Unfortunately he doesn't detail his mods, but good thing is that it all sounds possible. He can certainly afford to buy one to play with. I've gotten higher amps than what he's stated before (Vostro for example), so if he can do 5.8A, it may be possible to go even higher.
Tom, I am really looking forward to your mod with this TK61. I am curious how this TK61 can put up with the K50, after both have modded to their max potential.
According to the TK61 spec, by long pressing the power button when the light is off can immediately switch on the Turbo mode. So is this feature similar with the electronic switch? If so, is there any possibilities of parasitic drain?
I'm not familiar with the Fenix style UI buttons, but sounds like a definite electronic switch mechanism. I believe they have 2 side buttons so most likely they are electronic, not mechanical, and therefore the light is subject to parasitic drain. I'm thinking it's just like a TK75 UI, but again, I'm not familiar with the TK75. I have seen Daylighter's TK75 though - he would know a lot more about it. Everyone who has a TK75 seems to love it - it's a great combo of light weight, usability, power, and flexibility with having a battery extension available. I've seen threads where it's asked - "if there's only one light you could have, whcih would it be?" I've seen TK75 owners (collectors) say it would be the TK75.
So if the TK61 is along the same lines as a true thrower version of the TK75, then it's got to be an awesome light. I'm a little cautious though with their relatively low rating of lumens at 1,000 compared to a TN31 for example, but that could be good thing - the amps may be relatively low in it's stock form, so a lot more potential is there. I think the Fenix web site said not shipping til Feb 25th - BangGood now has it listed for $155 - indicating it will be shipping on the 27th.
The weight spec on BangGood is listed 600g with batteries but I don't think that's correct - Fenix site says without batteries, and 600g makes sense because it's bigger than the TK75, therefore weights more (510g vs. 600g).
vinh is going to do a modded run of these… prob expect around 500klux (similar to the K50)
i wonder if this is a plastic reflector like the tk75
Also it seems like Fenix is trying to market their TK61 with “the longest runtime on the highest mode”, therefore it has a 4*18650 configuration, “only” 1000 lumens on Turbo and able to use with the TK75 extension tube. Perhaps 4hr 20min on Turbo is pretty attractive to some users. But its competitor, Supbeam doesn’t seems to bother about it so they make their K50 having 1610 lumens at max output.
That is just based on their published spec, which could be inaccurate as nowadays even those branded flashlights makers cannot publish reliable numbers sometimes.
I thought vinh's K50 was ~670 kcd. I would hope this light could do about the same. Dunno bout the plastic reflector - Pok said it was?? No source of his info? Not sure if that was a speculative comment or factual ?? I could see they may do plastic for weight reduction, but for such a large reflector, maybe aluminum is better?
Yes, the TK61’s reflector is made of plastic and this was confirmed by a staff from Fenix.
http://www.shoudian.org/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=377193&pid=9615660
It is in Chinese though.
If the TK61 is driven as hard as the K50 the TK61 may have even more potential to throw further.
Head diameter of TK61 = 96mm
Head diameter of K50 = 90.2mm
And looking at the GIF made by Vinh, TK61 side by side with the K50 here.
TK61 has slightly larger reflector from what it seems!
rdfronty measured vinhs k50vn at around 500klux i believe - comparable to the tn31vn
I took measurements on my tn31vn before i sold it at 8m, I will take the same measurements and compare to the k50vn
my tn31vn was around 475-490klux
I've been staying away from CPF - they seem to have taken away my ability to post, etc., so no idea what they did to my account. Afraid if I ask, I'll get banned or something.... I'll still look there or follow links there but I'm not keeping up with the goins ons over there.
I know for a fact rdrfronty said vinh was able to achieve 600+ kcd with his test piece and was expecting something like 670 kcd, soooo, wut happened??
Vinh was able to get 622kcd out of his version.
New king indeed.
Can’t wait!
Fenix TK61 Italian review available (work in progress)
http://www.cpfitaliaforum.it/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7635&p=119821#p119821
You are right TOM!! First I will say that rdrfronty had nothing but nice things to say about your mods! :bigsmile:
I have[just got] the TK61vn and it does out throw my TN31mb[470Kcd].
It was measured by rdrfronty at 622Kcd!!!
I love my TK75 and I also love this torch!! as you mentioned the extenders are compatible. Even though it is a bit larger, it really is not that heavy.
To the best of my knowledge it has not been reviewed yet since it just came out. I have been wondering if it had ANY type of step down. Being a single emitter I would not think Fenix would have a thermal step down?the TK75 does not. I was wondering if it has low voltage/low battery step down like my TK75,going from turbo to high, ect. as the batteries weaken.
Last night I used it for 72 minutes. 67 on turbo and 5 on medium to break it up. The batteries were at 3.49V when I came home.I used NCR 3400mAh batteries. Now I know what its limits are[at least until it gets warmer!] in regards to run time.
i am done rambling!
Got DayLighter's stock TK61 and measured:
lumens: 1,224 at start, 1,217 at 30 secs, throw: 195 kcd (883 meters), taken at 5 meters
This exceeds their own specs of 1,000 lumens and 824 meters – interesting…
Of course I had to doodle around a little with it, and was able to get access to the driver and emitter. Looks like two R050 resistors. The copper star, though nice and thick, has about 1/3 of it cut off, and it's not secured down by screws -- weird. The PCB with the battery + contact is simply a contact board with heavy + and - wires going to the main driver board - I'd say 16 gauge wires, maybe 14. Looks easy to resistor mod, and easy to de-dome...
only CW available
Tom E, I have been thinking about getting one of these.Has anyone verifyed that it beats out a stock TN31?I already have a TK75 and a XML2 TN31.I really like the side switches of the Fenix more than the Thrunight, just makes it an easier light to use.I’m just not sure if it is worth buying this light if it can’t out-throw what I already have.
I have TN31 ( although it has XM-L U2 )and yes it beat the stock TN31 easily… 
the only advantage TN31 has over this light it, TN31 have moonlight mode and TK61 only have 4 mode
according to FENIX this light can last 4 hrs on TURBO mode! and not too mention it can have more extension for double run time
looking forward to seeing what the new numbers are after you finish modding it
yeah Tom… do your magic on it :bigsmile:
just don’t dedome it… I still need the spill to be bright enough
That’s a chinese forum!
The TN31 XML U2 was around 128 kcd, and the TN31 XM-L2 U2 is around 155 kcd. So at 195 kcd stock, the TK61 easily beats a stock TN31 in throw, and it should because of it's bigger reflector. Didn't check, but I'm pretty sure the TK61 isn't driven as hard as the stock TN31's as well.