That basically explains why 2 cells is brighter than 3 cells on the meter. With nearly 4A of current from each 18650 (in 2-cell), it would easily be 3.3-3.6V loaded ea depending on cell quality, that's 6 plus to 7V loaded.
Wow, the climb is very steep from 3 plus volts to say 4.5V. so it really depends on cell quality. Maybe with 26650 IMR the sag is not that great compared to the 18650s, so it's the same story, 2.8A might net you more light than 3.3A. :) Anyway that's purely academic, as always i depend on my lux meter to report results mainly nowadays. :)
just manage to take out again for rough measurement. bottom pcb is about 28mm, I only measure the head's bottom thread, the second PCB height is about 25mm. take note the above is not exact as I didn't take out the entire pcb assembly.
I just popped mine apart before finding this thread. Is anyone else bothered by how small of a gauge the wires are that come from the driver and feed the LED array?
I saw someone gained access to the LED array on another website (forgot which and don't have link), which revealed some very ugly soldering work but they didn't post how the were able to. Does anyone else know?
edit: The threads on mine are fairly cruddy - you must be careful not to cross-thread when you are putting the tailcap on.
thanks! my KD 9xml driver measures 28.45mm high. The second pcb, which is horizontal, is 24.9 and the main 26mm. The coil is slightly wider than the second pcb, so even though there's room on the side opposite from the coil, the driver (except bottom board) cannot be placed in a cylinder with an inner diameter that matches the outer diameter of the second pcb.
so...if the bottom pcb of the KD driver isn't wide enough (which I doubt) that's an easy fix.
the kd driver might be too tall - but I doubt it, since I think your measurement is from the top of the horizontal pcb to the top of the vertical one.
Thanks, I sort-of dove straight into flashaholism with the TR-J12, three 4sevens 26650's, an imax B6AC hobby charger, a lipo sack, and some hacked apart radio shack D cell battery holders that are waiting on me to glue to a board of some sort so I can make a balance charger cradle for the 26650's.
I may have a bit of an issue with the 4-sevens batteries though, their nipples are not quite large enough for them to stack effectively. The green plastic jacketing is thick around the top and bottom, restricting the cell to cell contact. The last thing I want is to create a hotspot on a battery due to a high current + weak connection that develops into something more dangerous. I've seen pictures of what happens when these lithium ion batteries pop, and that's the LAST thing I want to happen.
I'm running mine with 4 NiMH cells and it's visually brighter than 3 TF 18650s or 2 26650s (Lighthound, 3.5aH). Verified with my meter just to make sure my eye's weren't deceiving me, and sho nuf brighter. Tried it with 4 cheapo 10 year old C Energizer 2.2aH rechargeables just to see how it would preform. Bright and steady for ~30-35mins with the cheapos. Then got some quality Cs, 4 LSD Accu 4.5aH cells and I'm not going back to Li for this light!
Special thanks to 2100 for the voltage graph that convinced me to go with NiMHs. I have many lights, but this is my new fav all purpose now. Brighter than my factory X6, second only to my Torch. Best bang for the buck right now IMO.
To 2100 "You will not be able to use this for more than 30 seconds in a tropical country unless you want to risk the driver electronics. You could use medium, but then it'd be let down by the PWM. It could survive if it is a 900g light like the XTAR S1.
"
Thanks for all the infos 2100 !
But are you saying that TJ12 should not stay on high mode over 30sec in tropical places?
Still suggest this as a budget light ? Since I been looking for this light for the OTF and price and I live in a tropical country
Thanks!