REVIEW: CREE MC-E Diving Light

[gcbryan]

I'm glad that worked for you Ron (as it did for me as well). I simply switched out the original 18650's to Trustfire 2500mA and no problems.

Actually, I did a test dive and put the originals back in and at 20 fsw it went dim again but I just kept diving and in a few minutes it went to high again and stayed there!

I've had no problem with the Trustfire's however and they cost....$8.00 for a pair!

That burn time doesn't sound right however. Maybe someone else has some ideas about what would be causing that.

 

[Chiung]

Did a few dives to 85' in 65 degree water and the light held up fine.

 

[jav91]

December, 10 dives, 10-25 meters.
First time bezel started to turn off in 12 meters. After hand tightening - no issues.
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[RonFrank]

Burntimes with the CREE MC-E Light

• Original Batteris 2400mAh ~ 2 hours on High, then cuts off.
• GTL 2800mah ~ 1 hour 15 minutes, and then goes into strobe mode.
• CR123 Rechargable ~ 35 minutes, then cuts off.

This is on high. Max burntime on low would be 4X assuming low = 1/4 power.

My CR123's are a couple of years old, so burn time would be better with higher mAh.

I have some TrustFires on the way, so I will update this as I learn more.

 

[Hatul]

Burntimes with the CREE MC-E Light

• Original Batteris 2400mAh ~ 2 hours on High, then cuts off.
• GTL 2800mah ~ 1 hour 15 minutes, and then goes into strobe mode.
• CR123 Rechargable ~ 35 minutes, then cuts off.

This is on high. Max burntime on low would be 4X assuming low = 1/4 power.

My CR123's are a couple of years old, so burn time would be better with higher mAh.

I have some TrustFires on the way, so I will update this as I learn more.

Which goes to show you can't trust the mAh numbers stamped on the batteries, especially the generic Chinese ones.

Adam

 

[RonFrank]

I would bet that the *Generic Chinese* batteries are not all that much different than the name brand. In fact the GTL batteries would APPEAR to be less generic having a brand name, slick logo, and a much more professional casing vs. what was shipped with the light. The generic longer running battery is encased in a blue plastic wrap, have machine stamped battery info, and have a somewhat DIY look about them.

I hope the TrustFires are good.

Basically MOST 18650 batteries are made in China.

 

[gcbryan]

I would bet that the *Generic Chinese* batteries are not all that much different than the name brand. In fact the GTL batteries would APPEAR to be less generic having a brand name, slick logo, and a much more professional casing vs. what was shipped with the light. The generic longer running battery is encased in a blue plastic wrap, have machine stamped battery info, and have a somewhat DIY look about them.

I hope the TrustFires are good.

Basically MOST 18650 batteries are made in China.

Mine are good but it's funny as you say they all have a DIY look to them. The Trustfires are blue and look just like the generic 2200mA batteries that came with the unit except that they are 2500mA and have Trustfire on them!

I think it's just a matter of ordering a couple whenever you order something from DX and keep whatever works and toss any that don't work. At $8/pair it's still cheaper than getting the AW brand at $15 each that everyone raves about.

Actually the AW brand don't have button tops so you would have to solder some on or use magnets...***?

 

[DennisKW]

Actually the AW brand don't have button tops so you would have to solder some on or use magnets...***?

Magnets will cause the internal magnetic switching circuitry to work funny. You can solder big blobs onto the button tops but you need a quality HOT soldering iron (700+F) and proper preparation and skills. I have done this to 8+ AW 2600's so far with no issues.

Dennis.

 

[bevansmw]

After mulling this over for quite some time I finally pulled the trigger and bought one from bestofferbuy was $79 there. Went with the P7 version and an extra set of ultrafire 3000mah 18650's that seemed to performed well in a graph that I saw on CPF.

Went with the P7 since it was a little less expensive and perhaps later if SSC makes an E-bin P7 LED should be able to swap it out, but I guess you could probably do that with the MC-E version too since it's probably the same reflector.


Not sure if anyone noticed but while browsing on dealextreme I saw a review under the P7 version of this light where someone did a hydrostatic test on one and took it to 90m, they said it got a crack in the lens and had a tiny drop of water inside afterwards. That's somewhere around 270ft though, deeper than I ever intend to go

Someone else also stated they took it to 50m without problems.

 

[jasonong99]

I've just bitten the bullet and ordered the SSC P7 from DX + Ultrafire 3000mah for $95.

What I've gathered from this thread has been that:

The bezel might come undone at depth and could potentially flood the torch
Solution: Locktite over the outer bezel should solve this.

The Problem with the bezel results from the contact spring being too long thus, compounding to the flooding issue.
Solution: Trim part of the spring down by one round.

Batteries that come with the Torch are not protected.
Solution: An additional set of Ultrafire Rechargeable Protected Batt.

The lens might be too thin and might crack under depth.
solution: Change the front lens (but to what size?)

I'm curious though, would trimming of the spring alone solve the bezel loosening problem or would I have to make both mods?

so, other than these few issues am I missing anything else?

Thanks guys, praise SB and all the contributors of this board. It's allowed me to equip myself with a complete set of gear on a really small student's budget while enabling the purchase of my first torch too! I can't tell you how intimidating it is to go into the market and get bombarded with excessive options and just wishing I never explored the option at all.

Jason Ong
jasonong99@hotmail.com