I’m done with my shoebox calibration after the mods. I have two Molicel P45B and it looks like one of them is not delivering what it should. I had 4250 lumens at turn on, but the second cell gave me ~5100 lumens. Here is the graph for the cooled runtime. The app screwed up the .csv file for the second test (ambient T°), so I will do it again later. Also, I will run a third test using a Samsung 50S (cooled only).
I can’t see a voltage sag behavior here. If there is, the driver is doing a good job. It simply looks like a FET driven level, which should be the case here knowing it’s a Lume1 6A + FET driver.
Only if you use a telescope to observe the target you’re illuminating, I think
Perhaps It could be useful attached to some sort of sniper rifle while looking at its telescopic sight, so you can fire at a target from afar without alarming it.
Oh, wait…
Seriously now, what a GREAT flashlight testing field you got there! Congrats!
You’re talking about the T9R (not the TS30) in the bold part, right? I ask because from the picture, my T9R tailcap looks exactly the same, and also shows the same behavior.
Anyway, that wire soldered in the spring may look weird but it’s actually a feature, and a good one: it’s called a ‘spring bypass’, and the intention is that, by providing a much shorter and thicker conduit for the battery, it will result in less resistance and so less voltage sag and therefore more brightness. BTW, it would be better (for the same reason) if there was similar wire soldered to the spring in the head, but (at least on my T9R) there isn’t, probably because the head spring is much smaller. Anyway, even having it just in the tail is a Good Thing™.
Also on my T9R, I too noticed that the tailcap is much harder to screw in or out – I researched it a bit and the culprit is not lack of lube but the T9R clip, which exerts a sideway pressure that makes the screw not as pleasant. But perhaps extra lube can help – it certainly did in other situations when I was screwing sideways
I’m really lucky to have this environment within a 15-minute walk. Some points are further away. The target at 1.35 KM is probably a half hour walk to reach. May go by car.
I’ve realized that I’m not a pro at capturing beam shots from above’s results. I couldn’t even publish my pics of my KR1s because they were so bad… I’ve done my homework and I’ll be back with the right equipment and configuration. Can’t tell when, but eventually.
Unfortunately, I’m sorely lacking in time since the holidays, and that’s likely to be the case in February too. I think I started to much things at the same time:
keeping Lumireviews.ca database up to date (8 days late now)
T9R runtimes
TS30S Pro runtimes (to compare with)
FFL X4Q runtimes (need to redo some )
A beam shots challenge for: T9R/TS30S Pro
Small review of 3 KR1 versions: SFT-40 vs SFT-25R vs a special “secret sub-sub-menu no more warranty” request version I’ve made to Hank. I hope to reach 140,000 real measured candelas from it. I may receive it in March.
Yes, sorry I wasn’t very clear on this.
Great. That’s what I thought it was for, but wasn’t sure.
True, it was completely dry. The cheap fealing was actually from the aluminum microparticles. I cleaned the threads with compressed air, cleaned again using a rag + Q-tips with isopropanol and greased them up “again”. Now, the fealing is good !
I like this shot a lot. Thanks. I should do a similar one at the golf course nearby when it’s a little warmer. I know, only 8C here in California, but that’s too cold for me.
I suspect I’ll get a visit from security too. Maybe I could then show off the T9R.
I wanted to share these results. The runtime above was done using my dented P45B (yes, this one you may have seen). Less contact, so not delivering expected results. That means, only one P45B left for the tests ! I also ran a runtime using a Samsung 50S. It’s not a fresh new cell and the actual capacity is ~4650 mAh. I also compared with my TS30S Pro. All under cooling condition for now. I’m glad to see that the T9R is having a better overall runtime compared to the TS30S Pro using the same cell. T9R vs TS30S Pro output were about the same on my sample Also, I don’t see any voltage sag for the TS30S Pro, eventhough it was clearly visible with other reviewers (like zeroair’s). I guess the Molicel is doing a great job here. Maybe just cooling conditions… or both.
I’ve ordered 4x new Molicel P50B yesterday. I will test the initial output once again for both T9R and TS30S Pro, but I don’t think we will see any differences compared to aboves results. All flashlight samples are different: maybe I was lucky for my TS30S Pro and less lucky with my T9R explaining fairly equivalent results today.
I’m not surprised and think your measurement is correct. My T9R is around 5000lm and my TS30S Pro is ~4800 lm with stock lens, and actually 5000lm when I put in after-market AR lens.
With both of our testing, it appears any gain of MMX over SBT90.2 output is minimal. I suspect T9R’s gain in throw is primarily a result of the its deep and large reflector. Bigger throw, but smaller hotspot vs Wurkkos.
I was glad to see very similar results. It’s not easy to “calibrate” a shoebox without any BLF/maukka light. Of course, using a FET driven level to compare is…not a very good reference, but still
The FFL T9R FFL909MX uses a 6 Amps Lume1 + FET driver. So far, I have only tested the Turbo level, which is definitely drawing more than 6 Amps from the battery. This results in a typical FET driver curve. Such a smooth curve is rarely seen because most people conducting runtime tests do not cool the flashlight sufficiently (I’m not saying they should). These FET-driven levels are always the ones that significantly heat the host.
When you observe a drop in most graphs, it can be due to either voltage sag or overheat protection. Without adequate cooling, it is difficult to determine the exact cause. I will include the ambient Temperature curve when I release the complete “runtime review”. You should see regulated levels at around level 6/7 or 5/7. I expect the heat to be a problem down to level 5, but I may be surprised: it’s a big host. We will see.
I should add that someone using Ubricht integrating sphere did get 6085 lm from T9R host with 909MMX + Molicel P50B HERE versus 5050 lm from a different host, E90, with SBT90.2 (battery not specified). So the output gain of 909MMX over SBT90.2 may be real and not caught by my hobbyist-grade measurement using Texas Ace lumen tube.
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for now.
Also, I don’t see any voltage sag for the TS30S Pro, eventhough it was clearly visible with other reviewers (like 
