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anybody tried anything with the lens on these to spread it a bit more?
Bargain Ebay bike lights
- Thread starter legrandefromage
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D_XZ":1wjoxj72 said:I got a couple of these to use as a helmet/beam light but to be honest it was a bit weedy and didn't show up against even the peripheral throw of my main bar light.
So...I upgraded the LED for a 240 lumen Cree XR-E from here:
http://www.ledrise.com/p495/cree-r2-white/
Delivered via TNT 2 days after ordering - parcel said it originated from Bucharest!
Needed to clip a tiny bit off the corners as the star is a slightly different shape to the old one, then 5 mins to de-solder old and solder in with the new. Just unscrew the lens housing and it's two wires on the front surface and the star is not bonded in or anything - couldn't be easier
I don't know if it gets the full 240 lumens now but it's significantly brighter than it was before. Should be pretty good as a helmet beam light once I figure out the best way to mount it.
I also tried one with a seoul p4 LED but it wouldn't fit into the lens without widening the base of the reflector cone. Either this, or the 120 degree viewing angle of the LED has totally ruins the focus of the beam and results in a ring with a dark spot in the middle and is far less bright than the Cree.
No idea how long the batteries will last, but I have an extra battery holder from the P4 experiment to take loaded up as a fast swap spare.
Is it much brighter? Aren't they supposed to be 270lumen as they come from HK?
Easy_Rider":3fyvtsvn said:
Well, according to the ebay ad "Output bright can come to above 270 lumens"
Note the use of "can" as mine was nowhere near that. Maybe it varies as I'm sure the two I had were not quite equal even before I did anything.
As a comparison it was somewhere between the 1st and 2nd setting of a Hope Vision One but with a wider spot and peripheral circle. A Vision One is supposed to be 240 lumens on it's highest (4th) setting.
Since my modification I've only checked it against the Hope indoors so I'll have to compare throw distance at the weekend, but just against the wall it now appears somewhere between Hopes 3rd and 4th setting. It still has a bigger spot and much wider peripheral circle (the Hope seems to be known for having a narrow beam)
The beam spot does have a slight crescent shadow on one side, i believe because the new LED protrudes further into the reflector and is not quite dead centre. Probably because I wasn't too anal about evenness when clipping down the LED star board. If I'd taken to time to file the star evenly I guess it wouldn't be there. It's not a big deal and the wider peripheral circle is totally smooth while the hope has a couple of rings.
Weight with 3 Duracell 1000mah rechargeable batteries is 106g on my kitchen scales - half the weight of the Hope so I reckon it's going to be easily light enough for helmet use.
As I said, I do need to compare to the Hope outside but it's certainly got a longer throw than it had before. It's now visible when I have my bar lights on while before it just drowned.
Mine arrived a few days back and one is certainly down on performance from the other and arguably not as bright as I had hoped.
So I was going to order two new chips as per D_XZ from LEDRise.
Chips are - well- cheap as chips (£5) - but the postage is £13 for two chips.
Is anyone else interested in ordering some of these and splitting the postage costs?
@ D_XZ - which shipping option did you use please?
So I was going to order two new chips as per D_XZ from LEDRise.
Chips are - well- cheap as chips (£5) - but the postage is £13 for two chips.
Is anyone else interested in ordering some of these and splitting the postage costs?
@ D_XZ - which shipping option did you use please?
I used the express for 12:55 euros. Was ok for me as I had a few things to buy. Still, even if you ordered a single LED on it's own it would make the whole light around £20 in total.
Took mine out as a helmet light on Saturday but had to turn it off after 20 mins as it was lighting up the falling snow right in front of my eyes and I couldn't see!
Final comparison to Hope V1: It has very slightly less throw but a wider beam. I prefer it and will prob sell the Hope.
I don't think I'll use it as a helmet light though. I have a Trout Lumen Liberator3 and while the spot of the torch did show up against the Trout it didn't really add anything useful. But that Troutlight is pretty incredible and now I've tried it off road I think I'd prefer a more floody helmet light just to clear the shadows cast by the Trout and do away with the idea of a long distance spot.
The cheap lights are going to be used for commuting - took the reflector out of the Soul one and got a short range, very even and wide circle. I aimed it down and use the Cree one for more distance vision. Worked well today.
Took mine out as a helmet light on Saturday but had to turn it off after 20 mins as it was lighting up the falling snow right in front of my eyes and I couldn't see!
Final comparison to Hope V1: It has very slightly less throw but a wider beam. I prefer it and will prob sell the Hope.
I don't think I'll use it as a helmet light though. I have a Trout Lumen Liberator3 and while the spot of the torch did show up against the Trout it didn't really add anything useful. But that Troutlight is pretty incredible and now I've tried it off road I think I'd prefer a more floody helmet light just to clear the shadows cast by the Trout and do away with the idea of a long distance spot.
The cheap lights are going to be used for commuting - took the reflector out of the Soul one and got a short range, very even and wide circle. I aimed it down and use the Cree one for more distance vision. Worked well today.
Piers
Retro Guru
Just a thought on the poo flags comment.
I found Ajax or Vim to be really good at marking the piles of dog toffee in my back lane.
Dogs hate the smell, owners see what they are doing to my neighbourhood, it is disinfected (a bit) and we can see what we are treading in (unless it's been snowing.
It seems to cut down on the problem.
I'll be patenting "faekiphos" (makes it glow in the dark) and "lumi-poo-pearls" (retroreflective granules) when I can be bothered
I found Ajax or Vim to be really good at marking the piles of dog toffee in my back lane.
Dogs hate the smell, owners see what they are doing to my neighbourhood, it is disinfected (a bit) and we can see what we are treading in (unless it's been snowing
.It seems to cut down on the problem.
I'll be patenting "faekiphos" (makes it glow in the dark) and "lumi-poo-pearls" (retroreflective granules) when I can be bothered
