Olight M30 Triton Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS and more!

[cbxer55]

Well I had the exact same problem from batteryjunction/Ultrafire cells. One of my 18500s and one of my 18650s was dead. In both cases neither cell would take a charge. The first time batteryjunction replaced the battery no problem as they should, but the second time I had to pay shipping back (not cool) for a defective battery! Anyway point is, I am no fan of UF batteries, I do not own any AWs, but from what I hear they are great. Batteryjunction was one of my favorite sites up to this incident, now borderline in my book. Oh and good luck with that phone call to batteryjunction, if they make you send it back too let me know, they will go from borderline to flatline immediately.

Just to let you know, I was able to revive the battery in question, and it has been A-Okay ever since.

Simply, I took an old wall charger for some odd radio control accessory, cut off the attachment on the end, bared the wires. Then attached bared wires to probes for volt-meter using tie-wraps. Plugged wall charger in, touched wires to end of battery, and watched the volt-meter to see what happened. The voltage immediately jumped to 2.5 volts and started climbing. When it reached 3.0 volts after a few seconds, I placed the battery in the charger, the light turned red and started blinking. It eventually reached the same end voltage as the other cell I received.

So far, both cells are charging properly, and both read the same 4.21 volts when the flashing red light turns green.

So I have no complaints with Battery Junction as of yet.

Here is the link to the thread I posted about the battery.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/239471

 

[Edog006]

Thanks for the info Cbxer55. I just hope I didn't discard the 18650 I did not sent back. BJ only asked I return the 18500, but I will give the strategy a shot to the 18650 if I can find it. I'll let everyone know if I get it to work/find it

 

[stallion2]

Just received my M30 and so far I AM IMPRESSED!
I have been reading all the posts here and took the plunge as this light seemed to tick all my boxes for me. (Thanks everyone)

I do not seem to notice any excessive PWM on the lower modes.
Using 3 x CR123 there was a little but none when using 2 x 18650.
I am thinking 2 x 18500 will be my main power source.

The M30 seems to have good throw (as it should) and I really do like the UI switching. When used overhand it all makes sense to me.

Too be picky (just for the sake of it) The tail switch is very deep in the rear defence bezel which does have some sharp edges (nothing a quick dremel and black paint won't fix). Also noticed a very minor flaw in the reflector (a small bump/bubble about 2mm wide near the glass lens).
This is NOT a big dollar light by comparison and I am not complaining just making observations.

I can see this animal getting a lot of use and possibly taking up residence in my EDC bag (Kifaru X-ray). :thumbsup:

it might be too late to stop you now but the M30 has no lockout. that bezel is really the only thing keeping your light from coming on if it were to be bumped while in a duffle bag

 

[Billy Ram]

I have been enjoying my M30. It's not too large to be handy and has a noticable larger beam than my M20. "Handy outdoors when you need to illuminate a larger area." My wife seems to like this light too and picks it up most of the time. About the only thing I don't like about it is when the batterys need changing. 4 ea. cr123s at a time cut into my battery supply a bit more than the other lights that only use 2 ea. So I think I'll be looking at rechargables.
Billy

 

[WHT_GE8]

I want this light... Mostly for the flood with the diffuser. Although I just purchased an M1X so im a little The M1X sure can throw though :twothumbs

 

[cbxer55]

I have been enjoying my M30. It's not too large to be handy and has a noticable larger beam than my M20. "Handy outdoors when you need to illuminate a larger area." My wife seems to like this light too and picks it up most of the time. About the only thing I don't like about it is when the batterys need changing. 4 ea. cr123s at a time cut into my battery supply a bit more than the other lights that only use 2 ea. So I think I'll be looking at rechargables.
Billy

I highly recommend you get this set up. In the end it will save you on battery costs. I use this set-up and usually only have to charge mine once a week. Of course I am not using the heck out of it, a few mnutes a day here and there. Still this set-up allows you to run the light without the extension, which makes it easier to EDC, which I do.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/combo-tl100.html
And I keep three 123s in the supplied battery tube as an emergency back-up. Have not had to use them yet!

 

[cbxer55]

I want this light... Mostly for the flood with the diffuser. Although I just purchased an M1X so im a little The M1X sure can throw though :twothumbs

This light has plenty of flood without the diffuser. I had mine outside the other night when it was soup-thick foggy. WOW! Stood it on my mailbox and walked back 50 feet. Big wide inverted cone in the fog. A person that happened to be walking by asked what kind of light it was and where could she get one.:thumbsup:

She was impressed with the output for "such a small light!"

 

[Larry237]

I have been enjoying my M30. It's not too large to be handy and has a noticable larger beam than my M20. "Handy outdoors when you need to illuminate a larger area." My wife seems to like this light too and picks it up most of the time. About the only thing I don't like about it is when the batterys need changing. 4 ea. cr123s at a time cut into my battery supply a bit more than the other lights that only use 2 ea. So I think I'll be looking at rechargables.
Billy

I use two 18500's (rechargeable) in mine and it runs quite a while on them, 3 or more nights on long walks. I don't have to use the extension tube, like I would with 2 18650's. When you use the rechargeables, you can charge frequently, and you have fully charged batteries as often as you like. My M30 is used regularly and it has functioned very well, putting out the wall of light, as well as very low level, when I want.

 

[Billy Ram]

I highly recommend you get this set up. In the end it will save you on battery costs. I use this set-up and usually only have to charge mine once a week. Of course I am not using the heck out of it, a few mnutes a day here and there. Still this set-up allows you to run the light without the extension, which makes it easier to EDC, which I do.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/combo-tl100.html
And I keep three 123s in the supplied battery tube as an emergency back-up. Have not had to use them yet!

I tried carrying the light with out the extension tube with 3xcr123s to see if it was a bit handier but it didn't make much differance. So I ordered the WF-139 charger and some AW 18650 protected 2600mah batterys. The batterys came with just under 4 volts and the charger didn't take long to get the voltage up to 4.2 volts. I have four 18650 batterys so I can throw in a fresh pair after much use.
Billy

 

[cbxer55]

Whatever works for ya. I carry mine cliiped to my left front pocket, so the extra length is a problem when sitting. So for now I choose the short route, as it is not much longer than the Surefire U2 I previously edced.
If I was carrying it on my belt I would go the long route. I just have not found what I consider a good belt carrier. I do not like the one provided with the light, it is kind of flimsy, and hard to get the light in and out of handily.

I am still looking forward to Battery Junction getting the new tailcdaps without the crennalations.:thumbsup:

 

[Billy Ram]

I have several smaller lights when I want something to fit in my pocket. With the big head the M30 has it just didn't make much differance in ballance or handiness to leave the extension off to me. To me the Surefires have the best feel and ballance. One of my favorite is a plain old L5 but when I need a bunch of light I grab the M30.
Billy

 

[Sunnyvalejohn]

Thanks for the great review! Really impressed with the level of detail. Based on this I was able to determine some of the tradeoffs/differences. I am a newbie here and just bought 2 --M30s. Love them! Sold one to a friend as he was pretty impressed as well. I can tell this is going to be a fun hobby! (I also picked up a Fenix PD30)

Cheers,
John

 

[carrot]

I have to say, I just got one of these and I am very impressed. I can almost instantly recognize the PWM on the lower modes but I can't see any of it on high. On low, it is not as bothersome as a lot of popular lights that I can't be bothered to remember. On medium it is a little annoying if you're moving quickly (room clearing maybe) but otherwise ignorable. In either case, both of the lower modes are usable, but if I want low output I have plenty of lights that can do that.

In any case, all of this is moot, since I got it purely for the high mode, which is excellent and quite stunning. It certainly does have good throw, although perhaps not as good as those being compared to it, it packs quite a punch and I rather like the large hotspot that it throws, which is very useful. All the accessories are a nice touch. I can see the Olight M30 Triton and I having some good adventures together, especially once I pick up some 18650's to use with it.

 

[enots]

1. Does the M30 have enough throw to light up a person for identification from 100 yards?

2. Has the flicker / PWM issue been fixed on more recently manufactured Olight M30's?

 

[easilyled]

1. Does the M30 have enough throw to light up a person for identification from 100 yards?

Yes.

2. Has the flicker / PWM issue been fixed on more recently manufactured Olight M30's?

I don't believe the PWM is an "issue" for most people and I don't think there have been any changes.

 

[jhn.holgate]

Hi Guys, just wanted to say thanks for the detailed review and all the additional info on this light. Purchased an M30 the other day and am very pleased with it. Good combination of spot and spill - I can light up rabbits/foxes at close to 100 yards with plenty of spill to see what's around me. I can see what you mean about the pwm when I shine it on something moving (windmill/wind toy/insects) or wave my hand infront of the beam, but in general use it just is not a problem. The side button is a little hard to locate to switch between modes but it's certainly an impressive light.

Many thanks,

John

 

[jhn.holgate]

After maybe an hour or so of use over a few nights with the M30 on 3 x CR123's, the light suddenly switched to low mode. I turned it off for a bit, back on (in low) then turned it up to high and after a minute, it went back to low. I measured the battery 'pack' at 6.7volts or so shortly afterwards.

Am I correct in assuming that this is protective circuitry kicking in to prevent over discharge of li-ion cells? I can find no mention of it in Olight's literature.

Also, is there any danger in over discharging lithium primary cells? (123's)

Have been so impressed with this light, I've ordered an M20 as well. I have absolutely no use for yet another flashlight.....but I guess I'm not alone there....!

 

[selfbuilt]

After maybe an hour or so of use over a few nights with the M30 on 3 x CR123's, the light suddenly switched to low mode. I turned it off for a bit, back on (in low) then turned it up to high and after a minute, it went back to low. I measured the battery 'pack' at 6.7volts or so shortly afterwards.
... Also, is there any danger in over discharging lithium primary cells? (123's)

This is fairly common on a number of lights. I didn't elicit it in my testing, since I do continuous runs until the batteries are drained. But in the real world, where batteries are slowly drained through repeated on-off use, you often get to a point the light will not stay in the Hi mode upon re-illumination. This is normal, and simply reflects the fact that the batteries cannot provide the necessary current when placed under load (i.e. it is the circuit's response to insufficient power at startup).

As for primary CR123A lithium cells, you can't really "over-discharge" them (in the sense of Li-ion, where you can permanently damage their recharge ability if the voltage drops too low). It is generally safe to drain a CR123A until it is are dead, but I strongly recommend against doing this in multi-cell setups (i.e. toss them once you start to see a drop-off, and never mix-and-match partially drained batteries).

The problem is that different cells may have different capacities left, and you can get into a situation where one cell is being tasked with doing far too much work. This is where the danger of primary cells comes into play - single-cell setups are generally quite safe, but virtually all incidents of "venting with flame" have come from multi-cell setups where current was being drawn from batteries in an unequal state. It is also why you want to make sure you are always using brand new matching batteries from the same manufacturer (and same lot), and why you should store your lights in a locked-out state.

Some members like to use nearly dead CR123A batteries from multi-cell lights in low output single-cell lights (i.e. so-called "battery vampires", that can safely drain the rest of the remaining juice). :shrug: Personally, I prefer to immediately (and properly) dispose of nearly dead CR123As.

 

[jhn.holgate]

Thanks for the detailed reply Selfbuilt. :thumbsup:

 

[chris monster]

you review is awesome mister selfbuild!
i have a big question!? :laughing:

we run a photographers-forum
called www.talkurbex.com
and i buyed the m30 for about one week now.
and on our forum everybody asks me to write a review about.
but i aint have the time to do so.

now i wanted to ask if i could use a copy of your preview.
of course i but your name as first and really big! :twothumbs and a link to the source!
this would be really cool.???:thumbsup::twothumbs

i know its not a job for about 2 minutes to write such an awesome preview. and you really can be proud of it! :twothumbs
please let me know what you think and dont be mad at me if you dont like it!:sigh:

would be a good promotion too, as wee have many torchusers on the forum.

please,please,please!

well greetings from vienna!

and thank you in advance!
chris