2 CR123 cells are 6V, 2 18650 cells are 8.4V. 2 18500 cells are also 8.4V. 18500 cells are usually less capable of high current discharge.
But the specs as quoted on Olightworld.com say the ANSI ratings are achieved with 2 18650 3400mAh cells.
Why Selfbuilt would recommend to not run the light on high using the 2 lesser cells is beyond me.
* yes I know it uses 3 of the CR123 cells, which is 9V, but those little cells...even 3 at a time...can't deliver the amperage the bigger 18650's can. Or that's my experience anyway, could be wrong. Shouldn't matter, as the light is supposed to be digitally current regulated.
If I had to make a choice I would believe selfbuilt! What he said has been my experience w/ the light. One of the reasons I liked it so much. FULL BORE! No worries about loss of power or these 5/10 minute step downs!
This is a question not sarcasm! Are these the same as a step down?
-Intelligent temperature control system to prevent flashlights overheated.
-Thermal management to avoid overheating.
Maybe it is more/better heat sinking? If there is an actual “step down” of any kind usually manufacturers state it that way?
All I know is the M3X XML2 could run on max for an hour w/ out heat being an issue, MAX output sustained regardless of season! There is NO step down,maybe “Thermally managed” and “Step down” are Two different things!!! 8)
I think I analyzed and thought of everything I could on the topic!
Now wait!! If the flashlight never gets hot enough It will continue Unregulated on MAX with NO STEP DOWN or loss of max output!,I know, that is because it is thermally regulated!!
Question for DBCstm, how did you managed to open the driver section without damaging the body? I have a M3X (the 1000 lm xml2 version) and a M2X is on my way too (ordered today, also due to your great review!)
On M3X I tried with hands and work gloves to improve grip but with no success.
Not really willing to use tools, to avoid nicks and scratches if possible...
Ok, yesterday I opened up the M3x Triton and found that the head is deeper because of the difference in driver. The driver does have the wires attached to the big star, those 2 little red wires out on the edge, and the star is aluminum. And the pill is hollow, there’s nothing under the big star! It sits on a fairly wide ledge though. I will be re-doing that, for sure.
I pulled the star out and heat it up to get the XM-L off, put a de-domed XM-L2 U2 on it. There is a row of sense resistors, a long row, like 7 or 8 of em. Most were R100’s but not all, there was a 2R00 among em and a couple of others. I took a stab in the dark and stacked 2 R056. Couldn’t get it to work outside of the body to test it, so I put it back together and tested it on 2 Sanyo UR18650FJ cells from a laptop pull. 2.56A at the tail…. is that double to the emitter? Or near it? With Efest 35A fully charged and rested it showed 2.43A at the tail.
Output is 1135 OTF at start, 1014 at 30 seconds. 196Kcd and 885.44M throw. So I did gain considerable lumens from the stock XM-L at 700, if the tail amperage is indicative of around 5A to the emitter, then it’s doing about what I’d expect except that the throw isn’t where I would have thought.
Still on the stock driver though, so it still has the twist head for mode changes. So, the dilemma on my hands now is which one do I modify with an MT-G2? If I’m going to have to create a large copper sink for the Triton anyway, since it has a hollow pill, then I might as well do that one with the big emitter. I did get the extension tube for the Javelot, but of course I have it set up now to run single cell only. And it’s so truly potent I’d kind of hate changing it, the smallest thrower I have at anywhere near that throw level.
Might just sell this Triton in it’s new and improved state and do something else with the MT-G2…decisions decisions decisions.
Anyone looking for a bumped but otherwise stock Olight M3S Triton?
I went through some old de-domed XM-L2 emitters and checked forward voltage in direct drive off a Sanyo lap pull. Found one that was sitting at 3.49Vf in full direct drive. Bingo!
So I put that one on the star, dug through my stuff and found the big, thick copper star that came out of a TK61…cut that to fit snugly into the pill under the aluminum star. So it’s got some backup, as it were. I pulled one of the 2 R056 resistors I’d stacked, left the R025 on. At the emitter, with a pair of Sanyo lap pulls in semi charged state, it showed 6.65A on the clamp meter. I grabbed a pair of Efest 35A and topped em off in the charger, tail amperage shows 3.65A from these! .19A in low, which is in line with what low did at the emitter on the Sanyo’s, .39A.
Does this mean I’m seeing about 7A now? Still only makes 1221 lumens and the lux actually has dropped to 186.5Kcd.
So, pushing this Triton for all it’s worth on the stock driver it still doesn’t stack up against the Javelot with a piggybacked BLF FET driver. Crazy, huh?
This one is no exception. I discovered that the thick Aluminum star in the Triton is not Direct Thermal Path, hence the big drops in lumens during run tests. So, I improvised. I removed the de-domed older XM-L2, put it on a 20mm Noctigon but with copper pedestals under it to raise it up for better focus ability. Then I bored out the center of the big aluminum star for a press fit of the 20mm Noctigon into it. This keeps the Thermal Management and puts about 3.5mm of copper under the emitter.
I now have 1397.25 lumens at start, 1235.1 at 30 seconds, with 197.75Kcd and 889.38M throw. Whew! What a lot of work for the little gain, but now I know it’s the best it can be. With 7A from the stock driver and the light still functioning as normal, it’s time to leave this one alone.
I think the little brother, the M2X-UT Javelot, still outdoes it…which is very impressive indeed!
Not very often.
