Review Orcatorch T30

I want to write a little Review about the Orcatorch T30 i got directly from Orcatorch as a sample. The light i received is the "old" version with XM-L2 U2 emitter and 980 Lumen but they updated the light to XP-L V3 with 1000 lumen now. The rest of the stats are identical to my sample.


The light is in their tactical 1x18650 line with tailcap clicky and sideswitch for mode changes. The light features a charging port and that is more or less the biggest difference to the T20 model.


First some measurements i did

The light comes in a standard (white/orange) package like most other flashlights on the market
Here is an overview what you get with your light. A manual, some spare o-rings, a manual, USB cable and a warranty card.

Unfortunately the light dont use a standard micro USB Port as you can see here, therefore no rubber flap to protect the port was used.

The Orcatorch labeled holster is pretty standard



Now to the light itself, i made a little Gif to show you the light better. The T30 has the typical tactical shape like for example the Olight M22 which is the first light i have in mind when i think about tactical 1x18650 lights. The light arrived with a already installed clip and tactical ring for "cigar grip". I noticed that some flashlight manufacturers have rather loose tactical rings, this one sits firmly in place. I had to remove the clip after the little photo shooting since i am no fan of clips in combination with larger non EDC lights.

some more pictures to show the machining of the light better. No imperfections or silver parts in the black anodizing.


The head and tailcap from inside, the tailcap has a spring loaded pin instead of the more usual bare spring. I like those spring loaded pins since i have several 18650 batteries with scratch marks from bare springs, some of them pretty deep. Since the light has two springs it wont loose contact when you use the light on a bicycle for example.



This copy has a XM-L2 U2 emitter but newer versions will feature the XPL V3 emitter. It also has a double sided coated glas lens, Stainless steel crenulated bezel which can be unscrewed easily and a smooth reflector. I think you can see the violet shimmer of the coated glas. According to the manual the XM-L2 emitter puts out 980 lumen on turbo, 300 on high, 50 on medium and 1 lumen at low. The light also has a strobe and SOS mode. Runtime on turbo 4 h 10, 7h on high, 32h on medium and 1980h on low. 23331cd and 305m beam distance.


The tail switch is a forward clicky and it has to be the stiffest clicky on any light i own, i dont think its a negative thing, it feels very solid. The light will tailstand because of the additional fin's around the switch.



I checked all of my 18650s with the light and they all fit, even the thicker NCR18650 (2nd from the left) and the LG HG2 flat top cell (first) will fit. There is a tiny amount of rattle when you shake the light with the HG LG2. The NCR18650 wont fit in all of my lights because of the thickness. Orcatorch sell their own 18650s which i used for the runtime test.



Here is a "group shot" of the light together with some other lights in that class for comparision. As you can see the T30 is a rather tall light. Most other 1x18650 tactical lights are shorter these days. Only the more "oldschool" Thrunite Lynx is taller.



Lets see what the charging function can do. As i wrote before the light dont use the micro USB Port which i would have prefered. There is a little indicator LED as well as you can see. The picture shows the low voltage warning LED in action, it will go solid red when the voltage is low, it wont blink. I dont know the exact voltage value under load when this happens but as soon as the indicator light appeared i removed the battery and i measured 3.3V. Despite the charging port the light has an IPX8 rating.





The same indicator light also functions as a charging indicator. It shows red during charging and goes solid green when the light is finished. You have to turn the flashlight on when charging otherwise the LED will show yellow, it will also show yellow when the battery is inserted wrongly during charging. Note, there is no low voltage cut off feature, so the light will continue to drain battery until its empty, so i would recommend protected cells only. On the other hand in a emergency situation a light without low voltage cut off might be handy since the light will continue to glow for a long time. I usually prefer lights with a low voltage cut off. The charging current of the light is 0.5A and it wont overcharge your batteries. My 18650 cell had 4.17V after charging was finished.




Here is a little runtime test i made with the T30 (turbo mode - 3400mah ). The light has no low voltage cut off so i called it a day after a while otherwise the light would have glowed forever
The test is based on the brightness in Lux @ 1m (in percent) and time in minutes. My runtime data is much longer than the diagram shows but its kind of pointless to show since the light will continue to glow for hours in a very low mode until the battery dies.





The T30 has a CW tint like the majority of flashlights. I made a little comparision to show the tint better





The UI of the light is very simple, the mode sequence is Low>medium>high>turbo (side switch). The tailcap clicky will turn the light on or off and you get momentary on since its a forward clicky. A long press on the side switch will give you strobe and another click SOS, of course from on. It has mode memory as well.


Here are some white wall beamshots of the light in all modes and some Klarus XTQ1 comparision shots.




Klarus XTQ1

Some outdoor shots (forest at night), the little white table is 51 yards away.




GIF








I couldnt find any major flaws, for some people the missing low voltage cut of will be a negative point and the missing micro USB port. I prefer using protected cells only and the only unprotected cell i own is the LG HG2 which i had to buy because my on the Road M6 accepts only unprotected cells (I wasnt aware of that when i ordered the OTR M6). Thats why the missing low voltage cut off doesnt bother me that much. I like the good machining, the stiff forward tailcap clicky and the mode spacing. Some people will like that i couldnt find any visible PWM, i couldnt care less about that problem since im not sensitive to PWM. Feel free to ask if you have any questions (im sure i forgot something) and note that the light uses a different LED now, so the tint or the beam could be a bit different now.

Great review. Nice light.The missing USB port is definitely a con. I hate propitiatory cables.

Thank you for this great review !!
Greets
Carsten

Thanks for your great review and nice photos! :+1:

I got one as a free sample for review.

The XP-L version I got has a hidden strobe accessed with a long hold on the side button. A brief click from there goes to an SOS pattern; another brief click goes to the low setting in the standard rotation lo-med-hi-brighter. The LED next to the charging port does not have the bright red color in the photographs like this: http://abload.de/img/comdscf707168s88.jpg
linked in the original post. It looks like a clear cover, dark underneath unless illuminated as described in the original post above —- red when charging, yellowish-green when not charging or no battery or the main tailswitch is off (light has to be switched on to charge, at low — the main LED doesn’t illuminate unless the charger cable wiggles loose or the charger power source fails (a find-it-in-the-dark feature they tell me).

Going to low mode when leaving the blinky is handy, though I wish the light had mode memory. I’m not sure how a driver could handle doing that.

The builtin charger cuts off at or just below 4.20v on a couple of cells I tried. I haven’t checked whether the light can be left on the charger indefinitely without overcharging the battery. Will do. that’s important to know.

The USB charging cable provided is too small in diameter at the male end to fit the socket on the flashlight — the plug wobbled, is a bit loose and easily stops charging (LED signal changes to yellow/green, main light goes on) — and they tell me that charging cable will be replaced by one with a slightly larger 1.35mm outside diameter, something like (I’m guessing from the description) this:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?\_from=R40&\_sacat=0&\_nkw=USB+DC+adapter+"1.35mm"&\_sop=15
EDIT — that cable fits snugly, no wiggle, and charging proceeds properly END EDIT

There are a zillion different size plugs being used for DC power from USB sources, e.g.

and

and people speccing parts for flashlights need to make sure the plug fits snugly in the socket.

It’s a nice solid feeling flashlight. One of my ways of evaluating is to have the collection hanging within reach of the household and notice which lights get picked off the hook when someone needs one. This one gets picked. It looks and feels right to people.

I guess the xp-l hi has alot better throw now. Im not sure yet but i will maybe write a review about the lumintop TD16 xp-l hi.

It might not be as convenient, but I think it’s a lot easier to waterproof a port like that, than a micro usb with a rubber boot over it. I don’t see it as a con, especially when it’s just as easy to swap cells.

:smiley: Thanks hank test that you ccould replace a 3.5mm(Length) x 1.35mm(Diameter) USB cable if your T30 has charging problem.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?\_from=R40&\_sacat=0&\_nkw=USB+DC+adapter+“1.35mm”&\_sop=15

And updated news, T30 charging port has been updated to 1.35mm diamater which produce after January 17th.
New verysion solved the charging problem. :slight_smile:

:smiley: Yes, that is a nice design. Though we usually need take many time to let consumers believe that kind port can waterproof IP68.

No, i took the picture of the illuminated indicator, thats why it looks red. You wont see it red on the other pictures. It has a clear cover as well.

Thank you very much for the updates !

I don’t see the T30 listed at the Orcatorch website any longer (nor any usual flashlight)
Nothing there but dive lights and accessories.
Are they still making them, anyone know?