Curious as to how hot your e.d.carry light gets?

November 09, 2020, 04:10 PM

I've never carried the way expensive barn burners.

Let's say after three minutes in the on position,
Does yours get warm, very warm, hot or way too hot?

Mine was on once, ( 350 lumens)
And a guy in the bank told me that it was on, I fished it out of the pocket and it was very warm ,
But not to hot to hold on to in a closed fist.

I wonder about the very high end lights,
There is not much at all on the YouTube's about this.

November 09, 2020, 04:12 PM

Skins2881

They all get hot. Any decent ones will have cooling fins on it to help, but any prolonged use and they get near uncomfortable to touch.

November 09, 2020, 04:13 PM

RogueJSK

Not hot enough to burn you, but hot enough to be noticeable, and eventually bordering on uncomfortable to hold.

November 09, 2020, 04:14 PM

YooperSigs

I have newer lights that have a safety shut off if they get too hot.
Mine just get noticeably warm if used at high power for more than two minutes or so.

November 09, 2020, 04:17 PM

sigmonkey

November 09, 2020, 04:19 PM

cslinger

You want the body of the light to get hot as it is shedding heat from the LED. I have several fairy powerful lights with the smallest to brightest being the Surefire Tactician. It really is a small light and at 800 lumens is pretty powerful. It never gets too hot to handle but it warms up noticeably so.

November 09, 2020, 04:45 PM

HRK

November 09, 2020, 04:59 PM

Nismo

They get very hot if left on high for a few minutes.

I have a 1200 lumen and a 500 lumen. They were not meant to be left on high for long periods.

November 09, 2020, 05:05 PM

hrcjon

I carry a surefire backup in my pocket and when it accidentally gets on I can for sure notice. That's an LED one. A traditional one I would expect would be pretty toasty.

November 09, 2020, 05:23 PM

Joe123

I have accidentally turned on my fenix, It is very uncomfortable through my pant pocket if it's on a higher setting.(800) You definitely know something is not right!

November 09, 2020, 05:31 PM

BlackTalonJHP

My Klarus E1 gets hot enough to burn my hand after about 4 seconds on turbo. It's my night time carry light.

November 09, 2020, 05:54 PM

IntrepidTraveler

they get hot. Which is why when I'm carrying it, I loosen the top or bottom by about 1/4 turn, a "safety" in case I accidentally bump the switch to on.

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November 10, 2020, 08:17 AM

Perception

My EDC light will burn its way out of your pants pocket. 4500 lumens, 50k lux at startup. It ramps down fairly quickly and will sustain around 600 lumens.

That's physics for you. A handheld 18650 or 2 CR123A light will not be able to sustain more than 5-600 lumens. They simply don't have the thermal mass to handle anything brighter than that. All the EDC lights on the market in that size class will step down into that range either on a timer or with temperature regulation, many of the companies just won't be upfront with that information.

"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."

November 10, 2020, 08:57 AM

cslinger

quote:
My EDC light will burn its way out of your pants pocket. 4500 lumens,

Good God man. What do you EDC???

Also completely correct about 550-600 lumens being just about the max sustained output of a “normal” sized handheld.

November 10, 2020, 10:09 AM

Perception

quote:
Originally posted by cslinger:
quote:
My EDC light will burn its way out of your pants pocket. 4500 lumens,

Good God man. What do you EDC???

Also completely correct about 550-600 lumens being just about the max sustained output of a “normal” sized handheld.

Haha, I checked and its actually only 3900 and 45k. Emisar D4V2, modded with W2 LEDs by Vihn. On a warm night it starts stepping down almost immediately, but it puts out a ridiculous amount of light at first. I rarely use it over a few hundred lumens, but its nice to be able to light up the entire yard (and the neighbors yards) when you need to.

I also have an unmodded D4V2 with high CRI SST-20 LEDs. It will hold turbo for quite a bit longer before it starts to step down, but I find I prefer the throw of the modded version more most days.

November 10, 2020, 10:54 AM

Jimbo54

My EDC light is a Fenix E12 that has a 160 lumen high and a 30 lumen mid range and I've never felt it get hot. A little warm on high maybe but never what I would call hot. It's been a perfect pocket light.

Jim

November 10, 2020, 02:14 PM

maladat

quote:
Originally posted by Perception:
My EDC light will burn its way out of your pants pocket. 4500 lumens, 50k lux at startup. It ramps down fairly quickly and will sustain around 600 lumens.

That's physics for you. A handheld 18650 or 2 CR123A light will not be able to sustain more than 5-600 lumens. They simply don't have the thermal mass to handle anything brighter than that. All the EDC lights on the market in that size class will step down into that range either on a timer or with temperature regulation, many of the companies just won't be upfront with that information.

I carry a little single AA light that I bought from an aftermarket light modifier. Instead of actual AAs, it runs on a AA sized lithium ion rechargeable cell.

On the highest output mode, it puts out 950 lumens and gets hot enough to burn you in maybe 30 seconds. On a ~200 lumen output mode you can leave it on as long as you want (and as long as the battery will last) and it gets hot but not hot enough to hurt you.

November 10, 2020, 04:44 PM

1s1k

That’s another reason I like lights with a control ring instead of buttons to cycle through. I leave it set on medium so it never gets hot and offers plenty of light. If by chance I need a little more power I can twist it brighter and if it starts to get warm a quick twist in the other direction brings it right back down.