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UltraFire TH-T60 *PIC HEAVY*

Jufran88

Jufran88

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Feb 9, 2011
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I bought this light a few weeks ago from DX:

UltraFire TH-T60 HA-II XM-LT60 5-Mode 1200-Lumen White LED Flashlight with Strap (1 x 18650) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

- 5 modes: high, medium, low, fast strobe, SOS
- 1200 Lumens
- 3000 mA output driver
- Smooth (SMO) reflector
- HA-II anodizing
- Mode memory

It's the cheapest of out the rest of the XM-Ls that claim to be outputting 1200 Lumens, which is probably an overstatement since DX sometimes exaggerates specs.

I've got to admit this is one bright light! Even if it's not up to specs. I wish I still had my SST-90 to do some comparison shots. The modes are ok, I'm not bothered too much about the fast strobe or SOS as it might come in handy one day. The build quality is good and feels solid not much wiggling inside if you shake the light. On high you can feel the light getting hotter after 2-3 minutes of continuous use.

I measured the current at the tailcap on HIGH and it was giving me 2.4A @ 4.18V. However, this might not be the actual current going into the LED because the driver is unknown. I would have taken the light apart, but they really made it difficult to do so. I decided to leave it alone and not let curiosity get to me and have it end up destroyed LOL :p.

I tried to clean the contacts with De-Oxit contact cleaner and enhancer.

Flashlight pictures:
IMG_0250.jpg


IMG_0249.jpg


IMG_0251.jpg


They seem to have used a different star than what other buyers have and there seems to be a defect on the LED lens plus surroundings are a bit dirty:
IMG_0244.jpg


Smooth reflector:
IMG_0245.jpg


They put a reflective film to cover up the excess opening on the reflector:
IMG_0252.jpg


The threads are pretty well made and notice the double O-rings:
IMG_0248.jpg


Tailcap, but where's the how did they get the clicky in without the retainer ring?
IMG_0246.jpg


It's on the other side! Just twist the top off:
IMG_0268.jpg


Tailcap disassembled (in order):
IMG_0267.jpg


Beamshots!:drool:
These shots were taken with me and my girlfriend in San Jose on the road to Mt. Hamilton. Really incredible view of the city from the mountains especially at night!

Good beam profile, but has some artifacts due to reflections of the LED die on the smooth reflector:
IMG_0326.jpg


High:
IMG_0323.jpg


Med:
IMG_0324.jpg


Low:
IMG_0325.jpg


Tree shot (probably 20ft away) on High:
IMG_0327.jpg


Road ahead:
IMG_0316.jpg


Video of modes:


:thanks:
 
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Well, it seems the post I made last night got lost in the server crash :(.

Did you happen to read it before it crashed, paloalto?
 
Darn, I guess I'll just have to retype it from memory lol.. Thanks for re-posting and re-repping me after the server went down.

I was using a unprotected Sanyo 18650 2800 mAh freshly charged @ 4.18V (my charger won't charge it until 4.2 :(). I even used 12 gauge wire to eliminate any resistance the test leads had.

I'm thinking they used a different driver in mines since I had different outputs. I was really curious to see what driver they used, but the made it really difficult to do so. It's like they superglued the mid piece assembly to the head, which I'm pretty sure comes off since there is a gap there. I was thinking about trying to twist the pill the star is mounted on, but was too afraid to risk accidentally slicing the wires and end up destroying my new light.

I was thinking about buying another XM-L light at DX and I'm deciding between these two:

UltraFire SF-22-T60 XM-LT6 5-Mode 1200-Lumen White LED Memory Flashlight - Black (1 x 18650) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

UltraFire A9-T60 CREE XM-L-T6 5-Mode 1200-Lumen White LED Flashlight with Strap - Black (1 x 18650) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

I'm pretty sure these are new at DX since they don't have any reviews yet.

If they used a linear driver or direct drive then that is the actual current going into the LED, otherwise:

driver power out = LED power in
Vbatt x Ibatt x Efficiency = Vf x If

Where,
Vin = Vbatt = voltage fed to the driver
Iin = Ibatt = current fed to the driver (tail cap measurement)
Efficiency = efficiency of the driver (could include other factors)
Vf = forward voltage of LED
If = current outputted from driver

And I think you can actually compute how many lumens it's outputting by using the efficacy of the LED and in this case the CREE XM-L has a 100 lumen per watt (from data sheet)

P = IV = Watts
Watts x efficacy = Lumen output
 
efficacy varies depending on drive current

emitter lumens can be substantially less than out-the-front lumens

Good way to estimate, though
 
That's true. Is there an accurate way to measure lumen? I was thinking about that last night when I came up with that idea for lumen output.
 
It would have to be an enclosure that captures all the light and homogenizes it so that you can use a lux meter and some math. It's a bit over the top when an estimate is really all that is needed. My main point was that at lower drive currents, LEDs are more efficient, while at higher drive currents they spit out more lumens, but less efficiently. Just like our laser diodes here.

is the fast strobe fast like an actual flash bulb, or is it that quick blinking on and off? I could dig some stroby strobe mode if done properly.
 
Ah, ok I get you.

I had a video in the first post with all 5 modes in it. It's pretty fast to me, but then again fast to me might not be as fast for you. Lol.. ;)
 
I would say with out a doubt that the strobe is pretty fast on my ultrafire kh-t60, looks just like the one in Jufran88's video. You can do a pretty good stop motion effect in a dark room.
 
Jufran88 said:
It's pretty fast to me, but then again fast to me might not be as fast for you. Lol.. ;)
Click to expand...

rpaloalto said:
I would say with out a doubt that the strobe is pretty fast on my ultrafire kh-t60, looks just like the one in Jufran88's video. You can do a pretty good stop motion effect in a dark room.
Click to expand...

Sweet! I have an old MC-E drop-in, only one I own that has the fast strobe. Time to upgrade :whistle:
 
Jufran88 said:
I was using a unprotected Sanyo 18650 2800 mAh freshly charged @ 4.18V (my charger won't charge it until 4.2 :(). I even used 12 gauge wire to eliminate any resistance the test leads had.
I'm thinking they used a different driver in mines since I had different outputs
Click to expand...

Just to let you know your sanyo 18650 calls for a 4.3 volt charge.
http://battery.sanyo.com/en/product/lithium-ion/pdf/01/UR18650ZT.pdf

So even if your charger did charge to 4.2 you would only be charging it to 90-95% of capacity.

I just did another test with my panasonic 2900ma cell. I was only getting 2.5A at tail cap. The battery was putting out just 4.10v with no load.
So that small drop in voltage from 4.2v to 4.10 made a huge difference in current draw. With the panasonic cell charged to the full 4.2v I can get that whopping 3.5A reading at tail cap.
 
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I actually managed to charge my cells to 4.2V charged. I guess my charger light goes green at 4.18V but I left the cells in longer and it charged up to 4.2V. :yh:

I actually tried measuring the current using 2 different batteries, both didn't reach the 3A draw:

(1) 2800 mAh Sanyo unprotected
(1) 2600 LG chem unprotected

The thing with the 4.35V charge is how they were able to reach that capacity, but it shouldn't affect the discharge rate of the cell. The higher the discharge the lower the capacity and the quicker you will need to charge the cell.

And the current measurement at the tail cap is only the current draw from the cell itself, but it doesn't represent the actual current being delivered to the LED by the driver unless it's a linear regulator or direct drive. Buck or boost drivers will always give you different readings at the tail cap.

Judging from the Vf of the XM-L at 3A is about under 3.4V and using a fully charged 18650 at 4.2V, they could be using a linear driver or a buck driver. A linear driver is probably more plausible because buck drivers need at least 2V more than the output voltage so it won't fall out of regulation, right? :thinking:

But then that would mean that the driver is really delivering the same current draw at the tail cap to the LED. :thinking::confused:

I recently bought another light from DX direct drive P7 and I got 3.1A from the tail cap so I'm pretty sure the driver has to be affecting the current draw.
 
Voltage across the emitter could give you an estimate on what kind of current the emitter is seeing. However, a small change in voltage means a big change in how much current the diode draws. This will only give you a ballpark estimate
 
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