TR-J18 or ?

[cop]

@Prodfk

26650 are expensive, i think i might be sticking with 18650s until i have money lol

There are people who sells branded flashlights here in SG but i think their range is limited to a few brands and models.

Bro, its about sgd $13 per piece, still ok ah.
Maybe you see it from another point of view> You pay slightly more, it somehow mean that you are packing more batt into that single cell for ease of carry, and to tahan you longer run-time.
If you are like me, usage mostly from 3mins to 30mins per time. Get better battery & spares is worth it. The better 18650’s prices are also a few dollars diff from 26650 per piece.
However, if your usage is not very long per time, i do agree 18650 suffice, but remember to bring spares just in case.

Imagine you & friends go Bukit Timah Hill,pulau ubin,or go to sime road cemetery walk walk; torch should on full power right? >) halfway ur light no power…how lea?

Dun buy from sg shop lah, why want let them earn one hand?
Internet got so many on-line shops. :bigsmile:

[keltex78]

I have both the Uniquefire S7 which is the equivilent of the J18 and a SR King clone, and the King-clone is far more impressive. The S7 does put out a wall of light, but I haven't used it since I have gotten the King-clone, except for tailstanding on low during a power outage recently. The clone has better tint, better throw, and just seems like a generally brighter light (not quantified in any way) than the S7.

[whokilledJR]

Hmmm, I got to play with a number of monster lights in store yesterday, including the Skyray king, Solarstorm, Sunwayman T60CS, Ultrafire UF-T90, Fenix TK75 and UltraFire UF-T70.

The Solarstorm is a little big and bulky. I was reasonably impressed with the UF-T90, it’s surprisingly small and compact, machining seemed high quality although the button looked a bit tacky. The strike bezels look horrible in pictures but are actually rather nice and blingy in hand.

Difficult to tell the difference between quality in machining compared to the higher end monster lights like the sunwayman T60CS, although the T60CS has better internals with the driver and stepless like mode changing.

[Prodfk]

Thanks guys for helping Just ordered the J18, hope that it will be good! Might consider to upgrade to 26650 the next time

[B42]

How do you like your J18? I got one as well really recently, it seems extremely underpowered but its still a fun step up from the 3x T6 Cree Trustfire I got. I was expecting more appreciable difference between them. It seems it does dim relatively quickly down even using the 3x 26650’s from Trustfire (and they take forever to recharge on the Trustfire recharger). Any driver change/success stories anyone has with this light?

[blueb8llz]

yes Tom E did a driver change, its a different animal now. close to 5000 lumens! maybe he’ll see this thread and chime in.
i cant seem to find the thread where he posted his info on his mod.

[Prodfk]

My uv-s5 seems to be brighter than the J18. The J18 is a very good light.

[B42]

So you have both the J18 and the uv-s5 now? Seems odd, maybe the uv-s5 throws better? I really like the floody beam from the J18 for hiking, but I’ve tried throwers at the same time as it and I can see the small concentrated thrower beam inside the wide flood of the J18.

I’m sure that the Skyray King isnt near as bright by the lumens, but its possible if the TR-J16 has a great driver it could be brighter…but I doubt it too, each multi emitter step up in Trustfire I’ve seen is brighter than the next 3x T6 < J12 < (J16?) < J18 < 12x T6

[JOE]

@JJ Findlayson

The J16 is about on par with the SRK - both of which I have personally seen to be visibly brighter than the J12.

That is strange because my J12 (2x18650) is noticeably brighter than the 3 kings I have tested it against. Two of which are from cnqualitygoods and the other from lightmalls with the old driver.

[B42]

@JJ Findlayson

The J16 is about on par with the SRK - both of which I have personally seen to be visibly brighter than the J12.

None of the above are up there with the J18. It will have the lot by at least 20%.

You may indeed see a tighter beam from a thrower within the flood of a more powerful light. This by no means infers the flooder is less powerful. It is simply not as focused. Think how mega-bright a J18 would appear if the entire flood of light were in a narrow beam??

Total light output decreases as the beam tightens up - but throw increases. I do not preach “lux” or the like, but don’t be fooled by the numbers, as a 3900lumen thrower would appear much much brighter than the same coming from a J18 - because the light is dispersed.

Yes that is what I was trying to say, I think (dont have that light) the flashlight he was talking about just threw better, but not near the output total of the floody J18. I can see my “1200 lumen” headlamp spot of light inside the J18’s beam barely, but the J18 lights up the entire area and the hotspot is many times bigger, whereas with the headlamp you have very little light outside that focal circle of spot. I think its hard for many to judge because of that difference and if you can see the spot of one overlaying the other some assume it has more lumens.

As for the SRK I hear it has many copies…maybe copies are dimmer than the J12 and the “true” SRKs are J16 lvl? Glad you commented, was thinking of getting a SRK copy…may not now.

[B42]

I’m confused, if your post was in reference to me, I was agreeing with you and I don’t pretend know any of the lights (J12/J16/skyrays/uv-s5) that the J18 was compared to. I was surprised that someone thought the uv-s5 a 3 emitter light may be the same or brighter than the J18 and suggesting maybe he was comparing spot vs flood is all. I really like the J18 too, I have it and its a great light. And I was taking your view of SRK into consideration on getting one, hope you and everyone else do continue to post their opinions! Now excuse me while I and my dogs go light up the forest covered trail with the J18

[Tom_E]

I have the FandyFire UV-S5 and the J18, and stock, the J18 was noticeable brighter and measured brighter as well, by like 50% - 2,000+ to 3,000+ lumens. Now, upgraded the driver in the J18 I'm getting close to 5,000 lumens and man, it's a beast, puts the UV-S5 to shame. If you think a SRK/UV-S5 is brighter than an J18, than you got a super hot SRK/UV-S5 or J18 dud. Of course the batteries can make a big difference - I've been using 3 TF 26650's (5000) in the J18 and it does well. In the FF UV-S5, I believe I tested with Panasonics.

Next thing I want to do is upgrade the UV-S5 to better emitters and wires, and maybe the resistor mod to up the amps, just haven't gotten to it yet. Upgrading emitter on the J18 is almost the cost of another J18...

[B42]

Hey, Tom E! Just the person I was told to talk to to decide about upgrading the J18! Have you seen or own the 12x T6 cree Trustfire? I got one as a present just about the same time as I got the J18. The J18 was already extremely bright, and just as you say with your upgraded J18, the 12x T6 Trustfire puts it to shame too (and that’s hard to do). I’m wondering whether its worth bothering to upgrade my J18 since I have the 12x now… how long does your upgraded J18 run? You said the cost is like another J18… did you pay $58 perchance or are we talking more for emitter and driver upgrade? Are the cooling fins enough to handle the upgrade? I feel kinda silly thinking about upgrading it now, even though I like it’s output already and I have the 12x…pushing to the next brighter light is contagious

[B42]

NP JJ Findlayson, I agree I just used the J18 to walk the dogs again…I used it to light the forest path as far ahead and to the sides as I really wanted to see without having to move it from side to side, used it to spot a beaver in the lake I walked to, who kept slapping his tail at me…then strangely swam towards me when I focused it on him…it was much brighter than the brights of a passing car on the walk … always fun to use. $58 bucks plus $52 for charger and 4 TF 26650s, I think is well worth it and I havent had any problems in over 10 uses so far. It even warms my hand nicely without gloves when its 30 something out.

[B42]

Yeah I noticed that too, mine doesn’t seem much dimmer on medium either. It actually made me think I should do a run time on medium tonight to see in case I need to know on a long forest hike. Ive sorta gotten used to about double run time on medium from my other lights, but it sure doesn’t seem like 50% power on the J18.

I like the long Trustfire lights too, probably due to being used to Maglites in the past, and feeling like I have a defensive weapon if necessary. I started with the 3xT6 but I like the feel of the 26650 tube in my hand and the knurling on the J18 better. 12x T6 Trustfire is pretty close to the feel too, a little heavier, and medium is more like the J18 output I think people may get wary of these lights because of the really crappy performance Ultrafire and Ultrafire knockoff batteries, I know it was a concern for me starting out. But I’m starting to “trust” Trustfire more, even though cough cough “5000 mAh” 26650s…aren’t…

[Tom_E]

B42 - Hi! Haven't seen a 12x light. I got the J18 for $54 at the time with 10% coupon and it's the brightest thing I got and have seen. You could buy 7 U3 1B's from FastTech for $32.55, not bad, or go with an XM-L2 and possibly future SinkPAD 16mm solution costing upwards of about $84-$100, worst case (9-10 for emitter now, $3-4 for 16mm SinkPAD).

The upgrade I did was a simple driver upgrade - bought the one from I-O here 7led-3-modes, KD also has one that appears to be exactly the same. The driver made a big difference, but 2 issues I had: it's slow changing modes, and it makes a pretty good buzz sound in lo and med. I was told the slow changing mode is how it works. Hank was willing to send me a replacement (great support), but it didn't sound like it would make a difference.

The 40% appears to be close to hi mode because of 2 reasons, I believe: 1 - PWM cycles may be 40% but the brightness is not necessarily 40%, 2 - this thing is so freak'n bright, may be difficult to see much of a difference at a 40%-50% drop in brightness, specially at close range, indoors. The I-O driver has a 30% medium which I prefer over the stock driver.

It's very easy to do the driver swap, as typical mods go. It fits perfect, 2 wires to de-solder and solder - I left the stock wires going to the LED's because they were a pretty heavy gauge. I also used the thermal pad given, cutting it down to go in between the 2 boards.

Measured output before/after using the same exact 3 TF 26650 5000's without re-charging:

- before w/stock driver in lumens: 3330 @start, 2940 @30 secs

- after w/IO driver in lumens: 4930 @start, 4726 @30 secs (5.78A measured at tailcap)

After charging the TF's:

- again w/IO driver in lumens: 5236 @start, 4998 @30 secs (5.87A measured at tailcap)

I didn't do any long tests, or verify how long the batteries last. Sure it gets hot - heat sinking is not that great in a light of this design. The head may be a nice size for a triple, but not 7 emitters driven well. I experimented with different batteries:

- with 3 KK unprotected, got 5570 @start, 4930 @30 secs, 51 kcd -- big drop here @30

- with 2 KK ICR's: 5.2A, 3630 @start, 3570 @30 secs, 35 kcd -- not much drop, still better than stock w/3 TF's

[B42]

I’m really tempted, but taking it apart and soldering it would be a new experience for me, and its looking like its an extra “$84-$100” plus cost of driver and then time…ending up near $200. I think a 12x is a better price at $110… But I’d love to see if the modified J18 is brighter still than the 12x…I may try your mod anyways soon, both for the fun of it and when I got the 12x “13000 lumen” light and said I was disappointed with it they sent me ANOTHER J18 for free!! (its currently in China still) Where did you find it at $54 –10% coupon? That’s an awesome price as well I’d like to point a friend towards…

Other considerations: have you tried for a total run time with the mod? And I see there might be an opportunity to try the Enerpower 26650s at 4500 mAh running with 9A protection in your flashlight at a cheaper price on this forum, maybe you should check those out (I’m tempted to buy as well seeing as once I got my J18 and 12x I seem to only use 26650s not 18650s anymore).

I may try the medium J18 setting run time tonight. The only thing I don’t like is the J18 seems to dim considerably before triggering the TF 26650 protection and I have 3 in series and wont have a volt meter with me…

[Richie086]

@B42

The only thing I don’t like is the J18 seems to dim considerably before triggering the TF 26650 protection and I have 3 in series and wont have a volt meter with me…

B42,

Try not to allow the light to run down to the point the protection in the cell triggers.

[Tom_E]

Early on FastTech had the 10% coupon, now using BLF you can get 5% off flashlights and flashlight parts. So you can get the J18 now for $53.

[B42]

I got a couple of TF sets now that I have the two big 3x26650 lights, but it still takes forever to charge them. I need a charger that charges 3 26650 at a time Also: 1C is 4.2A for these guys…. anyone know if TF 26650’s are safe to charge at that much? I’d probably only charge at 2A but in theory we could charge at 4.2A correct?

I went on a long hike tonight and found out on medium the J18 does not seem to dim like on high, protection kicked in…good that I got the time (1hr 59min) but I wont be doing that again. Thought I’d have a dimming warning, I always turn it off when high dims significantly.