Review: Tank007 E09 3-mode 1x AAA/10440

Tank007 E09 3-mode 1x AAA/10440

reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

Battery: 1x AAA/Protected 10440 (0.8~4.2V)
Switch: Twisty
Modes: 3, Hi - Med - Low w/ mode memory
LED / Output: Cree XP-E R3 / 120 Lumen
Lens / Reflector: Glass / SMO reflector
Tailstands: Yes, even with supplied split ring attached
Price Payed: US$ 11.69
From: DinoDirect.com
Date Ordered: December 2011, February 2012, ..

Pros:

  • brand new product for 2012, new is nicer hehe
  • can be acquired very inexpensive, e.g. as extra copy for replacement parts
  • holds up great against popular premium 1x AAA lights
  • brighter on Eneloop than the competition
  • really bright spill with throwy hotspot: the light is bright despite wide beam angle!
  • mode memory works!
  • pleasant overall built quality, anodization, looks & feel
  • excellent: very compact, short, and light-weight!!
  • "Built Like a Tank!" ... therefore should prove rugged and impact resistant (untested, sorry!)
  • lovely long threads, well-machined and prelubed
  • good working constant brightness regulation (no dimming!)
  • supports unprotected and Protected 10440's
  • conservatively driven on 10440's, for very safe operation on 10440's
  • massive aluminum head for improved heat sinking
  • very well spaced modes both on Eneloops and on 10440's
  • helpful knurling, comfortable 1-hand operation, anti-roll design
  • secure tailstand. optional: original diffuser tip, sturdy pocket clip
  • upper head part not glued/sealed, disassembly possible for easy troubleshooting
  • mule mode (true candle mode without reflector and diffuser) possible
  • all parts easily cleaned, maintained, or exchanged
  • no tint lottery, no tint shift on different modes: 100% no greenishness
  • no audible high pitch whining on 10440-Hi, -Med and -Lo
  • no audible high pitch whining on Eneloop-Hi
  • improved versions are being released: V1, V2, V3, ..
  • produced in three colors: black, purplepink, gungrey

Cons:

  • hotspot lottery: not the cleanest or most beautiful hotspot
  • uses low PWM frequency
  • no clear official ANSI FL-1 STANDARD marking anywhere
  • published runtime data on official webpage is exaggerated (accurate data now!)

Relative:

  • full support for extraordinarily long Protected 10440's from V3 on (unconfirmed!)
  • printed documentation/manual not included any longer in recent packaging
  • conservatively driven on 10440's, High@Eneloop almost as bright as High@10440
  • due to high brightness and current draw mediocre yet acceptable runtimes
  • tint tendency is purplish in the spill area as with most Cree XP-E LED's
  • for mode memory you need to leave a mode on for 5 seconds before it is memorized, otherwise it cycles to the next mode next time you activate the light
  • hotspot size may vary from copy to copy due to manufacturing tolerances
  • pre-usage hands-on maintenance may be desirable or necessary (in V1)
  • on Hi, heats up in unattended tailstand mode even with Eneloop
  • very faint audible high pitch whining on Eneloop-Med & Eneloop-Lo, only with ears close
  • by reputable manufacturer of original designs and not a noname or Won'tFire brand
  • dedicated product webpage is existent, also Tank007 warranty and services
  • comes in 2 different gift box packagings (w/ keyring vs. w/ wrist strap)
  • uses PWM to control brightness on Med- and Low-mode
  • constant brightness regulation questionable with cell chemistries other than Eneloop
  • unique serial number and company logo engraved with paint in grooves
  • biggish head and the tankish looks not to everyone's taste


First up. Hey dont get too excited and please keep your expectations low. Please. it's just a new (good) product and nothing absolutely amazing or exciting or unique about it. Right after the first activation you might not like it anymore: the beam's hotspot on your sample may look unclean, starry, not very round or beautiful, with dark spots in the center area, asymmetrical, and tint coloration at and within the hotspot itself; therefore, if perfection of beam profile and beauty of beam pattern in a 1x AAA keychain light is of utmost importance to you and whaddabout your Fenix E01 huh, then you can already move on and put this review aside, save additional 25$ for an original Fenix and buy the Fenix. Otherwise go ahead and learn why i found it worthwhile to write this lengthy review and continue to support the product!

With lowered expectations the Tank E09 is a solid performer and "comparable" to the legendary iTP A3 or even the overpriced Fenix LD01, only much cheaper best value so to say! recommendable? yah, why not? Good enough for a 5 stars evaluation you betcha. If you already own an A3 with a long track record, then I would not consider the new E09 as replacement; and I am nowhere saying that the E09 is "better" than the A3. What i do say is that i like/enjoy my E09 unit more than my A3, for various reasons, just read on. Yet out of question: the Fenix LD01 remains superior and unsurpassed in every respect, not as popular as the iTP A3 (nowadays Olight i3) because of the expensive Fenix pricing, but still the prime standard in 1x AAA keychain lighting technology. If you want the best of the best, then it is the Fenix, and not the iTP nor this Tank007 you betcha again!

Existing notable reviews or comparisons of the Tank E09 (see also ES12 reviews!):

Introducción.

Tank007 is similar to Romisen and Xeno an acknowledged brand name high-performance LED flashlight manufacturer of original designs and remarkable production quality positioned in the budget lights market section. While all three do offer expensive model series, they are commonly regarded as budget lights companies albeit of high quality. Unlike the many XXXFire brands, they are sold both on Ch*nese mass etailers' websites (DX, DD, MF, KD, ..) and worldwide by reputable small retail dealers, which constitutes the flashlight specialists' conviction and trust in the concept and quality of these budget lights. The E09 model was introduced to market at the end of September 2011 with high hopes in distribution, sale and success for 2012, and the product release of a promising brand-new 1x AAA light with sheer unbelievable specs couldnt pass unnoticed (and please compare with the more realistic data of the new 2012 product Balder BD-0):

At first sight i thought that the E09 bears resemblance to the Fenix LD01 (which found its 1:1 clone in the Brinyte/Brynite PD03) but thinking it over, the pudgy head, the shortness and the body diminution rather make it to a cousin of the world's most popular Cree power LED 1x AAA brand name torch of all times: the iTP A3. In fact, hotspot size (depends on your particular E09 production unit, sorry!), max. brightness, mode spacing, built quality and overall score are somewhat similar. Even the retail price is similar if you paid full list price for them, 19.95$! So the question is: Is the E09 the better buy than the A3? Answer: Yes, because it is cheaper and also easier to repair/maintain if you ever needed to (and yes, you will! ;=). A dead A3 remains dead, a dead E09 can be fixed easily (or cheaply). If you asked me the opposite question "hey kreisler dude, what if A3 and E09 both cost 10 bucks only, which one would then be the better buy/value imhoiyho?" then i would answer "yoh dude yourself dude!, stay on track man, first show me such an offer (A3 for 10 bucks?? no way!!) and then i will think of a well-reasoned answer!". The point is, the price difference between E09's street price (e.g. acquired super cheap from Dinodirect with low starting price plus coupon codes plus dinopoints plus 1 giftcard) and A3's street price is real, and that is exactly one of the E09's Pro's (advantages) which you cannot simply wipe off the table with such a stupid hypothetical question. Then again, dont ever think of paying list price in Euroland, 19.95€ isnt funny anymore! Big part of why the E09 is "good" and much fun is its low acquisition price.

Where to buy.

March 2012: CnQualityGoods 13.00$ (w/ Cree XP-G R5 emitter wtf), Focalprice 14.24$, Manafont 14.30$, Manafont 15.00$, AirAccent 16.66$, eWebWholeSale 15.72$, Laserpointerworld 15.39$, Dinodirect 13.99$ (special sale), Dinodirect 15.69$, MiniInTheBox 16.69$, iLED.sk 18.90€, Geocachingshop.nl 16.95€, geo-sphere.de 19.95€, Tank007-Store 40.00$, SoPard (ebay) 20.99$, Lonelone.net (ebay) 20.98$, .. Since it's still a new product, other common Tank007 sellers (DealExtreme.com, HKequipment.net, German retailers, ..) dont carry this particular model in their sales program yet. Let it be noted that many BLF-users bought it from Dinodirect for 0-10$ when it was on special sale (E09 introductory offer during Xmas 2011) and we budgeteers made good use of the generous DD discounting system (5$ off 20$+ discount coupons, 800 dinopoints, 7$ giftcards, low starting price, free shipping). Imho you can consider the regular DD's 13.99$ a nice price and with the available DD discounting system you should not pay more than this! If you detest shopping at DD, fine, but dont ridicule yourself haha by paying over 15$/15€ for this budget torch. Don't get envious but i ended up paying some 8 bucks only, so why would you want to pay more?! As said earlier, paying little money for such a good product is part of the Pro's as listed above!

EDIT: Because of its ongoing popularity, other forums organize group buys of logo-customized E09's (August 2012, ..).

Features / Value: ★★★★★

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What you get.

I bought 4 copies of the Tank E09 over a period of 3 months, all from the same dealer DD (DinoDirect.com). DD shipped the light with 1 or 2 o-rings, a useful mini keyring system, and the tin box. I couldnt find a manual or any other kind of paper documentation, warranty card, or similar; however the recent production versions do come with a printed manual. Neither was a battery supplied (which would have fitted perfectly in the foam cut-out my gosh) or a lanyard/wrist band as suggested by some early Dinodirect ad photo.

Dont call me a shill or i kik u haha:

Rarer but they do exist, Tank E09's in cannon-grey or raspberry-pink anodization. Contact Tank007 customer service for availability information:

Manafont ships the light in a different packaging and with lanyard (and without the keyrings). The back of the box says some funny stuff as has been documented by Oxy Moron:

Initially the product was shipped with a printed manual but in recent days the tin boxes appear to come without any kind of documentation, at least those shipped by Dinodirect. Maybe it's Tank007 Co.'s measure to save some money hehe. For our records, here a scan of my personal copy of the instructions manual:

( click to enlarge! )

Accessories.

Recommendable optional accessory for the E09 is the original Fenix LD01 pocket clip, which is very sturdy, made of tough stainless steel, and fits the head perfectly snug. It doesnt fit the tail perfectly tight unless it's brand-new or you modify its grip with pliers. The original LD01 pocket clip is of excellent quality and recommendable. Note that the ends of the clipping ring stick out for easy removal with special types of pliers. Those ends dont feel very comfortable .. so before you attach the clip on the torch's head, think twice about the decision.

When you buy a brand-new LD01 pocket clip, unused, its inner diameter will measure ~12.8mm. That's why it kinda fits the tail (Ø 13.62mm) of the E09, which would be tight enough for shirt carry. In the below picture you can see that the two circumferences in fact do not touch each other at all points. That's because the two diameters do not match perfectly:

Clipped for bezel up carry you can easily attach the torch to a baseball cap or wear it securely at your shirt pockets. it's called a "pocket clip" but such small keychain lights never hold very tight to trouser pockets no matter how sturdy your pocket clip is. shirt pockets, jacket inner pockets, or baseball cap yes!, real trouser pockets no!



Alternatively you could snap the clip to the middle area of the torch's head, i.e. between the knurling and the anti-roll bezel. Anywhere in there between. The clip sits very tight there fixed, is difficult to move around, and also quite difficult to remove: So if you decide to snap the clip to this location, you better leave it there as permanent clip. Once there, you could clip the torch again to a shirt or a baseball cap, very securely; but i still do not recommend clipping it to a trouser pocket. The only problem i see here, one-handed operation of the E09 becomes impossible. Easy to imagine!

The below generic Fenix AAA pocket clip fits perfectly on the head too, sits quite tight and is a bit less difficult to take off again. The clip is flimsy and only recommendable if you want a permanent clip bezel up and clip it to a shirt or inside the jacket. it's way too thin and weak to be clipped to a real pant pocket. no no, no. actually.. lemme think.. it's a pretty crappy clip. it looks nice, clips to the head really perfectly .. but you cant use it for your baseball cap (it's too narrow, and too weak) or for your pockets. And when you try to remove it, the clip will look all bent, see the "AFTER"-picture:

Another available and recommendable accessory is the original Tank007 diffuser tip (15mm diameter, in white or red). The diffuser fits not very tight but okay. I bought mine from DD and it looks like this:

For the diffuser 'in action' please see the other review section further below. Here a nice promotional illustration:

Design / Build Quality: ★★★☆☆Copy and paste, maximum ★★★★★

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Typi non habent claritatem insitam; est usus legentis in iis qui facit eorum claritatem. Investigationes demonstraverunt lectores legere me lius quod ii legunt saepius. Claritas est etiam processus dynamicus, qui sequitur mutationem consuetudium lectorum. Mirum est notare quam littera gothica, quam nunc putamus parum claram, anteposuerit litterarum formas humanitatis per seacula quarta decima et quinta decima. Eodem modo typi, qui nunc nobis videntur parum clari, fiant sollemnes in futurum..

Dimensions, size, weight.

See below a scan of both the iTP A3 and the E09 with their installed copper washer. The copper washer effectively increases the torch's length by exactly the thickness (height) of the washer, i.e. by 1.00mm. And since it's only 1mm, the o-ring sealing is still intact. Dont quote me on that, but the heads of the A3 and E09 should be as water-resistant/water-proof as before.

AAA keychain lights typically dont get much thinner, thicker or smaller than the pictured three mass-produced models. The Klarus MiX6 body is one of the thinnest and the iTP A3 is one of the shortest AAA lights on the market. The E09 with its massive disproportional head looks a little bulky on the picture. In practice however it doesnt appear like that, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Even smaller lights do exist, the exceptional DQG Tiny III and its clone the Preon P0, both of which are flood lights for close-range application.

Here some simple measurements on my own, for V1 FWIW:

weight (sample#1, sample#2):

head: 6.272g , 6.341g

body: 6.515g , 6.491g

LD10 pocket clip: 2.862g

head+body, w/o pocket clip/splitrings/etc: 12.796g , 12.835g

total length: 70.00mm

head length: 29.00mm

head diameter: 14.95mm (knurling), 14.38mm (bezel), 15.38mm (anti-roll)

head inner diameter: ~12.00mm (head threads)

glass lens, light output diameter: 10.00mm (o-ring, inner diameter)

glass lens thickness: 1.27mm

glass lens diameter: 11.99mm

o-ring at glass lens: 10.0mm x 12.0mm x 1.0mm

depth of driver PCB: 10.94mm (~height of body threads)

tail diameter: 13.62mm

body diameter: 12.36mm (flat part) - 13.55mm (round part)

body threads, outer diameter: 12.59mm

wall thickness at body threads: 1.00mm

battery tube, inner diameter: 10.49mm

length of body tube: 51.90mm

depth of body tube, with removed spring: 46.53mm (Dont remove!!)

spring/wire thickness: 0.71mm

theoretical max. allowed battery length: (46.53-0.71=) 45.82mm

Eneloop AAA (HR-4UTGA), dimensions and weight: 44mm, 11.727g

Ultrafire 10440 blue Unprotected (DX), dimensions and weight: 43.94mm, 8.644g

Ultrafire 10440 grey Protected (DX), dimensions and weight: 47.11mm, 9.068g

Trustfire 10440 grey Protected (DX), dimensions and weight: 46.54mm, ???g

The threads are long so it does take at least 7¾ turns before the head comes off. Threads are machined smooth and tight, with negligible play -- also thanks to the length of the threads i guess. Threads and o-ring came pre-lubed (and some of the lube might be found splattered on the body), nice move Tank007 Co.! Knurling on the head is aggressive and really helps with the 1-hand operation; it's also where the original 15mm Tank diffusor gets its tightened fit. The anti-roll design works beautifully, and you dont see such a thing with Fenix LD01 or Fenix L0D. Note the size (diameter range) of the head: yes, it is bulkier than it could be and esthetically doesnt necessarily match the body's sleekness. Well, if you like the hydrocephalus-like design of the iTP A3, then you should like the E09's design too. Personally speaking, I like it -- the E09 has a distinctive rugged-looking design which goes well with its brand name: Tank007!! (btw, how do you like their new company slogan "Sunshine In Your Night" --- brrh.. gives me the creeps!? )

Tank007 has included a very helpful compact(!) keyring system (tiny splitring + mini swivel joint + medium-sized keyring) with many possible angular or rotational points. As you can see i prefer to attach the swivel joint directly to my main (standard-sized or medium-sized) keyring together with my house keys. I rather dislike "key chains" and mini carabiner/claws: I try to avoid adding unnecessary extra length/weight to my bunch of keys.

Check out how securely the E09 can do de tailstand. All pictures with grey background are PC scanner pictures and no photographs -- i dont own any digi cam; the pics show what the scanner sees from below the glass flat scanner bed. The provided tiny splitring doesnt impede the tailstand:

okok, the mini split ring doesnt impede the tailstand but it's also weak. if you pull at the keys and try to tear the system apart, the mini split ring will unfold rather easily. so beware losing the E09 this way:

if you think that the above is too cheap, you can buy a premium one called "ball bearing swivel" from the Lummi website:

Next picture: Yep, here again you can see how bulky and robust the head is built and protected. Can you make out the o-ring? Its inner diameter is 10.00mm, while the bezel diameter is 14.38mm, so that the aluminum has a theoretical wall thickness of ~2.00mm at the bezel area. I dont know why they did that. Comparatively, much more material was used to machine the E09 head .. The iTP A3 has a considerably less massive head construction. The massive E09 head might be good to serve 1 specific purpose: as heat sink mass! Further below you'll learn how to operate Protected 10440 cells in the E09. The power of LiIon cells generates a large amount of heat in the Cree LED, so any heat sink mass (like your cold hands, a glass of German beer, or the massive E09 aluminum head) is welcome:


Have you also noticed the reflector? The E09 is one of the very few 1x AAA-sized lights with a smooth Aluminum reflector (SMO). This and the small sized but hard-driven XP-E emitter help to produce a well-defined, concentrated, tight (but not too tight) hotspot with very impressive throw while the tininess of the reflector adds a very wide and nicely bright spill area to the beam profile -- as we know, deep reflectors would produce a narrower beam (see Fenix LD01). My blabla ta-rah isnt enough and you need hard figures? Then have a look at the Olight i3 and the Lumintop Worm packaging and let me tell you: the E09 throws even further than the two, and its hotspot is about the size of the iTP A3's, i.e. smaller than the Worm SS's. With a loupe we can tell that my personal keychain'ed sample has avoidable and correctable imperfections. "At 6 o'clock", the o-ring isnt compressed uniformly or 100% circular, which is reflected by a mini dent in the outer spill ring, and the lens has a tiny smear (from the lubed o-ring) on the back of the glass lens. After disassembling the head i corrected both issues easily, i.e. cleaning the lens/wiping off the smear, and re-positioning the o-ring.

From L to R: iTP A3 Titanium, 3x Tank007 E09, Lumintop Worm SS, Worm Alu, Klarus MiX6

Emitters are: XP-G R5, 3x XP-E R2, XP-G R5, XP-E R2, XP-G R5

Why would i want/need/buy 3 steely-looking AAA lights all equipped with the same XP-G R5 LED? Simple answer: I don't. It just happened like that, you know, purchase career. I ended up paying ~30$ for each one of the 3 steelies. Insane i know, especially since i am a budgeteer. It is common knowledge that the iTP A3 has a poor (or very poor haha) constant brightness level regulation. With the E09 and its immense current draw rest assured that on High mode the light imperceptibly dims as well despite its active constant brightness regulation...

(click to enlarge!)

..., yet this is more due to the Eneloop's discharge curve: the cell cannot provide much more current than the initial 2C discharge rate at 1.54V resting voltage at start. Further below you will learn that in the torch the current draw increases with falling cell voltage, i.e. the regulation is indeed intact and tries it best. The choke point here (and the reason why in the above animated GIF the light has dimmed in the E09) is the quality of your cell. When you feed Alkaline, standard NiMH, or generic LSD cells, then you are going to perceive a dimming effect for sure. Only original Eneloops can supply 2C (or higher) at low cell voltages.. and that's what the E09 driver demands at that point in High-mode. 2C current draw is splurging and sounds like a waste of energy, you might think and i would agree. So. More efficient and energy-saving, less demanding regulated drivers are reported from non-PWM controlled lights such as the Lumintop Worm and the Klarus MiX6 but ask yourself if a flat graph is really important to you.

Beam pattern.

Now a more important subject: the beam pattern. Well, in all my 4 samples the aluminum reflector itself is as perfect and faultless as it can get. But speaking of the emitter's centricity, 1 sample suffers from a not-perfectly centered LED. I leave it to your eye to determine which one i am talking about. In any case, all four samples had a *quite* different beam pattern: 2 samples have a nice big round shaped hotspot (perfect as it should be.. but still discernible and not identical; one being nicer than the other) and 2 samples had a very small and bright hotspot with well-defined asymmetrical one-sided corona artifacts: bye-bye perfect roundness! I cant tell if i can extrapolate these results, so anyone with several copies of the E09 may tell us how much their beams/hotspots differ or if they are all about the same. Probably with a Ch*nese premium brand manufacturer like Olight you get what you expect, i.e. a nice identical beam uniformly distributed over each production copy which leaves the large factory. Top high quality and production standards with strict manufacturing tolerances. In fact, that's the major point why premium machined stuff is much more expensive than quick mass produced stuff: the strict manufacturing tolerances including its quality assurance.

The beam was described by other BLF users too, see for example 1, 2, 3.

Anyway. Among the 4 samples, I took the liberty to pick the one with the longest body (51.90mm) and best drilled splitring hole, and the head with the nicest hotspot. It is always good to own several production samples to pick your best parts from. I surely wont complain now! And dont worry about the light output .. all samples were equally bright (lumens), my guess.

Due to the SMO reflector the torch throws a beam with a distinct bright hotspot and not too diffuse colorless corona ("starry hotspot"). Tint of the hotspot is CoolWhite with vanishing greenish portions whereas the spill is clearly purplish and very bright. I've seen cleaner beams with perfectly round hotspots, uniform or symmetrical brightness distribution, diffuse smoothed out corona artifacts, and less obvious tint variations from the center to the border, e.g. the white premium beam of the Klarus MiX6, but the E09's actual illumination effect is much nicer than the iTP A3 XP-G R5's whose ceiling bounce looks unmistakably greenish due the XP-G R5's greenish corona. White wall hunters love the iTP A3's very clean symmetrical beam with diffuse corona but at the end of the day the E09 is the superior illumination device: brighter, with better color rendition, no perceivable greenish portions, and further throw. In comparison, the Lumintop Worm Alu throws even further, and the Klarus MiX6 has the very best color rendition. The winner in illumination however has to be the Fenix LD01 which looks the brightest in any situation due to the fantastic balance between bright narrow spill area and bright throwy hotspot all thanks to its deep reflector.

Disassembly / Troubleshooting.

Dont you dare to remove the rear spring! I dont advise you to ever try to remove the rear spring. It's not difficult to take it out but believe me, it's very difficult to get it back in place .. maybe similar to any Aluminum AAA light. The problem is the anodization. The inner tube is fully anodized. Well, except for 1.0mm at the bottom of the body where the spring is in circumferential contact with the tube. Removing the rear spring will destroy its perfect round circular base shape and distort the spring. It is then practically impossible to reposition the base part of the spring back at its original placement in contact with the non-anodized body inner tube bare aluminum part (tube ring). No exaggeration, this is more than a pita. And if one of you ever experiences trouble with the light not turning on, my second suggestion would be, check the rear spring!

Caution, at one point you may(!) want to unseal and disassemble the 2-part head which doesnt seemseems to be glued. You shouldcould do this in order to reposition the o-ring (and lube it) and to clean the glass lens. And to fix broken insulation. See below a picture of a brand-new V2 specimen. After breaking the green hardened glue (=unsealing the head), you should clean the threads with a toothbrush. If you separate the upper head part very very slowly and gently from the lower head part, you will see that the aluminum reflector is glued onto the LED star, which means that the insulation layer (=the glue!) between the aluminum reflector and the LED star is intact:

( click to enlarge! )

Well, at some point the reflector comes off (or has come off) from the LED star, which also means that the insulation layer has been compromised. The yellow item is my earplug. i like it haha:

Once you have disassembled the head, you'll run into a certain problem: the poor insulation between the aluminum reflector and the LED. The LED sits on the mini green PCB with contacts all bare. Those contacts are originally covered with some white crap. In fact, as mentioned above, the reflector is glued onto the mini green PCB and the white crap might well be the original glue. Some boardie might take the white crap erroneously for manufacturing debris and clean it off but it's actually the insulation layer, and once removed by you, you're ****ed:

I am not sure if the following method with primitive adhesive foil (typically used to protect book covers against wine and scratches) is the most recommendable one for long-term high temperature power LED's but it works very well and is an easy fix! Just to remind you what the dimensions are:

Okay, let's cut out the insulating layer. The foil will prevent the above aluminum reflector from touching/contacting the green mini PCB of the emitter dome:

Yay, the 6x6mm² are a little big .. but i can assure you that it works. In fact, this setup is even better and securer than the original glued setup. Why? Because now you can feel free to, as often as you like!, screw off the upper head part, clean the lens, inspect the lens o-ring and swap the reflector (in case you own another copy of the E09 like i do). Let me tell you, the reflector, since it's such a tiny piece of machining, may vary from copy to copy and thus produce different beam patterns. My copy1 has a large but concentrated hotspot (throwy and comparable to a iTP A3 XP-G R5) with nicely smoothed out corona artifacts while my copy2 has a very very tight and small concentrated bright intense hotspot (comparable to Lumintop Worm Alu) with well defined corona artifacts. Copy2 is probably a badish production copy; i wouldnt believe that a manufacturer ever intended to release a AAA light with such a throwy small intense hotspot. My third copy (copy3) is more like copy1.

See the white particles all over the following picture? it's a mixture of dust and dandruff. i like it:

Did you ever touch an emitter? I hadnt.. until now. And i was shocked. I thought that the transparent bulb which encloses the yellow die is some kind of glass, something firm and solid, hard. Way wrong! The droplet you see is very soft, and feels like jelly beans or gummy bears and it is easily mutilated. For example, if you spill Tipp-Ex on it, or accidentally paint it with a pen, touch it with greasy fingers, clean it with a rough Q-tip, or similar action "against" its surface, it will leave severe scars and mutilation and light output will directly suffer from them. Be extremely careful with the bulb, and try not to touch it at all, not even with a Q-tip. If the soft material gets in touch with, for example liquid glue, the bulb will be irreparably damaged because when you try to scrape off the glue (or TippEx, or other dried liquid), the smooth transparent surface of the droplet will get roughened up and the roughened droplet affects the light transmission of the yellow die. So be warned. Dont f*ck up your new toy by damaging the smoothness and transparency of the bulb!! DONT TOUCH IT WITH ANYTHING, not even a Q-tip! ( if there's debris on the bulb, do a blow-blow and go on with life ;=)

So here some quick advice regarding the above: If you own only one copy of the E09 and you're satisfied with its beam pattern (smoothed out corona artifacts, radialsymmetric circular beam), then for Christ's sake DO NOT DISASSEMBLE the head. Make sure that the upper head part is firmly tightened onto the lower head part (threads), so that it wont/cant loosen when you use the knurling (knurled part of the upper head part) to operate the light. Lower and upper head parts are not glued. With some/little force you could screw the upper head off -- but better dont try it, because the reflector might fall off the emitter board. And as soon as that happens, the original insulation will be compromised and broken: it (the white glue) falls apart like debris, argh! Anyway, sh*t may happen. And if it happens, the above details with the suggested adhesive foil will fix and even improve the broken part of your E09. Vectrex and Halo suggest other material to reconstruct the heat-resistant insulation layer.


EDIT: the above square-cut insulator was an okay temporary fix. meanwhile i wrote:


By the way, for comparison purposes the Lumintop Worm comes with a OOTB insulation solution similar to the proposed circular-cut adhesive foil. The Worm uses a square-cut transparent "foil" (thick! plastic!! non-adhesive!) which goes around the green square LED base, instead of around the circular LED dome. Well, i guess this is a nice method too. Now it's up to you to decide what is easier to cut: a round circular perforation (with the help of a Q-tip) or a 3.45x3.45mm² square cut perforation (with the help of a idunnowhatt): ( hoover with your mouse over the pic: in: can you see it? - out: it's easy to see )

It's a good idea to keep some spare insulators in your Worm (or E09) accessory bag:

( click to enlarge! )

10440's support for V1 and V2.

(EDIT UPDATE, March 2012: The following general trick of adding 1x copper sealing washer is needed for V1 and V2 of the E09, i.e. for earlier production versions of the E09. Tank007 production engineers promised to manufacture longer bodies so that no extra washer is needed to support all cell brands of Protected 10440's, for example up to 48.0mm cell length. I havent received such longer bodies yet, but once i can manually confirm their existence, we will call them V3, and then the following review section becomes "dated".)

Grey Protected Trustfire 10440's did fit fine in Oxy Moron's E09 but they did not fit in fran82's E09, so this particular cell model has to be a very tight fit after all depending on the manufacturing tolerances of the cell and the E09. I've successfully tested Grey Protected Ultrafire 10440's in the E09, and the reader may refer to the info given in the 10440's-thread and in the 10440 for ITP A3 Eos-thread if the following is too confusing to grasp.

Unprotected 10440's like the Blue Unprotected Ultrafire 10440's dont pose any problem (see below, scan "H"). In fact, this cell model is a little shorter than an Eneloop AAA cell.

Protected 10440's will fit comfortably fine in the E09 as long as you have installed a 1x copper sealing washer (or aluminum sealing washer; the material has to be electrically conductive) of 1.0mm thickness. The dimensions of copper sealing washers are industrially standardized so you dont need to worry about their thickness: when you look for them in a shop, their thickness is going to be 1.00mm anyway.

Due to the standardization of industrial washers you are confronted with a choice. As described in the aforementioned threads, you either grind down a large washer to make it fit into the E09's head (see "A, F, B, G" -> "I"), or you buy a small washer and grind it up a little to widen "the 1.75mm" (see "A, C, D, E" -> "J").

The above picture is confusing? And whose problem is that? haha. Okay, "A" shows how thin the body walls are. They are thinner than the iTP A3's body walls. You could glue the thin copper ring (see "I") on there i guess, but i dont recommend it. Too thin to glue something on it. "C", "D", "E" demonstrate how perfect the outer diameter of the small washer is. You can just drop the washer into the head ("E"), i.e. you dont need to grind down the outer circumference! There is enough play between the female head threads and the washer ("D"). "C" shows that the washer does not get into the way of the male body threads. "J" shows that the cell cannot penetrate the washer, which in our case (Tank E09) does not hurt if you use a Grey Protected Ultrafire 10440's because the cell's nub is protruding enough to establish contact with the head's PCB. A cell with a flatter plus pole (flat top cells) would require a washer with 10.0+ mm inner diameter so that it could penetrate the washer ("I"). "F" and "G" show how extended the outer diameter of a large washer is ("C" vs. "F", and "D" vs. "G"). The large washer doesnt fit into the head and needs to be ground down with sandpaper until it fits ("G" -> "I"):

The following 2 scans show how perfectly the size of an unmodified small washer suits our needs. See the black anodization in the female head threads? They are quite helpful for our purpose because they reduce the probability of dodgy contacts at times when we do *not* want *any* closed electrical circuit:

If you dont understand the green text in the 2 pictures, never mind. Ignore. The point is, you dont need to grind anything if you install the small washer (unmodified, as is) *and* if you use the Grey Protected Ultrafire 10440's which i have tested successfully.

There is another very good mod method to create such a ring, you could employ an open ring structure. One advantage of it is the spring tension in such structure, the ring would not move easily between the female threads to cause accidental closed circuits. It is in fact a big advantage because any loose fitting/sitting closed ring will exactly do that, namely activate the light accidentally! A beautiful installation of an open ring was demonstrated by Horst Horstmann:

I tried Horst's trick on my own, got a paper clip, a pair of pliers, a AAA cell, and wrapped the paper clip around the cell, and then after some nom nom nom had a couple of fitting open rings. The advantage of the their spring tension (=the ring doesnt move away from its place; when you exchange batteries you cannot accidentally lose the ring because it doesnt fall out!) is also its very own disadvantage: the ring doesnt move away from its place! That is, if you ever wanted to take the ring out (for whatever sick personal reason haha), you will need special tools for it, thin strong needle nose pliers, Leatherman multitool, or similar. Not a big disadvantage. I actually like it this way because i dont have to worry about losing the ring! Great working trick, thanks Horst!!

The following picture should be self-explanatory:



And what about 10440 performance? Gaah. That's a whole different story, and check it in some other section of this review. Just this: Surprisingly the torch is *not* exceedingly much brighter with 10440's! Well, i need to check this with other E09 copies but my impression so far is: the E09 on High@10440's is just "a little" brighter than on High@Eneloops. There is a clear brightness boost but it is not a huuuuuge difference. At the same time, the head does not heat up as badly as the iTP A3 on High@10440's. The A3 is insanely bright with 10440's and brighter, for example than my Quark X 14500 on High-mode ( *FYI* "High-mode" on a Quark is brightness level 4outof5. 5outof5 is called "Max-mode". so we get the Li-Ion's inequality: Quark X@5/5 > A3@3/3 > Quark X@4/5 > E09@3/3 ). Yepyep.

You like the Li-Ion maths? Here another you egghead haha:

E09@3/3 > A3@2/3 > Quark X@3/5 > E09@2/3

And the original observation of similar brightness

E09@3/3@Li-Ion ≈ E09@3/3@Eneloop > A3@3/3@Eneloop

EDIT: It is known that Grey Protected Trustfire 10440's have a length of about 46.54mm. Starleaf comments that his from MF ordered Grey Protected Trustfires fit in his from MF ordered Tank E09 without the suggested (washer/ring/spacer) addition mod. Depending on the manufacturing tolerances of your E09 sample (length of body tube) and the Protected Trustfire 10440's, you might still need the suggested washer. You are advised to read the thread on 10440's why i prefer the Ultrafire (47.1mm) to the Trustfire (46.54mm). It has something to do with built quality and safety issues and in this respect i believe that the Ultrafire are superior to the Trustfire. Btw, i use my E09 with Protected 10440's all the time and the washer mod works beautifully. Above all you do not need to modify (e.g. grind/sand) the industrial standardized washer. It fits perfectly "out of the box".

Version History.

I didnt know until i realized it after purchasing 4 copies of the E09. Slightly different builts exist, i.e. Tank007 tries to improve the product whenever possible. In the following picture please see the difference between V1 and V2. The body tube length is about the same (my V2 sample is in fact shorter than V1, argh!) but the tail area has different (and not very useful imho!) bores and the body wall thickness is clearly thicker in V2. AAA batteries are facing now an even tighter fit and the body is robuster this way:

I guess that the tail bores were introduced to facilitate tailstand. Imho for this the middle groove should have been placed a little further away. The "three bores" are too close together to make any practical sense. A little spaced further apart and everything would have been just perfect. V2 isnt very satisfactory. Either the groove should be spaced further away or the supplied splitring should be smaller and sturdier:

How do you know whether you have V2 or V1? Well, you can look at the tail. The other constructional differences are of cosmetic nature, negligible. The font of the serial number looks different, the positioning of the tail holes differs, and the body's neck is longer now:

However the total length of the battery tube (or of the battery compartment) is still the same. it is still too short to host grey Protected Ultrafire 10440's which have a length between 47.0 and 47.5mm.

Production of a V3 is planned where this major issue is corrected, so fingers crossed that it will come to reality! The spacing of the "three tail bores" should be widened too. Check out the perfect and "very well placed notch machined into the tail ring the Brynite can tailstand even when attached to the keys":

(full credits to Lensman for this great shot)

I dont know if the insulation issue can be improved by part of the manufacturing site; it's not a big deal if the user is willing to fix it by him/herself. The only remaining gripe in a V3 would be the beam profile/beam pattern of the hotspot. Because of the small reflector size it's too difficult to center the LED 100.000% and have a beautiful clean hotspot with no artifacts in the corona. Well, we will see when Tank007 Co. comes up with the improved version V3 in 2012!!!

Light output.

Never trust official specs, period. At the same time it is unrealistic that every reviewer does his/her own lightbox lumens measurements. More important than published absolute (or wrong spec'ed) lumens and runtimes data are one's own exact measurements of runtimes and the subjective perception of brightness levels in comparison to known reference torches. Vectrex found his Brinyte PD03a to be brighter than our E09, lwkeung thinks that the E09 is brighter than the Tank E07, Hobbyfotograaf states that E09 beats the Fenix LD01 Q5, the writer believes that Fenix LD01 R4 looks as bright as the E09 before the LD01 R4 does its down-step to reduced High-mode, and pipipopo could prove that E09 scores higher in a ceiling bounce test against the iTP A3. Furthermore, Don measured the light output accurately and in more detail than anyone else on planet Earth :D and also added the data to his legendary Google Docs online sheet where the user is invited to compare brightness numbers of a large array of popular budget torches

As a general statement let's regard this as truth: the E09 has to be one of the top brightest 1x Eneloop AAA torches on the production lights market. On freshly (over-)charged Eneloops it draws at least 1.6A current and when Eneloop's voltage drops the current goes up to 1.8A or even higher. Seldom before was such a high current reported from a mass-produced Chinalamp! These crazy high amperages also mean that the E09 produces the highest "typical brightness" (see typical brightness vs. integral brightness, for an explanation of these two different concepts). The downside of the 1.6-1.8A draw is the shorter runtime. Expect not more than 33mins Eneloop AAA runtime on High-mode!

For illustration purposes let's compare the light output of Tank E09 vs. iTP A3 XP-G R5 in a fun visual manner. The A3 is spec'ed as "96 lumens" and this number could only be true for t=0min, i.e. directly after activating the light on an overcharged Eneloop cell, a more typical number would be an ANSI FL-1 STANDARD reading of 78 lumens.

The following two side-by-side comparison pictures were taken independently and with freshly charged cells and they depict a point in time for t < 1mins. What you can see are 6 frames (and then colors inverted), ordered in ascending brightness levels:

Tank E09 vs. iTP A3:

lo (eneloop) < lo (10440) < med (eneloop) < med (10440) < hi (eneloop) < hi (10440):

, (click each to enlarge!)

Take note that on the A3, med (10440) and hi (eneloop) are not very far spaced apart! In contrast, the E09 has great spacing between all 6 possible brightness levels. Also note that the A3 becomes a light wall monster on hi (10440), only to be beaten by the hi (10440) of a Fenix LD01 (CAUTION: the A3 has official support for 10440's, the LD01 hasnt -- check your instruction manual!).

The animated GIFs allow us to visualize the relative brightness levels and this makes it easy to see that, for example, hi (Eneloop) is brighter than med (10440) on both torches. You can also make out that the E09 is brighter on hi (Eneloop) whereas on hi (10440) the A3 is much brighter. Very interesting! haha (yawn)

When you enlarge the pics and zoom in with your Windows default viewer you can actually see the PWM flickering on LO and MED modes of the E09.

Next pictures. The same game now with a diffuser. I am using the original Tank007 15mm diffuser tip made out of white hard plastic. With the GIFs I am glad to have proven that for the E09, hi (10440) is brighter than hi (Eneloop) --- easy to see! --- however in practice hi (10440) and hi (Eneloop) look surprisingly ~equally bright :

,(click each to enlarge!)

The iTP A3 serves as great reference torch because it is well-known, popular and of high quality. And it runs on Protected 10440's (maybe you can see this in the animated GIF! ) and only few lights exist which beat the "96 lumens OTF" (at t=0min).

In the following animation we see both lights and their light output recorded at the same time, i.e. in the same picture. It's a fairer and directer confrontational lineup between the two lights and it also demonstrates the concept of typical brightness better:

(click to enlarge!)

The brighter light is marked by a green circle. The picture confirms pipipopo's observation that on Eneloops the E09 is typically brighter than the A3 (on Med & Hi: yes!, on Low: maybe not). Of course it is easier to compare brightness graphs recorded for the same lumens lightbox (à la selfbuilt) setup to gain a complete picture of which light is brighter. Unfortunately such graphs dont exist for budget lights. Are you already asleep? Saving is believing. Get the best shopping experience with the green dinos, all happiness thanks! spam paisley spam


Beamshots/Wallshots.

A DD webpage has a few beamshots, not very useful though. The following picture shows how the heads of iTP A3 and the Worms fit on the E09 body. The heads are too short and dont reach the o-ring. Not a water-proof setup! The following picture was made again on my scanner with a white(!) paper sheet covering the light on High mode and scanning brightness set to "-100". The picture is rather useless too. From it you could only tell that the outer lights (left: Worm SS, right: Klarus MiX6) have a larger hotspot due to the XP-G R5 LED and that the Worm Alu might have the smallest hotspot, which is true. Actually the picture proves that the E09 is the brightest of all (, which is true too!) because of the large white area at the lens, the tightness along the beam and the scan artifact at the right corner. Those scan artifacts had happened to me before, see the section on Diffusers in my Quark X AA review, and they appear when the light is too bright for my PC scanner to handle/capture.

Since i dont have digi cam etc, i cant provide my own taken RL wallshots or beamshots of our beautiful community garden (allotment garden), sorry. The following series of 6 comparative beamshots on High-mode were taken by fran82 with a Sony, all in RGB color space with auto white balance, no flash, 1/8sec exposure, and F/2.79. Naturally, the ISO speed varies (ISO 250, 200, 160). Thanks fran for letting me use the fotos from your own review, and here we go:

For comparison purposes, let's begin with a white wallshot of the iTP A3 with 1.2V NiMH cell on High-mode, 5.0m from white wall (ISO 250):

And now our E09 with 1.2V NiMH on High-mode, 5.0m from white wall (ISO 200):

With further distance in the room we get the following beamshot for the iTP A3 with 1.2V NiMH on High-mode, 3.0m from wall (ISO 250):

And for the E09 with 1.2V NiMH on High-mode the beamshot looks like this, 3.0m from wall (ISO 250):

Finally we compare the brightness with Li-Ion cells. Here the iTP A3 with 3.7V 10440 LiIon on High-mode, 3.0m from wall (ISO 160):

And now the E09 with 3.7V 10440 LiIon on High-mode, 3.0m from wall (ISO 200):

Comparing the beams of the two torches we come to the conclusion that both have a similar brightness levels on all modes, the A3 has more of a balanced symmetrical round beam pattern with well-diffused out corona (thanks to its LOP-textured reflector), and the E09 scores higher in the overall tint evaluation: (Cool-)White in the hotspot and in the not too bad visibly corona artifacts, and bright and purplish in the spill area, but definitely no traces of greenish tints anywhere. This is most obvious to be observed in a white ceiling bounce test: While the A3 produces a (very) greenish luminous layer on all objects beneath the ceiling, the E09 does not produce any such noticeable colored (e.g. purplish as to be expected?) luminous reflection. Instead the objects appear rather neutral or normal. Very agreeable indeed. On the other hand, in direct exposure on High-mode white objects (e.g. white sheet of paper, white toilet seat, white roses) do reflect the bright purplish tint of the E09's spill area. Nothing to worry about. To cut it short, the E09's tint is nicer/better than the A3's and it's also a little brighter but do not expect a premium beam pattern with a perfectly neutral uniform tint as found with premium AAA lights, such as Klarus MiX6 or Preon P0.

Battery Life: ★★★

Brightness is high because of the high current draw and that's why battery life is what is to be expected: mediocre yet acceptable. On the different modes three different currents were measured by forum members, with freshly charged cells, to:

Tank E09 #0 High Med Low
Hobbyfotograaf, Top Craft LSD AAA battery (1.2V 800mAh) 1.67A 0.55A 50mA
fran82, gsyuasa enitime (1.2V 800mAh) 1.91A 0.63A 135mA
fran82, unprotected 10440 UltraFire (3.6V 500mAh) 1.0A 0.35A 90mA

.. which would confirm the official website's statement that the light output is controlled by "Constant current circuit chip which maintains constant brightness". However, with some simple tests on Low mode against a white wall there is PWM easily detectable. Since PWM is detectable with the bare eye and simple rapid arm movement, its frequency cant be too high. Yeah i know, people prefer not to have any PWM no matter whether high frequency or low frequency PWM. So that's a little minus here for the E09; nobody is perfect! My own tailcap readings with different types of cells give the following:

Tank E09 #1 High Med Low
Alkaline abc 1.813A 0.588A

0.058A

Alkaline xyz
Varta NiMH 1.804A 0.604A 0.067A
Eneloop AAA 1.6...1.8A 0.5...0.6A 51...67mA
Grey UltraFire 10440, protected 1.062A 0.321A 21mA
Blue UltraFire 10440, unprotected 0.9A 0.3A 21mA

Current depends on the regulation, regulation depends on voltage, and voltage depends on time. that's why it is impossible to give accurate measurements at a given time because even when the cell is fully charged nothing remains constant when you try to acquire a reading and there's no point in trying to apply some averaging techniques. For an Eneloop near its end of capacity (resting voltage for example 1.28...1.29V) a typical reading would be 63mA@Lo, 615mA@Med, and 1.756A@High; and as expected and indicated by the above table, current increases when cell voltage drops. My own runtime tests with 4 analyzed cells of 1x Eneloop AAA HR-4UTGA (1.2V 800mAh) give the following:

Tank E09 w/ XP-E R2
High Med Low cell starting voltage
Eneloop cell#1 & testrun#1 33min 95min 17h57min 1.47V
Eneloop cell#2 & testrun#2 30min 93min tba 1.47V
Eneloop cell#3 & testrun#3 29min 85min 16h1min 1.47V
Eneloop cell#4 & testrun#4 tba tba tba 1.47V

High-mode. Since the E09 becomes burningly(!) hot in tailstand mode, testruns#2 & #3 involved a cold wet dishcloth wrapped around the whole torch you betcha. After ~33mins runtime it becomes very apparent that you should stop depleting the cell but recharge the Eneloop: there is no clear difference in brightness between High and Medium modes any more! the light begins to dim just a little but noticeably and from that point on, within 8 mins, dims very quickly down to a useless level of light. After a total of 40-41mins the light is 99.9% dead and eventually begins to flicker/flash/pulse.

Med-mode. After ~95mins the light begins to dim just a little but noticeably and from that point on, within 6-7 mins, dims very quickly down to death after a total of 91-100mins.

Low-mode. Timing the runtimes on Low was even easier. Constant brightness is maintained throughout (fascinating!) and then the light would either begin to flicker (#3) or simply pop off (#1). and that's where i stopped the time. How come the ~2.0hrs difference? Well, in #1 the Eneloop cell was being depleted to a much higher degree, as confirmed by the Battery Tester. C9000 measurements of the consumed capacity confirm this: #3 was consumed by 790 mAh whereas #1 by a whopping 805 mAh. As you can see, the runtime depends more on the Eneloop (consumable) capacity than on the E09 driver. in any case you probably dont want to run the light for over 16hours (=960mins) because that could damage the Eneloop cell.

And with Protected grey Ultrafire 10440 (3.7V 500mAh) i get --until the protection kicks in--:

High: 00:22:49

Med: 01:07:07

Low: 15:33:49

Here the details of my measurement runs:

HIGH 10440, cell1 10440, cell2
testrun1 22min39s 16min23s
testrun2 22min29s 16min52s
testrun3 22min49s 13min27s
testrun4 21min33s 21min35s
testrun5 TBA TBA

Running 10440's excessively on High-mode is said to degrade the cell's quality ("aging") and i did it only to provide secured runtime data for the sake of this ****ing review. Testrun4 was done after several testruns with the iTP A3 on High-mode, so the lower runtimes could be an indication of cell quality degradation. This would also explain the reversed better runtimes on Med-mode because the better cell (cell1) was damaged/degraded to a higher degree than cell2. So now the healthier cell is cell2:

MED 10440, cell1 10440, cell2
testrun1 61min15s 65min45s
testrun2 63min15s 65min24s
testrun3 61min56s 67min07s

Runtimes on Med-mode were a little disappointing since the iTP A3 runs longer on Med-mode@10440's. Not much longer, but longer. And finally we get the following runtimes on Low-mode@10440's for the Tank E09:

LOW 10440, cell1 10440, cell2
testrun1 14h40m10s (2.878V)
14h52m39s (2.825V)
testrun2 14h45m29s (2.684V) 15h33m49s (2.810V)
testrun3 N/A N/A

As we can see the offline voltage after the protection has kicked in is ~2.684V. The protected cell's cut-off voltage under load is written to be 2.750V. A LiIon at ~2.7V offline voltage, isnt that dangerous??, you're asking. Well, it is not. But it's not recommended either. Once the protection has kicked in, recharge the cell as soon as possible. Reason: Offline voltage should not be lower than 3.600V, and you should not keep/store a LiIon cell at 2.8V because charging a "damaged" overdischarged LiIon cell is hazardous.

Obviously there is a major quality difference (capacity difference) between the 2 cells i got, damn! Yet it is difficult to tell which cell is the better cell: on High-mode cell1 performs better, and on Med- and Low-modes cell2 performs better. Even if i knew the effective cell capacity (measured with a hobby charger, e.g. IMAX B6 *genuine product*), you couldnt predict which cell performs better until you do similar runtime tests. And vice versa: You seeing the above 18 data points, which cell has the higher effective capacity would you think huh?

Light Output: ★★★★★

These were agreeable runtime tests results and they are in accordance with physics: the higher the amperage, the faster the cell is being depleted. No surprises here ha neither did we expect any magic did we? I am happy with the runtimes anyway for 2 reasons: 1. i have a set of Eneloops and 10440's and i am happy to recharge my cells over and over again, i've got no problem with replacing depleted rechargeable cells. i mean.. that's what they're meant for, arent they? 2. the amazing brightness is one of the novelty points with this new product: you get what you pay for. Here, you get current regulated "120 ANSI lumens" (according to company statement) and it is indeed notably brighter than the Fenix LD01 SS Q5, my iTP A3 EOS Titanium w/ XP-G R5 or any other 1x AAA-light i own (Klarus MiX6 XP-G R5, Lumintop Worm Alu, Lumintop Worm SS). Having said that please dont be shocked or disappointed when you buy the light for its brightness. If your room is pitch dark, it is easy to tell that the E09 is brighter than the A3 (or the Olight i3); during the day however nobody (neither you nor your pals) would care or be impressed about the little difference in output.

Summary: ★★★★★

A torch review or recommendation is of no use if it doesnt incorporate the reviewed item's price imho. If price doesnt matter to you and you're looking to buy the best of the best, then this is the wrong review (because i am a subjective reviewer, not objective) and you are on the wrong forum. In my opinion a torch's "quality" always has to be regarded in relation to its actual cost of acquisition. If the identical nice torch can be acquired for 10% of what others pay for it, then the torch's quality and value is rated higher and much better by me; if i pay 300% of what others pay for it, then i will rate its quality and value lower. Such a procedure or perspective is not very objective nor logical nor fair; i know! So is a low price torch automatically a better torch in my eyes? No. But if abuy

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Any updates on this??

my eneloops havent arrived yet neither have the 10440's (Protected/Unprotected). measurements of runtimes will be added as last update since they take a while to be confirmed, verified and reconfirmed. much good info was already given in fran's Anyone has the Tank E09?-thread, and i would like to invite anyone who can contribute further beamshots (white wall comparison shots, or in a room) or more technical data (measurements of voltage/amperage/brightness).

Curious about the rest of the review

Seems like there are two different types of the E09

Mine has a clearly visable pwm on low/med (about the same of the old ITP A3)

and does not get near 1,6A (more like 900mAh)

Haha, I like the way you "hide" all (relatively) important stuff :bigsmile: (address, name, keys, bar codes...) Good start, kreisler ;) Waiting those beamshots :D (with ITP and Lumintop, of course :P )

From where did you get yours?

I have ordered 2 with about 1 month of difference, let´s see if they have different drivers...

I agree. Mine, from Manafont, is nowhere near 1.6A on high. I'd guess at 700mA to 800mA.

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From where did you get yours?

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Also from DinoDirect

same box also without a manual or battery

lets post serial numbers??

:D

Now dx has a e05 aaa?

I saw that but Tank don't list it on their own site. Not only that but the one on DX appears to have no serial number on it. That's very unusual. Tanks always have serial numbers on their "E" series at the very least.

Good idea.

My E09 # 109090182 Purchased from Manafont, supplied in plastic box with lanyard but no split ring.

For our information, the 2012 new models of the Tank007 are going to be:

TANK007 TR08, TC07, TC01, TC128, TR02, TK18, E09

E09 110090143

E09 110090136

E09 XXXXXXXX (given away already. had a nice hotspot. quite different number, will check later)

Argh, sorry guys, these are S/N's of the bodies *after* i had exchanged parts to sort out the better heads. In my opinion the S/N should be printed on the head and not on the body!!

Have you determined how best to disassemble it? Does the head seem to be two pieces?

I was hoping that might be a seam at the edge of the knurling. Mine hasn't arrived from DD yet.

1. no i havent determined how to dissamble it. i dont know how to do it.

2. this post may contain some relevant graphic detail: head disassembly

3. i bet my burro head that the E09 head is a one-piece. i've looked at it under the loupe and there is no seam. With the Quark head, yes, the Quark head is a two-piece. but here with the E09, no, the E09 head is a massive one-piece.

I tried to unscrew the pill with some pliers but no luck, guess it is glued.

Serial number 109090296 from Manafont:

Top Craft LSD AAA battery (1.2V 800mAh)

High: 1.67A

Mid: 0.55A

Low: 0.050A

PWM is also visible if i move it very fast, just like in the photos posted above.

When measuring the amps on a circuit at only 1,2V the slightest voltage drop over the amp-meter will affect the measurements.

23 minutes runtime on a 800mAh battery (confirmed in the Maha charger) means it pulls even more than 1,67A out of the little battery on high. An alkaline AAA battery will probably not be able to produce such high currents, it seems to be a little bit brighter on nimh's.

okokok, now i got it!

set the mode on Low, turn off all room lights, approach a white wall, shine against the wall and move the arm rapidly up and down.

Yes. now i can see the PWM too. hmmm. i like it :)

( and yep. the Worm (on Lo) and the Klarus (on Lo) dont have that PWM picture. )

Thanks Hobbyfotograaf for sharing!!