REVIEW: CREE MC-E Diving Light
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You probably just need to take it apart again and reassemble it. There is a "correct" position. Usually it doesn't eliminate a setting regardless of how you reassemble it. Usually the hi/med/low marks on the light just wouldn't be lined up correctly with the dot.
Give it a try however and it will probably fix your problem.
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:
There is a little bit of trial and error involved! Just note where the dot is (when assembled) when you get a high beam. If it's off the mark, note how much to which side.
Undo the bezel without moving anything else and turn the reflector and try again.
The new SST50 lights being referred to here are available for $130 if you go to the Hong Kong source. If it's not much more you will probably rather get them in Calif or where ever the local distributor is. From what I've seen (not in person) the burn time on high is more like an hour (someone posted that the burn time was longer than the MC-E version).
The light should be larger as well I would think as it uses a lithium version of two D sized batteries. The bezel does look better. The external heat sinking fins look identical and the tailcap attachment slot does look better. I have no idea as to the thickness of the front glass.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who actually has been diving with one of these lights. The lumen output should be greater (it's not going to be 1200 lumens however) but I'm curious as to the beam profile. If it's not at least as tight as the MC-E version then I'm not sure whether it's better in most dive applications.
The light should be larger as well I would think as it uses a lithium version of two D sized batteries. The bezel does look better. The external heat sinking fins look identical and the tailcap attachment slot does look better. I have no idea as to the thickness of the front glass.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who actually has been diving with one of these lights. The lumen output should be greater (it's not going to be 1200 lumens however) but I'm curious as to the beam profile. If it's not at least as tight as the MC-E version then I'm not sure whether it's better in most dive applications.
Thank you! I was hoping it wouldn't come to the trial and error part, but yeah, that's how I wrapped it back together eventually. I don't know how it's for others, but my reflector starts spinning with the bezel after the bezel has been screwed down a bit. However, I managed to match the markings close enough with my last tightening and now it's tight enough for me not to wanna medle with it anymore.
I also got my low-mode back after I went diving with the light. So I suppose there's a moody soldering or something down there...
Matt S.
Contributor
I just got my lights (from Novae). There were no instructions beyond what was printed on the back of the box... not that I can't figure out the light, but I was wondering about the charger. I assume it's smart enough to shut off automatically. Am I just waiting for the green light to come on? What's the typical charge duration?
The batteries are getting pretty warm but I have yet to use a li-ion or li-poly charger that's dumb enough to wreck batteries.
The batteries are getting pretty warm but I have yet to use a li-ion or li-poly charger that's dumb enough to wreck batteries.
Matt S.
Contributor
Following up to my own post here... The green light indeed came on to indicate when the charge was done. The batteries got up to maybe 120F or so while charging and then cooled as the charger reduced current towards the end of the cycle. (I checked the temp with an IR thermometer on the downward side and it was 107F.)
I put the lights in the sink for a max power burn test. With the provided batteries, the lights died after approx 2 hours. However they did dim over the run time. I didn't keep a close watch but it seems like you may only get 1 hour at full brightness. When I checked in at about 90 minutes they were obviously dimmer (though still seemingly useful) and quickly dimmed even more over the next 30 minutes.
At shutoff, the cells were at approx 3.0V.
I put the lights in the sink for a max power burn test. With the provided batteries, the lights died after approx 2 hours. However they did dim over the run time. I didn't keep a close watch but it seems like you may only get 1 hour at full brightness. When I checked in at about 90 minutes they were obviously dimmer (though still seemingly useful) and quickly dimmed even more over the next 30 minutes.
At shutoff, the cells were at approx 3.0V.
Matt S.
Contributor
More updates...
I tried the Ultrafire cells that were suggested above.
I found that even though these cells are button tops, they don't work in these lights without modification. The button isn't quite tall enough to touch what it needs to. I happened to have some tiny rare earth magnets, but those didn't work... not sure if it was a shape or conductivity problem, I didn't check. So, I put a dot of solder on each cell's button top, then filed it down to make a nice flat spot, just barely higher than the stock button. This seems to work fine.
I made charts of the high power run time vs. light output with the stock batteries and the Ultrafires. You can use a camera as a lux meter... it's not perfect but if you can make repeatable measurements, it will show trends well enough.
On each chart the X-axis is time in minutes and the Y-axis is light level in lux. It's a useless value as it is tied to how I did the measurements, but within one data series the CHANGE in light level is visible and that is what is important.
Interesting thing: one of my lights puts out about a third less light than the other! It's visible to the eye and I intent to ask the vendor for a replacement. This is not a battery problem, I eliminated that possibility first thing.
Stock Blue 2200 mAh Batteries
These batteries were about 90% brightness at 1 hour, and they were about dead at about 2 hours, with a rapid decline in the last 30 minutes.
Ultrafire 3000 mAh Batteries
I measured these every 15 minutes. There were some measurement hiccups but there is still some useful data here. Note that you can't compare the lux values between charts! I used a different test rig for each.
Note that there is a major drop in brightness within the first few minutes, and I didn't see that on the stock batteries. But the bottom line is that you get about 2 good hours on the Ultrafire 3000 mAh cells, and then they drop off quickly over the next hour. These cells are far superior to the stock blues, which may well be completely dead at 2 hours.
But one nice thing about these lights--unlike an HID, you can just switch them on and off as needed and select the right power level for the moment.
Hope this helps someone.
I tried the Ultrafire cells that were suggested above.
I found that even though these cells are button tops, they don't work in these lights without modification. The button isn't quite tall enough to touch what it needs to. I happened to have some tiny rare earth magnets, but those didn't work... not sure if it was a shape or conductivity problem, I didn't check. So, I put a dot of solder on each cell's button top, then filed it down to make a nice flat spot, just barely higher than the stock button. This seems to work fine.
I made charts of the high power run time vs. light output with the stock batteries and the Ultrafires. You can use a camera as a lux meter... it's not perfect but if you can make repeatable measurements, it will show trends well enough.
On each chart the X-axis is time in minutes and the Y-axis is light level in lux. It's a useless value as it is tied to how I did the measurements, but within one data series the CHANGE in light level is visible and that is what is important.
Interesting thing: one of my lights puts out about a third less light than the other! It's visible to the eye and I intent to ask the vendor for a replacement. This is not a battery problem, I eliminated that possibility first thing.
Stock Blue 2200 mAh Batteries
These batteries were about 90% brightness at 1 hour, and they were about dead at about 2 hours, with a rapid decline in the last 30 minutes.
Ultrafire 3000 mAh Batteries
I measured these every 15 minutes. There were some measurement hiccups but there is still some useful data here. Note that you can't compare the lux values between charts! I used a different test rig for each.
Note that there is a major drop in brightness within the first few minutes, and I didn't see that on the stock batteries. But the bottom line is that you get about 2 good hours on the Ultrafire 3000 mAh cells, and then they drop off quickly over the next hour. These cells are far superior to the stock blues, which may well be completely dead at 2 hours.
But one nice thing about these lights--unlike an HID, you can just switch them on and off as needed and select the right power level for the moment.
Hope this helps someone.
beekeeper5
Contributor
Here's a link to the 18650 Utrafire 3000mah vs other batteries.
CandlePowerForums - View Single Post - New 18650 with 3000mAh from KD
CandlePowerForums - View Single Post - New 18650 with 3000mAh from KD
beekeeper5
Contributor
double posted by accident.
Last edited:
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