Excelvan / Floureon MDSD-2NB Mounted Torch Kit
Price: £6.50 free shipping
Manufacturer: Excelvan - Floureon
Model: MDSD-2NB
Power: 1x White Cree XP-E, 1x Blue Cree XP-C ?
Run By: 6000mAh Internal rechargeable Battery
Focus Type : Zoom
Modes: 4 high white, high, medium, low blue
Vendor: UK seller topfaithshop via ebay
Description:
What's in the box?: Floureon torch, adjustable tripod with spirit level, Waterproof carry pouch, UK plug adapter, instruction sheet
First Impressions
I just had to buy one of these! A big fat rechargeable lamp with a tripod for under £7?!
I have so many possible uses for this it's seemed silly not to take a chance and bag one.
Shipping from the UK means no lengthy delivery times and so it arrived after a couple of days.
It comes well packaged in a plain cardboard box. Inside is the torch, a nice waterproof pull string carry bag, a UK wall charger, an adjustable tripod and an instruction sheet. Quite a lot of stuff really.
The torch is made from good quality aluminium with a scratch proof anodised finish. It's big and heavy. I don't have any decent scales to weigh it but it feels like 100-200g? Heavier than any of my other torches anyway. This weight is down to the large rechargeable lithium battery pack which is tucked behind the tail cap electronics. I haven't taken this pack out yet but it feels looks like it could be a four pack of 18650's in there. - not sure it's capable of 6000mAh charge to be honest.
The head module contains two Cree XP-E chips, 1 white and 1 blue. The blue chip wavelength is very nearly ultra violet but not quite. The chips are mounted side by side and seems to be centred correctly.
Operating the zoom function involves rotating the head in and out rather than the usual push-pull zoom found on the majority of the Chinese torches. I'm not a lover of screw zoom torches but I don't really mind on this occasion. It's easy to move and can be done with one hand.
The convex lens has a large diameter and magnifies to a high level.
The tail cap on this torch is well made and features a waterproof clicky button and charge port cover. The screw threads on the cap are well machined but don't feature a rubber seal which doesn't bode well for water testing. Inside the tail cap is a small circuit board which connects to the battery pack via some block connectors. Good quality electronic components seems to be in abundance here.
The tripod is a nice little addition to this kit. It's not the best quality tripod by any means but it's functional and has a handy spirit level near to the handle. It's fully adjustable and rises to a reasonable height when extended. It doesn't weigh much and shouldn't add much weight to your gear if you plan on taking it out and about.
It even comes with a decent instruction sheet!
How often do you get a good instruction/spec sheet with your cheap Chinese torch? - hardly ever. This one is OK and the Chinese translation intelligible. There is a bit of bullshit on there regarding the power output but I kinda saw through all that when I got it.
Who Makes This Lamp? Excelvan or Floureon?
I'm still trying to work out who makes this torch.
The packaging says excelvan and the torch says Floureon on it. A bit of a mystery. I'm wondering if excelvan just buy these off Floureon and flog them on with their own branding? It's a little strange bit It's not a big deal.
The Bag
The pull string bag is a great addition to this kit and was not expected. It's made from a waterproof polythene? Not sure. It's strong and seems like it could take a bit of water without breaking a sweat. It's plenty big enough for the torch and the wall plug but not for the tripod. Not a big deal though.
I'm very happy with this torch package.
High Power white
High Power Blue
On high power mode this torch dishes up a fair amount of lumens. Not the 1500 stated on the paperwork, more like 300 - 500 in reality. It's bright enough to throw a fair distance when set to spot and enough to fill a room when set on flood.
Attaching the torch to the tripod offers precise beam direction useful for photography applications. Switching through the blue modes from 100% - 50% - 25% the spot beam is ever present and easy to make out.
The quality of the beam is good. Set to flood and the outer halo on the circle has a nice yellow tinge much like my LED LENSER headlamp.
Overall performance is good. I like this torch a lot
Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅ 5 out of 5
Top marks all the way with this little number. This Floureon torch is built to a good standard and has a long run time. As a complete kit it's unbeatable value at £6.50.
I most definitely will be purchasing another soon.
Update #1
I should have another one of these arriving tomorrow!
Update #2 - Something I hadn't noticed in the original testing. when setting the blue led to narrow focus the actual blue beam can be seen for up to 30 feet when pointed into the sky! Very much like a star wars light sabre. It's significant as this is the only torch I have that is powerful enough to do that...
Update #3
Unsure as to wether driving an XP-E LED at almost 12V is a good idea. (3x 3.7V internal lithium battery pack).
The main white LED has flickered a couple of times..😥
Seems like it's about to burn out! I hope not...
Update #4
Following the unfortunate demise of the white LED the seller kindly sent a replacement within 48 hours. That's what I call good service.
So many thanks to topfaithshop for being so helpful.
