K-Mart Flashlight review [ 3D Tomcat ] Oz K-mart

[old4570]

There I was in K-mart minding my own business when I did spy with my eye the Tomcat 1W LED Metal torch on special for $15 Oz

Thats right , from an Australian K-mart , so for the rest of you ??

As can be seen it comes with 3 D sized cells , is single mode , has a anodized aluminum body with a revers clicky . I was very surprised by the quality of the torch , it has nice smooth threads , o-rings everywhere except the lens retaining ring , plastic reflector [ 49mm Wide x 38mm Deep ] and a plastic lens .
The clicky is very positive and mechanical in feel .

Some more pictures .

As we can see the emitter assembly is nice , but again just a hollow tube for the emitter to sit on , so not much in the way of heatsinking .
I dare say , this could be a hell of a good host , but a new pill would be needed [ LATHE ] for transferring heat .

I could see this being anything up to a MC-E SSC-P7 SST 50 mod host .

Now to some math :

Voltage measured at the tail = 4.55v
Current draw = 0.33A
Watts = 1.5w

I cant vouch for the driver in anyway , or how much loss there might be , but it looks like were talking of at least 50Lumens OTF possibly a little more , but at only 0.33A current draw , it should last a while on 3 D sized cells , and if you needed a flashlight to have around to loan out to those who dont respect a really good light , well , for 15 Ozzi bananas :thinking: , and for a light from a local retailer , I can think of more expensive flashlights on the shelves possibly not nearly a nice , and certainly with no Modification potential like this one .

For a possible mod host 10 out of 10 , as a house flashlight , bearing in mind the price , 9 out of 10 . How long it will last ? , the heatsinking bites , and for using a hollow tube 1 out of 10 .

Over all , being a unproven light , ill give it 7 out of 10 again keeping in mind the price bracket [ Cheap ] .

 

[1 what]

Very interesting...In fact way too interesting considering how easy it looks to mod. I'm not sure to thank you or### you! Oh well - It's only another 15$ and KMart is just down the road.
Happy New Year.

 

[Fusion_m8]

What about the switch? What switches would be used if you're gonna plug a MC-E or a P7 in there drawing 2.8A?

 

[old4570]

I didnt take the switch out , and cant vouch for how much current it can handle . I will take a look at it shortly .

In no way does it feel [ feel ? ] like its weak or fragile .

 

[old4570]

Well , the switch is larger than most I have in my 1x18650 lights .
So I would hazard a guess at it being able to handle the current .
If it cant , then there is plenty of space for a larger switch , and swapping in a new one looks like its going to be somewhat easy .

I have a Cree XR-E P4 emitter on a 20mm star , so might swap it in . Will have to wait for a beamshot first though I think .

 

[old4570]

Backyard beamshot .

Im going to swap in the XR-E P4 and see if its any better .

 

[^Gurthang]

Looks like a great host for a XP-G, P7, SST50 or SST90. I'd bet that a 3D or 3C NiMH powered unit could DD whatever you like...

 

[waddup]

for $15 with batteries it makes a great gift for anyone who might need a light ever.

there is a k mart close to me, imma look for one lovecpf

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=241179

repost?

 

[guiri]

Decent looking light. BEtter than a maglite

 

[old4570]

for $15 with batteries it makes a great gift for anyone who might need a light ever.

there is a k mart close to me, imma look for one lovecpf

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=241179

repost?

I did a search , and there have been other reviews .
A repost ! Hardly ,

Better than a Maglite ,:tinfoil: Sorry No !
Going to pop in the Cree P4 shortly and see what happens .
Got my fingers crossed for a Lathe this year . Then I can get in some serious moding . @ $15 , this would be great for beginers to cut there teeth on doing mods , before they start cutting up more expensive Maglites , well expensive here in anyway .

 

[tolkaze]

I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago. Agree that they are a fantastic platform for simple mods. Just need a 20mm star and a 20mm driver. Could possibly fill the aluminium tube with some kind of heatsinking material, but probably not necessary unless going to a P7 or MC-E. I've been itching to mod this, but my emitters are still MIA from DX (although the drivers showed up fine)

The reflector geometry is nice, its deeper than a maglite i think, so keeps the beam relatively tight, but it seems a bit poorly made. Also, very cheap feeling plastic. Still looking for a replacement, wouldn't be too hard to change the reflector since you can shift the height of the LED by screwing the parts out a bit more.

 

[old4570]

I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago. Agree that they are a fantastic platform for simple mods. Just need a 20mm star and a 20mm driver. Could possibly fill the aluminium tube with some kind of heatsinking material, but probably not necessary unless going to a P7 or MC-E. I've been itching to mod this, but my emitters are still MIA from DX (although the drivers showed up fine)

The reflector geometry is nice, its deeper than a maglite i think, so keeps the beam relatively tight, but it seems a bit poorly made. Also, very cheap feeling plastic. Still looking for a replacement, wouldn't be too hard to change the reflector since you can shift the height of the LED by screwing the parts out a bit more.

Yes , :thumbsup:

I just swapped out the driver for another Luxeon driver I had lying around , current draw is up to 1A now .

3 times the current and only double the output , well more like 80% more . Not sure thats a good trade , I will swap in the Cree P4 with the old driver to see what the beam and output are like .

Cree XR-E P4 on 20mm Star = Current with orriginal driver is the same , but output is up , I just need to lower the reflector a little to improve the beam but looks like 70Lumen output .
I can live with this as is for now ,

 

[old4570]

Well , I lowered the reflector , and now its more in the neighberhood of 90Lumen or so . I did some mods to the pill assembly so as to lower the reflector , and it may need another 1mm lowering . But no rush , time to cook lunch .

 

[old4570]

Here is the cree P4 mod .





I did need to drop down the reflector a little so it would sit well with the Cree P4 emitter , I may mod further , but going high output will need a new pill for better heatsinking . Hopefully next week , I will go look at some lathes as the retailers should be open after the Christmas break .

 

[Jash]

I scored two 4D 3w led mags from coles for $29. Yes AU$29 for the two,with batteries. Some serious modding being done.

 

[old4570]

Before ^

And after \/

 

[Jash]

Thanks a flippin lot old 4570. Stopped in at K-mart today. Bought one of those 3D Tomcats. Will be shoving a SSC P7 inside it when it arrives.
Did you happen to see the smaller 3AAA version. AU$10 a pop. Got three of them and they shine brighter than their big brother. Great for the glove box. Now I've got no money left for chocolate.

 

[M@elstrom]

ROTFLMAO

Nice to see others were lured by it's aesthetics & price point, I found mine had poor electrical contact with the components (nothing a tidy up couldn't fix) but it never really left the bottom of my duty bag because I had more powerful lights... at 1 watt it's kind of disappointing IMHO

I had the original intention of rigging one up with a DSWOI and utilize the deep reflector to create some kind of a "P7 throw monster" but like you discovered thermal paths are limited due to the design of the internals (without a lathe) though a potting compound could be used I suppose, nice P4 upgrade! :thumbsup:

Using a solid aluminium bar offcut the thermal path could be improved significantly

 

[tolkaze]

Well, I haven't been able to mod the 3D version of this light, simply because my drivers were too small, and I haven't been able to make good battery contact without some fiddling.

Anyways, I was back down at K-Mart, looking for cheap 123's and I noticed the Tomcat 9 Led models, and beside that, a 1W 3aaa single led version for about $8 so I grabbed it. It is roughly the same output as the larger 3D light (probably just due to the reflector) and uses the same LED.

I tried my hand at some desoldering and resoldering of bits and pieces, and got a 5-stage 1000ma board and an XR-E (possibly R2, most likely not... DX lucky dip)

Its slightly brighter, but I think it is due to the geometry of the reflector. I will shave off a bit at the back, and get more of the LED dome up into the reflector and will post some shots if anyone wants to see.

Oh, and its also a lot more cool white now, whereas the original had a kind of SSC P4 colour about it

 

[M@elstrom]

Yeah I saw some of those 3AAA 1w units today almost sold out locally 2 left @ $10.00 each IIRC, make a nice basis for an upgrade mod (yes I dismantled it in store)

I fought the urge to purchase one as I've already got a significant number of lights that just don't get used... upgraded it would make an awesome gift! :thumbsup:

Perhaps someone *cough* old4570 *cough* would like to pull the trigger on one and then post their findings here?