Brightest 26650 flood light

Hi,

I picked up a tr-j18 a few months back and ended up with a dud. While I continue to try and fix this light, I wanted a “back up” plan in case I decide to cut my losses and just replace this light.

Since purchased a full set of (4) 26650 TF flames and a charger… I would like a light that could make use of these cells (either 2, 3 or 4…does not matter).

What I want is…
a) budget between $50-100… not much over $100 if going over.
b) a LOT of lumens…… more the better… say 3000 OTF +
c) did I mention a LOT of lumens…
d) short run times are ok… short as in 15mins bursts.
e) well driven in stock form……… modding the j18 turned into a nightmare…… gong to try not to do that again.
f) LOTS of flood… enough throw to put a wall of light 200-250 ft

My current shortlist is the skyray 9…. and the TF X100…… not sure where one is better here.

From my noobish point of view.

a) tf x100 fits into ur price range.
b) x100 have 3000+ lumens otf.
c) i guess x100 might be possible.
d) x100 i try full power on 4pc 26650, 30 mins no problem.
e)i dunno how to answer this.
f) x100 flood more then my J18, throw further, also defensive/offensive weapon better.

Also sharing my thoughts as this is my dilemma too previously.
I need several lights for my usage & my biggest was J18, i was also stuck with choices like SKyRay 9 x T6 or TF AK 47 or Ak 48(12 LED) ; other 12 x T6 or X100(7 led like my J18).

AK 47 was my was one of my first choice as got poison by Richie’s thread.
However, i went TF-X100 & HID route. HID is due to after Richie’s explanation & his expertise with the light after the driver went in.
I believe the main concern with all lights after driver is the HEAT issue, my usage is mostly longer time, so HID suits me better…

So putting the HID aside.
LEDs to LEDs…

Why did i choose TF-X100 over Ak 47 (9led), AK 48(12led)?
All of them have OTF 3000+ lumens from infos such as calculations & real world tested + photoshots by gurus here.

1stly, is due to the massive head. I still have not open up my x100 to see inside, so base on physics (use my car”s brake kits’s rotor analogy),bigger can disperse more head/absorb more heat before brake fade.
X100’s head is almost 1.5 times or 1.8 times bigger then J18’s head. I try to take photo comparing X100 & J18 size later, hv to work in a bit.

So if i want to put in drivers to have more lumens:

  1. The heat output from 7 leds should be lesser then 9 leds or 12 leds (if i understand correctly after put in driver, each led will be given X amount of watt no matter 7,9,or 12 led ; or i am wrong?), thus the X100’s head might maybe just be able to disperse heat enough for the 7 LEDs because even if i put in drivers, i will need to gun them at high power for at least 20 mins. Keeping my fingers crosses nothing melts.

2) During the time wen i order X100, the shop also have ak 47, i ask the person to compare both of them on video & show me. X100’s head is still looks bigger.

Hope it helps.

EDITED: Photo to show the diff in size of X100 & J18.
Dun understand why it does not show out on forum? But click on the link & photo will show up :slight_smile:
Cigarette box is just as a gauge of size/scale. The middle left most shows J18 head is being place inside of X100’s head.
Pardon the poor quality photo, only have iphone…
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/icopulate/compare.jpg

The AK-47 is only good if you intend to upgrade it with a KD driver. Since Kaidomain changed the design of the new 9x T6 driver, and mine are still enroute to me, I need to determine if the new design is better than the old or not. So the jury is still out for that.

The Trustfire X100 seems like a good light, but very long in length. You do have the batteries for it, but I’d think about it carefully you’ll be okay with such a long light. You should also see if it’s easy to upgrade the driver should you decide to do it in the future.

I know you’ve had a difficult time with your J18, it happens to us all eventually. But no flashaholic can leave a flashlight stock for very long. They just end up calling to you to do something to it. Why I say make sure it’s easy for you to upgrade it later on. :wink:

X100 under rated light!

Holy cow, that head is huge! I have to look over the reviews on the X100 again and check out beam shots. Thanks for posting the comparision.

there are a number of floody 5xml, 7xml and 9 xml lights that run on 2, 3 , or 4 26650

trj12 trj18 ak47 x100 etc

just have to replace the driver with the appropriate KD driver (i believe international outdoor sells some as well)

you are easily looking at 4000 OTF lumens for under $85 if you go with the trj12… a little more output if you go with a 7 or 9 xml i believe… i have done the trj12 mod myself - quite easy even for a noob

that x100 looks to have the same size head as my ak47. i took a pack of marlboros and did the same thing.
im interested to see which is brighter in stock form, but i dont think it would be too far off which is why i give the lead to the ak47 because of the shorter body, and the fact that it can be easily modded into a 6000 lumen flood monster as richie posted above.

richie modded mine and everylight is outmatched by the modded ak47 including a tk70 fyi.

Yes, I just verified that myself. From exterior measurements, the AK-47 has a 78 mm bezel, the Trustfire X100 is 75 mm. But the X100 must be some powerful light using 4 cells that’s for sure.

Good for you. You didn’t fall victim to

and so you are a ‘rational’ decision maker.