Dive light from E-Bay -- Great buy!!!

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

Before I start I must let you know I am in no way affiliated to this product or the e-bay seller for the mentioned product.

I recently needed to get a new scuba light but did not want to spend a ton of money on one. Went to my LDS and looked at what they had and most of the lights that were bright enough for my needs were priced over $100. There was one light I actually liked but it was almost $200.

So I decided to go on Alibaba and actually found one that looked exactly like the one at my LDS. Same color, design and also 5000 lumens. Looked a little further and they also had it on e-bay for $26.86 with great feedback by prior buyers (99% positive).

So, although a little apprehensive I decided to go ahead and purchase on with paypal just in case... It arrived today, only 4 days after I bought it. Impressive!! I bought the battery for it from radio shack and voila it works great and it is bright too. So far so good. Tried it in the pool and no leaks.

As anyone of you ever purchased a dive light from e-bay? Any remarks?

I like to support my LDS and do so very often... But at times the finances just force me to be very frugal!

BTW this is the light I bought and was shipped to me from California: 5000 Lumen 60m 3 CREE XM L T6 LED Diving Flashlight Scuba Lamp Torch Waterproof | eBay

 

[diver 85]

Frugal???......nah, that's the American way of life these days..........

Thanks for the heads up, might need to order one myself..........After all, my new edited name on SB is now 'frugal diver 85'...

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

LOL Diver 85

I guess so... I try to give my LDS as much business as I can, but unfortunately sometimes I just can't!
Just so you know the torch does not come with a battery. I bought a pack of 2 batteries and charger for $24 at Walmart. The light only uses one battery at a time so that means you will have an extra... Actually works good for me to have a backup battery. I also just ordered another light for my son so the extra battery will go on his light.

I went online and searched for it and found good reviews and even the manufacturer. I also found a dive shop selling them for $160...

I figured being on ebay with returns accepted and free shipping the price was right. Plus I used paypal and that gives you an extra protection from scams.

I'm happy!

 

[eelnoraa]

Just don't think you are getting 5000 lumen, 1x 26650 and 3 XML LED, with high drain battery, you will probably get 1000-1200 lumen out of the light at most. With 4000mAh cell, for the run time of maybe 50 minutes. For the cost it doesn't sound bad at all. Hope it is reliable tho

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

I've had it running in my fish tank for the last 65 minutes and counting...

 

[Ken T]

Is it more of a flood light or has a pretty tight hotspot underwater?

The eBay listing had only above water shots of the light.

 

[Craig66]

My experience with the Chinese lights are that they are very hit and miss but at those prices an occasional miss aint bad.

You can increase your odds of a hit by changing out the o ring to a better quality O ring and lubing well. Also remember that the lumens advertised are very seldom what you actually get and especially as the battery starts to run low you will get a dramatic fall off however even if you are only getting 1000 Lumens that is way more than needed for most dive applications.

Finally being water proof at 3 feet might be very different from being water proof at 60 feet and salt water getting into the battery case can be an explosive situation to say the least.

 

[cool_hardware52]

My experience with the Chinese lights are that they are very hit and miss but at those prices an occasional miss aint bad.

You can increase your odds of a hit by changing out the o ring to a better quality O ring and lubing well. Also remember that the lumens advertised are very seldom what you actually get and especially as the battery starts to run low you will get a dramatic fall off however even if you are only getting 1000 Lumens that is way more than needed for most dive applications.

Finally being water proof at 3 feet might be very different from being water proof at 60 feet and salt water getting into the battery case can be an explosive situation to say the least.

Careful with that Oring, many (most?) are metric and not readily available in the US. The SAE size that "seems" correct can be just enough different to cause grief.

Tobin

 

[Craig66]

Careful with that Oring, many (most?) are metric and not readily available in the US. The SAE size that "seems" correct can be just enough different to cause grief.

Tobin

Tobin, I do agree but looking at the O rings that come on some of the lights there is sometimes no consistency between the o rings and even within each o ring there are diameter differences as you go along the circumference that are visible even to the human eye.

 

[Charles2]

I also just purchased a similar offering using the same logic as Fiddler. 5000 Lumen 3X CREE XM L2 LED Scuba Diving Flashlight Torch Waterproof Light | eBay I paid $22.50. I haven't even picked up batteries for it yet, but will soon. I am still very skeptical that it will deliver anywhere close to the rated light output or that it will actually prove to be waterproof - but $22.50 - I've gambled larger sums on less rewards.

Good point about salt water in the battery case, Craig.