NITECORE TM26 QUADRAY (4 x XM-L U2 | 1-4x18650 / 2-8xR/CR123) Review

[thedoc007]

I definitely want one, have been waiting for the price to drop though, and then it´s a question if it´s worth waiting for the XM-L2 emitter.
Does anyone know if the Cree MT-G2 emitter is feasible/possible in this flashlight? At 2.200lm per emitter x 4 you would get 8.800lm output, that would be awesome if possible, even if you could only get that kind of output for a few minutes

Nitecore doesn't have any plans to upgrade the emitter that I am aware of. If they had an expected date, that would be one thing, but they may never do it...if you have the funds, buy it as is. It is truly an awesome light.

The MT-G2 seems like a terrible idea to me, since the TM26 actually is a decent thrower (not dedicated, obviously, but 56k candela is nothing to laugh at). The MT-G2 is huge in comparison, and the throw would suffer as a result. The Niwalker Black Light that selfbuilt reviewed recently gets 140,500 cd on XM-L2 U2 and 60,500 cd on the MT-G2, so the difference is fairly massive. If you went to the MT-G2, the TM26 would be a flood light only, basically just a more powerful TM11. Seems to me if they go that route, it will no longer even resemble a TM26.

It is TOTALLY impractical at this time to think about having 8800 lumens in a light this size. Normal 18650s would not be able to drive it. Maybe you could do it with IMR cells, but then the runtime would be even shorter than the power increase would suggest. Also, even if you could power it, the heat would make it unusable. It heats up pretty fast already, there is no way that the TM26 body could handle the heat load of 8800 lumens. Your runtime would be measured in seconds even at low temperatures...jut forget about it. We'll get there eventually, but for now it is totally out of the question.

 

[Darkcobra]

Hello All,
This is my first light that uses 18650 cells.
Can you guys recommend which battery I should purchase/use for the TM26?
I don't have a charger, can the light charge the batteries too? Or is the onboard charger meant to "top off" batteries?
Thank you in advance for all the help you can provide.

 

[TEEJ]

Hello All,
This is my first light that uses 18650 cells.
Can you guys recommend which battery I should purchase/use for the TM26?
I don't have a charger, can the light charge the batteries too? Or is the onboard charger meant to "top off" batteries?
Thank you in advance for all the help you can provide.

The light can charge the cells inside it, so, you could theoretically, use it to charge as many cells as you had, etc.

I'd go with the 3400 mah 18650's from FastTech, as they tested well, and, are about the least expensive 3400 mah 18650's out there...they sell them in two-packs for about the price most others are charging for one cell.


So, for example, you could buy 8 (Or more) cells even though it only takes 4....and charge the 1st 4, take them out, and set them aside, then charge the second set of 4 cells. You would then have EIGHT charged cells...or more if you repeated the process with more cells to start with, etc.

I would get a DMM to spot check the cells and make sure they stay healthy/alert you to any developing problems over time, etc. If knowing that you're not going to use the light much, and the extra cells would be if there were a black-out/long camping trip, etc...you COULD charge them up to only 60% or so instead of all the way up to 100%, and store them at the lower charge state to improve shelf life, etc.

If you DON'T have an external charger, you can't charge one set while using the other set. That's one reason I LIKE external chargers.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Also, if you read the NEW Nitecore tm26 thread, you will see some members report that the charger inside the tm26 is conservative, that is, will not charge the cells as full as a dedicated external charger. doingoutdoor.com, Keeppower 3400's is what I got. Only 4 cells because this light has great capacity for my use.

The light can charge the cells inside it, so, you could theoretically, use it to charge as many cells as you had, etc.

I'd go with the 3400 mah 18650's from FastTech, as they tested well, and, are about the least expensive 3400 mah 18650's out there...they sell them in two-packs for about the price most others are charging for one cell.


So, for example, you could buy 8 (Or more) cells even though it only takes 4....and charge the 1st 4, take them out, and set them aside, then charge the second set of 4 cells. You would then have EIGHT charged cells...or more if you repeated the process with more cells to start with, etc.

I would get a DMM to spot check the cells and make sure they stay healthy/alert you to any developing problems over time, etc. If knowing that you're not going to use the light much, and the extra cells would be if there were a black-out/long camping trip, etc...you COULD charge them up to only 60% or so instead of all the way up to 100%, and store them at the lower charge state to improve shelf life, etc.

If you DON'T have an external charger, you can't charge one set while using the other set. That's one reason I LIKE external chargers.

 

[Darkcobra]

Thanks TEEJ and KITROBASKIN for the very detailed information. : )
From the review, it looks like I will be investing in an external charger too.

 

[loft]

Just ordered a TM26 for myself... can't wait until it arrives! Will be a big jump from my Fenix TK15 S2... lol

 

[72turbo74]

I just got my TM26, 3400ma Panasonic cells, Nitecore charger and a tripod today in the mail. This thing is a freaking beast. The 3 lumen ultra low is great. You can navigate around the house perfectly at night. I was surprised how small the light is. Even seeing in pictures I somehow thought it would be bigger. If you are even thinking about getting this light don't hesitate. It won't disappoint. If I had one gripe it would be that the OLED display is the slightest bit off angle. I'm a perfectionist so it does bug me, especially for the price. But I still can't help but smile when I use it in turbo mode. It's insane.

 

[peterharvey73]

I have a TM11 and I am interested in purchasing a TM26.
I like the 3500 lumens, the LED display, the camera tripod mount, and the fact that the battery carrier seems to be identical to the TM11?

On your wall shots, how is the beam pattern of the TM26 different from the TM11?
1) The TM26's hotspot and corona seems both much brighter and much larger in size?
2) The TM26's spill seems to be brighter too?
3) However, is the TM26's spill as wide in size as the TM11's spill, or is the TM26's spill narrower???
4) Also, does anyone know how the TM26's width of spill compares to the Zebralight S6330's width of spill???

The only downside of the TM26 - wow, it is exxy...

 

[Kabible]

I sold a TM11 to finance a TM26 so I can't do a side by side comparison. Going on memory, the TM26 hot spot is a bit narrower and plainly way brighter. Throws much farther. Its side spill is much narrower and brighter than the TM11. The TM26 beam tint is a bit cool for my taste but that's OK as it's a nightstand light intended for intruder deterrence. I owned two TM11s. The first early version tint was quite greenish. The second latest version was a bit more neutral but still with some green.

 

[turboBB]

@peter - Kabible's description is pretty much how I'd sum it up. The TM26 has a tighter and more intense hot spot and brighter but tighter overall spill while the TM11 has a larger hotspot but a very wide spill which incidentally is still the floodiest light I have (multi-emitter or not).

Here are the Turbo modes for each stepped down to 1/40 to give a better representation of the beam profile:

TM26 - as can be seen it has both a tighter hotspot and beam, also the tint in this pic is pretty close to how I see it in real life (at least on my monitor) in that the hot spot is more whiter and the spill not a purplish vs. TM11:


TM11 - although this shot was taken a few inches closer than the TM26 shot, they're both at roughly 5M away from the door and as you can see, that is just pure flood that is cast against the walls and not reflected light from the hotspot:


I don't have a S6330 so can't comment on that but wrt the tube, it's basically identical between the TM11 and TM26 save for the laser engravings.

Hope that helps,
Tim

 

[peterharvey73]

Thanks Kabible and turboBB for your replies.
Looks like the TM26 quad-led is designed for a balance between flood and throw, with both a smaller yet more intense hotspot, and a small yet more intense spill.
I would have thought the TM11's three coalescing reflectors would be the more throwy design, but not so.
Similarly, I thought that since the TM26 had four separate reflectors, it would be floodier, but not so.
Sounds like the four reflectors in the TM26 are very very deep, hence less spill.
I'm after a floody light with a near 180 degree spill, for home rennovation etc.
Nevermind.
Hopefully Nitecore will come up with a spill king update for the TM11 one day...

 

[TEEJ]

Thanks Kabible and turboBB for your replies.
Looks like the TM26 quad-led is designed for a balance between flood and throw, with both a smaller yet more intense hotspot, and a small yet more intense spill.
I would have thought the TM11's three coalescing reflectors would be the more throwy design, but not so.
Similarly, I thought that since the TM26 had four separate reflectors, it would be floodier, but not so.
Sounds like the four reflectors in the TM26 are very very deep, hence less spill.
I'm after a floody light with a near 180 degree spill, for home rennovation etc.
Nevermind.
Hopefully Nitecore will come up with a spill king update for the TM11 one day...

Crelant's MTG2 light (7g10) would be perfect for that application. If you simply remove the head, its a room flooding 180 degree mule. With it on, its STILL a room flooder if you tail stand it.

 

[riccardo]

One interesting thing about the TM26 is that it can work as emergency/safe light.
In fact I found out that if you connect the charger while the light is ON the flashlight goes OFF and stay in charging mode but as soon as the AC adapter is removed from the wall socket the flashlight comes back ON at the level it was when charger was plugged in.

It is not in the manual but it is a really nice feature, now if someone will be able to check what's the behavior of the internal charger at the end of charge ..is it disconnecting? ..is it safe to leave it constantly on?

 

[turboBB]

The TM26's charger is quite good but a little on the conservative side as noted in a few posts. What that means is in general, it'll charge up to a max of ~4.17V to leave a small buffer in case of any cell imbalance so it definitely errs on the side of safety. There is no balancing involved beyond each cell's internal resistance so I thought this was appropriate and definitely on the safe side. It just means that you'll have slightly reduced runtimes when charging the cells with the built-in charger but on the plus side, given it doesn't charge to max of 4.2V, it should extend the life of your cells in the long run.

The charger will stop charging when it detects the cells are "full" (again full here meaning ~4.17V, at least on my sample) and it will re-initiate charging in the event of a power loss but the charging current directly corresponds to the voltage it detects so when full, it doesn't charge and if near full it'll apply a trivial amount of current before shutting off. So in general it should be OK to use in the scenario you describe, however, for overall safety considerations, obviously you should only do this at your own discretion.

Unfortunately my original clips for the charging vid were corrupted and I'm in the process of redoing it. I hope to have a charging deep dive vid up in the near future.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[turboBB]

Charging algo section added.

 

[Particle]

Your review convinced me to go with the TM26. I was initially considering the Fenix TK75, but I'll find a floody light more useful than a long distance spot thrower.

It's worth pointing out to prospective buyers that they can be had regularly for ~$225 on eBay at the moment if you're willing to bid instead of doing buy it now. I picked one up for $215 yesterday for example. What a steal for that price.

In any case, I'm now anxiously awaiting this tiny monster. It should compliment my reliable workhorse, a first-gen Fenix TK15, quite well. 337 lumens to 3500 lumens max brightness will be quite a jump.

 

[Kabible]

Welcome to CPF!

You're going to enjoy the TM26. Very versatile light.

 

[tel0004]

Your review convinced me to go with the TM26. I was initially considering the Fenix TK75, but I'll find a floody light more useful than a long distance spot thrower.

It's worth pointing out to prospective buyers that they can be had regularly for ~$225 on eBay at the moment if you're willing to bid instead of doing buy it now. I picked one up for $215 yesterday for example. What a steal for that price.

In any case, I'm now anxiously awaiting this tiny monster. It should compliment my reliable workhorse, a first-gen Fenix TK15, quite well. 337 lumens to 3500 lumens max brightness will be quite a jump.

First post ever on candlepower forums, and you decided to buy a 200.00 flashlight?

You will fit in well here.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Your review convinced me to go with the TM26... 337 lumens to 3500 lumens max brightness will be quite a jump.

Perhaps I am mistaken in understanding your post, but the tm26 has a low of ~3 lumens, and level 2 is a very useful 95 lumens. Something that is overlooked is the illumination provided by the display, not only for locating the torch in the dark but for finding things with completely dark adapted eyes.

Also know that Turbo will heat it up fast but it is easy to switch back and forth between Turbo and a very bright 1700 lumens with a half press.

Aside from a Photon squeezelight, the tm26 and a Zebralight SC52 replace all of my other flashlights, practically speaking. You made a wise choice, in my opinion.

 

[Particle]

Thank you guys for the kind welcome. I've always been interested in flashlights for some reason, ever since I was young. I had had a faithful MiniMag that I had used since the 90s, and later on when LED flashlights first started to come about I used to regularly check the camping aisle at Wal-Mart for new offerings. I ended up with a very, very early Coleman branded flashlight that was a combination 5mm LED and beam-style cold cathode fluorescent. That was probably ten years ago or more, and it has been an accelerating journey since then with a number of different units being purchased as LED flashlights improved over the years. In early 2011, I decided to step up my game after a disappointing experience with a Sears branded Luxeon K2 based light that literally fell apart on me and bought my first higher-end light: a Fenix TK15. At that time, it was about a $90 light and the U2 version didn't exist yet. I loved it so much that I shortly thereafter bought a TK21 U2 for my father. His interest in Maglite products when I was younger was likely partially responsible for my own interest, so I felt it only right to provide a token of my appreciation in the form of a light I knew he'd get a kick out of. I've used my TK15 for the last two and a half years for everything. It has been my real workhorse and I love it.

When I recently noticed the large amount of progress in LED based flashlights that has been made since I purchased my TK15, I knew it was time to yet again step up my game. I didn't want something large, and I knew I wanted a lot of raw light output. I've got the TK15 for practical work, so I was really looking for a trophy piece that could be exciting to use when I needed to really light something up. I was originally looking at a TK75 since I knew I liked the Fenix brand, but was pleased when I ran across the TM26. It was brighter, smaller, and included neat features that I had never before even imagined on a light such as the OLED display. To top it off, it has a very low "low" mode (3 lumens) that will let me use it for daily purposes, not "just" for special cases. My TK15 spends 95% of its time at its lowest setting of 5 lumens, so it should be just about perfect.

Regarding mention of needing a Photon light, I've got my base covered. =)

With respect to KITROBASKIN's question, I should clarify what I meant. My TK15's maximum brightness setting is rated at 337 lumens. The statement I made meant to illustrate the jump in maximum brightness that I'd be obtaining with the TM26. I'm anxious to see the difference, even if it only lasts a few minutes at a time. It's still exciting!