From Ebay , 3 Mode , 200Lumen flashlight - 18650 - 3xAAA
Always been a fan of the Silver style light , and the SAIK SA-8 is a great example . Let me get the bad part out of the way , that stupid tube for holding the LED and driver , who ever came up with the idea of saving 5c and stuffing up the heatsinking , should be flogged ! I like everything about this light except the lack of proper heatsinking ..
18650 .
High - 0.76A current draw - 200Lumen - 7400Lux throw @ 1meter
Low - 0.18A - 50Lumen
3xAAA DRY
High - 0.5A - 150Lumen and sagging
Low - 0.12A - 40Lumen
3xAAA Rechargeable
High - 0.52A - 160Lumen
Low - 0.13A - 40Lumen
Performance on dry cells is some what poor , as one would expect . Rechargeable or Alkaline batteries should offer better power , and the 18650 brings some serious performance to the table , and makes the light worth while owning . 7400Lux throw @ 1meter is very good , and makes this light a thrower , by no means a super thrower , but for this class of light , certainly impressive , and gives the XP-E / XP-G emitters a hiding .
Using 3xAAA rechargeable's or Alkaline's would cause me no concern , but the 18650 , even @ 0.76A with a tube for a pill holder does , might be ok for the first minute or two , but after that one would have to be concerned about heat , and how the emitter is copping without a heatsink . I just might have to test this and see how warm/hot the star gets .
I like the light , unfortunately the lack of heatsinking makes this light questionable .. Why make such a nice body , such clean threads , put O rings in there , if your going to skimp on the most important part ?? one simply can not understand such logic , since there is none to be understood .
I purchased a SAIK SA-8 about 11 months ago , and it has a proper heatsink , why they changed the design I can not fathom . I purchased this light on the performance of the older one , and have been let down . 5 out of 10 SAIK , you must have heatsinking , just add the 10cents to the cost of the light for the extra aluminum .
old4570
- 2010.02.26
- 09:04:58
- (*.107.247.200)
Just a quick update ! Been using the light as much as possible now that it has some heatsinking .. And it seems to heatsink into the body just fine , the current to the LED is not that high so my fix would seem to be OK . Ive run it on high for up to 30 minutes several times with an 18650 for power and the body gets noticeably warm but not hot . Without heatsinking I do believe you would end up cooking the LED , especially on longer runs like 30 minutes on high .
Here is a picture of the pill assembly , notice the tube !!! What the *__k is that about , the manufacturers have to get out of the habit of going this cheap and NASTY !
Here is my FIX !!! , I filled down a washer , then put a bevel on it , and then used Arctic Alumina to glue it all down with the emitter in place ...
This will hopefully help conduct some of the heat into the flashlight body , rather than cooking the emitter ...
Its such a shame that such a good body , has a rubbish pill . Hopefully this fix will give the light a longer life , and make it a useful addition to my collection .
Just a shame SAIK has taken this path .