Review: ThruNite TN42 LED Searchlight

Hi all, I am Max from Argentina and a real newbie in the BLF. I recent aquired a TN42 that is really amazing. But reading all the post about it can´t find anyone who did a resistor mod to increase lumen output in turbo mode. Then I asked myself. is that possible?

Thanks you all.

Welcome to BLF! :smiley:

I am not sure how he modded it,other than a current boost. In stock form the light has great output and Vinh was able to get a little more out of it.

The manufacturers are catching up now. Up until a year or so ago Vinh was doubling and tripling the CD’S of a stock light.

Here are the numbers: I have Spec 1[CW] Most throw.

Spec 1 & 2:
Power Boost
1oz extra copper HS
Beam Focus

Stock Light XHP35 HI CW 6500K $200
ANSI
Lumen: 2140
Lux: 700
Throw: 1673

Spec 1 XHP35 HI CW 6500K $250 (Recommended)
ANSI
Lumen: 2400
Lux: 775
Throw: 1760m

Spec 2 XHP35 HI NW 5000K $275
ANSI
Lumen: 2150
Lux: 730K
Throw: 1709m

Here is his website:

https://skylumen.com/collections/v54-lights/products/tn42vn-throw-king-pre-order-only

ALSO THE THREAD BELOW WILL HAVE MORE INFO. MAYBE DALE DID A RESISTOR MOD.

What vinh calls a "power boost" is a resistor mod most likely. XHP35's are fussy bout amps - can't go too high, otherwise you fry the chip. I wouldn't risk it if you can't afford to lose the LED, and don't know for sure exactly what resistor value to use.

What KB1428 did is pretty phenomenal. Sounds like he did a full driver replacement, boosting the amps to near or at max of the LED, then de-domed an XHP35 HD, so in theory can get more throw than a XHP35 HI. From the meter looks like a ~20% boost over stock while vinh seems to get ~10% over stock.

I think from what I'm reading/seeing, stock TN42 does 2.25A while KB1428's does 2.94A.

Would love to see what KB1428's really does in kcd measured at 10+ meters, but I'm guessing in the 840 kcd range. His pics of the meters doesn't seem to make sense for 2 meters, but it's hard to see the readings, and units of measurement.

Thanks a lot for your kind answers. But unveliebale or not, suddenly my TN42 that only have two weeks in my hands begun to remain lighted in a less than firefly mode. The curiosty about it is that only 3 dies of the led got fired.

Any help will be very apreciate.

Max

^
I wish you luck with that. Tom E.,Dale and many others can help you more than myself!

The only simple things I can think of is:

Are you batteries fully charged? Do you have a DMM to test there voltage. Check to see that ALL contacts are clean.

Hopefully the problem can be resolved without sending it back to the dealer.

I hope so Wolfdog because I am in Argentina and all the customs issues to receive and to send packages from and to abroad are a real PITA and expensive. :person_facepalming:

Where did you get the light? In USA dealer is responsible for first 30 days of the warranty. Usually they pay for return shipping for a faulty product. It has happened to me before in 5 days w/ the TN32! Illumn paid for return shipping and sent me a new light. In fact I will try and find the picture and post it in a few minutes!

I bought it to hkequipment in hong kong through ebay. The thing worked flawless until yesterday and today I found it lighted this way. By the way how can I upload a pic from my computer?

THIS IS NOT A TN42!!

This was the LED of my TN32. It happened 5 days after getting the light! David, from Thrunite chimed in and was very concerned! lol!

Thread is from 1.2014 on CPF.

HERE IS ONE OF THE PHOTOS!

I see, but in my case is quite different. You had a catastrophic failure. Mine remains lite ve very dim (only 3 dies) but the flashlight still works as should be. It seems like a parasitic drain to the led!

You have to do it through a host. Many will work. I use postimage.org which works much better than photobucket,at least for me it does.

-click the INSERT ICON at top of page.
-put image URL in the box
-if picture is too big reduce the size in the “relative width” box
-click OK

Your right. Yours is still defective and unusable. Your entitled to get it replaced.

I feel bad for you. The challenge is getting HKE to replace it.Even in the USA it would cost too much to send it back to China.

An advantage of buying[and living in] from USA dealers is that we do not have to deal w/ China for at least the first 30 days. I have had items replaced for free that were 5 months old!

I hope some others chime in to give you ideas on possibly fixing it. I am a novice when it comes to electronics!

I am good at buying lights and then using them every night to walk my Husky Capo!! ,he starts howling/talking about 10 minutes before dark!

!https://s21.postimg.org/nihbm29mv/IMG_4770.jpg!

^ I saw that. That is strange. So it will not go full power like that? It only stays in moonlight w/ 3 of 4 sections lit up?

Exact but lot less than moonlight mode. When turn into normal modes, including moonlight all dies of the led fires ok. So strange and sudden!

I do not get it?! It works well in normal modes?

So what mode was it in when you took that picture?

Does this mean that it will NOT turn off? You mention in the most recent post that it works in ALL the normal modes!

You lost me!

Here is your picture in case people miss the link:

Sorry for the confusion I am not very good with english but I will try to explain again. The flashlight does not turn off completely and remains as depicted. That is like a very very low moon mode.