TrustFire X6 SST-90 5-Mode 2300 Lumens LED Flashlight (3x18650)

[quote=Oxy Moron]

To be fair though, these things happen - just like KaBooms and slamfires. In a perfect world, they shouldn't but they do. We all take chances with our hobbies and the more you push the envelope (whether it's driving a LED hard in 3*18650 configuration or using handloaded ammo).

[/quote]

You haven't experienced a glock .40 KaBoom, have you? [O.T. - Knock on wood, I've had one and only one KaBoom while reloading....It's disturbingly easy to double charge Unique in a .45LC case - Thankfully it was in a Freedom Arms revolver so the only damage was done to my trousers!]

[OT]

Not personally, thank God but you know how these things go - spend enough time at the range and it seems like it's a daily occurence and Glock went into the business of making handgrenades. ;) And I definitely know what you mean with regard to reloading. For the most part, I'm a pretty laid back guy but something about reloading brings out the OCD in me and that's when I start to triple-checking everything - much to the amusement of my wife who thinks it's hilarious when I turn into Mr. Uber-Careful. The thought of having a gun go kaboom in my hands just scares the living crap out of me.

Truth be told though, I wouldn't hesitate to grab a Glock to defend my family from the advancing zombie hordes, should the feces ever hit the rotary oscillator. I'd prefer a longgun, of course, but considering that there's millions and millions of tupperware guns chambered in 10mm, .40 and .45 ACP/GAP out there with a bajillion rounds through them collectively, I'd be more concerned about losing a finger to the wonders of Chinese quality control. :D

It is indeed worrying about these events. Maybe there should be a deliberate week-spot in the casing of these multi-cell flashlights. However simple mistakes can occur.

(From CPF)

Let me elaborate on the scenario:

  1. Note that one may easily forget to charge the 3rd cell if only 2 fit in the charger. Then the protection circuit trips because the cell is discharged below the limit.
  2. The other batteries impose a negative voltage on it's terminals. The cell itself is disconnected internally from the terminals, but the protection circuit gets the full negative voltage and dies.
  3. The death of the protection circuit may have reconnected the battery, so now it works as if it was completely unprotected. Mosfet switches often fail that way, they just become a short.
  4. The battery gets reverse-charged during the use of the light.
  5. Recharging the damaged cell the next day, possibly in a charger that overcharges somewhat, sets the stage for disaster.

Use LiMn IMRs?

All my batts, I check with DMM after every discharge and another time recharge cycle. The DMM is always just beside my PC, and the alu boxes which stores all the lasers, flashlights are beside the PC. I have never skipped this stage, even with my NiMH and SLA. I rely on NiMHs and Li-ion professionally for one of my incomes (photography). Even with 3 digital bodies and 9 Li-ion, you can suddenly run out of power due to a simple "mistake" and on a very demanding shoot (say you are relying on a power sucking body/lens with stabilisation and always AFing and LCD chimping....or some videographers use them to take video which really impacts battery power). I really want to carry the charger, but my darn bag is really too packed.

With Nikon original Li-ion packs and Nikon charger, the LED could stop blinking indicating a full charge, and yet when you measure it the thing isn't fully charged. You can see the same thing in the cam, like 70% full or something. This happens with the older cells....but you still can use the cell.

If you will, having a backup for the backup for each of the bodies including the backup for the backup body, still does not mean that the setup is 100% foolproof. When i was younger with more energy, there was once in 4 consecutive days during a date period which was extremely popular for weddings, I did 4 full day weddings (ie morning session and then be back at night for the dinner) with 1 x short 2-hr solemnisation session squeezed in for the afternoon. You don't even have time to charge them up. LOL!

CPF's Throwjunkie measured 2.9A at the end with IMRs. That's nearly 9A at the emitter before losses.

I like what old4570 said (the guy knows his batteries man!)

Were the batteries fully charged :
Did you match the batteries for current draw :
Did you check to make sure the batteries were not faulty in any shape or form .

Multi cell operation requires care and knowledge , especially for the batteries .

If you failed to use due care , then this is operator failure .


1/ Make sure the batteries are all charged to the same state [ voltage ]
2/ Rest the batteries after charging for at least 1 hour and test voltage state ..
3/ All cell should match
4/ Test current discharge in another light , they should all be close
5/ When using a multi batt light , often test batt state to check for even discharge
6/ Buying cheap cells means you may need to take more care matching cells

7/ failure to use due care , failure to educate yourself to the correct use , may result in possible problems , resulting in possibly anything but the operator taking the blame .

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a TRustfire X6 SST-90 torch.

Where can it be bought at a reasanable price as I see all kind of prices on the net ?

Regards,

Stefaan

Ric of CNqualitygoods can hook you up with a good price. 120 bucks.

Don't forget, you have to pay for shipping

But Ric is a reliable guy!

Well, i cannot reveal all the secrets online! I can only say, get all your stuff from Ric, he always gives a good price.... DHL pricing is good actually.

THanks for the replies guys.

I have found his website and I have contacted him to ask him how much he adds for shipping.

THanks

I'm asking myself if this is a good flashlight ?

I already have the EagleTac T20C2 Mark II, the O-light Triton M31 and a couple of smaller fenix flashlights....

Hi stefaand you can get it from BOB $130 including shipping and if you use a coupon code BOB10 you get a 10% discount( have not used this for a while, may have expired) you may get it for $117

http://www.bestofferbuy.com/trustfire-x6-5mode-luminus-sst90-led-aluminum-flashlight-p-67277.html?zenid=k5fvp7oag8e8jdpsg53dt8dl15&utm_campaign=gbase_uk&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=gbase&currency=USD

Thank you for the offer, but I already placed an order @Ric....

Wow...that's low from BOB. Have you used it before? Still need to overcome the initial part where you use the guy for the first time esp with nobody's endorsement. That episode with Lighttake and Sky Ray wasn't that good at all over here and CPF. Apparent DOAs and 1 x Wii Evil rabbit instead of the light and 1 barely lighting up and they tell you that 100 lumens is good enough for a triple XM-L sounds scary. hehe....

You can't go wrong there. Super-nice guy, and I believe a flashaholic at heart.

Nice to see YET ANOTHER Belgian on the board....I think there are five, so far.

Groetjes !

Yes, the order is processed and will be sent via DHL in 2 days.

Glad to be the fifth belgian guy.

Yes me too I'm crazy about good flashlights.

It all started a couple of years ago with 2 big maglites (4D and 6D).

But those are not comparable with the flashlight like the XL100 (maglite) and the Eagletac T20C2 mark II (300 lumen).

Afterwards I also bought the O-light T31 Warrior, I think it is 900 lumen.

And I have a couple of small ones, the Fenix E05 and the HP10 (headset).

and now I'm waiting for the 2300 lumen trustfire...Very curious how much light that one gives.

Cheers,

Stefaan

Hi Stefaand, glad you got the light. BTW, you do know how to balance them 3 x 18650 and the dangers in 3S config right? Everything is safe if you balance + use good protected cells. Let me know via PM if you have any questions.

Hallo,

I don't know what you mean with "balance" the 18650 batteries ?

Is there a danger ?

I also ordered 4 UNPROTECTED (and they look normal) ultrafire batteries at his website. http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1216

Is that wrong ?

Whoops...now I know what you have been talking about, Flashpilot.

Stefaand, can just email Ric and ask him to change to other batts? This one should be ok. Just get 3 pcs.

http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=51

Yes of course there is a danger. But with judicious use and decent protected cells there really is no additional danger compared to the Li-ion that you use in your notebook.

You need to get a digital multimeter, what you are aiming to do is to make sure all cells are balanced in voltage, ie all 4.2V before you start using them. For the first discharge, perhaps you can measure in 10 mins interval and ensure that their voltage stays about the same. If they are all within 0.03V +/- it really is pretty ok.

BTW when you first get the cells, you need to measure their voltage which indicates the state that they have been stored, you are aiming for a value between 3.5V and 4V. If they are like < 3.4V, be very wary during usage and see if they stay balanced as a batch.

Basically with PCB protection you are protected the Li Co cells from dead shorts and over-charging. There is no such thing as trickle charging, if they are full then they are full. Trickle charge them no matter how small a current and they'd blow soon be it in hours or a few days. Compare this to NiMH, which safely dissipates the extra charge as heat - they may not operate that well after that if severely overcharged but they won't blow.

With all my cells, be it branded or those with lousy brands, i will test the PCB. Use the multimeter in current mode and short the + and -. The value would jump a bit and then fall to zero, ie protects from shorts. No danger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3o_2mwRPdw

But please, the risk is really very very low, you run a higher risk of blowing yourself up with illegal fireworks. If you follow good practices there shouldn't be any issue at all.

http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=51

Those batteries do not look like rechargable batteries, but I have seen in the comment that those batteries are chargeable.

I have asked Ric to replace them, as the pachage is only going to be sent off on monday morning.

Thanks for the info.

I will only use full charged batteries so they all will be 4.2 volt I guess. I will mix them and use half empty with fully charged batteries.

So I will be safe too I think.

Stefaan