TLE-5EX Issues

[Mercaptan]

Hey guys...

I have a TLE-5EX I bought from Batteryjunction and it served me well for the first month or so. Now, whenever I have it turned on for more than 2 minutes, it will start flickering. It's not the battery, or the contacts, or the Nite-Ize clicky I put on the AA minimag (tried removing and replacing all stock components, tailcap, batteries, bulbs...etc) - it's the drop-in itself. I decided to see exactly what was happening, so I removed the head, and man, this LED dye is hot. Nearly smoking hot. When it is cooled off, it will run (again) for 2 minutes before having issues.

Anyone have a cure for this?

Honestly, I love the light... but the issues are a bit annoying. Is there another light someone can recommend using 2xAA or 2xCR123A that I could buy at Walmart/Target using LED technology comparable to this little minimag AA?

 

[Spypro]

You can try the "washers mod" by putting some metal washers between the drop-in and the MM. The heat will be transfered to the MM body and will les build up in the head.

About other lights... I would recommand Fenix and Lumapower, Olight, Tiablo and maybe Surefire if it is in your price range.

 

[Mercaptan]

Oh, here's a fun update - the light output is now yellow. :sick2:

It will flicker on for about... 10 seconds, give amazing yellow light, then die.

I think this emitter is toast.

 

[Patriot]

Unfortunately it's toast. Just too much heat.

 

[Blue72]

mercaptan

Is yours the Seoul or the cree version of the tle-5ex

 

[gunga]

Is this the seoul or cree drop-in?

(Cree has a big silver ring around the emitter). I believe the cree can handle the excess heat better.

 

[Mercaptan]

You guys tell me... I'm a noob at this stuff

Think I should contact Matt (he runs Batteryjunction, right?) see if I can get a refund?

 

[gunga]

That is definietely seoul. Maybe that is why Terralux switched to cree?

 

[Mercaptan]

Thanks Gunga, cheers for the quick response.

I mean, I only ran mine at most 10 hours before this thing went off. That's about the average life span of a Krypton bulb... not the best efficiency around. Now that I look at it, man, the emitter is ugly... all deformed with white and yellow on the dye.

In the mag-lite spot now... I just went out and got an INOVA X0... not the best thing around, but darnitall, this thing is built like a rock. Nice deep reflector too. I don't mind that it has a Luxeon K2, whatever... just give me something that'll work more than 10 hours. Heh.

Cheers!

 

[Patriot]

That is definietely seoul. Maybe that is why Terralux switched to cree?

Hmm...I didn't even realize that they did. Where have I been? :duh2:

Anyhow, I think it's a good switch.

 

[qip]

i think no matter the emitter its gonna need heatsinking cuz of high current , but i would still love to see a 5ex seoul vs cree beamshot , i got this feeling the cree has brighter spill but cant confirm

anywhow ,wow i cant believe i posted this so long ago it seemed like yesterday and boy did the time fly and my wallet lighten



read here to
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1911975&postcount=163

 

[Mercaptan]

I originally had the washer employed... and then realized that I really shouldn't need to personally modify my 'drop-in' LED for it to work properly. Guess I got burned there... no pun intended

 

[qip]

I originally had the washer employed... and then realized that I really shouldn't need to personally modify my 'drop-in' LED for it to work properly. Guess I got burned there... no pun intended

this is when i realized i needed a washer, in middle of first big paragraph

 

[BigusLightus]

Both my 5ex and 6ex get far too hot to touch without getting burned. Both shift color after they get hot.

 

[nanotech17]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=178593

 

[Mercaptan]

I'm becoming more and more baffled by the concept of 'product design testing' - or rather, who is not actually participating in such activities.

 

[Mercaptan]

Update: / Blast from the past:

I called Terra-Lux, and the woman on the phone immediately offered to ship me a replacement with instructions on sending back the faulty unit. Phone call took about... 4 minutes. Quick and painless.

Couldn't ask for better customer assistance/service. :thumbsup:

 

[Turbo Guy]

I realize that this is an old thread but I am curious if anyone has any experience over driving the TLE-6EX slightly(?) .

I have one in a 5 C cell Mag and have been using two 26650 3.3 volt LiFePO4 cells which provides nonimal 6.6-7.0 volts. There is plenty of room for another cell which would increase nonimal voltage to 9.9-10.5 volts. Six fresh C cell non rechargables should be approx. 9.6 volts so not a big difference. I tried 3 cells long enough to get a current reading. Two cells 480 mA ,3 cells 350 mA so I theory I could gain about 35% run time based on using 2,000 mAh from the cells. Not a big deal as I have better than 4 hours now.