Review: ThruNite TN42 LED Searchlight

I took LUX readings between stock and just the de-domed TN42 with a little focusing, shaved the centering ring flat then added a .006” shim, before adding the LD-2 M2 driver. Both measured at the same 2M distance. Nothing at 5M-10M measurements yet. I have 6 other lights using the XHP35HI that need testing too.

Stock CW TN42 at 2M.

TN42 De-domed with stock bypassed carrier and 24awg Tinergy leads on stock driver, 2.25amps at the LED.

I don’t really care about the number’s, I just do it to do it! Visually the beam is warmer, more intense and the hot spot is visually smaller. Outside yeah you can really see the difference, no doubt about it, when shining both at my neighbors white garage door across the street! And even more with the 4S linear LD-2 M2 3.0 amp driver installed. I’m working out of state and when I get home for good I’ll do some long distance measurements and beam shot’s, of all of them!! :wink:

My T90-2 and my SD75 XHP35 HI’s are pretty impressive too! :+1:

Yep, I got mine for $165 & change.
I think they were maybe even a little lower than that a time or two on some other ‘sales’. :+1:
:wink:

how hard to get the glass out?
mines needing a good cleaning
its got a slight hazy funk i cant seem to get off of it
whats good to clean ar glass safely ?

If you are in the USA drop by your friendly WalMart and pick up some lens cleaner in the optical department or camera department. Zeiss or Baush & Lomb is what I use on my camera’s, scopes, & lights.

I haven’t had the lens out of my TN42 that I can remember but it should not be hard at all.
Edit: Disregard what I said about removing the lens….See post below by ‘KawiBoy1428’.
:slight_smile:
.

The TN42 has a wrap around seal which is really snug fitting, to the glass and to the bezel ring, remove the bezel and clean the inside fast before dust particles fall into your reflector!!! Personally I would just leave it alone, live with it, it’s not worth the other risks, dust particles attract to the reflector like a magnet, then the canned air spits, reflector falling out, ect.ect.! I have yet to find something that cleans the lens spotlessly, it always seems to be hazy, looks great when the light is off, turn it on high and look from an angle not so much, and I have had one of mine (crash test dummy) apart quite a few times, but then I have spare reflectors and lenses, most don’t, so it’s just my opinion!

tx for that friend
yeah, as soon as i pulled my bezel off, i covered the lens with a clean cloth
reflector surely does grab the dust bad
i took a hand blower for my camera and blew reflector off good while i was in it
wasnt about to start blowing compressed air in it, that stuffs a mess if it starts spewing liquid all over the place !
i wont take it apart again for sure

Hi all, I am Max from Argentina and a real newbie in the BLF. I recent aquired a TN42 that is really amazing. But reading all the post about it can´t find anyone who did a resistor mod to increase lumen output in turbo mode. Then I asked myself. is that possible?

Thanks you all.

Welcome to BLF! :smiley:

I am not sure how he modded it,other than a current boost. In stock form the light has great output and Vinh was able to get a little more out of it.

The manufacturers are catching up now. Up until a year or so ago Vinh was doubling and tripling the CD’S of a stock light.

Here are the numbers: I have Spec 1[CW] Most throw.

Spec 1 & 2:
Power Boost
1oz extra copper HS
Beam Focus

Stock Light XHP35 HI CW 6500K $200
ANSI
Lumen: 2140
Lux: 700
Throw: 1673

Spec 1 XHP35 HI CW 6500K $250 (Recommended)
ANSI
Lumen: 2400
Lux: 775
Throw: 1760m

Spec 2 XHP35 HI NW 5000K $275
ANSI
Lumen: 2150
Lux: 730K
Throw: 1709m

Here is his website:

https://skylumen.com/collections/v54-lights/products/tn42vn-throw-king-pre-order-only

ALSO THE THREAD BELOW WILL HAVE MORE INFO. MAYBE DALE DID A RESISTOR MOD.

What vinh calls a "power boost" is a resistor mod most likely. XHP35's are fussy bout amps - can't go too high, otherwise you fry the chip. I wouldn't risk it if you can't afford to lose the LED, and don't know for sure exactly what resistor value to use.

What KB1428 did is pretty phenomenal. Sounds like he did a full driver replacement, boosting the amps to near or at max of the LED, then de-domed an XHP35 HD, so in theory can get more throw than a XHP35 HI. From the meter looks like a ~20% boost over stock while vinh seems to get ~10% over stock.

I think from what I'm reading/seeing, stock TN42 does 2.25A while KB1428's does 2.94A.

Would love to see what KB1428's really does in kcd measured at 10+ meters, but I'm guessing in the 840 kcd range. His pics of the meters doesn't seem to make sense for 2 meters, but it's hard to see the readings, and units of measurement.

Thanks a lot for your kind answers. But unveliebale or not, suddenly my TN42 that only have two weeks in my hands begun to remain lighted in a less than firefly mode. The curiosty about it is that only 3 dies of the led got fired.

Any help will be very apreciate.

Max

^
I wish you luck with that. Tom E.,Dale and many others can help you more than myself!

The only simple things I can think of is:

Are you batteries fully charged? Do you have a DMM to test there voltage. Check to see that ALL contacts are clean.

Hopefully the problem can be resolved without sending it back to the dealer.

I hope so Wolfdog because I am in Argentina and all the customs issues to receive and to send packages from and to abroad are a real PITA and expensive. :person_facepalming:

Where did you get the light? In USA dealer is responsible for first 30 days of the warranty. Usually they pay for return shipping for a faulty product. It has happened to me before in 5 days w/ the TN32! Illumn paid for return shipping and sent me a new light. In fact I will try and find the picture and post it in a few minutes!

I bought it to hkequipment in hong kong through ebay. The thing worked flawless until yesterday and today I found it lighted this way. By the way how can I upload a pic from my computer?

THIS IS NOT A TN42!!

This was the LED of my TN32. It happened 5 days after getting the light! David, from Thrunite chimed in and was very concerned! lol!

Thread is from 1.2014 on CPF.

HERE IS ONE OF THE PHOTOS!

I see, but in my case is quite different. You had a catastrophic failure. Mine remains lite ve very dim (only 3 dies) but the flashlight still works as should be. It seems like a parasitic drain to the led!

You have to do it through a host. Many will work. I use postimage.org which works much better than photobucket,at least for me it does.

-click the INSERT ICON at top of page.
-put image URL in the box
-if picture is too big reduce the size in the “relative width” box
-click OK

Your right. Yours is still defective and unusable. Your entitled to get it replaced.

I feel bad for you. The challenge is getting HKE to replace it.Even in the USA it would cost too much to send it back to China.

An advantage of buying[and living in] from USA dealers is that we do not have to deal w/ China for at least the first 30 days. I have had items replaced for free that were 5 months old!

I hope some others chime in to give you ideas on possibly fixing it. I am a novice when it comes to electronics!

I am good at buying lights and then using them every night to walk my Husky Capo!! ,he starts howling/talking about 10 minutes before dark!

!https://s21.postimg.org/nihbm29mv/IMG_4770.jpg!