Dive light from E-Bay -- Great buy!!!

[fnog]

fnog,

I am using a piece bored out of a panel that is used on hung ceiling fluorescent lights. Google "fluorescent lights diffuser panels".

Thanks Sam. I will try that out.

Nikolay, as I wrote in my comment, the torch has a parabolic mirror for each cree xm LED, so it makes a hotspot with less than 15degree opening. The rest goes in a cone of ~40 degrees. So it is rather a concentrated beam, but still, I find that it does not punch through low viz/silty water very well.

There is another question that is bugging me : has this torch been designed and tested to fail gracefully in case of a flood. What I mean is : if the Li ion cell is flooded, will it generate hydrogen, chloride and other gases, and pop off the back of the lamp, turning it into a bullet headed straight towards my mask ? Or has it been designed (and tested ) so that the head of the lamp will crack first, leaving me unharmed ?

 

[nikolay_zhelev]

Dear fnog,

Thank you very much for your complete answer. My second thought was exactly as yours, how safe is this torch in case of flooding? Could become quite dangerous if it's not designed properly. Do you have any information who is the manufacturer?


Kind Regards,
Nikolay Zhelev

 

[Mouth Breather]

In for 1 as well. Those of you that have the light, does it slowly fade to very dim or abruptly cut off when left on? If it cuts off, it has a current sensor that is protecting the battery from being overly discharged.

If not, it's up to you to avoid using the light beyond the point of no return, which should be around 2v. A smart charger should sense an overly discharged battery and either slow-charge it or refuse to charge (battery now garbage). I have personally put out a fire (and saved someone's job!) caused by overly-discharged li-ion batteries being charged with a 'dumb' charger. In any event, I'd recommend not leaving these charging unattended.

 

[Roman_66]

If we still speaking about non expensive backup lights : ScubaPro Nova 230 on amazon now only 69.99$.
The title mislead and says "200", you only need to choose the correct picture.
I bought 3 of them and think that this is the best backup light that you may have.

 

[oldschoolto]

At this point in the game... I'd be willing to put some money into testing a light... We buy a light for the purpose of a dead battery test and then a flood test in salt water... I'd put up $20 bucks...

Jim...

 

[nikolay_zhelev]

Hi oldschoolto,

Fully support your idea. Is it possible to make a video with the test and share it with us, because I'm very curious what will be the outcome?

Good luck!


Kind Regards,
Nikolay Zhelev

 

[oldschoolto]

I'm voting for fiddle to do the test diving... I don't have salt water to dive in..

Jim...

 

[bazmattaz]

You guys got so lucky. I bought two cheap lights from eBay and neither are any good. I was about to bite the bullet and buy something expensive from the LDS. The first one I got was a wide beam single cell model. I wanted it to use with a GoPro. It's was advertised at 900 lm. Before being able to take that one on a dive I bought one similar to one on this thread a twin cell 2000 lm model. I went on a dive holiday and took both down with me. The 2000 lm one flooded at about 20 metres. Back at the surface it behaved erratically even after drying out. I got my money back from PayPal. The other one uses a screw cap system for its on/off. When I get down to about 20 metres the water pressure compresses the cap and it turns on. If I back it off enough so the light shuts off, it floods because the o rings are badly positioned. It would probably be ok if I switched it on at the beginning and left it on for the whole dive. When it dried out it started working ok so I use it as a land torch now.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Find me on Twitter if you like @BazMattaz

 

[fnog]

Roman, Bazmattaz, I do not know anything about the torch models you mention. The one I ordered you can find easily on the french or the US versions of amazon with the search term:
"Lixada 3*CREE XM-L T6 5000LM 8Modes LED"
It seems that Lixada is the seller's name, and maker would be called "Andoer".

Of course I vote for the salty flood experiment ! But how would you flood the torch ? Do you want to send it to 150m with a highspeed camera filming it continously ? I personally do not have this kind of camera gear and deep housing. Put it in a pressure test chamber ?

You could damage the Orings to let water in in shallower, but it also means that there will be less pressure buildup, and that you choose yourself artificially the failure point.

Maybe the simplest way is to fill it "manually" with saltwater 30g/l and close it carefully, then switch on, even more carefully (I will not be held liable for any foolishness done by those who read this post, etc, bla bla) and then leave it in between sand bags, observed until something happens... But even for that simpler test, you need a robotic arm or something like that to screw the cap on, so you don't put your hands at risk.

 

[Scuba7]

Are these the same lights:

KKmoon 3*CREE XM-L T6 5000LM 8-Mode LED Diving Flashlight 26650 Torch Light Waterproof 60m for Diving, Camping and Other Indoor/Outdoor Activites - - Amazon.com