Review TrustFire TR-3T6 Triple XM-L T6 5-Modes Memory LED Flashlight (3x18650)

Benckie, this is a regulated light, like the other variants. The current draw varies and as they get depleted, the current gets higher. High current doesn't mean higher perforamnce. Laughing

benckie, it would probably be a better use of your time to check for draw as the batteries deplete, to verify that it's same type of driver as 3800.

Even within regulated lights, the constant power regulation it does is kind of odd, since passing 4A+ as the cells go down is probably one contributing factor for the failures that're occurring with them.

Yeah man, my SR3800 did fail IIRC the 40th minute....so 3 plus amps. High currents small drivers/components and small cavity coupled with insufficient host -> air heat exchange, bad recipe.

And its not the size/surface area. The big TK70 gets stinking hot (check out thaicpf the measurements are there, i never run mine for so long in turbo mode which is essentially 30W)......actually the HID 65W even even hotter and weak link is not the LED or HID bulb, but the electronics and batteries (Hi-temp = 60 deg C).

ive seen the sky ray there is four of them last i looked but brought this one, the refector pill in the TR-3T6 is solid alloy, simluar to the sky ray, i thought this one would be a better choice, due to the changes on the sky rays, but each to there own.

your both correct, but even though this light is fully regulated, its claimed 3 amp current draw, im slightly under that but no big deal, but since im using cheap cells i think it pays to check multible cells if you can be bothered.

i have a direct drive light with one cell it draws 0.8 amp on the next cell it draws 1.27 amps both same brand and same mah rating, with the next brand current draw ranges from 1.2 amps to 1.5 amps, there is no harm in trying other batteries i have on hand.

so in my opinion it will not hurt to check the other cells also due to its a lucky dip from china, i have 10 of the same branded batteries and all will perform diffent and most offer diffrent results with current draw test and mah cycling, some will last 40 mins some will last over 80 mins and still have more to give then others.

so any one else got the TR-3T6

Well, the point above is that you're going to get 3A+ amps as the batteries are used up, so the claim will come true with time (if similar driver to SR3800). :)

i belive internal resistance of the battery plays a big part with current hence my above post, as the volatge gets lower or as cheap batteries sag you will get higher current draws common knowlage, i run my tr-1200 for very long times from 30 to 50 mins on bush walks and the other night 85 mins on high if you put your ear head the head of the torch you could hear the poor driver singing, not sure how many runs like that i would get out of it and i not sure you should run the TR-3T6 as long i dont think but i will try, but i think if a torch has better heat sinking it should be able to run longer befor you fry it, but there should have multible drivers maybe, good thing with budget lights they are cheap you can buy a new one for a couple of bucks more then a drop in and there is a new one every day.

Well, "constant" power is generally not the case with regulation, which is usually constant current. That's why it's worth checking the draw after running, say, 30min. The "singing" is likely the "PWM" frequency (switching for power regulation in this case) and it's a constant pitch since I don't think these use frequency modulation.

The reflector and emitters are not the same. I did a direct visual comparison between the TrustFire & SkyRay Rev2 without taking them apart, which I'm not going to do; you can easily see they are different. Sure upon a quick glance they look the same, but looking closer you see they are not the same reflector and emitter setup.

Could you tell us the difference in the beams that they both produce then?

Yes the beam profiles are different, I did compare them side-by-side; but I'll have to go back and do it again, I don't want to post the differences from memory, as I recieved 5 different lights that week. They are different though, that's why I looked hard at the reflectors and such to see why they were different.

When I get back to the house, I'll take another run with them side-by-side and post again what I see as to the differences.

I'm back at the house now but we are having an awful storm outside, however I just did the white wall test with them side by side and the SkyRay has a larger hotspot and spill compared to the TrustFire....I hope that helps.

My 2 cell version arrived today in surprisingly perfect condition considering it came all the way from China in a paper package with a little bubble wrap. Happy to say it fired right up. Can't wait till tonight to compare it with my Fenix TK35

atbglenn.. please.. post tailcap current readings!

2.2 amps with freshly charged xtar 2600mAh 18700's

thanks. so it's more or less what the users on thaicpf reported

Mine is 2.0A, same with the 4 major brands. 4.20V XTAR/Solarforce blue letterings/Panasonic 2900/TF Flames (and actually the BIO IMR 18500/18350 as well). There is going to be a degree of error from the DMM voltage drop, but then my Sky Ray SR3800 got me 2.55A with absolutely fresh 4.21V batts. I guess there is going to be this variance thing from the factory.

Anyway, do try to use some thermal compound, there are 3 places which touches, the front edge at the reflector, the threads, and the part where there is a sort of ledge which the drop in presses down on the host when screwed down. I reported that the contacts are quite good, but better be safe than sorry even though this runs at a lower current.

OF course highly accurate tail readings is one thing, OTF lumens, OTF lux (throw), light drop due to heatsinking, total runtime on various batteries is another matter. It drops 2.2% in light intensity for 3 minutes in high, from 0:05 to 3:00. Full details in another thread which i posted.

This is new : I noticed that it did not low voltage cut, just dropped out of high/regulation and let it run slightly dimmer. This plus the slightly lower 2A drive might be interesting for some. All in all, the TF, SR, DRY and TK70 all cater for various needs. Laughing

I've just did a quick comparison against my Fenix TK35 and I can say I'm quite pleased so far. The hot spot and spill is huge! The TK 35 has a little better throw with a smaller hot spot and spill. Color tint is cooler than the TK35 which I'm liking a lot.

Update: I measured the temperature with a Fluke model 62 Mini IR Thermometer after 17 minutes of operation. Both the Trustfire and Fenix were pretty hot. The Trustfire was slightly hotter at 52.4 degrees celsius measured at the head, and 50.2 measured midpoint at the battery compartment. The Fenix was 50.8 ant the head, and 48.8 midpoint at the battery compartment.

I wonder how safe those temps are for long term reliability and how much negative affect will those temps be on the batteries?

Hi guys, sorry for the semi-offtopic

Talking about multicell configurations


If you have a flashlight with 2 cells, and you measure the current at tailcap and you get 2Amp... what means? that EACH cell is giving 2Amps to the driver or that BOTH cells give 1Amps, so 1A + 1A = 2A?

Thanks

Current is like flow, same flow through everything unless you split it up (like parallel battery config). Voltage is like the height for the pipe that the current is flowing through. Each battery increase that level/height, increasing the pressure for the flow, generally speaking. Both can add up, but the way they do so is slightly nuanced. For example, if you measure 1A through each of two pipes in parallel and they flow into another pipe, you have 2A in the latter. However, not the case in series config.

i have not had a good chance to fully test it yet but just in the back yard the TR-3T6 puts out massive spill, ive tested 2 diffrent brands of batteries 4 of one kind 10 of another and i know the light is regulated but the difference in the cells and there internal resistance I'm getting from 2.6 to 2.9 amp draw over 2 x 18650,s, I'm really impressed with the trustfire flames for bang for buck.