Review ThruNite TC12 V2 (Pic Heavy)

There are at least 4 great BLF reviews of this light by the following members (Alphabetical order on screen name):

I'll try to compliment them with new information and minimize overlap. This light was provided to me by ThruNite to review. ThruNite has not tried to influence this review. Here are links to the their sites. They have offered a 5% Discount Coupon Code:THRUNITE

Official Website: http://www.thrunite.com (link is external)
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/ThruNite-Micro-USB-Interface-Rechargeable-Flashlight/dp/B01M3TSBB6/

Personal Experience/Thoughts:

Another ThruNite winner. Powerful with 5 great modes (plus hidden strobe). The beam pattern is for general usage with a bias toward throw. The heat comes out of this light within seconds of hitting high. Has to be the best stock thermal path I have yet encountered. The light looks awesome and feels great in hand. Nice grippy knurling. Side button with just the right amount of resistance and travel. The tail cap switch is a tad stiff, but it probably relaxes with use. Gorgeous reflector and AR coated lens. Nice clip and machining that is top notch. It is hard to find fault with it. There is one big draw back for folks that like to open up a light without risk of damaging it. Thread lock. Appears to be Red Loctite or something similar.

I did measure less throw than the specs at 11kcd. I need to verify that my meter is working right.

Pros:

  • Powerful with 5 great modes (plus hidden strobe).
  • Very useful beam pattern
  • Efficient driver that regulates current very well with 1S and 2S cells
  • Great heatsinking.
  • Gorgeous reflector and AR coated lens.
  • Great UI with signaling capability via the tailcap switch.
  • Looks awesome
  • Feel great in hand and has nice grippy knurling.
  • Side button with just the right amount of resistance and travel and a forward clickie tailcap switch for signalling and lockout.
  • Nice clip and machining that is top notch.

Cons:

  • Bezel is thread locked.
  • Could not figure out how to remove driver without risking damage
  • The anodized finish does not seem to be as durable as it should be. It's better than most lights, but not as good as I expected.
  • Battery indicator light on the side switch is off in firefly mode and also when light is off. Makes finding the switch more difficult in the dark.

Teardown Pics:

Starting at the top, the bezel begins at the third fin from the bottom. The tell tale signs of thread lock residual revels the joint. Took heat, strap wrench, soft jawed wrench, a good deal of care, and some exertion to open it up without doing any damage.

Removing the threadlock reveals beautiful square-cut threads. The o-ring (removed in below pic, but in pic above) fits tight and should keep the head from loosening even without threadlock. The MCPCB is copper and DTP. I would expect no less from ThruNite. It is nicely anchored down with 2 screws.

Reflector has square-cut threads too. LED shelf is flat and close to a polished surface. Very sweet.

Side switch is held in place with a threaded cover. No thread lock.

USB cover fits well and should make the light water resistant as long as the cover remains in good shape.

Tailcap is of typical design with a forward-clickie switch. It's well built.

Backside

Driver:

My efficiency measurements averaged about 90%. Peak efficiency measured about 93% in High mode at about 3.74 volts input. Efficiency trended down to about 90% as input voltage increased to 4 volts and then held steady up until 6 volts. The light completely turns off at about 2.7 volts.

My DMMs are not sensitive enough to measure the first 2 modes accurately.

Mode

Tail

Tail

Tail

Emitter

Emitter

Emitter

Eff

Volts

Amps

Watts

Volts

Amps

Watts

1

3.89

-

-

3.00

0.00

0.00

2

3.89

0.04

0.14

2.61

0.04

0.10

3

3.89

0.33

1.28

2.88

0.41

1.18

92%

4

3.89

0.93

3.62

3.06

1.10

3.37

93%

5

3.89

3.11

12.10

3.35

3.20

10.72

89%

Getting set up to measure tail and emitter current. Used a DPS5015 to supply and measure input. Used a shunt and a UT210E to measure emitter current.

Forgot to connect a volt meter on the emitter. So I had get some measure emitter Vf later when the light was reassembled. So chart below doesn't include an efficiency curve.

Battery:

Measured 3217mAh at 500mA on LiitoKala Engineer Lii-500. Internal resistance measured 68, but HKJ has shown that the internal resistance measurements of this charger/analyzer can be unreliable. Will try to remeasure capacity and internal resistance after a few cycles and report back.

Beamshots:

No thrower shots as this is a general purpose light.

Conclusion:

I love this light. Everything about it screams quality and great design. If you're a modder, you do have to be very confident about breaking the red thread lock as the risk of hurting the light is high.

Mods:

Tempted to try out a XHP50 since the light can run 2S cells (up to 6 volts, IIRC). I have reassembled the light, but will try it out the next time I open it up.

The light is so nice, I really don't have any mods I want to make at this time beyond installing a PilotDog lighted tailcap.board.

nice review
cool tail you made!
thanks

^

Thank you. Gotta give the credit to PilotDog on that one. Absolutely love lighted tailcaps.

ThruNite just asked me to post a 5% discount code. It is THRUNITE. Added it to the OP.

Thanks a lot for the review , and waiting for the xhp50 mod :slight_smile:

ImA4Wheelr, nice review. Thrunite has been on my list of interest for a while now.

I'll move it up a few notches.

Thumbs up^^

Thank you giorgoskok and ARsee :)

Update on review:

I give up on trying to remove the driver. I believe it is press fitted and/or glued. There are a couple knotches in the threads below the driver. They appear to be for allowing prongs to be extended under the driver. I some heat and prying, but stopped as I like the light too much to risk ruining it. At least I got the bezel off so I could measure tail and emitter voltage and current.

My efficiency measurements averaged about 90%. Peak efficiency measured about 93% in High mode at about 3.74 volts input. Efficiency trended down to about 90% as input voltage increased to 4 volts and then held steady up until 6 volts. The light completely turns off at about 2.7 volts.

My DMMs are not sensitive enough to measure the first 2 modes accurately.

Mode

Tail

Tail

Tail

Emitter

Emitter

Emitter

Eff

Volts

Amps

Watts

Volts

Amps

Watts

1

3.89

-

-

3.00

0.00

0.00

2

3.89

0.04

0.14

2.61

0.04

0.10

3

3.89

0.33

1.28

2.88

0.41

1.18

92%

4

3.89

0.93

3.62

3.06

1.10

3.37

93%

5

3.89

3.11

12.10

3.35

3.20

10.72

89%

Getting set up to measure tail and emitter current. Used a DPS5015 to supply and measure input. Used a shunt and a UT210E to measure emitter current.

Forgot to connect a volt meter on the emitter. So I had get some measure emitter Vf later when the light was reassembled. So chart below doesn't include an efficiency curve.

Interesting ! 90% efficiency on average seems good i think .