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SolarStorm/FandyFire X2

401K views 1K replies 165 participants last post by  ledoman 
#1 ·
Black-and-white Monochrome photography Technology Monochrome Cable


$46.54 Fasttech

OR

$65 Fancyflashlights

I like what it says about the modes, that is, the order of the modes and the hidden strobe. Unfortunately it doesn't give the strength of each mode or say if both LEDs are used all the time like I hope they are.

High performance electronic switch for turn on/off and change the mode in Lo > Mid > Hi, press over 1 second to access Strobe Mode
2000 chinese lumens. With a current draw of 2.3A, it should put out nearly 1000 emitter lumens.

A 1A charger is better than what most cheap lights come with.

If the throw is decent, the low profile should make this a decent helmet lamp.

It comes with the typical 4x18650 battery pack of unknown quality.

I'll keep an eye on this. I've been using a heavy flashlight on my helmet, and although the throw is phenomenal, it strains my neck too much on long rides.
 
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#2 ·
View attachment 782741

$46.54 Fasttech

OR

$65 Fancyflashlights

I like what it says about the modes, that is, the order of the modes and the hidden strobe. Unfortunately it doesn't give the strength of each mode or say if both LEDs are used all the time like I hope they are.

2000 chinese lumens. With a current draw of 2.3A, it should put out nearly 1000 emitter lumens.

A 1A charger is better than what most cheap lights come with.

If the throw is decent, the low profile should make this a decent helmet lamp.

It comes with the typical 4x18650 battery pack of unknown quality.

I'll keep an eye on this. I've been using a heavy flashlight on my helmet, and although the throw is phenomenal, it strains my neck too much on long rides.
Great find Leaftye!! This lamp seems to be a repackaged version of the D99 that D/X was selling a while back but a bit more refined. The battery is probably crap but the lamp looks pretty nice. I expect people to be all over this. Unlike the D99 this lamp has only one button but does the same thing as the D99. Has battery indicators as well. Push/hold to activate strobe. I might get one of these myself. After seeing these it wouldn't surprise me to see D/X and other websites selling these as well. Very good price. Hope the battery is not crap but not a big deal even if it is. The battery connectors have a screw-on sleeve but other than that they are likely similar to standard MS connectors. It wouldn't surprise me if the MS type batteries work without too much problem.
 
#30 ·
I bought the black SolarStorm version from FastTech. What can I say, red isn't my thing, and Li stuff with Fire in the name is just scary, and hopefully not profetic.

Ordered 10 PM MST April 4. Used the cupon code "TENOFF" and got 5% off the order. Shipped April 7th (Happy Birthday to Me!)

When it shipped, my my order page showed a picture of my package and label. I hadn't run across that before. It was mildly comforting (Yes we really did ship your order - See!)

HK Post showed that the package finally made it out of Hongkong on April 13. Canada Post never showed anything with the tracking number. Received at my door April 19.

I'm quite pleased with the service from FastTech, and will order from them again.

I like to mode spacing on the light. While I haven't taken it out on the bike yet (heck haven't even taken the bike out yet), Low seems bright enough for road/pathway biking.

The lighthead is 93 grams as advertised.

Out of the box lighthead showed three dots. You know, a boy and his new toy -- I had to start playing without topping up the charge. Probably shone it around for 1/2 hr or more in all the various modes. Then left it on in low to see how long it would go. Not a real timed test. With the out-of-box charge, it ran on low for more than 6 hours plus whatever extra time I spent playing. I meant to turn it off before bed, but forgot about it. It was on one dot before I went to brush my teeth. The instruction sheet says that when the runtime is <30 minutes the last dot will flash. I didn't see it, so I can't vouch for that. The battery took about four hours to charge the next day (again not really timed.)

Battery connector seems well thought out. I have garden lighting with a simillar screw together connector. That stands up to all kinds of weather. The connector mates well with our standard batteries. It you look at the pictures, the orange O-ring goes inside the barrel of the standard connector, so it may even be more watertight than with my other light. It feels secure and snug as a bug in a rug.

Bar mounting O-rings appear to be silicone (or some other plastic) rather than rubber. I read somewhere on here that the silicone rings are more grippy than rubber ones. Time will tell.

My only critisism would be about the flash mode (not that I'm likely to use it.) SOP is that we should almost never use the highest mode on the road. The flash mode is a slow strobe between High and off. I wish it used to power level you were on when you did the "press & hold" to activate stobe mode.

It's nice to see that FastTech updated the listing by adding the disassembled picture (including measurments). It had originally been posted to the modding thread on their forum, in answer to Khrystyan27's question.

So far I'm pleased with this little guy. At least as of now, the battery seems ok, and better than some those E-water offerings. If you Need a less than $50 light, this seems like a good one to try.
 
#35 ·
Just did a quick bit of twisty singletrack (as well as a fast dirt road descent / slow climb). The beam pattern seems a bit too floody for the helmet and a bit too spotty for the bars. So, that should make it the 650b of light patterns. Tons of light for <$100. The smaller o-ring is a bit sloppy for a 25.4 bar. Not terrible, but I'll probably use another tighter one I have laying around.

I took off the plastic mount for the helmet light and used my preferred method of 3M Dual Lock. Removing the mount leaves a threaded hole that does not penetrate the body of the light. Perfecto.


SolarStorm by bbaker22, on Flickr
 
#36 ·
Just did a quick bit of twisty singletrack (as well as a fast dirt road descent / slow climb). The beam pattern seems a bit too floody for the helmet and a bit too spotty for the bars. So, that should make it the 650b of light patterns. Tons of light for <$100. The smaller o-ring is a bit sloppy for a 25.4 bar. Not terrible, but I'll probably use another tighter one I have laying around.
I was afraid that it would be too spotty for bar-mount. Thanks for clearing that up. Nice helmet mount!

It's bad design that it turns off after high. That could be semi-dangerous.

Has anyone successfully swapped out the reflectors for a different type?
 
#62 ·
$14.79 Panasonic NCR18650B Rechargeable 3400mAh 3.7V 18650 Lithium Batteries 2-pack - authentic cells / 2-pack at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping
You need these batteries to fit in that battery pack.
Also these batteries have to be discharged to 2.7v to get full capacity out of them, not sure it that battery pack protection circuit will allow that...will test that a bit later.

And update on these $35 solarstorms - they actually have good batteries! Well, good for chinese batteries :) They have about 3300mAh capacity, I just tested 2 of them.
So expect about 1.5 hours runtime on high and longer on low/medium - which is not bad, you could always use that battery as a spare one for long nite rides. For main battery I still recommend to get something with higher capacity.
 
#130 ·
$14.79 Panasonic NCR18650B Rechargeable 3400mAh 3.7V 18650 Lithium Batteries 2-pack - authentic cells / 2-pack at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping
You need these batteries to fit in that battery pack.
Also these batteries have to be discharged to 2.7v to get full capacity out of them, not sure it that battery pack protection circuit will allow that...will test that a bit later.
(beginner question alert)

So I got the battery pack, the batteries, and have an iMAX B6 charger. The pack has no balancing cable, just a magicshine style cable.

I assume the idea isn't to just throw the NCR18650Bs into the pack and just charge away, but some pre-work is needed to get the most out of the new pack.

Do I need some other kind of case to put these batteries in to get them discharged to 2.7v and/or otherwise "balanced" properly before use? It doesn't appear the pack has the necessary connections/smarts:

4 x 18650 Battery Set for Bicycle Light-in Charger from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com

Sorry this might have been better posted in the battery thread... but maybe helps others putting this same pack together for the Solarstorm-style lights.
 
#320 · (Edited)
I ran an actual runtime test last night as I was curious as to runtimes in relation to the green battery indicators. Solarstorm x2 XML with a battery pack that I know to have about 3900 mah capacity.

Test run on medium

17 minutes in the green battery indicators went from 3 to 2.
51 minutes in the green battery indicators went from 2 to 1.
3 hours and 6 minutes in the green battery indicators went from 1 to flashing.
The intensity of the light seems about the same as at the start, but it's hard to tell.
4 hours and 10 minutes that light went out.
The light is noticeably dimmer at the end as expected.

So my advise, when the light starts flashing, switch back to low and you should have plenty of time to get home!

As for the stock battery, I could re-run the test, but knowing the numbers (one of my stock batteries tested out around 2000 mah) would mean roughly half on all the above numbers. Still IMO, not bad for a $35 light set! So much better than the days of the BLT lights!


Edit - battery took 3727 mah on the recharge.
 
#321 ·
I ran an actual runtime test last night as I was curious as to runtimes in relation to the green battery indicators. Solarstorm x2 XML with a battery pack that I know to have about 3900 mah capacity.

Test run on medium

17 minutes in the green battery indicators went from 3 to 2.
51 minutes in the green battery indicators went from 2 to 1.
3 hours and 6 minutes in the green battery indicators went from 1 to flashing.
The intensity of the light seems about the same as at the start, but it's hard to tell.
4 hours and 10 minutes that light went out.
The light is noticeably dimmer at the end as expected.

So my advise, when the light starts flashing, switch back to low and you should have plenty of time to get home!

As for the stock battery, I could re-run the test, but knowing the numbers (one of my stock batteries tested out around 2000 mah) would mean roughly half on all the above numbers. Still IMO, not bad for a $35 light set! So much better than the days of the BLT lights!
All of this tells me that the battery indicators on these are practically useless. According to what you said when you came up on the final indicator you still had two hour of run time left. That's not how indicators are supposed to be spaced. When the final indicator comes up you should have 20-30 minutes left ( depending on total battery capacity )

At least you did the smart thing by testing it. Now you KNOW how to interpret what the indicators are telling you "using the battery you wish to use". Others using a different battery might get a completely different ratio of readings. The point is: Test your run times BEFORE you go out. Know how to interpret the indicators with YOUR battery and you're good to go. Mr. G....good show. Thanks for the heads-up. :thumbsup:

All said, the indicators on different lamps ( depending on brand and type ) will work differently.
 
#367 ·
Thanks for the hints for the handlebar mounts, really useful.

Here's the shots I made yesterday. Using an EOS-M ISO200, f5.6 4" exposure. All pics manual mode. Exposure is about the same as the requested settings of "camera settings: full manual, ISO-100, Exposure-6 seconds, Aperture-F4.0 (ISO200 f5.6 equals ISO100 f4.0), but 6 sec exposure would really overexpose things, so 4 sec is 1/2 stop less.

X2 on low:


X2 on medium:


X2 on high:


That tree is 15m away. The small tree in the background is about 30m away (look closely).
 
#491 ·
#492 · (Edited)
IMHO the difference will be barely noticable at this current. If you drive it harder, there will be some difference - but the L2 needs to be on a copper plate. Now you can get L2 T6 in 3A/B/C or 4C tints which are neutral white, L2 U2 is just blueish 0A/D or 1A/D tint. You can upgrade emitters at any time for about $10-12, so go for which one you like.
 
#660 ·
Thermal images with temperature

At work we have a FLIR T440bx Infrared Camera, so after applying the thermal grease to the LED slugs I decided to see the heat dissipation.
The test while not to scientific was 5 minutes on high with no fan and then 5 minutes on with a fan just to see how it handled. I wish I would have tested it before I applied the thermal grease to see the difference...

Image 1 at start of test 28.3Deg C
Colorfulness Yellow Text Line Amber


at 1 minute 34.7deg C
Colorfulness Yellow Text Orange Line


Finally 5... almost 6 minutes
Blue Colorfulness Yellow Text Orange


at 1 minute with fan on, Used a small 12V fan about 3 feet away
Blue Colorfulness Yellow Text Purple


at 2 minutes with fan on
Colorfulness Blue Yellow Text Orange


Maintaining at 41.4Deg C after 12 minutes of On time, 5ish with no fan and 6ish with fan on
Colorfulness Text Purple Atmosphere Line


Hope this helps anyone
 
#941 ·
Actually, I was going to mention that as "Option #3" but decided against it at the risk of sounding too critical. ;)

Hey, it's all good....as long as the little woman doesn't find out about it. :thumbsup:

Lesson learned: Limit intake of post ride beers before charging battery. :cornut:
 
#978 ·
Good luck finding a Pannova case. Most sources seem to have dried up. Kaidomain seems to still have it, but I wouldn't doubt its actually out of stock. I'd email them first and ask. Emitters may be series or parallel. You'll have to open it up and check. Find_bruce has already set you straight on the battery arrangement. The Pannova case supports 2S1P and 2S2P (2 or 4 cells).

-Garry
 
#982 ·
Cat-man-do said:
Ah and Wh ... All in all it is pretty much the same thing just a different way of expressing it.
Not exactly. For practical purpose they might be the same, but for the energy battery stores/returns they are different.
Two batteries can have same Ah, but different voltage curve at same current load. The one with higher curve (integrated area below the curve in fact) can return more energy than the other. Put it other way around: batteries with same returned energy can have different Ah. That's why for example Sanyo 2600 can be better than Panasonic 2900 in some aplications. Ah is just one dimension and simplified unit to compare the capacity.
Of course it is easier to calculate and compare only with Ah.
(my 2 cents, just for the sake of science ;-) )
 
#990 ·
Discharge curves for single cells are a completely different subject. Some 18650 cells are able to deliver more current than others but this really has nothing to do with the Ah rating ( per cell ) as the Ah rating is base on 1C discharge and is a standard measurement. Depending on what you are trying to power, when using multi-cell batteries using cells with higher Ah rating is usually preferred. Usually the more cells you have in parallel the less important the discharge curves are per cell. Once again though, it depends on what you are powering. If you have a lamp that is using a large current draw you might want to use a battery that can "maintain" that high current draw over a larger period. Doing so though will shorten run times. The more current drawn from the battery the faster the battery will deplete.

I've considered using IMR type cells when using single cells ( for torches ). Depending on the the driver used in the circuit and the amount of current it will allow it can make initial outputs look very bright and keep them brighter longer. However, what goes up must come down...at some point so there are trade offs. So far for most applications that I personally use ( multi-cell batteries ) I found the better Panasonic and Samsung cells seem to perform better. Now if I wanted to power two high output lamps with one battery I might want to use a battery built with either the IMR type cells or a Li-Po battery, both which would be able to deliver the higher currents needed.
 
#1,003 ·
Yeah, the same I've got before the last one which is even worse. R2 and R4 (together 0.125Ohm) are sense resistors giving 2A (0.25/0.125) to the leds which are in paralell. So 1A to each led. Taking looses from lenses and reflector into account is same as would be driven at 0.8A each.

I can suggest you to solder R500 or bit less (R460, R330), over existing R2 or R4. Adding R500 wold get you resistance of 0.1Ohm and 2.5A to both leds. Adding R330 would get you 0.25/0.09 = 2.75A. Since heatsinking is bad I would not go beyond R330 unless you do some serious mod about heatsinking.
 
#1,018 ·
ledoman, Where can I pick up some R330 resistors?

Looks like I have the same X2 board as both of you. While I was fixing some of the poor soldering, I put a meter to mine at the and got a reading of 1.64A measured from the LED leads. Seems your calculations were pretty spot on. :thumbsup:



My original X2 (below) pulls 2.58A, but has a different board all together. Its night and day difference between the two.

 
#1,008 ·
It just dawned on me that the max your saying of 3A through that diode is at 8.4v. That would result in roughly 3A per LED which is more than I want. I only want 2A per LED, so that would only be roughly 2A through that diode, correct?

By the way, I'd be open to anyone wanting to send me / sell me their old X2's for the drivers. Would have to be fairly cheap and expect that they are in working order.

-Garry
 
#1,013 ·
According to what you wrote there NO. (I did not read up specs on the unit.) Delta peak is an NIMH/NiCad charging method. Lithium Ions require a CC/CV charge. You WILL cause Li-Ions to explode if you're not careful! It's a serious issue!

You'll either want a quality wall-wart style "Li-Ion Charger" (perhaps Action LED sells a compatible one sold for a MagicShine pack?). Or you get a "hobby charger" which has tons more uses at the expense of being more difficult to use.

-Garry
 
#1,233 · (Edited)
Well, I'm finally done and everything works.

- Heat transfer is much better now
- Running time is about one hour
(that unknown leds had the same running time and performed pretty good!!!)

Thanks a bunch to everyone who helped me to get it done...

Especially: Vancbiker and led-tech.de !!!

Cheers! :eek:

Genuine Cree XML2 T6 4000-4300k, modded SSX2, ca. 1,5 - 1,8 ampere)

 
#4 ·
Looks real good. There's even a red one. This is the same light that Lichitisky posted about the other day. $46 is a steal for one of these. Really all the double xml lights are a bit over-priced in my opinion, since the additional cost of an extra led is probably only about $5.

I wish they would use the standard magicshine/Xeccon connector. I think you would have to cut off the shield on the lamp side of the connector to even have a chance of compatibility. Too bad no one just sells just the connector.

It hard to tell if beam is any good. Looks more like a spot than anything.
 

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#5 ·
I wish they would use the standard magicshine/Xeccon connector. I think you would have to cut off the shield on the lamp side of the connector to even have a chance of compatibility. Too bad no one just sells just the connector.
It's still compatible enough. Look at the charger. It's the same model # that came with my Skyray bike light. That light can use Magicshine and Xeccon battery packs.

The only limitation is the charger and battery pack that come with this light may not work with Magicshine-compatible light heads. The charger is weak and the battery is cheap, so that's not a big loss. That's what I mean about it being compatible enough.

I do wish they'd sell the light heads separately...

It hard to tell if beam is any good. Looks more like a spot than anything.
That's good news for me. I want it to be more throwy if I'm going to put this on my helmet.
 
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