Got my Tool AAA 3 Weeks ago and since then, it is literally glued to me Little awesome light, as many of you already know.
Now some thoughts about it:
in this review by UPz a runtime diagram on eneloop on high mode certified the Tool AAA a much worser runtime with less lumen than the maratac.
You will also note, that the maratac has a flat line (good regulation) and the tool has a kurve. In another review of the maratac rev 3, is writen how you can identify the new “no pwm” version of the maratac. You can see a ring around the led on the bottom of the reflector. My Tool AAA looks exactly like the rev. 3 maratac head on the right in this picture by Jon Slider in his review
On CPF
so has anymody done a new runtime test on a 2016 version of lumintop tool AAA? Chances are good, that maratac und tool use at least the same driver board if not even the same head. Maybe the comparison in the diagramm was between an old Tool version and a new maratac version? Would be interesting to know, cause the runtime of the maratac was near double.
At the end something funny, i told you the Tool is glued to me, but last weekend i lost it for 24h. desperately searching at least 10 times in every pocket of every jacket and pants i got, also in every corner of my car, i did not found it. The hole day and night was bad raining and hail in our new backyard. Next day me and my doughter wanted to saw some grass, and guess what we found…
As of the heavy rain it was nearly burried but after cleaning under clear water it turned on with no issues (as aspected)
Get this light, if you don´t have one already !!!
Maybe the comparison in the diagramm was between an old Tool version and a new maratac version? Would be interesting to know, cause the runtime of the maratac was near double.
And why don’t you ask in the other review threads?
It was no real question (more a question to myself).
The question is, wether anybody has done a new runtime test with a new (spring 2016) lumintop tool.
Can´t belive that the maratac (are they also produced by lumintop?) should have nearly double runtime.
I will make a runtime test myself this weekend, but without lumen cause i have no equipment to measure this.
Would be nice if someone with a new purchased Lumintop (got mine on Bang Good 3-4 Weeks ago) could also do one for comparison.
i will use a fresh charged eneloop standard (750mAh) Battery in high mode.
…btw i think discussion of a 14$ flashlight belongs more to this forum, than into another just my 2 cents
When I use the image or graphic that has been created by another guy, I always like to write very clear who is the person (his nick) who has taken the trouble to do it.
I think it’s a good habit …
It is ok for me if you guys use the charts or images I post in my reviews. Anyway, giving credit is apreciated.
As for the Lumintop, after finishing the review I discussed a bit with the manufacturer about the results of that test. They told me that “maybe I got a wrong sample”, poor performing or defective. Other reviews with lumen charts show a better stabilizated output. They even tested one of their pre-production samples there in CN and the result was similar, but without the first minutes drop.
As for your question, it is answered in cpf by me, but here you go: Lumintop is a pre-production nichia sample (from review OP date), and the Maratac featured in the chart is a XP-G2 and part of my personal collection, can’t remember exactly when I got it (trevi may know it if he has better memory than me, as we got the lights in the same shipping), but it’s NOT the new model. It’s the PWM model, which showed MUCH better efficiency than the newer models from the same manufacturer (lumintop, maratac).
I also have the new Worm Cu (nichia too), which is supposed to have the same driver, but I can tell you that that is performing MUCH better than my tool cu sample.
Hope all this is helpful. :+1:
so here´s the runtime test, as promised :sunglasses:
After 23-24 minutes the light went so uncomfortable hot that i was a little bit afraid of damaging my eneloop, but i went on.
Soon after 26-27 minutes the brightness decreased very fast within a minute to some like the standart low level. I have no lumen meter, so i chose the ceiling bounce methode. For my eye, the brightness was nearly constant until minute 26. Unfortunately the lights have no serial number or something else, so i made some pics of the reflector and the pcb. Maybe it helps to identify the different revisions of the tool AAA.
@UPz: can you make a picture of the apparently more efficient pcb of your newest Worm? Sounds very interesting to me!
Other people seem not to care about differences in the runtimes of maratac and tool, as they lego the heads of both lights wild to make their custom flashlight for the day (nichia, xp-g, clicky, twisty, magnet-tail)
Little awesome light, as many of you already know.
cause i have no equipment to measure this.
just my 2 cents
