SANWU Challanger 2

Hey guys,

So I just got my Challenger 2 in the mail a few days ago, first impressions were good. The laser looks good, simple straight forward design, nice and heavy, very solid feeling. I thought I had a few 18350 batteries laying around but they were actually RCR123A's, so I looked online and realized that I could order some from amazon same day shipping as long as i ordered before 12pm! crazy right?!?! Being a prime member it only cost me 5$ and I ended up getting the batteries that night. As soon as the batteries arrived I threw them in the laser. Put my laser shields on and pressed the button. It was initially in safety mode, I depressed the button half way and the laser ramped and got brighter. I had it pointed at a piece of paper on my desk and it started to burn through it in under a second. This thing is very powerful, I'm really impressed with it. The only criticism I have for it is the whole multi mode function. Its a little hard to tell where its at (10< mode, SOS mode, Half power, Strobe, Full power). Also its a little hard to tell how hard to depress the button to switch modes. You dont just tap it, you gotta depress the button almost switching it off which is a little annoying but Im starting to get a hang of it. All in all the laser is great, delivery was pretty quick and Podo was responsive to all my questions. The whole process was a huge relief when compared to the nightmare of Eitan and Sci Fi. Podo thanks for everything, Im considering getting another pretty soon.

That is awesome! I was actually thinking of getting the challenger 1 because I've got a lot of 14500's laying around. I emagine the duty cycle might be a lot longer on the challenger II since it's slightly bigger I think. But great, glad you like it. I may have to get one soon.

Add some pics please!

Richie89 said:

That is awesome! I was actually thinking of getting the challenger 1 because I've got a lot of 14500's laying around. I emagine the duty cycle might be a lot longer on the challenger II since it's slightly bigger I think. But great, glad you like it. I may have to get one soon.

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Do you have a specific brand you recommend? I need to buy some flat tops 14500s for my Challenger, but I can't find any reputable brand that sells them. They're all button tops, which don't fit the Challenger 1.

Isaac Clarke said:

Sanyo 14500 UR14500P

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Do you know if these are legit UR14500Ps? The cases are blank, but that seems consistent with other sites.

Probably, but I would spend 2 dollars more and get the efest IMR, they can put out more amperage without as much voltage
sag.

The small mAh gain is not worth giving up IMR chemistry, what is your laser? 1w,2w if it's a 1 or 1.5w then those will be ok, but that size battery if a 3w would need IMR

Yours is a 1.5w or so then the non IMR will be ok.

RedCowboy said:

Probably, but I would spend 2 dollars more and get the efest IMR, they can put out more amperage without as much voltage
sag.

The small mAh gain is not worth giving up IMR chemistry, what is your laser? 1w,2w if it's a 1 or 1.5w then those will be ok, but that size battery if a 3w would need IMR

Yours is a 1.5w or so then the non IMR will be ok.

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My laser's 1W. I'm interested in buying the Sanyo over the efest, as the Sanyo comes with two batteries.

I don't plan on powering anything more powerful than 1W with 14500s. Any stronger laser I own will probably have a bigger heatsink, thus a bigger host, thus room for wider, higher capacity cells.

But I could be wrong?

EllyEnthusiastic said:

My laser's 1W. I'm interested in buying the Sanyo over the efest, as the Sanyo comes with two batteries.

I don't plan on powering anything more powerful than 1W with 14500s. Any stronger laser I own will probably have a bigger heatsink, thus a bigger host, thus room for wider, higher capacity cells.

But I could be wrong?

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The efest ad is also for 2 cells but either is ok for a 1w.

Yes a 3w or 5w should have a bigger housing, but some don't, some are made to be compact with short duty cycles.

Typically you trade capacity mAh for higher drain, so in your 1w case the higher mAh is a good choice, for some reason I thought you had a 2w this time.

There's max and then there's sustained, for lasers it's the sustained we are interested in but for the vape people max matters.

Now if you only plan to run your laser for 3 second bursts.....

RedCowboy said:

The efest ad is also for 2 cells but either is ok for a 1w.

Yes a 3w or 5w should have a bigger housing, but some don't, some are made to be compact with short duty cycles.

Typically you trade capacity mAh for higher drain, so in your 1w case the higher mAh is a good choice, for some reason I thought you had a 2w this time.

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Wait, you're right, that listing is for two cells .. you know, because it says so in the title. Oops!

Thanks for the help!

/thread derailment

Isaac Clarke said:

talking about thread derailment!!

anyway both the efest and sanyo are pretty much match up in term of discharge rate.

both has been test by a guy on BLF and was proven to be up to their claims from the respective manufacturer.

the only advantage Sanyo have over Efest is more mah.

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The IMR chemistry is superior for high drain.

EllyEnthusiastic said:

Do you have a specific brand you recommend? I need to buy some flat tops 14500s for my Challenger, but I can't find any reputable brand that sells them. They're all button tops, which don't fit the Challenger 1.

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I've actually got mostly Efest and nitecore. Efest is actually great, their imr cells are really good

Yeah any are probably good as long as you don't get trustfire. Lol!!

I like Efest IMR cells too. I take a corrected nubm44 in each hand for 5 minutes straight and the Efest don't give out, but I have gone to running triple cells.

The purple ones are a little tougher but these greens are good too, of course they better be for nearly 10 dollars a battery.

Thank you for the review! Some pics like Cel said would be nice tho + rep:beer: