Streamlight TL-3 LED

FlashKat · Apr 7, 2006

Hi Guys,

Is ther anyway to make a Streamlight TL-3 LED brighter?
It is a 5w luxeon, but the brightness is not bright at all.
Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!!!!

Brighteyez · Apr 7, 2006

Is it the actual brightness level or the length of the throw that you find unsatisfactory? Luxeon 5s tend to throw less than other Luxeon assemblies and provide more output in a flood pattern.

FlashKat said:
Hi Guys,

Is ther anyway to make a Streamlight TL-3 LED brighter?
It is a 5w luxeon, but the brightness is not bright at all.
Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!!!!

FlashKat · Apr 7, 2006

The actual brightness is unsatisfactory....It is not too bad, but always trying to make it brighter.

Brighteyez said:
Is it the actual brightness level or the length of the throw that you find unsatisfactory? Luxeon 5s tend to throw less than other Luxeon assemblies and provide more output in a flood pattern.

AZLight · Apr 7, 2006

FlashKat said:
Hi Guys,

Is ther anyway to make a Streamlight TL-3 LED brighter?
It is a 5w luxeon, but the brightness is not bright at all.
Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!!!!

I run three RCR123 (3.6V) in mine and it is brighter than primary CR123. But, what I do right now is use the TL3 LED bulb in the TL2 LED tube and 2 RCR123 (4.2V). Overall, it is brighter than my EDS U60, albeit non-adjustable beam.

jsr · Apr 7, 2006

Streamlight encases their LED and driver which I don't like. What are you using it for that it's not bright enough? I ask this because many people perceive hot spot brightness as overall brightness and no Lux5 will excell there unless an optic is used.
I want my Scorpion LED brighter and since I can't dismantle SL's light engine, I'm going to build my own with a Lux3 driven slightly above spec (>700mA). That should make it much brighter while still retaining the excellent beam it has that I really like. You can try to do the same...run an overdriven Lux3 in the TL-3. Or, you can make a setup with the K2 since 3-cells will be plenty to drive the K2 to 1500mA! I don't have a K2, or else I'd use that in my custom light engine for the SL LEDs.

Trashman · Apr 7, 2006

I think the only way to make it brighter is going to be to replace the LED with a higher binned ("W") one. It appears that TL-3 LEDs are becomming notorious for poor performance. They're just not getting something right over there at Streamlight. I had a TL-3 LED and the performance was so incredibly poor that I realized I wouldn't even be able to sell it the way it was, so I bought a 'W' binned LED and had somebody put it in for me. It upped the brightness to being equal to in output with my other 5w lights, which include a 3-cell Nuwai, a Surefire L4, and a TnC Hyperlux V. The beam became nearly the same as the one on the Hyperlux V, except for the tint. In the end, I did sell it, but at a huge loss. I didn't mind though, I just wanted to get some money in my PP account fast.

FlashKat · Apr 8, 2006

Thanks AZlight...I tried the RCR123 3.6v and it is just bright enough for me :goodjob: .

AZLight said:
I run three RCR123 (3.6V) in mine and it is brighter than primary CR123. But, what I do right now is use the TL3 LED bulb in the TL2 LED tube and 2 RCR123 (4.2V). Overall, it is brighter than my EDS U60, albeit non-adjustable beam.

Macaw · Apr 8, 2006

I am very happy with Trashman's light!:rock: The tint seems to have gotten whiter over time, or maybe I'm getting more used to the color.

I believe that SL purposely underdrives the Lux V in the TL-3. The reason for this I believe is thermal management. There seems to be precious little heatsinking for the emitter. If the light were driven to much higher current levels I would think that the LED would be damaged prematurely. The upside to this is the longer runtime claimed for TL-3 LED; about 4 hours per the MFG.

I would agree with Trashman in that the easiest way to get appreciably more light from this torch would be to upgrade the emitter to a W bin. It would still be underdriven, but it should be a quite bit brighter.

Paladin · Apr 8, 2006

Macaw said:
I believe that SL purposely underdrives the Lux V in the TL-3. The reason for this I believe is thermal management. There seems to be precious little heatsinking for the emitter. If the light were driven to much higher current levels I would think that the LED would be damaged prematurely. The upside to this is the longer runtime claimed for TL-3 LED; about 4 hours per the MFG.

I have an older green body TL-3 LED which still had the adjustable focus bezel. The beam quality is superior to the newer model, which while non-adjustable does have superior thermal management. Both are only pulling 420 to 540 mA from primary cells. The older has a 3.7 ohm series R, and the newer model a 4.0 ohm series R. IIRC they are only driving the Lux V's at 3 to 3.5 watts.

I was fairly content with the TL-3 LED's until I used the Streamlight 2L3W and Scorpion LED models.

Is there a method to drive the original TL-3 LEDs harder, rather than replacing them? I wonder if the low level drive was based on achieving a specific run time requirement, especially the better "heat-sinked" later version.

Paladin

FlashKat · Apr 8, 2006

Hi Trashman,

Where did you by the higher binned (W), and who did you have put it in? I am curious about the mod and if it will be worth the cost...How much does the mod cost?

Trashman said:
I think the only way to make it brighter is going to be to replace the LED with a higher binned ("W") one. It appears that TL-3 LEDs are becomming notorious for poor performance. They're just not getting something right over there at Streamlight. I had a TL-3 LED and the performance was so incredibly poor that I realized I wouldn't even be able to sell it the way it was, so I bought a 'W' binned LED and had somebody put it in for me. It upped the brightness to being equal to in output with my other 5w lights, which include a 3-cell Nuwai, a Surefire L4, and a TnC Hyperlux V. The beam became nearly the same as the one on the Hyperlux V, except for the tint. In the end, I did sell it, but at a huge loss. I didn't mind though, I just wanted to get some money in my PP account fast.

adirondackdestroyer · Apr 27, 2006

Is it safe to use protected R123 3.6v batteries in this light? If not are there any other rechargable batteries that would work well with it?

FlashKat · Apr 30, 2006

Hi adirondackdestroyer,

I have been running with RCR123 3.6v batteries in both of my Streamlights (TL-3 LED and 3L 2W LED) flashlights with no problems....I have had my 2L 3W for almost 2 years running on these batteries and 2 months with the TL-3 LED. Batteryspace.com also sells a RCR123 3.0v battery and charger set-up if you want to be safe.

adirondackdestroyer said:
Is it safe to use protected R123 3.6v batteries in this light? If not are there any other rechargable batteries that would work well with it?

adirondackdestroyer · Apr 30, 2006

FlashKat said:
Hi adirondackdestroyer,

I have been running with RCR123 3.6v batteries in both of my Streamlights (TL-3 LED and 3L 2W LED) flashlights with no problems....I have had my 2L 3W for almost 2 years running on these batteries and 2 months with the TL-3 LED. Batteryspace.com also sells a RCR123 3.0v battery and charger set-up if you want to be safe.

Thanks alot for the reply. So it is completely safe if I use the 3v rechargables? I currently only have the 3.6v rechargables, which I was worried about using.

Streamlight TL-3 LED

FlashKat

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Brighteyez

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FlashKat

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AZLight

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jsr

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Trashman

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FlashKat

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Macaw

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Paladin

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