Bugger! The edit button has disappeared so I can’t edit the OP.
To answer someones question above, the courui still has better throw. And I don’t have a tripod for the camera. When I go for a long walk to a reserve near me I find fence posts and the like to sit the camera on usually.
That fact that the throw can be somewhat compared to a Courui at all says something for the Patrol King due to the big disadvantage it has in reflector diameter. Do you know what amps the Courui is running at? Thanks for the great info Pink.
Maybe it's the lighting, but the reflector of the PK looks kind of dull. Does it look that way in person?
EDIT: Maybe the J12 and J18 have the same host body. Your light looks just like the J18 that I have. The head on my J18 has and outside diameter of 62mm too. The battery tube extension linked to above fits it too.
Funny you say that. It did look dull in person. I only noticed it when I was taking that pic. I figured it was in the manufacturing since I hadn’t done anything to warrant such a difference.
That Courui sure does look sweet. Anyone know what the best deal on those are these days?
EDIT: Never mind. Parallel cells. Don't feel like trying to convert to series.
I have a PK on the way to me. So I will make the best of it. "C" cells fit the J18 nicely. So with an extension, it should hold 4 nicely. That would be a good voltage level to drive an xml well and make a nice gift for my father.
I really thought the tr-j12 and tr-j18 were different but a quick look at them both on google and they look the same. They just have different number of emitters. :zipper_mouth_face:
My Patrol King arrived today. Patrol King is a very apt name for this light. Very nice balance with 2 cells, excellent mixture of throw and spill, decent cell capacity, and heat sinking would make this a good patrol duty light. I really like it.
I was going to add an extension, but this light looks good and is nicely balanced with 2 cells. The reflector has an excellent finish once it was rinsed off with filtered water. It's also very thick and strong. I wouldn't put anything bigger than an XML emitter in it. The lens sucks though. I put an AR lens in it. Check it out:
So the important stuff (stuff that I can't fix) is good. The light has a few issues that I look forward to fixing as follows:
Next mode memory. The driver works just as well with one cell which is nice.
Will hack in a different MCU and up the current. If it can't give me the current I want, I can use this driver in another light.
Aluminum emitter base
Fix is obvious. Will swap in an a XM-L2 while at it.
Pill is not the thick pill like in RaceR86's light. The threads only go partially down its length and only a few threads make loose contact with the head.
There is a nice ledge in the head to sit some copper disks on. There is also extra cell space length wise. So the pill can just be screwed deeper into the head and butt up against the copper disks. I'll probably just toss the pill and solder a copper tube to the bottom of the disks for a driver housing.
Here a picture of the pill:
Here is how high it sits in the head. Hard to see from this angle, but about half the treads are in the air.
Only the bottom 3 threads make contact and they are a loose fit. The portion under the caliper jaws makes no contact with the head.
Throw calculated to 36kcd with the AR lens at 10 feet.
EDIT: Just read RaceR86 info on the driver. Doesn't take high current well. I swap in a different driver.
I never used mine stock. But the modded light was included in this beamshot comparison. I named it the TR-J18 "thrower". Used an MT-G2 in proper direct drive with two green Sony 50A 26650 cells.
Ah, I saw J18 and thrower and assumed it was one of your dedomed multiemitter mods. Since I'm not huge on multiemitters, I didn't give the beam shot much attention. Thanks for the correction. Looking at it now, it's obviously not one your multiemitter builds because it would be a much better beam and would have better throw.
The beam looks like what I would expect from an MT-G2 in a reflector this size. Turns into a big even beam, almost like a zoomie in flood mode. Just doesn't work for me. Thank you for sharing that RaceR86. Definitely helps with making a mod decision.
EDIT: Thanks for the MCU link wight. If possible, I want to try to mod this driver for a lower current build. I hate seeing buck drivers go to waste.