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Solar Storm XT40 + Xtar VP2 + Torchy 3400mah + Battery Box - with pictures...

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#1 ·
Evening guys,

Review of the Solar Storm XT40 with battery box

$52.82 SolarStorm XT40 4*Cree XM-L2 U2 4-Mode 3000LM LED Bike Light / Headlamp - black / 1*battery pack / US plug at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping



After running the SSX2 and SSX3 the XT40 is my new fav trail daylight bringer!



XT40

Looks fantastic on the bars...







Daylight! ...



Beam shots







Comparisons

Some low, medium, high comparisons

LOW...



MEDIUM...



HIGH (the distance, height, and throw of the light is phenomenal. Look at the trees and the ground after the trees)...



Battery box fits snugly in the Blur frame


Heat concerns

When moving on High the XT40 is warm to the touch, after a fast descent its timid to the touch. Once stationary it gets hot to touch, after around 2-3 minutes it dims down slightly and puts itself into medium mode!

This is great as sometimes I forget to turn onto low when stopping for a mid ride snack etc.

On low and medium modes, both moving and stationary heat remains low.The heatsink appears to work as intended, heating up quickly on high mode and dissipating the heat efficiently when moving, with built in protection once stopped. The above tests have been on the recent balmy 16-18*c nights too, come next weekend riding in single digit figures i'd wager it to run even cooler.

Xtar VP2 Charger

Xtar VP2 charger considered to be one of the best 2 bays on the market. Has a 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 amp charge setting, volt reading, and took around 2.5 hours for a pair on full setting. (This is quicker than my old Nitecore I4 which only delivered 0.375 amp when all four bays used)

Perfect cutoff at 4.19v...



Four Torchy 3400 mah unprotected 18650 fit perfect in the solarstorm battery box and lid seals fully...



Nice secure screw down top cap...



Batteries @ 3.76 from 4.19 volts, not bad after a 2.5 hour ride on x4 CREE XM - L2 U2 with a mix of medium and high...



Conclusion

Overall i'd rate the XT40 very highly, I don't really feel the need to wear a headtorch anymore, the beam cast in terms of width and throw is truly astonishing. SSX2 and SSX3 are confined to the drawer for spares. Medium setting is really enough for anything but the steepest of trails, high is just mind blowing.
 
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#97 ·
XT40: Trail test #2

I pulled another ride tonight with the XT40 on the helmet but this time a little longer. Truthfully it was such a nice night I wanted to ride another couple hours but unfortunately I wasn't feeling really well tonight. With this in mind I once again rode my local trails so I could bail out early if needed. With the stomach problems I was having I had to be careful not to over do it. I hate it when stuff like this happens but it is what it is and I had to deal with it.

I did however find a couple good-swoopy-fast sections of trail to ride. This once again enabled me to test the XT40's ability to illuminate my way on some really fast technical sections. Man, I was dodging/hopping roots, ruts and trees as if they weren't there. If it wasn't for the stomach woes I would of been having the time of my life. I think this is the first time I've ever rode these sections at night with this much confidence and comfort. I almost felt like I was riding during the day. The XT40 on the helmet had me seeing all the best lines even before I could get to the turns. As a result I was pushing the same speed I might normally ride in the day. Too bad my mojo just wasn't there to help me out tonight. With the stomach discomfort I was experiencing and lack of energy I just had to call it quits early and limp slowly back to the car. Crap I hate when this stuff happens.

Some after thoughts; I didn't see the lamp heating up too much and it was a balmy 65°F night. Compared to the Gloworm X2 they were both about the same temperature.

Tomorrow is looking good for a ride. I just hope I feel better. For some reason the change of seasons always throws my insides for a loop. Usually takes me a couple weeks to acclimate to the time and change in temperatures. Funny too, just when I was getting used to the cold we had a warm day.
 
#98 ·
I finally made it out with mine last night and used it as a bar light with an x2 as a helmet light. My ride consisted of a 1 hour climb up a logging road, 30 minute high speed decent, and then about a 30 minute XC trail back out to the car. I ran it on low up the logging road and ran both lights on high for the decent and trail out. It worked well as a bar light but I think I want something with a little more light around the front tire. My next night ride I am going to try the XT40 as a helmet light and my Securitying 3x with the wide angle lens on the bars.

I also spun the Chinese light roulette wheel again and ordered another XT40 off of gearbest. Hopefully this one comes with XM-L2's as advertised. It will be interesting to compare to my current one with XM-L's.
 
#99 ·
I had a SSX2 go out on me last night on a ride. Luckily, I got it on Amazon and got a refund, so I pulled the trigger on the XT40 from GearBest. I am happy on the upgrade!

Ended up being a bad battery and could replace, but would rather upgrade. I don't know why we are all so hooked on this game of roulette. My SSX2 lasted all of 2 rides. Hopefully this XT40 is the real deal.
 
#101 ·
I played around with it at a couple of different angles. I don't think it is a bad choice for a bar light, I just think I was used to more spread from my previous light. After Cat said it wasn't too heavy to use as a helmet light, I plan on trying it there on my next ride as I feel that is the more important light if you are running a 2 light setup (1 bar / 1 head).
 
#102 ·
What battery are U all using w/ this. I know the supplied battery can't run this for too long.

Just curious.

I did buy one of these real cheap $15 6 cell clone batteries. It worked as planned but only lasted about a year which I figured isn't too bad considering price. The MAH stated 6600 but I'm guessing w/ a 2hr run time when new on a Dinotte XML-3 it's reallt 4000 MAH.
 
#105 ·
I can't speak much about the Duo haven't not seen one in person but like the GWX2 it is using optics. I think the Gloworms might have a slight advantage because the people who run the operation have painstakingly tried to innovate to improve the product. That said the Gemini people were the first to incorporate the variable 10-level sub-menu. Gloworm also does this now as well but Gloworm has strived to find the better optics, even to the point of altering the lamp to accommodate the optics.

When you buy a Gloworm X2 the lamp comes with a spot and wider medium flood optic. This provides a nice over all beam pattern coming off the bars. You can also buy the GW optics separately if you desire to change the beam pattern. I've never used the spot/spot set-up myself except on the older versions. When I picked up the newer version (3) I was so pleased with the stock set-up I decided to leave it alone.

Beam patterns of the Gloworm X2 ( v3 ) are available on the MTBR 2015 review. It produces a nice even beam pattern and illuminates well both close in to the bike and far away. As for the Gemini Duo, I've never heard anyone who owned one complain that they didn't like the beam pattern.
 
#179 ·
first post here after many years of lurking.

bought this lamp after the recommendation and im extremely unhappy. connected lamp as soon as it arrived, worked perfect. decided to fully charge batteries before next use. removed protective plastic coating on batteries and charged batteries to full charge. placed lamp and all parts away in original box. reconnected battery box to lamp few days later and nothing. it hasnt worked since. peeled back remainder of protective plastic coating on batteries just a little encase it was interfering with connections in battery box. nothing. no light. batteries seem to be fully charging in supplied charger. wrapped cling film around batteries encase the thickness of batteries was an issues as the only time the lamp worked was when the batteries had the original protective plastic wrap. no joy. nothing. no light. placed electrical tape around the the negative terminal of batteries as i noticed the terminal can be easily removed from the batteries, without covering the terminal. nothing. i did notice though while experimenting with the battery box and by plugging the adjoining cable of the battery box into the cable of the lamp, that the three lights on the back of the lamp briefly flashed a couple of times while experimenting. im hoping that this means that the lamp is ok but the battery box is knackered. any takers? any advice?

thanks in advance, a very unhappy irish guy that was hoping to go night time mountain biking for the first time
 
#111 ·
Was looking at the DX site and found these two links

Link A: SolarStorm XT40 4 x Cree XM-L2 T6 2000lm

Link B: SolarStorm XT40 4-LED 3300lm

So confusing, looks to be very similar. One light has XM-L2-T6 and 2000lm (real or otherwise), while the second one is XML-U2 and saying 3000lmb (real or otherwise)

Can someone tell me what the differences are between these two. Does on light really have 50% more lm. I take it the lm rating on both lamps is exaggerated.

Editing to ask about batteries required for these lights. I am use to my Dinotte lights with a built battery pack. What is required for the Solarstorm lights.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.
J
 
#112 ·
I bought one from the first link and I got a light with XM-L U2's. It is still a great light but not what was advertised. DX gave me a $5 discount, which seemed like a better option than paying to send it back. I run mine with a cheapo amazon 8 cell battery and I get around 2.5 hours on high.
 
#124 ·
Had the (very recent) experience with DX sending me XM-L based X2 instead of XM-L2.

After a couple of emails, they agreed to take it and pay it back.
They reimbursed both light AND shipment cost.

But the price of the shipment cannot be more than half the price of the wrong item.

Anyway, I found it faire from them (they also proposed a discount of 10$ if I was going to keep the light).
 
#132 ·
how to tell different leds apart

Saw the post below this thread, which helped me understand the led changes over the last little bit. The question now is how to tell each of these apart? Here is the entry from the linked thread.

Hi Fobfather. The XM-L evolution is going like this from 2010. Most were like stunned mulletts when they first witnessed the Seoul Semiconductor SSC P7 in 2010 popularized by the MJ-808 - TiGeo hasn't quite recovered yet.

2011 saw the leap to Cree XM-L T6 > XM-L U2 > XM-L U2 0D (not mainstream but brighter than the standard U2). As we expect the next step to be XM-L U3 this bin has been outshouted by the all new XM-L2 annouced late last year. XM-L2 T6 was spawned (first product to have this was the S12 Two back in March 2013 then the Sogn 900 right after that and is current with the SSX2s and 3s etc) > next up is XM-L2 U2 found in new Gloworms since over a month ago and you may see something from Xeccon in the form of XM-L2 U3.

Just see who's getting the best model in terms of build quality. There seem to be quite a mix of grade and parts especially when it's all supposed to be manufactured at by Shenzhen Mingxiao Technology CO., LTD. Aiming for XM-L2 is probably the best idea.
 
#134 ·
Saw the post below this thread, which helped me understand the led changes over the last little bit. The question now is how to tell each of these apart? Here is the entry from the linked thread.

Hi Fobfather. The XM-L evolution is going like this from 2010. Most were like stunned mulletts when they first witnessed the Seoul Semiconductor SSC P7 in 2010 popularized by the MJ-808 - TiGeo hasn't quite recovered yet.

2011 saw the leap to Cree XM-L T6 > XM-L U2 > XM-L U2 0D (not mainstream but brighter than the standard U2). As we expect the next step to be XM-L U3 this bin has been outshouted by the all new XM-L2 annouced late last year. XM-L2 T6 was spawned (first product to have this was the S12 Two back in March 2013 then the Sogn 900 right after that and is current with the SSX2s and 3s etc) > next up is XM-L2 U2 found in new Gloworms since over a month ago and you may see something from Xeccon in the form of XM-L2 U3.

Just see who's getting the best model in terms of build quality. There seem to be quite a mix of grade and parts especially when it's all supposed to be manufactured at by Shenzhen Mingxiao Technology CO., LTD. Aiming for XM-L2 is probably the best idea.
IMO the recent "advances" in xml2 techonlogy ove the years are not that profound imo. since they can puch lumens with better bins and so on ON THE BEHALF of spectrum. this is pretty much a zero sum game. You are shifting the spectrum around to get the most lumens since this is not linear from xrays to infra red. if it were they would all have the exact same amount of "Power emmited as light"

sure the bins separate the leds, because some are not upto the best spec, these get labeled lover bins. Lower efficiency per watt and so on, these are seconds pretty much (but usable).

You know how they make the best intel processors and the lowest grade ones?? all start out as the best ones, but during production some wafers don't turn out as good as the "reference best one/best possible" so these have cores turned off and lower mhz, but they are still the same chip, just not completely functional, otherwise they would have all been the most expensive processor. But only like 5% is that good, the rest gets "binned" accordingly, maybe 2.4ghz and 2 core because thats all thats working on that chip. so they sell it as a that. But when created it started out as a max ghz chip 4 core, hyperthreading.

Its the same with leds. this is how they bin them.

I mean the best highest luymens leds today are much bluer than like 2 years ago. much higher lumen too but that lumen rating does jack ****. since its all blue, its monochromatic, the gain is monochromatic. looks good on paper, does nothing in real life!

Now metal halide 400-600-1000w lights these are (some are at least) continous spectrum from uv to ir like the sun. if these gain lumens they gain efficiency. You can get extreme liumens per watt if you just put out 2 spikes of light where the lumens are measured (lumens are measured like the human eye sees it, non linear), most animals sees green much better then us and most plants only use narrow spectrums of uv, red and blue light, shina monstly green light on them and they wont grow (like regular halogens), still high lumens. It does jack ****.

So don't bee fooled by these higher lumen binnings and all that ****. Because its not very useful to humans.

just get the things you want and drive em to the amount of light you want. its mostly a zero sum game anyway with the diodes.
 
#136 ·
Using the official solar storm battery box...



With four 18650 3.7v 3400 mah... (dont know whether serial/parra?)



On a 2.5 hour ride with a mix of high/medium i'm left with 3.76 volts in each cell, from a fully charged volt of 4.19 volts,



so 0.43 volts used. In effect I could do another 2.5 hour night ride and still have 3.33 volts on getting home.

So I think the above 18650 3400 setup is decent and cheap, and will easily give 5 hours on medium/high, if not more? The lowest you could take the cells is 3 volts right?
 
#137 ·
...^^^...Yes, pretty much . For a battery to be 8.4 volts it has to be configured 2S/2P so that is why you have two cells up and two down. One of the advantages of a battery box is that if you wanted to you could carry two extra cells for back-up. If you ran the batteries down you could stop, take the batteries out and drop in only two cells, one up, one down. Provided they don't move ( with two spaces empty) you would have enough power for a couple more hours on low to medium output levels. Just be sure not to run two full cells with two almost dead cells as that would be very bad for the cells. I don't own one of these holders but in theory it should work.
 
#141 ·
Thanks CMD and Garry, the x2 spare battery trick is good to know :)

@marmick mine reads 1 bar from time to time, very soon after setting off with four fully charged batteries, yet I always get home to the same as usual 3.7 ish volts after a few hours out. I think in my case it could be the wire is too thin on the battery box to handle the volts the XT40 needs, or the connection isn't 100%. Doenst seem to impact it in any way other than thinking the batteries are lower than they are.

Do you know at what low volt point the flashing would occur on an 18650?
 
#142 ·
Do you know at what low volt point the flashing would occur on an 18650?
It depends. Some cells can be discharged down to 2.5v and some don't go that low at all. and some cells has a larger voltage drop when you draw lots of amps from them. also low temps will decrease capacity quite a lot.
 
#143 ·
The battery box that comes with the Solarstorm lights also has a plug in for recharging. Do you ever use it, or do you use you external charger (XTAR) to ensure the batteries are charged properly.

I guess you could try charging in the box, then measure the charge with the XTAR charger to see what the battery box charger is doing.

Are the Torchy batteries protected or unprotected cells. What are the pros and cons on using one or the other.

I am learning more on batteries and lights than I thought I would need to know to get a good yest less expensive light solution.
 
#144 ·
Unprotected cells are good for batterypacks where you have an external protection circuit that monitors the batteries. Then you may not want a second protection circuit that might do cutoffs at places you don't want.

Protected cells are good for stand alone operation, like dumb cheap lights that takes one or 2 cells, so you can't overcharge/overdischarge them (also the protection usually limits how many amps you can draw from one cell, to prevent explosions).

You can still use unprotected cells in most quality lights since these shut down at a certain voltage, and good chargers don't overcharge them and so on. Only some chemistries of cells needs protection circuits, some are safer and don't explode and some are simply impossible to overcharge, at least thats what I've heard. look it up on batteryuniversity.
 
#145 ·
Nice explanation car bone :)

@rideitall Torchys are unprotected, I like the idea if i'm out, with a puncture say, in the middle of no where, i'd prefer my lights to keep on running at lower volts to get me home with some visability, as opposed to protected being too keen and putting me in the dark.

I've not seen the plug in for recharging? Is this simply using the normal connection wire, but putting a charger in it?
 
#148 ·
I received my XT40 from Gearbest 20 days after ordering. It came with a softpack battery in a plastic shrink-wrap. I compared it to the Yinding Duo clone, here's how they both look on high.

Yinding


XT40


I'll give the battery it's run-through on tonight's ride. It came with a connector that fits my other MS-type connectors, but it also has a threaded barrel lock. I'll carry a spare battery tonight so I can see how long it lasts on high.
 
#152 ·
i received my xt40 from gearbest 20 days after ordering. It came with a softpack battery in a plastic shrink-wrap. I compared it to the yinding duo clone, here's how they both look on high.

Yinding


xt40


i'll give the battery it's run-through on tonight's ride. It came with a connector that fits my other ms-type connectors, but it also has a threaded barrel lock. I'll carry a spare battery tonight so i can see how long it lasts on high.
wow :D :D :D
 
#150 ·
Received mine today 22 days after ordering from FastTech. The LEDs are XM-L2, as there are two bonding wires coming off of each. I'm very impressed with how light the unit is compared to my significantly heavier 3x unit. The battery case seems to be very well constructed, but I hate that there is also a USB cable in addition to the magicshine compatible one. Safe to just cut that off an tape it? As for the light itself, I'll have to test it outside to see what it really does. Super bonus alert: "strobe" feature is actually a quick pulse instead of a dizzying strobe. This bumps the usefulness of the light up significantly for commuting.
 
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