Review: BTU Shocker (3 x XM-L T6 NW | 3 x 18650)

so where is it sold for $120?

In this specific example, I’d be disappointed with myself, not the dealer… if I paid 30k for a 20k car I definitely did not do enough research on the car’s value ahead of time.

Ok I found it now. HOLY CHIT!!! BTU dropped to $120!!!!

Yea, don’t feel so bad, if the seller is trying to lure more people into buying the remaining of this stock? It’s like same thing with computers. Some new unit comes up at a store… for example best buy. It’s a real deal. Some smart folks find a cheaper middle man usually a third party website for 20-30 dollars cheaper. Finally Newegg or Tigerdirect has a sale equal to that middle man. After the initial buying etc… Price goes back up to the full retail price. 3-6 months later people wonder how did other people get such an item for so cheap.

Notable personal examples: 2002-04 off ubid.com

Got a 500 dollar sony flat screen for 250 dollars which retails for 500 dollars. 2-3 years later it comes out at best buy for roughly 233 dollars. Got my first 10MP Casio digital camera when in the us there were only 5-7MP cameras for under 300 dollars. Retails at high end stores for 500-700 dollars.

Modern examples: Best Buy Sandisk 32GB sdcard are 69.99 retail. Online at amazon from (sandisk) they are $33.56 and 58.11 at walmart. So if you bought it at Bestbuy and complain that you got rip off and want 2 of them, they probably think you’re crazy.

xtar 18650 protected…

I will pay no more than $80

Guess you’ll be waiting awhile then.

LOL. This thing rocks the TN31 as far as output goes, has almost identical throw, and costs less than the Thrunite already. I don’t get the hate.

Anyone who doesnt have one loves to hate on them. Curious…

Dale, I’m working on going your direction on the BTU. Maybe a step beyond. I’ve already got my copper sink pads, have XM-L2’s ordered from two different places - hopefully one will make it by the end of the month, but who knows.
And I think I have found a UCL lens for it too. I have it ordered anyway, just have to get it in, make sure it fits, and do comparison testing.
XM-L2 U2’s on copper sink pads, along with a UCL lens - I can see it being in the 3400-3600 otf range and would keep its lumens higher for longer with better heat dissipation. And all of that would be without any more stress on the batteries or runtime.
I assume nobody has has any XM-L2 U2’s on hand I could buy or borrow, so I don’t have to wait a month or whatever for mine to come in?

People always pay more to be the first kid on the block with the latest toy. Been that way forever. Like any other retailer I know of, initial retail is always highest to capitalize on this fact. Anyone who wants the best price waits a few months for the initial price to lower. That's what most folks here did because they all knew it would happen. It always does. Sometimes it only takes a month, sometimes nearly a year. I can understand you kicking yourself for being an early adopter, I know I'd be kicking myself too, but to get pissed at the seller is ridiculous. Ric is a business man and is in the business of making a living, not giving stuff away. He created this light and the BTU brand himself and worked to make the light a reality. He has the right to make all the money he can off of his work. As sales at $180 slow to a trickle you lower the price to get the next market segment who weren't ready to spend $180 but thought $150 was a great deal. Now we are down to $120 and eventually we might see $100 and possibly even less. You spending the $180 is no one's fault but your own. Stop complaining.

Now the light not having an AR coated lens is a legitimate issue and Ric should either offer a partial refund for the false advertising or ship the advertised lens to all those who've bought the light and either ship an AR lens with all future sales or remove it from the advertised specs. The rest of the light is just like advertised and you knew exactly what you were paying $180 for.

Ah the 120 dollar is a has Dry drivers or Directdrive for 4.5 amps. Whereas the original had it’s own drivers.

I wanted to have it at that time and I have got it for the price it was sold then. I might be up for another one if the price goes below 100 bucks.

No, it has

BTU driver (current regulated, 3.8A)

or

DRY driver (direct-drive, up to 4.5A)

I ordered the standard BTU driver, and I’d recommend that. It’s resistor mod capable to get up to 4+ amps anyway. This way you know what current you are getting. Most people report that it’s not a huge jump anyway.

Relic, you have any details on the doing the resistor mods. I assume that’s what dale did to his, but just don’t know much about it. If I can get the XM-L2’s on copper sink pads, they should be about to safely handle a little more amps before getting to hot. 4.2A or so would be killer!
And if you do the resistor mod, do you think it will do the little step down like you have observed?

If you need 4+ amps per LED, You can get only 1-5 minutes.
Because 3x18650 Vin and all LED Vf aren’t much different.
other factor… V sag , Driver and Springs V drop ……

That why I still not to pull the trigger!!! (May be I will If BTU come with 4x18650s battery tube)

So… the light doesn’t have an AR lens, contrary to its advertisement?

Well I still don’t mind the stock 3.6-3.8a range. With the XM-L2’s on copper, with UCL lens it still should in the mid 3000’s.
Not sure if you saw my BTU clip, but it was still was doing about 2500otf after almost 22min kept on turbo almost the full time. My 3400mah protected Keeppowers were reading about 3.84V after I stopped the test. So driven at stock levels, with copper sinkpads and XM-L2 U2’s and UCL or ar lens, I would expect it to stay above 3000otf on turbo until batteries are depleted. Likely, what 30-40min at that level before the batteries get too low? Anyway, good enough for me. I didn’t take buy this light to take on long hikes and such. Besides after modding even after it kicks down, it should have perhaps a 2300-2500 lumen high, and with that it should last a good hour on good cells.
Plus with this planned upgrade, it might get another 50meter throw if I’m lucky.

As far as most owners think, no. I can not detect any coating myself. And my testing without the lens increased about 120otf on weak batteries. So if its an AR lens, its a poor one. With an AR lens this light will do the full 3000otf after 30sec.

I forget what I seen when I was in there. I might have posted about it somewhere. I suspect the minor amount of sag is driver temperature related. It takes about 60 seconds or so to stabilize.
It has nothing to do with batteries; I tested it on a bench power supply.
When I get to the point of doing a mod I’ll be picking a final turbo current, and using a resistor mod that gives me that current after 60 seconds. The initial 200-300mA of extra punch while cold should not be an issue. I’ll also document it so others can know what I did and decide if it’s what they want to do. i still need to order emitters though…