Thorfire JM07 review + runtimes + beamshots

Thorfire JM07 review

Ok, so I got my hands on 2 of these JM07’s while they were on clearance for $10 each shipped from amazon. I realize someone else already got pictures of the teardown, but since i took the time to take the pictures I might as well add them here.







Ok, Size comparison time.

Thrunite TN15, Warsun CT95, JM07, Xintd C8, Convoy C8, BLF d80

Review:
Ok. What a bargain at $10 shipped. As you can see from the teardown there isn’t a ton you can do to mod the driver due to the side switch controller being integral. it is a 22mm board and is held in place with a retaining ring. The head has an integral shelf built into it very similar to the new Convoy C8 so there is no removeable pill. The threads are just ok, nothing special. There was some material left in the tail cap from manufacturing. The light can use 18650 or 26650. There is some rattle when you use the provided adapter for 18650. The modes are pretty simple. The instruction book says:

High 910 Lumens for 1hr 50 min
Mid 455 lumens for 4 hour
low 91 lumen for 24 hours

double click to access strobe.

claims max beam distance of 230m
impact resistant to 1m
ipx-8 waterproof standard.

Accessories:
lanyard, o-rings, lens, switch

As far as I’m concerned the 900 lumen high is pretty realistic. I was able to get 1 hour 59 min out of an 18650 battery so use of a 26650 and this
should exceed runtimes for that mode. I think mid mode is exaggerated. I’m guessing more like 300 lumens, but I could be wrong.

I think modding this guy will be tough due to the side switch, however switching the LED shouldn’t pose any problems. I also foresee switching from the OP reflector to smooth to give this guy a little more throw.

I found that the rear clicky is pretty solid and works great, and the side clicky is good as well. It is recessed into the frame, so it shouldn’t turn on during use. The button appears to be a hard plastic. The threads are annodized so you can lock out the flashlight with about a 1/4-1/2 turn of the tail cap. The light will definitely tailstand and the bezel is crenulated.

When you compare this light to other throwers it definitely falls short. It has more spill than most of the lights I compare it to, and the hotspot is bigger and fuzzier as well. Is this a deal breaker? no way! With a smooth reflector this could get pretty competitive if throw is all you care about. However, this thing handles the heat better than most of the lights on the list. Even after 2 hours of straight runtime on high it was only warm to the touch. This is important to me. I don’t have much use for a light that is too hot to handle after a couple of minutes.

BeamShots:

The Barn is 80 foot long. The treeline is about 55 yards


Beam Comparisons:

Warsun CT9T Vs JM07

Thrunite TN15 Vs JM07

BLF d80 Vs JM07

Xintd C8 xp-g2 Vs jm07

Defiant Super Thrower Vs Jm07

Convoy C8 Xml2 Vs Jm07

Runtimes:

Ok. So my testing methods are not top notch. I used a simple cell phone app lux meter to get a rough estimate of brightness. I’m sure it’s not calibrated in any way shape or form, but the results I get from it are consistent… which is what matters. I took an initial lux reading at the beginning and updated every 15 minutes until the light shut off. The light does appear to ramp down to a lower mode at about 3.30v +/- .05v. The results were very nice, and this light should definitely exceed the manufacturers runtimes with a good 26650. My testing was with 18650’s only!

Actual runtimes are:
Panasonic ncr18650B - 119 minutes
Samsung 30B - 83 minutes
Samsung 30Q - 96 minutes

So when it comes to batteries, the high drain batteries fell surprisingly short in runtime compared to the panasonic. Those extra mah definitely made the difference. As far as initial brightness is concerned I would say that they are equal given the level of error in my method of measuring lux.

As I mentioned before, the light does appear to have a shutoff at 3.30v +/- .05v. The light goes down to the lowest mode. It does appear to blink a second, but this could be my imagination as the modes switch.

Pros:
Does not get hot
exceed manufacturers runtimes
takes protected and unprotected 18650 batteries w/ adapter
good built quality
good spread on the modes
easy teardown

Cons:
can’t swap the driver
lots of spill (could be a pro for you)
fuzzy hot spot
might be a bit underpowered

Conclusion:
I would buy this thing again in at a heartbeat for this price. I’m really excited to see what other people have to say once they receive theirs. I’m definitely concerned it is a little bit underpowered. For the runtimes I’m getting it looks like high mode is drawing about 1.7a So this may be a candidate for some mods to bring that up and to bring this light to it’s true potential. Being a rookie to modding, I’m not even going to speculate. The brightness is definitely on par with other flashlights in the 800-1000 lumen range that I won. This isn’t really pocketable for a pair of jeans, but would easily fit into a coat pocket. It seems to fit commons belt sheaths for the c8 flashlight. In a head to head matchup the C8 is a better thrower, however this light stays cooler and has much more spill if that is what you are looking for.

I missed out on the sale price. Still looking for one. Thanks for the review.

I am liking mine so far. I am getting 2.57 at the tail (spring bypass both ends and 26650 King Kong Gold 4000mAh unprotected) with the new Uni-T clamp meter at start and leveling off at about 2.43 after 30 seconds or so. The beam to me is a perfect flood/throw combination really, lots of area but decent distance at the same time.

EDIT: with the 18650 LG HE4 I am getting 2.52 at start and at 30 seconds 2.40
Also with a little extra lube on the threads mine are really smooth.

Here are a few beamshots from mine.

Light 3ft from light Gray wall

50yds (medium)

50yds (high)

Gate 100yds (High)

175yds (High)

Did you by chance take reflector measurements? Maybe you could shoehorn a C8 reflector in it.

My bezel is on super tight. Trying to find my channel locks to get it off. Once I do I’m going to start hunting.

That is a great review, appreciate all the beamshots and comparisons to the other lights… Now the wait for mine will seem longer….

I know, mine seems to be bouncing around in China.

btw Bc412, very nice review.

No, the C8 reflector is much bigger.

Ok… got some updates for those wondering.

The lens is 40mm
The reflector is 37mm x 24mm

I don’t see any easy replacements for either of them.

and the cool news. I did my first spring bypass. I was a little nervous doing it, but since I have 2 of these bad boys it gives me a chance not to worry if I destroy it.

So I set up a test using 2 Sonyo 2600mah ur18650fm protected cells. They both have just a handful of cycles on them and were both charged to 4.20 according to my DMM. One had the original springs, the other the bypass. I think the results are above any level of error in measurement and prove that the spring bypass does provide an appreciable result to the flashlight.

runtime:
Normal JM07 - 82 minutes @ 3.22v
Spring Bypass - 92 minutes @ 3.24V

Here is the result:

So… in order for anything to be a scientific result it has to be repeatable and consistent. So tomorrow I’m going to run the test again with a high drain battery.

In this case we ended up with 10 minutes additional runtime and a slight difference in the profile. The initial brightness is 17% higher, which is far more than I estimate my error in measurement. The two level out for the majority of the run, and then the bypass hangs on those extra 10 minutes before it ramps down.

as long as I don’t get a contradictory result tomorrow, i’d say that the spring bypass is definitely worth your time!

That is a cool result from the bypasses. We all tend to think of lumen gain, but on a current regulated driver, it sets the output, so the runtime would be longer….

Keep up the great work Bc412!

Trying to approach this scientifically and eliminate variables. So I ran another test using The Sanyo ur18650fm 2600mah
I compiled all of the results into this chart. It pretty obviously shows that the flashlight runs brighter and also longer with a protected battery.

Run times:

Trial 1 normal - 82 min
Trial 2 normal - 78 min

Trial 1 bypass - 92 min
Trial 2 bypass - 98 min

There is probably quite a bit of error in my measurement, just using a cell phone. However the trend is pretty obvious. Your getting a substancial 10% increase in brightness and about 10-15% longer runtime. Granted with this small of a sample it is very difficult to say how much of the result is actually error

So I ran another Test! This one was a simple test with the Samsung 30Q battery. I used the same procedure and jig to measure as trial 2.

The results on this one where different.

Runtimes:

Normal trial 1 - 96 min
Normal Trial 2 - 86 min
Bypass trial - 76 min

You can see that the spring bypass actually shortened the runtime by 15% but the light was significantly brighter for the duration of the test. I’m chalking this up to the difference between protected and unprotected batteries. I’m going to run another 30Q test just to make sure that bypass runtime wasn’t a fluke.

Also of note… I did measure contact resistance on both tailcaps. The normal tailcap read .4 ohm, whereas the spring bypass read .3 ohm. Of course not the most accurate meter on earth, so take that with a grain of salt.

Once I complete this last 30q test I’m calling it a day and am done testing this light.
My next venture may be to try to find a low resistance switch for this thing… because why not… this is what we do, and this is why we have a flashlight problem.

This has been a nice little project. Being able to see spring bypass in graphic form definitely helps me visualize what I am getting for the effort. I just hope that the real data isn’t lost in error and variables, but given the consistency of what I’m seeing sofar, I don’t think it’s the case.

Thanks for all the info Bc412. From what I hear the lights not available any more. Shame really.

Yep, it has been discontinued. Thorfire may make another 26650 light, but I bet it will be totally different from this one. :frowning:

I must be spoiled ordering from Amazon. I usually have my orders in 2 days, sometimes next day. This ones been bouncing around China since the 2nd day of Feb, lol.

Nice review, and great work on the runtime and output graphs!!

Just fyi -- this light is definitely moddable with an upgraded driver -- I've done a few dozen by now with that type of side switch. Actually I much prefer e-switch lights for modding than tail power switches. The UI is much better for advanced features.

Example of a Yezl Y3:

Eagle Eye X6R with the USB charging port that still works:

Roche AS31:

ZY-T11 clone, still one of my favorite lights: cheap, compact form factor, great for modding, takes a big MaxToch 26 mm MCPCB:

Thanks for the review and pics. This light looks like a steal for $10 and a great host.

Thanks for the pics Tom E. Those look great. I don’t think that I’d previously seen pictures of how you were installing the gate pulldown resistor. Very nice/slick!

Finally received mine today. China Post sucks, tracking still has it in China. Sorry that I didn’t purchase 2, it’s a nice light, and likely a keeper. Doubt I will do much to it, I like it the way it is.

Edit: I did find a smooth reflector that could be fit to this Reflector I’m gonna order one.

FWIW I’m pretty confident that the reflector you linked to is intended for the Cree XR-E emitter rather than the Cree XM-L emitter.

Right now I don’t remember what effect(s) that will have on the beam, but one of them may be to make it quite ringy?

You may be right. This XR-E reflector improves throw over the original XM-L reflector in my Thorfire C8s, without much ringyness (is that a word, lol), so it may work, maybe not.
I am interested in this piggybacked Fet that’s being discussed. I really wished I had gotten 2. I really like the simple 3 mode driver, and will probably just do the normal spring bypass, and once I look the driver over, maybe do a resistor mod. I’m not expecting much, but if I can get 3A+ I would be happy.

Equiped with an OP reflector I did not expect it to be an ultra-thrower, but I’m not disapppointed with the results. So please keep us informed about the SMO reflector you ordered. BTW: with a fresh charged 30Q I measured 2.59A at the tail. And the tail-spring just begs to be bypassed, direct to the switch.