JMD DIVING TORCH CONVERSION/UPGRADE

JMD TORCH CONVERSION UPGRADE

I have or should I say had a JMD B5060 torch. It now has been converted into a JMD B21 torch. The xenon bulb is out and LED’s are in. Here is how I got on with my upgraded torch.

I had owned a JMD B5060 umbilical torch for around 3 years. It was my first choice of torch for deeper wreck diving.  Its xenon bulb produced a warm intense beam of light that illuminated the darkest corners of murky wrecks. The torch did have a few drawbacks though. The bulb took a while to warm up to full operating temperature and also battery life was fairly short at around an hour on a fully charged battery.

Then thumbing through the pages of Scottish Diver I saw the JMD advert. This was showing the new LED headsets that could be placed in the original torches. As you can imagine I was very interested in this and I contacted Claire and Julian at JMD. I sent my torch down to them and within a week it was back to me with the xenon bulb replaced with 7 3w LED’s. It certainly looked the part. 

On testing the light was powerful. I had opted for the 21W head which has a 2hr 40 minute burn time which far exceeds that of the old xenon bulb.  A 7 watt head is also available comprising 7 1w LED’s and the burn time for this unit is a staggering 5hrs 20 minutes.  The 21 watt head burns as brightly as the xenon bulb giving 1500 lumins at 6000 Kelvin. The 7 watt head gives 840 lumins at 6000Kelvin. This is identical to the JMD L7 mini torch I have reviewed earlier. For the review of this torch see here http://mikeclarkdiveblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/jmd-l7-mini-led-lantern-diving-torch.html

So you have a choice between power and burn times to suit your diving needs. I can certainly recommend the 21 watt head. It gives off a very powerful beam with a great blue white light. Gone are the days of waiting for a bulb to warm up. The LED’s draw power from the battery via a microprocessor controlled driver. Power up is instantaneous and the light omitted by the torch is constant as long as power is left in the battery.

Both umbilical and lantern style JMD torches can be upgraded.

Charging the unit is still exactly the same and if you opt for the fast charger, this does the job in around 3hours.

So should you upgrade if you own a conventional JMD B5060 torch? The answer is yes! There is no need to think about it, if you have a JMD torch and a spare £100 you will not regret opting for this upgrade. Better battery Life, Instant power, Better performance, no worries about a bulb going POP and you are future proofing your torch.

Now the question you will all be asking is how much does it cost?

Well for a new headset, that is the whole light assembly it costs:-

 7 X 1W LED model £185.46         7 Watt

7 X 3W LED model £197.46          21 Watt

And you can keep your old headset as a spare, although it’s unlikely you will ever need it again.

If you just wish to replace the bulb with the LED unit, which is what I opted for the cost is:-

7 X 1W £90.01          7 Watt

7 X 3W £102.01        21 Watt

This procedure can be carried out by the user but JMD recommend that you return your torch to them for the conversion. This will keep your warranty intact.

The full price list and details of the JMD range of LED Torches visit http://www.jmdsports.co.uk/7-led-diving-torches

Goodman Style Handle cost £30

I used the above handle with the torch and found it superb to use. I had difficulties in the past using torches with my camera system. This handle basically freed up my hand again so that I didn’t have to drop the torch every time I took a shot.

The handle is solid and made out of good materials. It has also been made to fit perfectly with the range of JMD umbilical torches.

I found it very nice to use.

Mike Clark