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

[DIY]

If your not looking for something so extremely bright these have worked flawlessly for us. The only issue I have with them is the variable slide switch can be easily activated. Use the 18650 battery.




Ebay:

2000LM 100M Diving CREE XM L U2 LED Flashlight Torch Waterproof Light Lamp Scuba | eBay

Found similar on Amazon for $20

1800 Lm CREE XM-L T6 LED Diving Dive Flashlight Waterproof Torch Light [Misc.] - Basic Handheld Flashlights - Amazon.com

 

[spoolin01]

I never buy the dive on ebay ,I always like to buy on official website.And I also want to ask Is it more of a flood light or has a pretty tight hotspot underwater?

It's in between, I'd say. Not real tight but definitely not a flood which is too bad because unlike the single emitter lights, this one has adequate brightness and with a different reflector could probably be a decent flood light.

 

[Manuel Sam]

I finally had a chance to take this light on a dive trip. It performed very well and when set at the third light intensity (next to dimmest) I could not wear the battery out after two dives. The reason I was using it at such a relatively low brightness setting is because I was trying to use it as both a dive light and a video light, but even with a diffuser that I added on the front, it produced too much of a hot spot. The diffuser was a piece that I cut out of a plastic panel that is commonly used to diffuse the light on hung ceiling fluorescent light fixtures. Eventually I resorted to holding the GoPro with one hand and the light far behind and back with the other hand to widen the beam - not a practical solution. In conclusion, a very good dive light worth every penny I paid and more, but at least based on my brief experience, not a suitable video light.

 

[kaerius]

Well, now that I've dived with these for a number of dives:

The buna 70 2x21mm (x3) and 1.5x24 (x1) o-rings I got from the o-ring store have kept them from flooding, and reduced thread contact problems compared to factory o-rings. I even took one of them to 40 meters. No leaks so far.

The Foxnovo 5000 mAh batteries have been lasting me easily through 2 dives, losing maybe 20-25% light by the end of dive 2(around 3.7-3.8V left in the battery). Though cutting out mid-dive if taken on a third.

The bad news:
Reliability: of the three I bought, only one has proven reliable, they've been prone to thread problems, one of them actually jumped a thread and jammed, partially unthreaded at the front(but works and isn't leaking in this configuration yet).

One of them came without the little ball bearing that is used for the switch to lock in place. I know this because it fell out on one of the others but I caught it and managed to put it back where it belonged. I estimate it's somewhere between 0.5mm to 1mm.

They can be jolt sensitive and cut out until unthreaded and rethreaded, this is because the front spring can get shaken to the side and stuck on the rubber ring at the front, no longer contacting the + pole on the battery. (The torch that got stuck partially unthreaded at the front was prone to this, but improved when stuck that way, increased reliability through mechanical malfunction, yay). Shortening the spring by 1-2mm might help with this problem.

 

[jujjio]

Hi Manuel Sam
I' d love to try your DIY video solution do you think you could post a pic on this thread??
Much appreciate!!
Michele...

 

[spoolin01]

As anyone of you ever purchased a dive light from e-bay? Any remarks?

I like to support my LDS and do so very often... But at times the finances just force me to be very frugal!

BTW this is the light I bought and was shipped to me from California: 5000 Lumen 60m 3 CREE XM L T6 LED Diving Flashlight Scuba Lamp Torch Waterproof | eBay

That appears to be just the light that is the major subject of this 227 post thread!

I have no concerns buying most anything from eBay, their cost-free return policy is pretty much no-questions-asked, and PayPal even gives you up to 6 months to return something. I can't recall ever having a dispute not resolved in my favor as a buyer.

I've bought a number of the eBay dive lights. You can never know quite what you're getting if you buy a no-name or knock-off but I've never not gotten pretty much what was advertised. The lumens claims are invariably inflated but that goes for a lot of branded lights as well. You can spend 10 minutes researching emitter models (like XM-L T6) and choose based on those, not on the lumens claims. In some cases like with this one, the result has been a pleasant surprise.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Hi Jujjio,

This is my DIY solution, which as I said, was not optimal for shooting macro. Maybe it might work for wide angle because I would be able to hold the light further away from the subject, which then makes the light beam wider.

The diffuser was cut using a 2 1/4" hole saw, resulting in a piece that is right around 2" diameter. It is held in place with a "bra" made from pieces that I cut out of an old wetsuit. As I mentioned in my private message to you, I suppose duct tape would be a more practical or at least quicker solution, albeit one that the fashion cops might frown upon.

Lastly, I welded a 1/4-20 stainless nut onto a stainless hose clamp. Best seen in the middle picture, halfway down the barrel. This allows me to screw a ball onto the hose clamp, which then allows me to mount the light to an arm and onto a housing.

There are many other ways to skin the cat.....if you search within this same thread, you will see how one of the other posters did his, and maybe more.

For those less inclined to a DIY science project and needing a video light that won't break the bank, if you once again search ebay for video dive light, you will find some relatively inexpensive made in China video lights that are "high" lumen and have a 120 degrees beam. I just ordered one to try out. There are also some with the brand name Archon, among others, that are ready made for video and offer off-the-shelf mounting hardware. But those are a quite bit more money.

If you do decide to order any of those relatively inexpensive ebay dive lights, be it this one or the video one, please do your due diligence once you get it/them. Along with several other posters on this thread, as well as those who have posted to a more recent thread about the quality of these lights, I find the workmanship to be shoddy. And while some have had zero problems using the lights as they came, others have not had such luck. In an earlier post to this thread, I listed some of the cleaning steps I took.

 

[DoubleAA]

I dove the three I have in Curaçao a few weeks ago. All performed flawlessly. Picked up the soft handle from DGX. Makes it much more manageable for night dives.

My $25 light was much brighter and burned longer than the DM's. With my 26650's I didn't see significant dimming after a night dive that was over an hour.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[soonerwatch]

I've got one en route. Do flat top 26650 batteries work - or does battery have to be button top?

 

[kaerius]

I've got one en route. Do flat top 26650 batteries work - or does battery have to be button top?

Should work just fine, There's a fairly long spring in front, and another in the back. In fact, it should be less prone to having the front spring get shaken to the side and losing contact(there's a rubber ring in front of the battery that can catch the spring if the torch is given a hard enough tap).

The main caution here though is I'd be very careful about using unprotected batteries in these torches. I don't entirely trust the circuitry to stay in safe limits without a protection circuit, and these are really high power lithium batteries in a tight aluminium tube, if you get my drift.