Anyone try one of these D4 Cree LED Chinese-Made Torches?

[DevonDiver]

Was shopping in a local market today and saw these D4 Cree diving torches (see below) for sale. I couldn't resist buying one to test, even though I have zero expectations (will make an interesting blog report, if nothing else).

It looks good in a dry-test - easily bright enough for a night dive, or as a technical/penetration back-up (if it were reliable). It has 2 o-rings on the battery compartment, but I've heard these Chinese-manufactured torches are notorious for flooding.

Has anyone tried one of these? How did it turn out?

Any technical comments on the specs/LED etc?

I've found a seemingly identical torch available for sale here: EDI-T D4 900 Lumen Diving Torch That one costs GBP 115 - needless to say, I didn't pay anything like that for mine (in a Manila market)

Cheers, Andy



Don't have my camera handy... but looks pretty much identical to this:


Specs stated:

D4 Diving Flashlight

CNC machined aircraft-grade Aluminum with hard-anodized finish (corrosion/water-resistant, Mil-Spec Type III))
State-of-the-art Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Power-LED(SSL P7) ( to 900 Lumens) (up to 4 Hours)
Cree Q5 LED
Constant circuit current: voltage range 3.6 - 4.5v
Length 17.7cm x 5.9cm x Body 2.4cm - 290.8g
Rotary Magnet-Switch - 3+2 Functions: 100% Brightness / 50% Brightness / 10% Brightness / SOS / Strobe
PC Convex Lens + optical reflector - Fixed Focus
100 meters waterproof

Included:
1 x D4 Flashlight
1 x 18650 lithium-ion rechargeable battery, 2500mAH
1 x USB charger
1 x Car Charger
1 x Wall Charger

 

[MRTdiver]

Chinese-manufactured torches are notorious for flooding.

Yeah, do what you can to prevent that. And regarding the battery, of course you probably know that water & lithium mixing is not a good thing.

Any technical comments on the specs/LED etc?

The edi-t website is not very helpful. D4(900) Specs

The LED it uses is most likely the SSC P7 emitter capable of 900 lumens at the emitter/LED. SSC is short for Seoul Semiconductor. It's a multi-die emitter. To check: When turned off :cool2: you should see 4 separate dies looking at the LED. This site sells that LED version.

The max 900 lumens would be achievable IF the LED was one of the top brightness bins and the emitter is driven at 2800mA (2.8Amps), which the answer is most likely NO to both (see SSC P7 @ bottom of page).
But it will still be a bright light and probably one of your brightest dive lights. Hopefully you get lots of dives with it.

This XM-L version sold on eBay would probably be brighter. The Cree XM-L is more or less the best in lumens efficacy (lm/W) at the present moment.

I guess you could use the strobe modes to mess with your students and make them totally disoriented during their night dive. Then when you think the water has infiltrated your light, throw it at them and yell BOMB! See how they react to that.

 

[DevonDiver]

Battery: Mine is - BL-18650 3.5v 4200mAH

LED: Have no idea.. I can just see a 'yellow blob' LOL What's a 'die'?

I get the impression it'll be brighter than my Aquastar and Intova torches - but they're not here with me right now for a comparison.

Lithium vs Water: Yeah, that'd be interesting... but local divers all immune to underwater bangs, due to local dynamite fishermen. The flash/SOS mode would be seriously funky in the engine rooms of the USS New York though.. like an 'Aliens' film. LMAO

I guess leaking is the biggest worry. Will re-grease the o-rings and cross fingers. Liable to be a week or two before I can test it at depth.

 

[MRTdiver]

Battery: Mine is - BL-18650 3.5v 4200mAH

At the moment there is no 18650 Li-ion battery that has a capacity greater than 3400mAh (milliamp hours). So the one you got is an exaggerated capacity. The 3400mAh are pretty new. And that means more expensive. More popular are the 3100mAh batteries.

Name brands like AW, Redilast, XTAR, etc are the way to go. Most of these have a Panasonic base cell (see eBay). AW, Xtar, etc just add protection and labeling to the battery. But rip off the outer label and you'll probably find a Panasonic.

Also, abandoned Laptop battery packs can be opened and you'll find 18650s in there. Probably of the 2200mAh variety, but they're still good.

Here's what I would avoid and why. Quotes from CPF moderators:
Ultrafire batteries are just about the worst and most unreliable batteries you can find (DM51).
“Fire” brands are "like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." (Norm from CPF).

Yes, I have Ultrafire, but that was before I knew what I was doing. Moving on...

LED: Have no idea.. I can just see a 'yellow blob' LOL What's a 'die'?

This Cree MC-E clears shows the separate dies.

Similar to the Cree MC-E above, "The P7 is a multi-die LED utilizing four P4 LED's." (from wiki SSC)

I get the impression it'll be brighter than my Aquastar and Intova torches - but they're not here with me right now for a comparison.

Yeah if you have the SSC P7 LED I think it will be considerably brighter.
I don't know why it's taking so long for many dive lights to adopt LEDs like the Cree XM-L. They are efficent and would blow away the competition. That's why people rave about lights like the DRIS 1000.

I guess leaking is the biggest worry. Will re-grease the o-rings and cross fingers. Liable to be a week or two before I can test it at depth.

With silicon grease at the tail cap I think you got it covered there. Now if the front bezel unscrews I would be most concerned about it leaking there.

 

[DevonDiver]

Yep - first thing I will do is remove, clean and re-grease the o-rings front and back. Already took the torch apart and had to spend 10 minutes looking for the microscopic ball-bearing that secured the magnetic switch from rotating. Miracle I found it. LOL

I think the LED has a single die. At least, from what I can see. Next time I strip the torch down I'll have a closer look.

Batteries - interesting that it's over-spec'd on the cover, but not a surprise. The entire torch probably cost no more than the cost of a replacement battery anyway.

 

[MRTdiver]

Power-LED(SSL P7) ( to 900 Lumens)
Cree Q5 LED

Initially I was confused because there are two different LEDs noted in the first post. :huh: If it's the P7 LED, then the manufacture SSL should be SSC (Seoul Semiconductor Co.). And that is a bright emitter when driven to its upper limits. (sold here: 900lm dive light)

I think the LED has a single die. At least, from what I can see.

If it has a Cree Q5 LED it will be a single die LED. Q5 is only a brightness bin, not an LED, as in Cree XM-L T6 or XM-L U2. But if Q5 is correct, then it's either the Cree XR-E or XP-E LED. That would be significantly less bright. This site sells that version (130-Lumen Diving Flashlight)

The brightest would most likely be this (XM-L version). So there are many different versions of the light. And this was sort of a Sherlock Holmes study in figuring it all out. :geek:

 

[nwflyboy]

Nothing to see here, move along folks.

 

[DevonDiver]

Nothing to see here, move along folks.

Thanks for your contribution. Live long and prosper