Review: MaxToch Mission M12

So they did not do the M12 right the first time (no direct thermal path to led), so far for the claim that this light is stock already well done :-(

(at least for me, if I had an M12, I could not stand the idea that if they used a ledboard that costed them 1 dollar more would result in 150 instant extra lumens)

Well, stock the M12 is running ~1,100 OTF lumens, ~98 kcd, running the 26700 cell at about 4A - pretty awesome stock specs for a single cell - I don't know of any other stock light in this form factor and (or) price range doing these #'s. If you look carefully at these test results: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/25978, the copper star with a dielectric layer did pretty good at 4A. I'm not saying this is an accurate measure of the stock M12 star, but gives you an idea what could be going on. The loss may be around 50 lumens, maybe less, maybe more - all depends on how good or bad the dielectric layer is, and also, the stock M12 star is far bigger than the 20 mm star tested - I'm thinking the loss is 50 lumens at most. I know those results are not in lumens, but gives you a rough idea comparatively.

Running modded at 6.5A, of course it's a bigger impact having that dielectric layer present, as those test results show. Of course I'm preaching to the choir -- djozz - they are your test results Smile. Thanks again - those were awesome tests btw...

Also - the more I look and compare the finish of the M12, the more I'm impressed. Amanda told me the finish on the M12 cost 15% more than the 2X finish, though I thought the 2X finish was superior with it's flat black look. Now - I'm thinking the M12 finish will hold up better. Just wish MaxToch would detail it in their specs -- seems like they are selling their own products short. They list the finish as "Military Grade" which is meaningless to me... Apparently though the unclear specs is not effecting the sales of these lights, as military and law enforcement seems to be buying them out.

That’s pretty good output Tom - 1100 lumens and 97kcd stock. It seems the addition of our upgrades to this model have now made it best performer in its class - single 18650 light. That’s no small achievement.

What is the anodizing? The latest 2X was in matt black and looked very classy. How does this one differ?

This is shinier - looks more common. Maybe you can see in pics in the OP - definitely not matt black, but Amanda told me it cost more on the M12... Weird, but I like it and seems like high quality... Wish I knew more bout finish's though...

This light could prove very popular with HD2010 fans.

That was a great wee light 1-2 years ago - ran round 45-50k? stock - but only available now in various cloned forms which are often poor quality - as you know.

This M12 lifts the quality to a high level, and boots performance up to Olight levels of 2 years ago. Powerful wee unit.

Good thing is that at 98kcd stock it can be boosted to 210kcd with just a 10 minute dedome - and 210kcd is a very strong performer = 916 meters ANSI. That’s seriously good for a little belt mounted walker light. Makes it ideal for hunting too - very small but thumping output.

Interested to see what you get from it fully modded - 300+ would be massive from a wee single.

63mm head and ~33mm body with a 26700 cell hardly classifies as “wee”. :wink:

Wee is a relative term... Smile Again, bezel I.D.: M12 > Yezl Y3 > HD2010. Size does matter...

We are after high performance scope mounted hunting lights and to date we are using two 18650 batt models which are longer and heavier. In this context the M12’s smaller size is significant - esp with its similar power output to the M24 and 2X maxtochs.

It is really an impressive light from the reviews. I hope Amanda can help us to reflect our opinions about the dielectric layer to their engineers. We want direct-copper MCPCB.

LOL, when I'm doing bold and brainless statements, I'm not even checking my own results

Pulled the LED - confirmed not direct thermal path - no continuity, but if you see the tracing on top of the star, it's pretty apparent there is a layer over the surface of the star that continues under the pad. K - will attempt to sand/grind it out...

Let.us know how it turns out Tom, got one inc also. Perhaps I should stop reading your reviews haha.

Ok - finished the mod to the MCPCB. Sanded then scraped out most of the dieelectric layer, fillin the void with solder paste, piled up, then reflowed the LED - looked good. My concerns:

  • no extra solder flow out of the center pad, maybe didn't use enough?
  • wear/tear on the LED from the reflow (used hot air from below, but took long to melt the solder)
  • I did a couple of tests, so maybe didn't allow enough cooling off time

Before: on a fresh 26700 (KK) 5000 mAh cell, 6.42A: 1,462 - 1,377 lumens, throw: 120 kcd @5m

Now: on a fresh 26700 (KK) 5000 mAh cell, 4.22v, 6.10A: 1,612 - 1,455 lumens, throw: 130 kcd @5m

This is an improvement, but not as much as I thought. Also not sure why I'm only getting 6.1A now when before I got 6.42A. Maybe unreliable amps measurements - little tricky to work around the fat 26700, or something else is going on. Also, the 150 lumens drop in 30 secs is fairly high - probably attributed to the poor bonding of the star to the pill top (uneven pill top). I added more thermal grease and still didn't see any squeezed out after screwing it down.. Hhhmmm....

Thanks for all the updates and testing Tom!

Improving emitter cooling (like going from standard aluminium to Noctigon) increases Vf. Probably seem thing with the mod you did to the mcpcb. Increased Vf resulted in lower amps but at the same time higher output.

No wonder all my lights modded with Noctigon have lower amp reading.

New driver setup. Stock driver is stripped and used as a contact board. BLF17DD with 6 modes (hi-med-lo-moonlight-strobe-battery check/beacon):

Yes - that's the general pattern. Agree - could be right there with the better thermal path up'ing the Vf. Thought my XinTD X3 got higher lumens (domed LED) even at 5.X amps - gotta check #'s. I know the XinTD X3 had outstanding OTF. Of course best is maybe my TN31, measured 6.2A at the LED, and over 1,800 OTF lumens (domed stock LED) - but you got a rock solid big copper direct thermal path MCPCB, and nice buck driver with bridged resistors, and much bigger reflector, good qual AR lens, etc...

That is what the medium and low modes are for. :wink:

True, should be in the 3.2 to 4A range, depending on the cell. With the stock 5000 cell they offer, it's pretty good. It's really in the range of a modded light. Two cell lights, like the M24 would be better if you want more runtime - classic tradeoff of runtime vs. size/weight.

” Two cell lights, like the M24 would be better if you want more runtime - classic tradeoff of runtime vs. size/weight.”

True - be interesting to know exact runtime on continuous high of the stock M12. Can someone do a test with their new 26700 batt?