Grmmmpff. Made a post and have to do it again since "save" didn't save it... :(
I got my "Heisenlin W777-T6" aka the TK35 clone meanwhile. Looks pretty much like the TK35 (which I have, too) at first glance; at the second glance there are some small differences, some edges are a bit different and lack precision. Finish is nice and feels like the same quality.
I started modding it meanwhile, I had to: The LED was pressed into a small recess but didn't touch the ground nor the small amount of heat conductive paste there, i.e. nearly no heat sinking... And the wires between contact plate and LED were quite thin. I put in a T6 3C now.
Then I took a look at the driver. It looks nice actually. The current sense resistors (2*0.200 ohm in parallel) are easily accessible; changing the current might be easy.
After taking out more screws the lower board still shouldn't come off as it's connected to the switch board by those thick (brass?) wires between the batteries - but it came off easily, because both wires had a cold solder joint. Fortunately these don't carry big currents, they're only connected to the mode button.
I hesitate to disassemble that nice looking driver to allow for a reprogrammed NANJG105 and a parallel battery setup - but I still think I'll go that way.
DrJones, your copy is horrible in terms of heatsink compound - that's only like 10%. But luckily that is easily fixable.
I always test for "heat output sag", usually if it is not bad i do not touch it. My original copy sagged only like 3% in 9 minutes so it is pretty good and on par with stuff like STL-V6 (but the STL-V6 is driven harder). True enough when i took out the original CW star the thermal paste is pretty ok, covered like 60%. Not optimal but it's not too bad in reality - we are not talking doing extreme overdriving here. :)
When i swapped in the new T6 3C and applied more thermal paste, i had to trim a bit the edges slowly. So literally i was snipping and trying to fit it on and snipping again, so the fit is pretty snug, i had to use something like 1kg of force to finally snap it on. But no worries, because in the end when you screw it on, the center portion of the reflector would press on it. Apply enough torque and it would be great to press on the MCPCB, and squeeze out any excess thermal paste.
20mm star, approx 2.5A current, aluminum pill with threads and further aided by reflector with threads, all contribute to the only 1.3% drop in output in 60 mins time. That is crazy good performance. But i do not recommend running any budget light that long esp with high ambient temps and static airflow. (due to the driver unless you mod that as well with heatsinking chips).
Received my Clone from Kaidomain $36.92 delivered, very pleased! If I was going to use this every day (Night...) or my life depended on it I would opt for the TK35. For my occasional use, with a backup light always in my pocket, this works well for me. The ability to tail stand (which the real TK35 apparently cannot) is huge for me.
After a few months with many emails sent and received to Ric, he has sent me a new light, as the company who makes it, is not sending him any replacement drivers.
So, a good service (not too fast) from CNQG, but a bad manufacturer support.
Hi, I want to buy this TK35 clone from cnqualitygoods.com. I thought I saw a coupon for BLF members but could not find it now. Would someone please remind me ?
Since the original TK35 can't tail stand (power button sticks out too much), I wonder if the bolt-on end piece of the clone can replace the original? Or perhaps the power button is a little shorter on the clone? I have my TK35 in my bag for work and its always getting turned on accidently from bumping the button. I don't notice its turned on until I feel the pocket in the bag getting hot. Really wish that button was recessed on the TK35. :(
I have one of the fabled Sipik sk68 clones, an Olight i1 a 3-pack of etec lights from HomeDepot (modded them to single mode clickie) and of course a Fenix TK35. :)
Its kinda funny, I was talking with a representative of LED Lenser at a LAN party and he was showing me their units. I have to say, I wasn't too impressed. Their biggest light cost around $500 and put out "1000 Lumens"....and I'm not even sure if it was ANSI rated or OTF. I showed them my Tk35 and my little Olight i1 and they tried to play them off like they were junk. Yea......okay duders.
I'm kinda lookin at getting one of those UltraFire UF-T70 lights. They seem to be right around the same size as the Fenix TK35 and have crazy output.
