Got my TangsFire XM-L2 U3 today. It pulls 4.65A on a fresh Pana PD - 1,054 lumens @start, 976 lumens at 30 secs. I'd expect a big drop for 4.65A on an aluminum star. Tried the threads - yet another C8 thread size and cut, oh boy... Really was hoping it was going to be a true C8 thread. The pill threading is bigger than a Convoy C8 and UF T-20/LightMalls C8, so no chance brass or copper pills will fit. Like a Convoy C8, it came with a 16mm star - kind of surprising.
The body and reflector are clean - excellent condition. It's not bad, was hoping a little more compatible though.
I didn’t like running this light too much on DD without a copper star, so I swapped the U3 for an XM-L2 U2 1A on a Noctigon. I tried it side by side with another stock Tangsfire, and the beam profile and tints are identical. I could not discern any difference at all.
I was originally going to upgrade the wires. The smallest I had were 22AWG, and I knew they would probably play havoc shorting the reflector with the 16mm star. I was going to try anyway, but when I looked at where the wires were attached to the driver, I decided to leave them stock. I couldn’t trust my soldering abilities to attach larger wires in such a tiny space. I checked with my DMM to see if there was continuity to the close by components, but they must have been separated by half a hair.
Since I’m leaving the stock wires, I don’t know whether to bother with copper braid on the springs.
The stock aluminum star was glued down pretty tight. I couldn’t twist it off with pliers.
To get it out without damaging the emitter I set the pill on top of a large wrench socket and inserted a hex key into the wire hole where part of the star overlapped. A whack with a mallet, and it was out.
I went ahead and put copper braid on the springs anyway. I gained some amps. I also added an AR coated lens from IOS. I guess that’s about as a good as this torch is going to get. I put a blue boot cap on it so I can tell which one is which.
Efest IMR give me 3.6A, and the 30A Sonys give me 4.6A without breaking a sweat.
First of all, we don’t know if its really a U3. Second, I have two Tangsfires in my hand, one has a U2 1A, and the other a stock “U3”, and they are identical in tint, from the hot spot to the corona.
I swapped XM-L2 U2 1A and it is exactly the same profile and tint. No difference at all. So the “U3” is probably U2 1A. As far as the slight violet tint in the corona, stop standing five feet from a white wall, go outside and use it in the wild. It is just fine.
My cheap UltraFire C8 “w/ U3” didn’t cost much more than the U2. If I bought the U2 instead, I doubt I’d receive a U3. IMO, paying a little extra for at least a “chance” at actually getting a U3 is worth it. I really don’t have a reason to doubt it’s not a U3 because it seems brighter than my U2s but even if it wasn’t a U3, it’s nice to have XM-L2 U3 already printed on it.
It really does not matter to me if it is U2 or U3 as long as it is an XM-L2 . I am just curious to see what kind of numbers it puts out with the DD east092 driver. I had a c8 with an XM-L2 from Lightmalls that had great start up numbers but fell behind the Xin TD by the time 30 seconds were up. I also had the C12 from KD with the XM-L2 but it was driven much milder and started below where the lightmalls ended up but it held it very well. I really am buying this one because the OP said it is a nicely built host. I will end up changing to a Q-lite and an XM-L2 1A on noctigon anyway because an emitter driven at 4+A on aluminum star can’t last imo.
Only this TMart C8 turned out to be the real deal. U2 or U3, I can’t tell, but cat eyes is right. We should be able to buy with confidence. This Keeppower thing is just stupid on the part of Keeppower. Why would they enable a dealer to sully their name? It would appear that they do not understand how important brand recognition and brand loyalty really is. As these lights, flashlights and home lights go mainstream, all these vendors will be going by the wayside. We are already seeing it with the lights at Home Depot, Lowes and other retailers. At least with them, you have confidence in what you buy. Notice that the Defiant triple emitter is rated at “only” 1000 lumens? That’s because it is only 1000 lumens.
