ReviewTheLight: Nitecore TM36 (OLED Display, >1km Throw)

[Bigmac_79]

Thanks for this review. This has caused me to get one, and I have to admit that it is very well made, every thing you say, and more.

Great review

Dave

Glad to be of help!

 

[Davekan]

Hello Bigmac_79

If you still have your Tm-36 could you measure the diameter of the hot spot at say 25'. If you don't have it, you should be able to back it out of one of your photos. It does not have to be 25', as
I can match your distance, and see if it the same as mine. For now mine is 12" at 25'.

Thanks Dave

 

[Bigmac_79]

Hello Bigmac_79

If you still have your Tm-36 could you measure the diameter of the hot spot at say 25'. If you don't have it, you should be able to back it out of one of your photos. It does not have to be 25', as
I can match your distance, and see if it the same as mine. For now mine is 12" at 25'.

Thanks Dave

I still have it, if the weather holds I'll try to get a measurement for you in the next few days.

 

[the Kwan]

Sorry to revive an old thread, thanks for such a detailed review, I got a TM36 just a few weeks ago and used it underwater to light a set of old sunken mine carts in an abandoned mine whilst I took some video, I think that the hotspot was too bright for video on full power because it burnt the picture out but the light spill was enough.
I took a short video.

 

[NoNotAgain]

You're a braver man than I Gunga din.
I've got dive lights and camera housings that until I've tested multiple times only go near water that's raining from the sky not immersed.

Did you lube the o-rings prior to this? I'm interested what steps you took to get the TM36 waterproof enough for this shoot.

 

[the Kwan]

You're a braver man than I Gunga din.
I've got dive lights and camera housings that until I've tested multiple times only go near water that's raining from the sky not immersed.

Did you lube the o-rings prior to this? I'm interested what steps you took to get the TM36 waterproof enough for this shoot.

Thankyou for commenting, the torch is only a few weeks old but I did check that the o ring seals had lube on them, then it was just down to faith in the manufactures engineering, the water was about a metre deep at most and the torch was submerged on and off for about 25-30 minutes.

 

[NoNotAgain]

I've never taken my TM36's apart far enough to see what Nitecore does with the display panel.
The first thing I do with all new lights is to lube the o-rings as I've received brand new lights that were dry without lube to lights that had more than enough to leak from the seams.
I received a new NBP68 battery pack that the body diameter is a few thousandths smaller than the NBP52. That pack got a lot of lube installed to tighten things up a bit.

 

[the Kwan]

I've never taken my TM36's apart far enough to see what Nitecore does with the display panel.
The first thing I do with all new lights is to lube the o-rings as I've received brand new lights that were dry without lube to lights that had more than enough to leak from the seams.
I received a new NBP68 battery pack that the body diameter is a few thousandths smaller than the NBP52. That pack got a lot of lube installed to tighten things up a bit.

You are probably very wise to lube them anyway, I would not dare to take this thing apart down to the OLED display because I know that I would not get it back together..guaranteed I would break it

 

[RemcoM]

Hi Bigmac 79,

1 Can i take my TM36, outside in the rain, without problems?

2 Do you think/tried, the TM36, can outgrow/be more intense, than a Carhighbeam?

3 I will test mine, on a clear night, to shine it at a friends house, at 1400 meters,

Can i see something light up, with binoculairs......and can the people standing outside in front of the house, see some lighting up, on their house?

4 Can they see clearly the TM36, shining towards them?

 

[Timothybil]

The TM36, like all the Tiny Monsters is rated at IPX8 for two meters (time not specified). That tells me that you should have no problems taking it out in the rain. If it is for an extended period of time I would wipe it off with my hand if not a cloth every so often, just because I am a fuss budget. The IPX8 rating includes resisting water sprayed under pressure (aka hose nozzle, etc) since that is covered under IPX7.

I don't know about a car high beam, since they have a much larger reflector than the TM36. If you try it, let us know how it turns out.

The TM36 throw is rated at 1100 meters (1200) yds. I would expect that under good conditions (target not to darkly colored, etc) a person with binoculars could see things be illuminated at 1400 meters, but not with the naked eye. Someone standing at that range should be able to see things being illuminated by the light, but probably not very brightly. And, yes, they should be able to clearly see the light shining at them. A small Photon II can be seen at a mile under the right conditions, and it is putting out at most 100 lumens.

Remember, if one is shining a light on an object 1,000 meters away, any light returning to you will have had to travel 2,000 meters to be seen by you.

 

[Bigmac_79]

Hi Bigmac 79,

1 Can i take my TM36, outside in the rain, without problems?

2 Do you think/tried, the TM36, can outgrow/be more intense, than a Carhighbeam?

3 I will test mine, on a clear night, to shine it at a friends house, at 1400 meters,

Can i see something light up, with binoculairs......and can the people standing outside in front of the house, see some lighting up, on their house?

4 Can they see clearly the TM36, shining towards them?

1. Yes, as long as you make sure the plug over the charging port stays in place, you should be fine.

2. It depends on the state of your car's head lights. It can throw farther than the headlights on the car I drive (a very old car and the headlights are starting to cloud over) but not the headlights on my wife's van. However, the TM36 puts all the light in a narrow spot, so it's not going to replace your car headlights, which need to spread light over a large area.

3. At 1400 meters, with binoculars, you might be able to see something. At that sort of distance, I've found visibility depends heavily on the atmospheric conditions. If the air isn't completely dry, the moisture in the air tends to fog up your vision pretty bad. It helps if you position the light pointing where you want, then walk away from the light and view from a different position, so you're not looking through the air that's illuminated by the beam.

4. Yes, they'll almost definitely see the light shining towards them, unless they're distracted by something else. So, I recommend that you notify the "friends" living at that house beforehand, just so they don't think you're up to any funny business

 

[RemcoM]

1. Yes, as long as you make sure the plug over the charging port stays in place, you should be fine.

2. It depends on the state of your car's head lights. It can throw farther than the headlights on the car I drive (a very old car and the headlights are starting to cloud over) but not the headlights on my wife's van. However, the TM36 puts all the light in a narrow spot, so it's not going to replace your car headlights, which need to spread light over a large area.

3. At 1400 meters, with binoculars, you might be able to see something. At that sort of distance, I've found visibility depends heavily on the atmospheric conditions. If the air isn't completely dry, the moisture in the air tends to fog up your vision pretty bad. It helps if you position the light pointing where you want, then walk away from the light and view from a different position, so you're not looking through the air that's illuminated by the beam.

4. Yes, they'll almost definitely see the light shining towards them, unless they're distracted by something else. So, I recommend that you notify the "friends" living at that house beforehand, just so they don't think you're up to any funny business

Thanks for your reaction.

1 What car/van, is the one from your wife? Brand? year build?

And your car?

2 I have put on, the batterieholder, of my TM15, on my TM36.....good idea? With good quality 18650,s.

Will the intensity, remain the same, as with the original batteriepack, of the TM36?

 

[RemcoM]

Hi Bigmac 79,

Can you answer my 2 questions here?

Thanks.

 

[Timothybil]

Obviously, I can't answer the first question. But, yes, you will get the same brightness using the TM15 battery pack holding 18650 cells as you would get from the TM36 battery pack (which also has 18650 cells, you just can't get at them). The voltage output is the same for both packs, so the brightness of the light should be the same. Obviously, the TM36 battery pack will give a longer run time, since it holds 8 cells (at I think 2500 mAh each), as opposed to the only four cells in the TM15 battery holder. You can also go in the other direction, and use the TM35 battery pack on your TM15 for longer run times. And Nitecore now has two versions of the TM36 battery pack, with different capacities.

PS: If you look at the specs for the TM15, they show the same lumen levels for using either 4 18650 or 8 CR123A cells, just the run times differ.

 

[RemcoM]

Please Bigmac 79, reply to my last questions.

Why you so long not here on the forum?