PT Tec40

[CalgaryGuy]

Hi, I'm thinking of getting the PT Tec40 as it's one of the few that I can get here in Calgary (Canada) for a decent price.

I've looked around for the review and found it at flashlightreviews.com. However, some of test result seem to be weird. Like Tec40 is barely brighter than a MiniMag? UK 4AA is almost double the brightness of the Tec40? Can someome please clearify the answer before I pick it up?

Also, if someone knows a flashlight store in Calgary or any mail order store in Canada, please let me know.
Thanks.

 

[Hoghead]

The Tec40 is much brighter than a MiniMag. Did you notice that on Quickbeams site that he said "I consider the Tec 40 to be about as close to an alkaline battery powered E2 as you can get." He later says "There's not much more to say about this light. Get one"
I have several of these and IMHO they're great. I agree with Quickbeam, Get one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Many lights will make a brighter and/or whiter spot...

But the TEC40 will make a wall of bright white light.

Get it! Then find a M*glite Xenon Star bulb for 4 cells to make it even better!

 

[Hoghead]

Get your 4 cell Mag-num Star Xenon C/D replacement lamp $2.75 for Tec40 here
http://www.flashlightking.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=REPLACEMENT_LAMPS

 

[BlindedByTheLite]

a 3 cell wouldn't work by any chance would it?

altho i'm already happy with my PT40.. it's one of my most used lights..

 

[fivebyfive]

If you buy the pt-40 you won't be disappointed. Do a search for pt-40 on the forum and you'll find that this light has a really good reputation among CPF members. The beam is nice and broad, barely any artifacts in it. It can be even brighter if you use the kpr-103 bulb in it instead of the stock bulb. Be careful when reading light measurements. Look into Quickbeam's explanations for the types of measurements he uses.

 

[Hoghead]

Some 3 cell bulbs will work, but as I understand it not the Magnum Star bulbs. Check out the thread "Brightest bulb for 4D Mag". I use several different bulbs in the Tec 40. That's one of the nice things about the Tec 40. Genseng said "The XPR113 would be the brightest non-overdriven bulb. If you are willing to live on the edge, then drive an XPR103 on 4 cells." I get PR13 and 6 volt Halogen bulbs free and I have a lot of KPR113 & KPR103 so I use these.

 

[CalgaryGuy]

Hoghead, on the chart at flashlightreview.com, it say:
UK 4AA, 59.16
PT Tec40, 36.06
MiniMag, 31.62
http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/reviews/output_vs_throw.htm
I'm comparing red to red on the chart and seeing the numbers, I find it a bit strange. But yes, I did read Quickbeam's description of the Tec40 and it looks like Tec40 is a great light to get.

Quickbeam, if you happen to read this post, is there a way for you to redo the test on the Tec40? I'm guessing that the number might be off? By the way, you have a great web site and I go there very often to analize which flashlight is best for me.

 

[Hoghead]

I assume the numbers are taken from the brightest spot in the beam. This isn't an indication of total output as I understand it.

 

[CalgaryGuy]

Ah, I forgot that Quickbeam mention that somewhere on his web site. Thanks for reminding me that.

 

[Hoghead]

Look at the blue lines. The blue is total output.
Then look at the beam shots of the UK 4AA compared to the Tec 40. The UK 4AA has a hot spot. The red line represents the hot spot.

 

[Owen]

I use a 3 cell Magnum Star xenon in my Tec 40, and the brightness/hotspot size is almost identical to my E2e w/MN03, though the PT has lots of artifacts that the SF doesn't, and the SF also has brighter spill, IIRC (been several weeks since I compared them).

 

[CalgaryGuy]

Ok, got it, I left the blue line out of the my equation because I thought it was way off the center. Thanks for clearifying it. Now I have to redo my equation on figuring out which light is best for me.

 

[Hoghead]

Owen,
Does your Tec 40 have a faceted reflector? I have some old ones that have a smooth reflector and the beams aren't as smooth as the new ones(you can buy both reflectors), but they have more throw. Buy Tec 40 reflectors here
http://www.brightguy.com/accessory_results.html?cart=10704329796698126&sku=PRITEC40HBKCPO

 

[Owen]

Mine is faceted. The lens is pretty scratched up, and may contribute to what I describe as "artifacts".
Thanks for the link, I've got a friend who has a Tec40 with the old reflector, so maybe I'll get him one (dang it, I just placed a order w/BG last night, and it shipped today...maybe next time).

 

[fivebyfive]

CalgaryGuy, there are a couple factors that can affect the "throw" of a flashlight. Forgive me flashaholics if I forgot a few other factors.

1) reflector (textured, dimpled, faceted or smooth)
2) Focus of the beam (wide, narrow, medium)

ex 1) UK4AA: smooth reflector and narrow beam
ex 2) PT-40: dimpled refector and broad beam

The UK4AA will score higher (59.16) because with the combination of a smooth reflector and the beam focus being narrow. This will throw the light much further. Like having a tube of light.

The Pt-40 will score lower (36.06) because with the combination of a dimpled reflector and the beam focus being wide. This will throw the light less further, but will give you a widder and bigger beam. Like a cone or funnel of light.

Because of these two factors, two flashlights running on the same amount of power may give you more or less of a throw. This doesn't mean that any of these two lights are less bright than the other. It just means each flashlight is focusing it's light differently. This would be true if you were measuring the total light ouput of each flashlight. Now, if you were just measuring candle power where it takes the measurement from the hottest spot of a beam you could deffinately say that the UK4AA is brighter than the PT-40 because the UK4AA's beam is a lot more focused and tight. A lot of the information I used here came from Quickbeam's web-site. I didn't want to plagerize.LOL Flashaholics, please correct or add to this post if you see anything wrong. Thanks.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

I took a chance last night and hit a 3 cell M*g Xenon with 4C. Now that is WHITE! It blows away a KPR103 driven by the same batteries! But I wouldn't depend on it. I've fried too many Xenons by overdriving!

 

[jbroker83]

I would definately recommend this light. I have a few of them, and they all see action. At 28 Lumens, simply a great compromise between being bright enough for most situations but not overly bright for smaller chores. I also own a few mini-mags, and the mini-mags get blown away compared to a 40....regardless if you mod it or not. I have all my 40's stock and I'm happy with their performance. It's a secondary glove-box light (Legend LX is my first) a light that fits into my Fishing Tackle Box, by my bedside, and in a drawer in the kitchen. I would agree, get one. For 16 bucks, way better than a similar priced 2D Mag-lite.

 

[CalgaryGuy]

Anyone knows a good Beam Shoot web site or anywhere that there is a Beam Shoot of the Tec40? I've looked at these two web pages and no Tec40...

http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/reviews/beamshots/frameset.html
http://www.az123.com/darksbane/beamshots_&_lux.htm

 

[Hoghead]

Go to Reviews, third from the top.