Trustfire 3T6

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

I received this light yesterday as a giveaway from DX in their thread here.

For specs and pictures look here:
http://dx.com/p/trustfire-tr-3t6-xm-l-t6-5-mode-3800lm-memory-3-led-white-flashlight-black-3-x-18650-121720

It came in the normal padded envelope and a (crushed) cardboard box.

Pros:

Very nice machined alu
Threads very good, but not lubed.
Anodizing flawless
Can use 2x18650 (1 extension tube) or 3x18650 (2 extension tubes) and also 3x123A (body tube alone)
Pill solid alu.
Heat transfer very good as pill is screwed into head.
Lots of ribs on head, so gets rid of heat nicely.
Leds are perfectly centered.
Due to the 3 small reflectors not much of a thrower, but shell out a huge amount of light from the 3 xml´s.
Modes High, middle, low fine. Can do without the blinkies.
Mode memory.
Clicky is good quality.

Cons:

Cant be used with 1x18560. Had been easy if body tube and extension tubes had been of equal size.
Very long light with 3 batteries: 30 cm.
Heavy, nearly 600 g in 3 x battery configuration.
Some rattling of batteries if not protected ones.

Other thoughts:

I have no means to measure output, but this is huge on high. The light seems not driven
very hard. The DX site says the driver gives 4.5 amps. This is very far from what I measured.

My readings on high: 3 batteries: 1.6 amps 2 batteries: 2.9 amps (1battery: 3.2 amps)

When I measure with a lab power supply on 12, 8 and 4 volts I get nearly the same readings.
The light is bright enough as it is and the lower amps readings will provide better runtime. I
think that on low with 3 batteries it could run for a whole day.

The difference in output in the different battery configurations are very hard to discern from
its other. I think you need to see them together to notice it.

Due to the screw in pill and the many ribs on the head it does not get hot at all. Which is nice.

Do I recommend the light? I dont know for sure. If you have the need for a very bright light
to use in very dark places like caves or mines, this is the light for you. But if this is not what
your need I think a well driven C8 with an xml is better suited for you. The 3T6 are very
heavy and may not be nice to carry for very long time.

But if you want to impress people with its huge output this is the light to get. My neighbors
have already asked me whats going on here!!

I thank DX very much for the opportunity to get this light and test its potential.

Ultrafire WF-3T6 3x T6 Review - seen labeled as a skyray model too
2

I have this light somewhere between china and sweden according to 17track.net, so i’m looking forward receiving it!

another review said that you could use magnets to use it with only one 18650, so i have some magnets on their way from dx as well.

-how does the mode memory work? i have no such light yet, and is a bit curious.

-what’s the draw on medium and low?

am i dumb to think that i could use 3 cheap batteries (if they are good enough matched in capacity/characteristics) with this flashlight since it’s only 1,6 A drain in high mode with 3 batteries? i have a couple of cheap ones (blue ultrafires from tmart, black/gold ultrafire from banggood), that i might order another set to get 3 batteries of the same kind.
also i might order 3000 mAh flames from fasttech to have some good budget batteries to feed this light.

3

I’ll chuck this one on my next tests. It is a very impressive light for the cost.

I got mine the other day from ebay for £20 delivered and it is something I’d recommend to people if they want a silly bright light for not a lot of money.

4

Glad you like the TR-3T6. It's a great light.

The rated 4.5A is for the total amps and is actually under what you are getting. 3 cells @ 1.6A is really 4.8A and 2 cells at 2.9A is 5.8A. You are only seeing 3.2A on a single cell because it's a hard pull on a single cell. They have always run brighter on 2 cells and you see why from your tail cap measurements. 3 cells will be a tad less bright but your eyes won't likely see it and run time will be a bit longer.

BTW, you can run a single 18650 just fine if you make a short extension to put in the tail between the cell and the switch. IIRC mine is made from a 20mm long section of 3/4" aluminum round bar. It takes up the space between the cell and the end of the main body tube. Runtime suffers and it's not quite as bright as it is on multiple cells but it's a lot of fun this way and fits easily into a coat or cargo pocket. ;)

I'm considering replacing my driver with a DRY driver to push 4.5A-5A to each LED. The stout build and excellent thermal properties of the 3T6 makes it a perfect light to run that way but will require 3 cells to run. It would also make it one of the brightest 3*XM-L torches out there. ;)

5

Then there's the well known mod for this light too, right? (A resistor mod if I remember correctly.) Is that mod worth doing now given these current measurements? I've been considering this light for awhile. It's this or a good price on the SkyRay King (although the King doesn't have a Medium mode).

-Garry

6

I’ve done that mod already on mine. It helps a bit but still no where near the DRY output. It bumped mine up to 2000 lumens OTF. Stock I believe is around 1600.

7

I’ve done that mod already on mine. It helps a bit but still no where near the DRY output. It bumped mine up to 2000 lumens OTF. Stock I believe is around 1600.

[/quote]

How about in comparison to the King? What's the King's OTF value?

-Garry

8

if not mistaken… It measures 12 inches with the extention & 8 inches without it. I absolutely love mine. I have the big expensive throwers. But this is a fun little lite to me. The only downside? It doesnt throw very far… But as you said… In a small spaces it’s awesome… Be a great home defense light… As long as you have a pistol in your other hand.

9

IIRC my King pushed around 2250 OTF and my DRY did 2500 OTF.

10

Ok, so the King sounds like the better buy for output plus has cells in parallel making it much safer. Is the only downside to the King the lack of medium and PWM on low? (Well I guess the color could be a downside too.) We're starting to see the King (or FandyFire version) available around $40 now after discounts, so it's close in price to consider.

-Garry

11

[OFF-TOPIC:] Seems there are a lot of issues going on with doing quotes. I just found that I had to edit my post to bring the tags (begin quote, end quote) up against the quoted text for it to display correctly. Otherwise you end up with an empty quote box like I ended up with in post #6 above. Others see issues?

[/END OFF-TOPIC]

-Garry

12

Glad to know I'm not the only one being frustrated with the quotes this morning. Hope Sb sees it and gets it ironed out.

13

1. You need about 2 cm of magnets to fill up the body tube when only one battery into it.

2. A short press on the switch and it changes to next mode. If you turn off the light it start again
in the mode you left it in when switched on again.

3. 3 batteries on low: 0.25 amps mid: 0.9 amps
2 batteries on low: 0.3 amps mid: 1.5 amps
With 3 batteries on low it could go on forever.

14

Thanks for your comments and the tip about the alternative driver. May come handy if you want more lightoutput
(can hardly ask for more from it for the moment) or if the stock one fails.

15

Thanks nautic! Good to know :slight_smile:

16

This light has some clever extension tubes, so it’s multifunctional…
With one 18650 it’s noticeable dimmer and it fits like mentioned above not good.
But 4 AAs work quite good for short time. Also 3 cr123a are useable.
Mode memory works perfect.
I like it most with 2 18650, that’s the perfect size for a flashlight I think.
With 3 18650 it’s too long with small diameter for me.

17

It cant be used on 1 x 18650 without some form of extension to the battery. The
body tube is longer than a 18650. No one of the extension tubes can be used as
body tube. The diameter of the body tube thread which screws into the head are
28 mm. The threads of the extension tubes have a diameter of 24 mm. The light
can be used with the body tube alone using 3 x 123A´s.

I agree on your other comments.

18

Lol I’ve edited directly after I have visited my lamp in bedroom… :stuck_out_tongue:

19

This is one of first lights that I have purchased.
I have seen reviews on BLF and decided to have this one.
This is start of a series of light and battery purchases since then.

20

I received mine today from DX. It was shipped 23 November, so 2,5 weeks for it to come here, which is the usual time before this slow slow fall.

it’s bright, it feels good, and i like it so far :slight_smile: