TLE-5EX Issues

Hey guys...

I have a TLE-5EX I bought from Batteryjunction and it served me well for the first month or so. Now, whenever I have it turned on for more than 2 minutes, it will start flickering. It's not the battery, or the contacts, or the Nite-Ize clicky I put on the AA minimag (tried removing and replacing all stock components, tailcap, batteries, bulbs...etc) - it's the drop-in itself. I decided to see exactly what was happening, so I removed the head, and man, this LED dye is hot. Nearly smoking hot. When it is cooled off, it will run (again) for 2 minutes before having issues.

Anyone have a cure for this?

Honestly, I love the light... but the issues are a bit annoying. Is there another light someone can recommend using 2xAA or 2xCR123A that I could buy at Walmart/Target using LED technology comparable to this little minimag AA?

You can try the "washers mod" by putting some metal washers between the drop-in and the MM. The heat will be transfered to the MM body and will les build up in the head.

About other lights... I would recommand Fenix and Lumapower, Olight, Tiablo and maybe Surefire if it is in your price range.

Oh, here's a fun update - the light output is now yellow. :sick2:

It will flicker on for about... 10 seconds, give amazing yellow light, then die.

I think this emitter is toast.

Unfortunately it's toast. Just too much heat.

mercaptan

Is yours the Seoul or the cree version of the tle-5ex

Is this the seoul or cree drop-in?

(Cree has a big silver ring around the emitter). I believe the cree can handle the excess heat better.

You guys tell me... I'm a noob at this stuff



Think I should contact Matt (he runs Batteryjunction, right?) see if I can get a refund?

That is definietely seoul. Maybe that is why Terralux switched to cree?

Thanks Gunga, cheers for the quick response.

I mean, I only ran mine at most 10 hours before this thing went off. That's about the average life span of a Krypton bulb... not the best efficiency around. Now that I look at it, man, the emitter is ugly... all deformed with white and yellow on the dye.

In the mag-lite spot now... I just went out and got an INOVA X0... not the best thing around, but darnitall, this thing is built like a rock. Nice deep reflector too. I don't mind that it has a Luxeon K2, whatever... just give me something that'll work more than 10 hours. Heh.

Cheers!

gunga said:

That is definietely seoul. Maybe that is why Terralux switched to cree?

Click to expand...

Hmm...I didn't even realize that they did. Where have I been? :duh2:

Anyhow, I think it's a good switch.

i think no matter the emitter its gonna need heatsinking cuz of high current , but i would still love to see a 5ex seoul vs cree beamshot , i got this feeling the cree has brighter spill but cant confirm

anywhow ,wow i cant believe i posted this so long ago it seemed like yesterday and boy did the time fly and my wallet lighten



read here to
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1911975&postcount=163

I originally had the washer employed... and then realized that I really shouldn't need to personally modify my 'drop-in' LED for it to work properly. Guess I got burned there... no pun intended

Mercaptan said:

I originally had the washer employed... and then realized that I really shouldn't need to personally modify my 'drop-in' LED for it to work properly. Guess I got burned there... no pun intended

Click to expand...

this is when i realized i needed a washer, in middle of first big paragraph

Both my 5ex and 6ex get far too hot to touch without getting burned. Both shift color after they get hot.

I'm becoming more and more baffled by the concept of 'product design testing' - or rather, who is not actually participating in such activities.

Update: / Blast from the past:

I called Terra-Lux, and the woman on the phone immediately offered to ship me a replacement with instructions on sending back the faulty unit. Phone call took about... 4 minutes. Quick and painless.

Couldn't ask for better customer assistance/service. :thumbsup:

I realize that this is an old thread but I am curious if anyone has any experience over driving the TLE-6EX slightly(?) .

I have one in a 5 C cell Mag and have been using two 26650 3.3 volt LiFePO4 cells which provides nonimal 6.6-7.0 volts. There is plenty of room for another cell which would increase nonimal voltage to 9.9-10.5 volts. Six fresh C cell non rechargables should be approx. 9.6 volts so not a big difference. I tried 3 cells long enough to get a current reading. Two cells 480 mA ,3 cells 350 mA so I theory I could gain about 35% run time based on using 2,000 mAh from the cells. Not a big deal as I have better than 4 hours now.