Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO +

[sidecross]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Thanks, my serial number is V112-1111 maybe someone can tell if that match a neutral or a cool white ?

My Nitecore's box had a label on the right side of the box, as you open the box, and there a barcode label which also had written "Cool White". This is what I prefer and has a higher Kelvin temperture and "Neutral White".

 

[sidecross]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

The circuit will still be drawing some power, even when locked out. Typically, however, well-designed circuits draw less power in lock-out mode than in regular standby.

I have not measured in on mine, as that requires a more complicated setup with the DMM in the current path. In any case, the currently shipping models are different from mine in how they handle the standby indicator, so I don't know if the results would be comparable.

I switched to using Eagletac 3100mAh Li-ion protected batteries and now lock-out the head from drawing any power.

I also bought two Nitecore i4 chargers version 2 and enough of the Eagletac 3100mAh batteries to keep company with my 48 123 Surefire batteries stored in two Pelican cases.

Thank you again for all your help!

 

[oKtosiTe]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

At which voltage level will the indicator LED start blinking rapidly, and when will the light fall out of regulation?

 

[Ceya!]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

I don't know if this video has been linked in this thread or not (or elsewhere on CPF?), but it's about the coolest custom bike mount (in this case, for the TM11) I've ever seen. My dislike is how far forward the TM11 is attached in the mount (way too much heavy weight forward given the jolts associated with even casual bike riding) -- but if it attaches solidly, maybe that's of little consequence. This is an interesting process to watch and an interesting end product, in any case.

Have you mounted it on the bottom. The light hold up better mounted that way.

Or you can also put tape between the bar and the mounting to prevent it from moving.



S/F,
CEYA!

 

[oKtosiTe]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

I don't know if this video has been linked in this thread or not (or elsewhere on CPF?), but it's about the coolest custom bike mount (in this case, for the TM11) I've ever seen. My dislike is how far forward the TM11 is attached in the mount (way too much heavy weight forward given the jolts associated with even casual bike riding) -- but if it attaches solidly, maybe that's of little consequence. This is an interesting process to watch and an interesting end product, in any case.

As a matter of fact, the person making these noticed the same thing and made a revised version, shown here as version 4:



He offers them for sale, but I'm not sure linking to that page is allowed here. Feel free to PM me.

 

[Landshark99]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Just ordered a TM11 today, should be here soon

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

I have to admit that I have been on the fence about a TM11 for the past year and in reality there are just too many concerns to allow me to move forward with this light.

The biggest concern is what was outlined in post #610. This light uses four battery tubes in parallel - an absolutely horrible design from what I can see. How will you ever know if all four (or eight) batteries are actually making contact? Why would you ever have to pull up battery tabs on a production light. This can lead to very suspect and dangerous performance in my mind - and is also contributing to all of the heat in the light.

With all 4 batteries in parallel you are basically drawing huge amounts of current out of the system and trying to drive 3 LEDs running parallel.

My comparison would be with a RRT-3 which appears to have done it right. They use 3 batteries in series which connects to a driver which then drives the 3 XMLs in series too. This keeps system current down to a max of ~3Amps. With the TM11 I can only imagine overall system current running closer to 9Amps.

Overall it would be the same power for both lights, but higher current across any resistance causes greater voltage loss and more heat overall. The higher voltage / lower current setup would be more efficient in the long run.

Selfbuilt say in his original review that he would not recommend the light be left to tailstand on Hi for any extended period of time. I have taken my RRT-3 XML and set it on the 2nd to highest 1200 Lumens level and used it as an area light for 30-40 minutes at a time and it was never hot to the touch with no active cooling.

As much as I want to like and buy this light I am going to have to pass for a better design.

 

[sidecross]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

I have to admit that I have been on the fence about a TM11 for the past year and in reality there are just too many concerns to allow me to move forward with this light.

The biggest concern is what was outlined in post #610. This light uses four battery tubes in parallel - an absolutely horrible design from what I can see. How will you ever know if all four (or eight) batteries are actually making contact? Why would you ever have to pull up battery tabs on a production light. This can lead to very suspect and dangerous performance in my mind - and is also contributing to all of the heat in the light.

With all 4 batteries in parallel you are basically drawing huge amounts of current out of the system and trying to drive 3 LEDs running parallel.

My comparison would be with a RRT-3 which appears to have done it right. They use 3 batteries in series which connects to a driver which then drives the 3 XMLs in series too. This keeps system current down to a max of ~3Amps. With the TM11 I can only imagine overall system current running closer to 9Amps.

Overall it would be the same power for both lights, but higher current across any resistance causes greater voltage loss and more heat overall. The higher voltage / lower current setup would be more efficient in the long run.

Selfbuilt say in his original review that he would not recommend the light be left to tailstand on Hi for any extended period of time. I have taken my RRT-3 XML and set it on the 2nd to highest 1200 Lumens level and used it as an area light for 30-40 minutes at a time and it was never hot to the touch with no active cooling.

As much as I want to like and buy this light I am going to have to pass for a better design.

You make a good argument against the design of the TM11.

Time will tell if the concerns you bring up will be a cause for any problems down the road.

I did buy the light because it is the third version of this light in production and because of the power it provides because it is in parallel and not series.

 

[varuscelli]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Selfbuilt say in his original review that he would not recommend the light be left to tailstand on Hi for any extended period of time. I have taken my RRT-3 XML and set it on the 2nd to highest 1200 Lumens level and used it as an area light for 30-40 minutes at a time and it was never hot to the touch with no active cooling.

A couple of comments...

I'm pretty sure you have valid points in your analysis (and this in in no way an attempt to shoot down your overall critique). However, I feel a bit as though you might be over-analyzing the technical side while perhaps deemphasizing the actual functionality of the TM11. I'm betting the majority of actual users of the TM11 would agree that its useful output and unique beam pattern outweigh what might be perceived as a couple of technical design weaknesses.

On the tail standing issue, it's true that running the TM11 in turbo mode (2000 lumens) while it's in tail standing position will lead to a lot of heat buildup (an uncomfortable amount, to be sure). But, I don't think it's fair to compare the heat built-up to the RT-3 when the RT-3 is set to 1200 lumens without doing a side-by-side test of the TM11 at a similar setting. When run for extended time on high (TM11 at 1100 lumens) the TM11 body does gets warm...but not hot. Despite the cautions by Selfbuilt in his early review, running the TM11 on high (1100 lumens) for extended periods does not result in the body getting overly hot to the touch -- just warm, and not so warm that anyone should be hesitant to grab it up from the tail standing position after an extended period. As a TM11 user, I've tested this personally, for extended times, both in turbo mode and on high setting (up to an hour on high, tail standing), and I don't feel that the cautionary statement really applies to the TM11 high setting.

Not trying to argue with your rationalizations (I think you made some solid points)...just putting out a slightly different perspective.

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

...Selfbuilt say in his original review that he would not recommend the light be left to tailstand on Hi for any extended period of time. I have taken my RRT-3 XML and set it on the 2nd to highest 1200 Lumens level and used it as an area light for 30-40 minutes at a time and it was never hot to the touch with no active cooling. As much as I want to like and buy this light I am going to have to pass for a better design.

Inspired by your example I set my TM to 2nd highest setting and ran it for 15 minutes (on table). At that point the head was moderately hot but the body was only warm. When I checked the batteries (4x Redilast 3100 mAH) they were barely warm and all felt like they were of equal temperature.

My guess is that at 1/2hr things would be much hotter, but if hand-held probably ok.

Brightnorm

 

[witness]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Does any one know if AW 3100mah 18650s will work with this light?

 

[d337944]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Inspired by your example I set my TM to 2nd highest setting and ran it for 15 minutes (on table). At that point the head was moderately hot but the body was only warm. When I checked the batteries (4x Redilast 3100 mAH) they were barely warm and all felt like they were of equal temperature.

My guess is that at 1/2hr things would be much hotter, but if hand-held probably ok.

Brightnorm

To add more real-world feedback on this, I have on several occasions run the TM11 on the 2nd highest output for over 3 hours (at a time) until the battery protection kicked in - I could always pick up the TM11 at any time during these long runs. The TM11 would become very warm, but not too hot to touch at all.

When I tried this on the highest setting the TM11 would always kick down to the 2nd highest output (after 8-9 mins) due to heat, so I never use the highest setting for long-run stints.

Cheers

 

[brightnorm]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

That's really interesting; I was a little wary of doing a long run , but now that you've done it I'll know what to expect.

brightnorm

 

[selfbuilt]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Does any one know if AW 3100mah 18650s will work with this light?

Based on the pics I've seen of those batteries, I wouldn't recommend you try them. The positive contact point seems slightly recessed (as on all higher capacity flat-top AW cells), which makes it unlikely you could achieve consistent contact. The likely result is that the light wouldn't light up at all - but it is also possible that one or two cells could make contact in isolation from the other others, which would be worse (i.e., you would be over-driving those cells at the higher outputs).

To add more real-world feedback on this, I have on several occasions run the TM11 on the 2nd highest output for over 3 hours (at a time) until the battery protection kicked in - I could always pick up the TM11 at any time during these long runs. The TM11 would become very warm, but not too hot to touch at all. When I tried this on the highest setting the TM11 would always kick down to the 2nd highest output (after 8-9 mins) due to heat, so I never use the highest setting for long-run stints.

That matches my experience as well. To clarify my comments in the review, it is really Turbo mode that I would worry about leaving run unattended without cooling. On Hi, the light will be warm (the head/bezel area in partcular will be very warm), but you should still be able to pick it up ok.

 

[witness]

Re: Nitecore "Tiny Monster" TM11 (4x18650, 3xXM-L) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO

Thanxs SB.

 

[witness]

How about the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh?

Any thoughts on whether the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh would work? I'm assuming that the higher the the mAH rating the longer the battery will last so I'd like to get the safest (protected) and highest capacity battery I can find. Also, would the Tiny Monster make a good search and rescue light or it the throw too limited?

 

[selfbuilt]

Re: How about the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh?

Any thoughts on whether the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh would work? I'm assuming that the higher the the mAH rating the longer the battery will last so I'd like to get the safest (protected) and highest capacity battery I can find. Also, would the Tiny Monster make a good search and rescue light or it the throw too limited?

According to HKJ's review, those cells have a wide button top and measure 68.9mm. So based on my experience of the TM11 samples, they should fit and work in the light.

 

[witness]

Re: How about the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh?

Any thoughts on whether this would make a decent "earthquake" search and rescue light. The type of search and rescue involved in an earthquake scenario would probably involve closer ranges than one might encounter for wilderness search and rescue so I'm thinking this might be a better choice than something like the Olight SR95.

 

[sidecross]

Re: How about the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh?

According to HKJ's review, those cells have a wide button top and measure 68.9mm. So based on my experience of the TM11 samples, they should fit and work in the light.

This is a good link provided by selfbuilt and and very good information from HKJ.

 

[selfbuilt]

Re: How about the Intl-outdoor NCR18650A 3100mAh?

Any thoughts on whether this would make a decent "earthquake" search and rescue light. The type of search and rescue involved in an earthquake scenario would probably involve closer ranges than one might encounter for wilderness search and rescue so I'm thinking this might be a better choice than something like the Olight SR95.

There was an excellent post from an actual search and rescue worker in my Sunwayman V20C review the other week (which was sadly lost in the server outage). But to summarize, his experience was that the more general-purpose beam of the continuously-variable V20C was often more useful than his throwy Olight M3X. More often than not, he was called in for dense forest work - where the throwier light wasn't required, and the extra weight and size was more of a liability.

The SR95 is a great light for seeing over a wide open area. But for up-close disaster work, I would think you would want something much smaller and lighter.