No I had no reason to question the BTU. The pre-order thread Pre-order--BTU. Shocker 3xCREE XM-L U2 3x18650 Super Thrower Flashlight stated that it has 3000 lumens. My light had slightly over that at start up and dropped to about 2880 after 30sec. So that was close enough to specs I was happy with it. Why his site says 3500 now I don’t, but that was added afterwards as you can see from my link.
Now for the Terminator I’m not unhappy with it and demanding a new light. I politely emailed Black Shadow, notified my light appears to be about 600-700 lumens short of their specs and was wondering if I got a U2 spec light instead of U3. Asked them if my Serial number was adequate to figure this out. The told me that my light is not up to its specs and they would try to fix the issue.
Also I would never had even written them if I was not aware of other Terminators that have been tested about 300 lumens higher than mine, such as JohnnyMac’s. to me that was a red flag something was up and maybe I did receive a U2.
All this aside, even If I never get the light fixed, I won’t have an issue with it. It’s still a very cool light and very bright. Not quite what I expected, but 2830 lumens is not to shabby.
Hey myst999, I usually don’t compare my lights with a ceiling bounce test, but your post got me curious.
I got a U2 BTU driven at 3.8, and a U3 Terminator, so I compared them on the ceiling both on max.
My results are the same as yours, very close. But I give it to the BTU.
There were some people posting that their Terminators seems underdriven.
After I did my little test, it would appear that could be the case. Because mine looks like it’s up to par.
I would email BlackShadow and question them on that if you got one that seems it’s under performing.
Inquires like that are good to keep a company on their toes. Either fix the problem or the specs.
After all, a large percentage of their sales are to flashlight forum nuts like us who can tell the difference.
Member’s who post’s negatively on the light or their customer service can hurt their sales.
I am picking up my ‘u3’ version from the postoffice tomorrow. It came from doingoutdoor.com.
DX isn’t shipping out my lux meter, but if someone can tell me how to measure the current draw, I will compare it to my U2 version that I currently have (and love).
Bill from doingoutdoor did a nice photo comparision. I need to find that thread for you.
edit: link added…
I think the reason why comparisons are being drawn with the TK75 and the terminator is not for throw (unless your a newb) but flood. From a tiny compact light like the terminator it wouldn’t bother me at all that it won’t throw like a TK75, that’s not what I expect, but I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable to think it should therefore outflood it. Problem with some beamshots I’ve seen it appears the TK75 has a wider spill which is what I’m personally looking for in a flooder. Of course floodiness of the hotspot/corona is also a factor, I would expect the terminator to outperform the TK75 in that department. Everyone’s requirements are different, each to his own in that regard.
well I did do a comparison last night:
As a member of http://www.backpackinglight.com I have to disagree, those 4oz is enough for my cooking kit while hiking…in this case though it’s not to much difference. The ergonomics of the Terminator win for me though, the less weight combined with this could make this a beast of a light to have up in the hills during the night.
I happen to have 4 unflowed XM-L2 U2 1C emitters sitting in my parts bin that I had planned to use 3 of in an SRK mod and the other in a 1D Mag but I am sorely tempted to swap them into my U2 Terminator for poops and chuckles. I have a bunch of 16mm thick copper MCPCB's as well. I also have some new 20ga silver plated copper Teflon insulated wiring I recently got. I also have some silver thermal grease. Sooooo tempting.
Put them on Sinkpads?
Bet you could then sell it for some major cash.
The sinks I have are from LED-TECH.DE and are direct to copper with no dielectric layer under the emitter. Direct to pure copper goodness. Yum!
Do itttttttttttttt.
You now have no choice Johnny. It must be done 
JM i think you should upgrade to XML2 and send it to me for testing.
Do it Johnny. 
Actually, you know, putting the final price after the promo code is not a good idea.
I think it would be best if this thread listed the advertised price on Fasttech’s website and then say a discount can be had by entering, for example, PRICECONTROL without mentioning the final price.
Otherwise, as we have seen, FT’s competitors and even the manufacturers themselves end up creating problems for them that can only hurt us in the long run and could change FT’s ability to continue providing great service at a great price in the future - it could potentially be an existential threat.
Just a thought!
BTW, you can enter PRICECONTROL for a great price on the Terminator.
Thats not really a great price anyway,but i agree on not posting prices…
Ok, you’re right.
Since I already own a Terminator I’m not in the market, but I am curious. Without mentioning the price, which merchant has a better price?
Thanks!
Check Doingoutdoor.
Big discount on 3 models of BS Terminator with coupon code. Best price I've seen.