SL TL-3 LED Drawbacks (vs TL-2 LED)

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Aux

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
71
Location
Central Florida
I have a Streamlight TL-2 LED, carried as a backup to a Stinger, and I find it very useful. Given it's size, and battery life, it is handy when I do not need a super bright light.

Given my appreciation of this model, I am considering the TL-3 LED. But, it is nearly twice the price, and apparently in a design transition.

Thus, is the 5 watt LED going to give me enough more usable brightness or throw for the extra money, or will factors such as heat buildup be a drawback. In other words, is the TL-3 LED worth it if I already have the 2-cell?
 
i have the tl-2 led and my brother has both the tl-3 and tl-2 led. the throw is better on the tl-2 but the tl-3 of course "lights your pathway" better, but it's more of a "being spoiled" issue. the extra "pathway" light is nice on the tl-3 but the tl-2 has plenty of spill/"pathway" to use.

im sticking with just the tl-2
 
The 1-watt has a better "throw" than the 5-watt?

Would this mean that the TL-2 LED would illuminate an object more distant than the TL-3?

Your comments on throw seem to agree with the data on the FlashlightReviews.com site. I am trying to understand the differences between the two models, without having both to take outside an play with.

Does the 5-watt light illuminates more closely, but the 1-watt more distantly? Am I making any sense? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
The TL-3 LED throws an impressive mass of light for an impressive distance. I am giving my TL-2 LED to a friend because its light is concentrated into a relatively narrow field with minimal spill that I find considerably less useful than virtually any of my good 1 watters. Frankly, even though it throws well, that throw is at too high a cost for my use. When the TL-2LED's beam is broadened to approximate the diameter of my other 1watters it is noticeably dimmer than most of them, although the beam is pleasantly white.

Which throws further? I haven't tested them side buy side and I'd be very surprised if the TL-2LED outthrew its big brother, but even if it did I would prefer to carry any number of 1watters (including my LSH-P) in preference to this light.

Caveat: It's not at all a bad light, in fact it is well and solidly made, but is specialized in a way that limits its usefulness for my purposes. It is a personal decision.

I have yet to find a Flashaholic who was not impressed by the TL-3. My biggest criticism of it: Its large thick head makes it front heavy. It is not a well-balanced light.

Brightnorm
 
I keep my light at a fairly tight focus, maybe that is why I like it so much...

I am going to have to find a TL-3 to play with /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I'll agree, and double what Brightnorm said with one exception.

Both lights give very good side spill light, the TL-3 just gives a LOT more spill. I used both extensively, and preferred the TL-3 with it's broader beam, and wider, brighter spill (about 105 degrees vs. 90 degrees for the TL-2).

The TL-2 of course, is more "pocketable", and finds uses just from it's compactness.

I am happy with both, and they will remain in my collection for sure.
 
Given the replies so far, how would the TL-2 and TL-3 LEDs compare on the basis of throw only (ignoring the spill)?
 
I rate the TL-2 having a slight edge in throw ONLY. The TL-3 is close, but has a much larger cone of very bright light.

Quickbeam rates the Lux at 1100 (TL-2), and 900 (TL-3). As it is hard to tell a difference in Lux of 50% or so, this difference is not much.

I note no heat buildup in the TL-3. I don't think it's driven that hard.
 
I purchased a TL3led first, and was unimpressed, given the hoopla surrounding the "super bright" 5 watters. The tightest hotspot I could get on mine was not very tight, and the overall brightness was not a whole lot brighter than my EL Blaster III, IMO. I stuck with my SF 8X as my primary work light.

I purchased the TL2led next, thanks in part to rave reviews by JohnK, and like it quite a bit. I EDC it now as my backup work light.

The TL2led does put out a tighter, sharper spot than the TL3led, and appears to have more "throw", if primarily because of the nature of the beams. The spill light of the TL3 lets you see a lot around the hotspot, so the hotspot doesn't look as bright. The spill light of the TL2 is a lot dimmer than the hotspot, so your vision will focus more on the hotspot, and it will seem brighter. Still, in comparing hotspots, the TL3 hotspot is larger than the TL2 hotspot, reasons for which are covered by a very well written posting by Mr Bulk that I am unable to find at this time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Also, the light is slightly whiter on my TL2 than on my TL3.

Having both (following the CPF slogan, of course! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif), I thought the TL2 was the better of the two models (size vs function). I currently use my TL3 as a battery holder for my SNII. If you are thinking about spending the money for the TL3led, I would suggest looking into a mod from one of our preeminent modders whose screen name rhymes with twister hulk. Lower prices for *MUCH* better lights.
 
I'm reserving judgement on these until I see the redesigned light that Mr. Bulk showed us a glimpse of a while ago - sorry, can't remember which forum it was in right now. I understand it will be a fixed-focus light.
 
I have both the TL3-Led and SF L4 Lumamax. All light use a 5W luxeon, but 3 123A on TL3 only 2 on L4. It seems equally bright.
In my opinion, the difference is :
The TL-3 LED features a spot-to-flood focus, the L4 have only flood focus.
But I don't believe That the TL3 have a 90 lumens ligh output and the L4 only 65 lumens.
I haven't the possibility to compare this two light, but if anyone can do it, it will be more interesting..
 
[ QUOTE ]
Bill.H said:
I'm reserving judgement on these until I see the redesigned light that Mr. Bulk showed us a glimpse of a while ago - sorry, can't remember which forum it was in right now. I understand it will be a fixed-focus light.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto that!
 
Aux, I think you're wise in holding off on buying a TL-3 until you know you'll be getting the latest version. That would be the fixed focus version.

My adjustable focus model has been at Streamlight for a couple of weeks to get repaired or replaced. The heat shrink tube came off the emitter post. This started within hours of my receiving the light and it popped loose up inside the bezel completely within a couple days. Adjusting back and forth worked it off.

The fixed focus ought to eliminate this problem.

The heat sink arrangement on the new version is supposed to be better, too.

BC
 
If we're talking about the TL-3 LED's total output (lumens) as opposed to throw, here are some test results:

L4-----McM--------TL3

81.9---82.8-------60.3

These figures are proportional only, not actual lumen counts, but they show the relative outputs of the L4, PM6/McModule and TL-3 with what I believe to be a fair degree of accuracy. I used my own version of a "Poor man's integrating sphere" which was actually two separate, metered reflected light tests using two different methods which closely agreed with one another.

The L4 and McModule are roughly equal in lumens while the TL-3 has approx 25% less total output than either. I would be very interested to see this confirmed or disproven by proper instrumentation, but I believe it is reasonably accurate.

If you've been out in the country with these lights your first reaction may well be that the TL-3 is just as bright or brighter than the others. This is an illusion which is soon dispelled if you focus on sidespill. A much greater percentage of the TL-3's beam is concentrated in the hotspot* while the L4 and McM provide tremendous sidespill and peripheral light.

* Certainly the TL-3LED has good sidespill, but considerably less than the other two lights.

Brightnorm
 
[ QUOTE ]
Quickbeam said:
Likewise, my Lightbox came up with the following relative numbers:

Name... Overall Output... Lux (throw)

L4 : 5800, 580
TL2: 2160, 1100
TL3: 4100, 900

More here: http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/reviews/output_vs_throw.htm

[/ QUOTE ]

QUPS, Doug, QUPS. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Great to see this technique getting some more exposure. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
My TL-3 isn't as tight as Doug's. I measured about 620 candela (same as lux at 1m) and 600 on my L4.

This measured at 10feet. Brightest spot for each.

The overall sense of the TL-3LED is it puts out a lot less light than the L4.

Of course, I could have won the L4 Luxeon Lottery and lost the TL-3 Luxeon Lottery.

I wish someone would do a run-time curve on the TL-3. I suspect that will be interesting.

It puts out as much as the 4AA SL ProPolymer (about 100cd) when it's run on two cells, so the discharge curve shoulr really be interesting.

Cheers,

Richard
 
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