Overview/mod thread: Lustefire 3xU2-X3 aka TK-70 clone - Picture heavy

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Ordered the light from WB. Even paid local taxes and everything.. Lets take a look and see. But first..

Why this light? I considered the BTU, TR-J19, Marsfire 318, but I liked this the best. Looks, form factor, size, weight... Most seemed right. I had a feeling it came with a decent driver as well after seeing Relic38 put 3 MT-G2s in his and using the stock driver, just modified a little... Not sure if my driver is the same though. Either way, I requested the light to WB and they got it in for the best price I have ever seen.

This is more like a simple first impression overview, not a proper review. Lets see what I got..

Came in a big box..

Read this user manual. You are in for a laugh.. Thanks Lustefire... :D hahaha...

Its big. Almost the size of a 9 XM-L Fandyfire ..

Large head.. Me likey... :)

Some useless silicone stuff on the driver circuit, it was easy to scrape off.. No spring...

The center goes a little bit into the battery tube...

.. which means if use 3 long protected 26650 (Soshine) and tighten it too much. The battery hits the aluminium and turn the light on (the button is rendered useless)...

Solution, do not tighten properly if you use long cells.

Threads were nicely lubed..

With short unprotected 26650 (Sony rated for 50A drain). The light will not even light up, because the batteries are not long enough..

Solution: Use a little spacer or add spring to driver circuit...

Emitters are wired in parallel.

In the center, where the screw that holds the reflector the aluminium is only 2,1mm thick. But around the edge, where the wires come up, its thick..

Centering device on all emitters, works as insulators too. Looks like 20mm MCPCB can fit without any work.. Stock MCPCBs looks to be 1 mm thick and nicely secured with thermal silicone or something..

Head is a 2 piece design.. (front part is not shown in this picture)

32mm wide driver circuit with good mode memory. Can probably be resistor modded...

.

Reflector vs C8 reflector:

Good room for wires. Makes it easy to get de-domed emitters focused..

Crappy spring on the driver, it was almost completely stiff...

The big Omten switch.... :) Based on my own and others experience, these seems to handle 10-15 amps easily. Im not sure where the limit is. But its a good switch and can easily be replaced..

Some measurements done by me:

Lens: 80,9x3mm

Reflector: 79x38,1mm

Driver compartment: 32x 19,8

Emitter amps on high: 7,36-7,8 depending on batteries and how long I wait.. (7,8/3= up towards 2,6A to each emtiter)

Tailcap readings: 2,6A - 1,37 - 0,33 - Strobe - SOS (these may not be 100% accurate, but tailcap current should equal emitter current)

To sum up my first impression

Well built, well driven. Good value. My largest complain would be the lack of driver circuit spring, but Id guess they did that in order to easier fit longer cells. That was a semi-success, because my longest batteries did not fit properly, and short unproteced cells was not something that worked.. Not uncommon issues really...

All in all, a recommended light, even as it is stock. :)

Great mod host too!

2

Some time back I made a contact board. Not the prettiest thing on earth, but it does the job.

I wanted to preserve the stock driver, it seems to be a good one.. Nice for a hard driven MT-G2 or XM-L2 (if its adjusted down a little).

My driver setup is simply 18AWG wire from the contact board to the emitters. Same wire size between the emitters. So Im currently doing pure direct drive. J)

First emitter setup was 3x XM-L2 U2 1A, mounted on 20mm Noctigons and dedomed. I really enjoy the throw, but tint, it was so so.. I changed out one of the de domed emitters for a domed XM-L2 U2 1A. Like that setup much better. :) Although the outer edge of the spill easily show the CW emitter in this light, I just make sure that is pointing up, and not on the ground below me, that way I don't notice it..

So far I have mostly been using the US26650VT. Fresh from the charger (4,19/4,20) volt I have seen as high as 6,4A on the tail, absolute peak. They are down to 6A in no time. This is not what the emitters are seeing...

At the emitters, with fresh cells Im measuring around 5,4A peak. The cells seem to be able to do 5A+ to the emitters for a "good amount of time", around 10 minutes. This depends a bit on how hot the light/emitters are. They will also deliver 4A+ until resting voltage are down to around 3,7V. These numbers are a bit higher with modified tailcap spring.

I have used and tested the light with my protected Soshine 26650 4200mAh batteries too... I believe peak current was around 4,5A (with stock tailcap spring).

Beam, throw and output is sick! :) Im not done modding the light, I have more plans for it, but I have zero rush with them..

When it comes to search and rescue (or RC plane finding) my throwers running around 5A have nothing on this light. It just lights up a lot, and from a good distance, I really like it! :)

3

More modding?? J)

Might come here...

4

Nice review. Thank you. That light grabs my attention every time I see it. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Is it an optical illusion or did they do a poor job machining the surface the emitter bases rest ?

5

Its not an optical illusion, but the effect is enhanced due to the flash.

The surface feels nice and smooth.

6

Thanks for the up-close-and-personal on this light. :slight_smile: It looks like a nice, long-handled version of the BTU even if the head isn’t quite as big.

7

Thanks RaceR86. Watching with great interest.

8

Thanks.... I will probably take my time with it...

Future plans:

Find out if the driver circuit works nicely with 2 cells. If so, I might use it in my ZY-T08 if I can make it fit there.

Either way, once I receive some XM-L2 U2s ill de-dome them, then Ill play with the light in proper direct drive and see how it throws... Ill learn a bit about sag, and how well it handles the heat..

Then Ill take it from there, but I might have some special plans if I can pull them off, but that will take some testing, new slow orders, etc....

9

This light have been bright for some time.. One of the parts making sure if this may not be that pretty, but its happy..

Smiley face.. :p

(mouse over to give it a nose)

Anyone want to take a guess? :bigsmile:

Edit:

No need to guess anymore.. Post #1 is now full of info on how its been modded along with some measurements. :)

10

Its a really big happy smiley face.

11

Have the same battery problem, protected too long, unprotected too short. Have been using unprotected with 3 or 4 pennies to reach. Not too keen on using unprotected in a series light. Besides that, I really like the light, the more I use it the better I like it.

12

Whoops.. I made a mistake.. I did not do any resistance mod on the tailcap (I need to stop going back and forth between mods).

Bad news. Emitter amps readings are then lower than they should. Ill have to edited/fix the information in post 1..

Good news. Emitter amps readings should be even higher. :)

I tried to portray the person powering up the flashlight. :bigsmile:

:p

[quote=southland] Have the same battery problem, protected too long, unprotected too short. Have been using unprotected with 3 or 4 pennies to reach. Not too keen on using unprotected in a series light. Besides that, I really like the light, the more I use it the better I like it. [/quote]

If you are into a bit mechanical modding, you can do a little "redesign on the tail. Its possible to extend the space for the batteries with about 6mm..

13

6mm should be about right, are you going to do that in this mod thread?

14

Probably not. But it would not take more work than to cut of that aluminum and plastic bit at the end and then put a new suitable spring on the switch. If the protected batteries are not too long, they should then fit..

15

I like that it's anti-shedding. I'm tired of my other lights shedding all over the house, had to buy a Dyson.