Review: TrustFire TR-J20 - 12 x XM-L (3 x 32650) Chunky Monkey!

Mine is still in the works. I’ll report back once it’s finished. But there are lots of other flooders out there that aren’t so chunky. Many are coke style lights. Lots of new ones are being released that’s gotten even more tiny.

Richard at RMM built me a FET driver but I havent had the time to mod my TR-J20 yet. :frowning: Just to much going on at the moment…

Overlooking their mediocre build quality, the problem with most other large multi-emitter flooders is that they have fairly horrible heat sinking, which makes the TR-J20 an order of magnitude better.

@blueb8llz - what mods are you doing to your J20? :slight_smile:

To me one of the big advantages of the TR-J20 should be run time at high output levels if you use 26650 or 32650 batteries in it. Also big enough and with good enough heat dissipation so it can be run at high levels longer after hop up. Any one have a USA source for good 32650 batteries? So far as I know all 32650 batteries are Chinese origin. So far very few lights seem to use this size.

Alright I ordered it along with 4 TF 26650 batteries and a nitecore i4 charger.

Looking forward to it.

And yes the main reason im considering this over others is the awesome build quality and heat sinking as Flashpilot pointed out.

I've got some genuine Trustfire 32650 batteries sitting in Seattle, but I won't be able to offer them for a few weeks. The protection circuit on them isn't that great and trips at around 5A. I ended up pulling them off for use in my 9A MT-G2 Maglite.

Those 32650’s batteries just might be perfect for the group buy on the SD10.

18sixfifty is doin the mod. He is installing a true direct side switch driver. He will be drilling a hole and adding a side switch for me. Changing out all emitters to u3’s. And whatever else that he does to his crazy mods

Do you know which driver mod (if any)?

The tiny ones cannot put out anywhere near maximum for very long unless they have temperature sensor controlled output and are used in situations that give excellent cooling. A windy cold night for example. I have a Supfire L1 that RMM did for me that is putting out 7000 Lumens max per his measurement but has a timer for step down from maximum. He also just returned a TrustFire TR-S700 that now has warmer XM-L2 LEDs on Noctigons installed, much thicker wires and the current sensor resistors bypassed. Not too sure of the output but per RMM it should be able to run at maximum output continuously. A big beast with a good heat dissipation path. Due to the switch design and continuously variable output the driver cannot be replaced which limits output possible. I really like the continuously variable output without either strobe or SOS as to me this is basically a single mode light, idiot proof.

Also talking with RMM about a hopped up TR J-20 with about 10,000 to 11,000 Lumens warmer output. He indicated that he has done several and no one has had switch problems YET! If you want a true high output light that can do it for long then it seems to me like you need the mass and heat dissipation of a massive light with a good heat path. At the moment the TR-J20 seems to be the best candidate.

Rich is right, the smaller hosts just can't handle the heat produced by 12 emitters direct drive, even for a short period of time.

It’s a side switch direct drive blf fet driver. It came from cereal killer

@12.5A at the tail, that thing must be an absolute flood monster! Although declining lumens from turn-on, Im surprised you can get half an hour in DD from those cells before a PC trips. Id call that some excellent brute performance for such a simple mod, and probably the only budget host made that can handle that amount of thermal torment so well. You must be very pleased. :bigsmile:

The Evva protection circuits are beasts, but I'm not sure how long they'll last pulling them at 12A+. Evva tells me around 7.5A-8A continuous is all they're rated for.

Beam shots during those tests?

Congratulations on your results. That light must be one heck of a fun flooder. :bigsmile:

In my experience, not all emitter failures are permanent when you overheat/over-volt/over-amp them. Sometimes you can view through the XM-L dome and inspect the bond wires for damage. If they still appear intact, try heating the MCPCB up to reflow temperature and push down on the dome while heat is still applied before allowing it to cool. I dont know why, but probably 1 in 5 XM-L emitters with intact bond wires that I thought I had fried, seem to find a new life after the reflow heat with pressure. Who knows… maybe the bond wires had become detached from the abuse, and the added pressure of the dome is simply pressing them back into position so they make electrical contact again. Either way, they seem to be good up to 3A again.

I should add that this has only been the case with XM-L on non direct thermal aluminum boards.

Christ all mighty! That thing is going to bring on an early summer if you dont hurry up and turn it off!! Without the driver, you’ll be running at a higher efficiency in converting power into sheer lumens. Besides, who needs modes with a light like that? Im glad my reflow trick worked for you. If you have a DMM, can you check the continuity of the old star from the pads to the wire solder points? Im curious if a trace got melted. Thanks for adding some beam shots. They look magnificent!! :bigsmile:

wow that j20 just put the k40m to shame, thats crazy cus the k40m is no slouch

Of interest too is the 12 LED version of the SupFire M6 that RMM has been developing. 9900 lumens at turn on and 9000 after a minute he reports. IMO totally outrageous outputs for a light that size. I would like to have both that and the Chunky Monkey.

@Can - Im just revisiting your post and did a mouse over to compare beam patterns.

Mouse out for k40m acebeam

Mouse over for your J20 with direct drive mod

The J20 is still a beast of a light! <--- you might need these. I have smaller lights with similar or equal output, but they will only do it for 30-60 seconds while the big J20 just keeps chugging along until the batteries are drained.