wrapping some tape around it to make it fit more snugly in a larger flashlight case.

[SkySailor]

Thanks, Posthumane!

Spent this afternoon "researching" 18650 and flashlight modifications on Youtube. Wow! This is almost an industry. Never mind all the modifications one can do to an AR-15, one can really power up their flashlight!!

[SkySailor]

http://budgetlightforum.com/


http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php ... uct_id=102

[Tailwheelup]

I will post on the 18650 Battery.
Most of the batteries sold on Ebay are junk especially the cheaper ones.
You will need a stand alone charger.
My experience is that these are capable of charging even a "dead" 18650
as the charger detects what is going on and applies the right charge.

The best 18650 Batteries come from LAP TOP Batteries.
The other source are the "power packs" typically sold at costco.
Once a pack dies, odds are, its just one cell, not the others.
I've had packs die but after removing them from a pack of cells
each was able to perform well as a flash light battery.

Just get hold of an old Lap Top battery, break it open carefully,
extract the batteries, and test them. See what voltages exist.
some cells may be really dead and not recoverable.

Charge them up, and record what the peak voltage is.
Run each battery in the flashlight and see how much time you get
before it crosses the 3.7 volt mark.

You will get better performance by NOT letting them run down.

You can also build up a pack of 4 in series to provide power
for 12 volt devices. Use a step down to regulate it to your desired voltage.

If you cannot plug your charger into anything in the cockpit,
You can use a small solar panel with a USB port. Place that on the dash
and its enough to charge a power pack. But, while I have the panel
and it will do the job, I've never ever needed to use it, yet.
I've always been able to exist on the power pack.

[pelmet]

As Seen On TV Bell + Howell Taclight with Magnetic Base - 2pk.
Item# 851710

These are for sale at giant tiger, 2 for $20
I have never seen a flashlight as powerful as these, honestly it's insane. They're usually $50 for 2, or 20 each on amazon. I bought 2, and I'm buying more as gifts.
Check out the reviews online, I tried mine out and I'm sure someone thought I was signaling batman.

Got the flashlight and it is nice and bright but......It has about 5 modes including flashing mode. It seems like when I want to turn it off, I have to cycle through all the modes. Is there a way around this?

[complexintentions]

While I can appreciate the...um...initiative? demonstrated, I'm not sure I can really get behind breaking open li-ion laptop battery packs to scrounge cells...but, to each their own.

FWIW, these are the ones I bought five years ago (total of 3 at the time) and cycling them in use they're all still going strong. Absolutely no issues. In addition, the charger works beautifully.

3500mAh 18650 ORBTRONIC Two High Performance Li-ion Batteries 3.7V

Nitecore i2 Intellicharge Charger for 18650 AAA AA Li-Ion/NiMH Battery

Yes, yes, I can hear it already, "I bought THIS battery and it was like, 2 dollars and works just as well"...and so on. That's fine, that's pilots.

Just passing along what I know for a fact works.

[RatherBeFlying]

There's many variants. Make sure you get a guarantee as many switches will fail. A gap will open between the case and the contact inside.

Unscrew and push hard on the button to see the problem. You can try to fix it, but it might not stay fixed.