REVIEW: CREE MC-E Diving Light

[nwflyboy]

I'm about to buy a pair of these too so I am also interested in what you find out.

Please post when you get yours and let us know if they come with the US spec plug or not. Reports seem to be mixed.

Matt,

I exchanged several emails with him (Adrian @ Novae - FWIW I emailed Tactical HID several days earlier and never received a reply). I asked about the plug and he said "They do come with Euro plugs. But, I'll send you some of my US plugs instead." So my suggestions would be to make sure you specify which kind of plug you want.

I will definitely report back on my experience with all this when I have something to report on.

 

[nwflyboy]

Hmm, now I see that Tactical HID will soon have a 1200 lumen light.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cl...-dive-sst-50-flashlight-1200lm-100m-more.html

Well that throws a bit of a wrinkle into things.

The new light looks better to me: more output, longer burn time, looks like easier lanyard mounting, and I prefer the look of the front bezel (without the "scalloping"). Hard to tell its dimensions, but it appears more compact than the CREE MC-E (compactness is pretty important for me). Of course, there's no pricing info, so it's hard to make comparisons. I have just emailed them to ask when these will be available and pricing (I'm leaving for a trip in just under 3 weeks - and we was going to ship my 2 MC-E lights first thing this morning).

Also, while looking for goodman handle options, I found this guy:

Lights - Goodman Handles and Light Accessories - Big Blue Goodman Handle - Northeast Scuba Supply

That looks pretty good to me, too. Now I just need to figure out which light I'm going to end up with and then see if it'll fit this handle. Thanks for the pointers.

 

[Matt S.]

In the 1200 lumen light's thread another poster pointed out that they are already selling them on ebay, so hopefully they will announce their fixed price soon. Sometimes, I just don't want to hassle with bidding and waiting a week to know if I even got the item or not.

I agree it looks better overall, though won't you miss the "assault crown" for fending off sharks?

For a handle, I also found this Oxycheq universal model.

buy Oxycheq Universal Light Sock at northeastscubasupply.com - Lights - Goodman Handles and Light Accessories - Oxycheq Universal Light Sock - Northeast Scuba Supply

It is more expensive than the Big Blue, but it also seems more likely to fit the light.

 

[nwflyboy]

Yep, I agree on all counts: if I'm looking for a non-critical item, want to try to (maybe) save a few bucks, and I have all the time in the world, then ebay can work. But if it's an item I know I want, and have limited time, I would rather skip the uncertainty of ebay and just buy the darn thing, even if that means I spend a few bucks more. I'm on a plane in 3 weeks and need to get this item settled, one way or another, so don't have time to screw around with auctions.

Gotta find out which light I end up with first before settling on the lightsock (and batteries).

I though the "assault crown" was for attacking the sharks, not fending them off....

 

[DennisKW]

I finally took the plunge and ordered two of these lights today. I had briefly entertained fantasies of using the same lights for shooting video, but ultimately decided that would be more trouble than it's worth, so I went with a separate video light, and will just use these as our primary dive lights (for me and the mrs) on our upcoming trip.

Now it's time to pick up some extra batteries. So a couple of questions about those...

The lights come with a pair of 2200mAH 18650 batteries. I see that there are 2500 and 2600 mAH 18650 batteries available online - maybe even 3000 mAH.

All other things being equal, I assume that greater mAH translates into longer burntimes - is this not generally true? The price differential between lower capacity/no-name batteries and (allegedly) higher capacity batteries with a (perhaps) more well-known name on the outside seems pretty insignificant, so I'm interested in getting "the best" - whatever that is.

I emailed the flashlight's vendor to ask about that and he said he saw no reason to use anything other than the 2200 mAH batteries - but maybe he just wants to sell his own.

Can anyone recommend the optimal batteries for this light - and a good source to order them?

Thanks.

Some, including myself, have had problems with the OEM batteries losing power at depth. Not all of them, but it has happened and probably due to inconsistent chemistry/construction.

These 2200mAhbatteries are the commonly accepted standard as far as quality, reliability, performance and safety. Unfortunately the 2600mAh version does not work in these lights without modification. However, this light only pulls like 1A so you will get around a couple hours or more on high with these batteries. The chargers available here also work fine.
4Sevens.Com

These are not as highly rated, but have worked fine for me at depth and do last almost the full 3000mAh they are rated for.
Ultrafire 18650 3000mah BUTTON TOP Protected Rechargeable Lithium Battery Li-Ion UF18650-BRC

Have fun!

Dennis.

 

[nwflyboy]

Some, including myself, have had problems with the OEM batteries losing power at depth. Not all of them, but it has happened and probably due to inconsistent chemistry/construction.

These 2200mAhbatteries are the commonly accepted standard as far as quality, reliability, performance and safety. Unfortunately the 2600mAh version does not work in these lights without modification. However, this light only pulls like 1A so you will get around a couple hours or more on high with these batteries. The chargers available here also work fine.
4Sevens.Com

These are not as highly rated, but have worked fine for me at depth and do last almost the full 3000mAh they are rated for.
Ultrafire 18650 3000mah BUTTON TOP Protected Rechargeable Lithium Battery Li-Ion UF18650-BRC

Have fun!

Dennis.

Awesome - exactly the info I was looking for.

I think I will pick up 4 of the Ultrafire 3000mah batteries. $10 a pop for a 3000 mah battery looks more attractive to me than $16 a piece for the 2200 mah AWs. Will bring the 4 Ultrafires along with the 4 supplied generic 2200s, that should cover us for a couple weeks in the boonies.

I assume there would be no issues using these (3000mah Ultrafires) with the charger that comes with the CREE MC-E - the 3000 mah batteries don't need a different charger, right?

Many thanks for the info and pointers.

 

[DennisKW]

Awesome - exactly the info I was looking for.

I think I will pick up 4 of the Ultrafire 3000mah batteries. $10 a pop for a 3000 mah battery looks more attractive to me than $16 a piece for the 2200 mah AWs. Will bring the 4 Ultrafires along with the 4 supplied generic 2200s, that should cover us for a couple weeks in the boonies.

I assume there would be no issues using these (3000mah Ultrafires) with the charger that comes with the CREE MC-E - the 3000 mah batteries don't need a different charger, right?

Many thanks for the info and pointers.

The AW's are worth the peace of mind and knowing you have the best. That said, many people like the 3000's for low drain applications like this dive light.

Yup, the existing charger is fine. As with any lithium charger, don't leave the batteries on there for much longer than they need to charge.

Dennis.

 

[randytay]

Well that throws a bit of a wrinkle into things.

The new light looks better to me: more output, longer burn time, looks like easier lanyard mounting, and I prefer the look of the front bezel (without the "scalloping"). Hard to tell its dimensions, but it appears more compact than the CREE MC-E (compactness is pretty important for me). Of course, there's no pricing info, so it's hard to make comparisons. I have just emailed them to ask when these will be available and pricing (I'm leaving for a trip in just under 3 weeks - and we was going to ship my 2 MC-E lights first thing this morning).

The new lights are slightly bigger. I know because I spoke to the manufacturer and am ordering direct, and I will be distributing them if they work out well.

 

[Fish-R-Man]

I had a number of the Dive SST-50 lights marked on my watch list on Ebay. They were are closed out. Anyone know why?

 

[Anaconda]

This is my attempt on trying to re-rail the conversation back to the original subject...

I received the MC-E light from a finnish dealer this monday and just a moment ago managed to pop the bezel open after keeping it on high for exactly 90 minutes. I wanted to mention two details that I noticed about my unit as well as ask a question about putting it back together.

1) The spring beneath the reflector seems to have been chopped shorter already. I compared to the picture someone posted here earlier about his flooded and disassembled light and my spring seems to be pretty much the same exact spring but with one coil simply snapped off. I reckon there are two possible explanations for this. Either the manufacturer has been enlightened about the possible lack of space due to the spring or then the finnish dealer has shown initiative and fixed the bug themselves. This might be a probable scenario since the coil litterally seems to have been cut as opposed to having been replaced with a shorter spring altogether.

2) I don't have residue of any sort of threadlocker in the threads of my bezel. Which is funny cuz it sort of undermines my careful project of heating the head by leaving it on for over an hour. But to tell the truth, I DID try to force it open several times when it was still cold and during my "heating" process and it didn't budge. Of course, I might have felt obliged to get it open on the last try as other people have managed to get theirs' And it was by no means easy when warm either.

Now about the question... Those who have put it back together and managed to align the magnetic switch with the reflector-piece properly: Please, share your wisdom!

Ps. I paid a robust 99€ on the light (batteries and charger excluded, which is fine by me as I get to purchase something of proper quality) through the finnish vendor. But would like to point out that that is claimed to be a "discounted price" the original price being 179€. I just felt like mentioning this :blinking: