Review: ThruNite TN31 (XM-L U2 | 3 x 18650)

Any chance of outdoor beam shots?

I have done some, a review will follow later.

Do you think you could add the Xtar S1 to your comparison?

I recorded a (poor) vid with comparos vs. a few other lights last night but just need to edit it a bit. Should have it posted tonight.

Thx for the shots HKJ!

I cannot add any light to this (I would have to redo it to do that) and I do not have a working S1.

No problem, thank you for your efforts!
Thanks to you as well turbo, looking forward to your video.

WHOA,throw junkies rejoice!!!! that outdoor shot makes it look like a "frickin laser beam" love it! This is a must have I'm goin to count up the swear jar right now,should be enough in there lol!

Outdoor shots of video comparo of TN31 vs. a few other lights are now up in OP (don't forget to flip to 720P if you're going to compare beams). Sorry that it's poorly done (blurry on some lights), I'm still learning how to make vids but lessons learned from this shoot has given me ideas for improvement on the next one.

Here are the lights (DBS V2 is off to the right somewhere):



Timeline in the vid (I have included titles as well)
ThruNite TN31 - 1:32
XTAR S1 (prod) - 2:09
Sunwayman T40CS - 3:08
ThruNite TN30 - 4:02
Niteye EYE30 / EYE25 - 5:11 / 5:55
ThruNite TN 11 (2 x 18650) - 6:43
NITECORE TM11 - 7:19
Sunwayman V60C - 8:07
SureFire M3LT (MC-E) - 8:48
Klarus XT20 - 9:38
Lighten7 Max L2A - 10:25
Dereelight DBS V2 (w/UF XM-L) - 11:07

Distance to the fence I was shining at is 246ft (75m) and to the bleachers approx. +10-15 ft.

Cheers,
Tim

Turbo BB,thanks for taking the time to do this lots of "big gun" lights going up against each other,really gives a perspective on how they preform.Nice job and glad you didn't get jacked by the cops!

Can someone explain to me how this monster only throws 700 meters when the Olight M31 Triton with just 800 lumens supposedly throws 700 meters (per factory specs)? If it doesn't surpass that by a good margin, how could it be any kind of monster thrower?

All whitewall shots added.

Thx DARCANGEL! I have another vid planned but just need to find a free weekend. A fellow member has some big guns (SR0, etc.) to bring along.

@Rusty Joe, unless there are independent validations, mfg have some liberty at claiming what they want based on their testing. In this case, I was able to best ThruNite's claim of max beam intensity (87K vs. 75K), however they had reported 700m throw (which doesn't compute since 75K only translates to 548m) and would've meant the beam intensity would've been higher (122.5K) to reach that goal.

This is where real world measurements come in handy. =)

[Quote]The switch itself draws 9.56μA when turned on (again isolated w/just the battery carrier) and measured either through the negative spring or the ground/negative path on the PCB. I however wasn't able to measure any draw when it was off:

[/Quote]

That's a damn accurate Fluke you've got there..

10.34 V / 2200000 Ohms = 4.7 uAmps * 2 Resistors = 9.4uAmps

Great JOb! Like always

Quick Question
Any one have any thoughts on…

Olight M3X-L2
Sunwayman T40cs XML U2
Armytec Barracuda XML U2
NiteCore MH40 “Thor”

Thanks!

Thank you for your review TBB,

I want to add to your review that I opened mine up to upgrade the stock AWG 26 silicon wires to AWG 20 Teflon wires and install arctic silver 5 thermal compound, while I had it dissasembled I noticed what appears to be kapton tape adhered to the underside of the LED PCB, I don’t think that there should be anything besides thermal compound between the copper PCB and the aluminum heatsink, so I removed it and proceded to lap the underside of the PCB to a mirror polish.

After assembly I noticed a significant heat transfer from the LED to the body of the light, I think ThruNite should remove the tape from the stars prior to assembly to improve heat transfer.

Maybe mine was the exception that got sent with tape under the PCB, have you opened yours up? Could you check if yours has tape underneath the PCB?

Thanks!

However the MSRP is 220 USD, actually the sell price is 145 USD on their Amazon and Ebay store, do you still think they are more expensive than TK70

However the MSRP is 220 USD, actually the sell price is 145 USD on their Amazon and Ebay store, I do not think they are more expensive than TK70. I do think TN produce quality goods but sell reasonable price, but the price changes quickly during these days. Low - High - Low - ? ?

thanks Turbo BB, great review, I am wanting to buy a flashlight to hunt, the thrunite TN31 is great.

Thanks guys!

@flash87lightBB - don't have the others but I just did put up a review of the new M3X XM-L2 here.

@AlexGT - haven't taken it apart but will post results if I get around to it.

I do find that interesting AlexGT. I wonder if it was just an isolated assembly error with your light. At least I hope it is :stuck_out_tongue:

I'm a little late in getting on board, but just got a new TN31, here's measurements I got:

  • Tailcap w/battery carrier showed 1.3-1.4A or so, that’s 3.9-4.2A to the LED (not sure if this is accurate)
  • Voltage reading on the battery carrier was 12.55v (not connected), not much loss there (stiff springs).
  • Lumens: 1169 at start, 1125 at 30 secs — right there in the ballpark of their specs (1147)
  • Throw: 6900 lux at 4.31m, = 128 kcd, = 715 meters, also right there what they spec (they say over 700 meters). I did see as high as 7050 lux near the start.

Not sure I can explain diff's between mine and the OP's for lumens and throw, but I seem to be right there for the ThruNite spec, even though their 75 kcd contradicts their 700+ meter spec. My unit's S/N starts with 2012, but TurboBB's was bought much earlier, given the posting in May 2012.

Plan on mod'ing this, of course .