Review: Black Shadow Terminator 4*U3/4*18650

yes it is that easy.only soldering needed is 2 wire contact points on each LED star. No tricky soldering on the driver.

What materials do I need to make this all happen? My terminators are due to arrive next week and I want to mod them to sport the latest U3 bin leds. My soldering skills are pretty decent, do I need a soldering station?

go go go my friend, then I can be your student

Thank you for your reply, JohnnyMac! That sounds great! Still thinking if I should replace the whole MCPCB or reflow new emitters to the existing MCPCB. I prefer to change the whole thing, because then I will have 2 sets :smiley: Could you kindly check what size the MCPCB is, if it isn’t too much trouble and if you have time? :slight_smile: Thanks a lot!

Slacker

Could you please do a tutorial on how you do yours for us noobs. I don’t have the slightest clue on how to start. :slight_smile:

You sold me.

+1 - im just waiting to see if doing out door has a better price on the u3 that makes it worth buying from over seas vs going gear

Send doingoutdoor and email. his prices are rather good :slight_smile:

Great review. Now I want to get one but this is gonna be about three times more expensive than any of the other lights I own. I’ve been debating whether or not it’s worth paying so much for a flashlight. Also,does this warrant paying double the cost of the Darth, since I’ve been eyeing that for quite some time now as well. I really need some help deciding. :~

I own both Terminator and Darth. They share same quality standard to me.
If you are not thirsty about lumens, Darth is enough for day to day use.
If you are looking for more lumens, Terminator is the one to go.
I am resisting getting another two Terminators to contruct my 16-LED lights. This time will need to machine an adapter to hold 4 of them. I am hungry for lumens, hot fever now.

Other than the SRK, I think the Terminator is one of the best deals out there. I have the U2 version, and it’s an elegantly designed, nicely constructed light. The permanently attached handle and clunky UI may bother some, but I still like it a lot. The kinda bright switch led is another possible design issue, but that’s really an individual preference.

And I paid a lot more than what doingoutdoor.com is selling it for!

^
I know how you feel, I too want two more terminators and mount them together to make a handheld 12000 lumens sun. Any ideas on how to mount 4 together?

Glad to see that you share same idea with me, now I know I am not crazy alone. :smiley:
Many arrangement can be done, I imagine them in my brain, sometimes make me difficult to fall asleep.
I think of using magnet, or let machine shop to machine an adapter (wonder what will be the cost).
If getting more crazy will be modifying individual Terminator to arrange all their buttons at one same location. But then they will not be able to be used individually.

One terminator is 1.048kg, so 4 will be above 4kg. I think still hand holdable and can be used to train my wrist and shoulder.

The look of this Terminator light, reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Commando’ movie; wherein he fired a four-barreled rocket launcher (forgot its name :~ ). Anyway, great review JohnnyMac. It’s nice that you give details about its specs.

I was thinking about just strapping them to a block of wood and going on my merry way, simple, cheap and easy to take apart. Yeah! modding the buttons would mean that you would loose the versatility of using them individually.

Not sure where you got that but one terminator loaded with batteries would just weigh about 590-600 grams. So that’s just 2.4 kgs for all four. Not really that heavy if you ask me. :slight_smile:

Yes, you are right. I made a mistake about weight calculation.
One loaded Terminator is about 620g. Four will be about 2.44kg.

I wish to design a piece of aluminium that hold them together, and that piece of aluminium is not visible easily so that I see 4 Terminator most of the time. Using wood is good solution, just that I am afraid it might not look so nice cosmetically.

Oh… I’m not really worried about cosmetics since I don’t plan on having all 4 mounted all the time. Also, I doubt anyone would be able to see that block of wood when in use, all they will be seeing are spots and will be cursing for a few minutes. :slight_smile: