I don't have a thrower and was wondering if this would be a good choice for the money.
Those who have had it for awhile ,is it still working? My last Small Sun died after a week.
Thanks
I had one but sold it shortly after modding it so I can’t say for sure on how long the driver lasts.
I do know that I like the ZY-T08 much better even in stock form and it’s only $3 more. The ZY-T08 has much better heat sinking as well so it’s also better for modding purposes. I got in two more ZY-T08’s the other day from Wallbuys and the only issue I had at all with them was that the drivers were pushed in a little funny and it cause a sharp edge to stick out. Ten seconds with a file took care of that though.
After seeing the N-Light ST90 at CNQG, I’m not feeling very needy of a T13. It costs twice as much, yes, but it looks as if it would be so much better. Plus people here have reported T13s coming with plastic reflectors. Think about it…what kind of 2x18650 light are you going to get for $17.
I think the T08 is a better light than the T13 for reasons 18sixfity mentioned. I have both, but I prefer using the T13 because it has better balance than the T08 and the side switch is very nice. At $17 the T13 is a good deal and I’m thinking about getting a second one. Both are good throwers, and owning either one will probably make you want more throwers. 
I’ve modded 4 or 5 of them past year and thay all still work. Last two came with plastic reflector(from Manafont). Stock it’s not very brite, but easy to mod.
I think I will wait a few months and add some more money to the pot. I would hate to get this and end up disappointed and end up spending MORE money later on something else. I like the form factor of this light but Crelant, N-Light, $WM all have similal lights. I will wait for a deal on one of those.
Thanks all!
Actually the T13 was rated as being the best buy in a thrower when it was close to $30. Don’t let the price fool you it’s no slouch. The N-Light ST90 is a nice looking light but I doubt it outperforms the T13 by much and for $42 plus shipping I can 100% guarantee that I can make a T13 smoke the N-light.
For that money you can get a Trustfire X7 that will simply walk all over either of them and can be modded for another $6 into a “super” thrower by adding a de-domed XM-L2. I’m talking about 6x the throw.
I’m suggesting that this particular T13 has had corners cut. It’s happened before and again, at $17, I’m suspect of any light that has two switches.
…Okay, that has me tempted. But the side-button and overall look of the N-Light is just…cool. And forgive me, but I won’t buy a Trustfire off of eBay without seeing that sticker on the inside of the battery tube first, especially at a little over half what other sites want for it. I don’t doubt the throw numbers but I really don’t think I’m interested in a pencil-beam thrower, at least not yet.
Once you start chasing lux you will always want a little more. I don’t think you would be disappointed at all with it and especially not for that price. Will you want more and end up buying a better thrower? Unless you buy the absolute top of the line thrower that is already modded you will probably end up wanting more anyway. Heck even then it’s likely you will want more if you are anything like the rest of us lux junkies. 
The ZY-T08 is one of my all time favorite lights and that is why I suggested it. but the T13 is a great light and at that price I am tempted to buy another one myself, but I am a little worried that it might come with a plastic lens, another reason that I would still suggest the T08. Another nice thing about the T08 is that it fits in a coat pocket. In fact it fits in my jeans pocket. Not that it’s exactly a pocket light but I do carry mine in my front pocket once in a while on walks in case I want to use a thrower when I’m carrying a flooder.
Both of my ZY-T08 (one from FT, other from Wallbuys) have plastic/resin reflectors, but they are good quality. I sanded down one of them to make a bit more room for the wires on a 20mm Noctigon. I really like the T08 for modding, lots of driver space and two cells are nice. The body threads are a loose fit For $20 it is a nice light; even in stock underdriven form it throws well, even more so with a dedomed emitter.
Both of mine arrived with the exact same driver. I dedomed one of the stock emitters so I could compare them side-by-side. The de-dome does increase throw considerably but also decreases hotspot size.
I’m just wondering…are plastic reflectors bad because they absorb more light, or because heat could make them warp?
Wallbuys ZY-T13 has plastic or metal reflector?
Yep reflectors are some kind of plastic no matter where you buy them from and still great flawless reflectors. I also mod the battery carrier to serial so I can run higher amp drivers. I have one with a aspheric lens in it, SST-90 driver. Simply unreal throw. One with a de-domed XM-L2 U2 A1. The only mod I didn’t care for was the XP-G2 tons of throw but then the hot spot is really tiny. I’m going to put a de-domed MT-G2 4.8amps in one tonight. Should be fun.
I don’t think that any amount of heat an LED will generate will hurt or warp the kind of plastic used in this reflector. I’m not sure what the absorption is like vs. aluminum, my guess is that on either it is highly dependent on the quality of the coating used.
Plastic reflectors can be of low quality, but in this case (ZY-T08) I don’t believe that a metal reflector would be of much, if any benefit.
From the desctiption, it sounds like it's plastic. "Anti-shattering ultra clear lens"
There is nothing wrong with a “good” plastic reflector. (Plastic lenses are another thing completely.) The problem you have with some of them is that they do a poor job coating the reflector and it gets little flakey spots but none of my ZY-T08’s have been short of perfect.
Plastic reflectors suck, you cannot wipe without scratching them.
Manafont offered a batch with metal reflector and after that the plastic ones.
You can distinguish them from tailcap rubber button. The bad version has the power sign printed on. The good ones have the classic anti slipping button.
You shouldn’t be wiping any reflectors.
I had/have both, T13's and the cheapo/crudo one I got now has the pill glued in -- really terrible... I mean like super glued - all my efforts with the heat gun and strap wrenches could not undo it and I've opened up a bunch of LockTite bound threaded connections in lights using the same techniques.
Thanks for letting us know. That one will be scratched off of my list for sure.