Curious_character
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2006
- Messages
- 1,211
I've been looking for a light weight, small auxiliary light for backpacking. A Tikka+ headlamp has been super for just about every purpose, but I'd like to have something with really good throw to take an occasional look across the lake or meadow at night. Don't need much run time or super reliability. Beam width can be pretty narrow since I have the headlamp for wide coverage, but I've had lights where it's ridiculous. The very best I've found so far is the Fenix P1 - it's a marvel! Love it!
But in the process of checking out various alternatives, I got a Nuwai X-3 (TM-320XE3). I was disappointed to find that it had a lot less throw than the reviews indicated. (I use a cheap lux meter that usually correlates pretty well with the reviews.) It was around the same as a Minimag 2AA LED, which isn't too shabby, but the reviews show the X-3 to be considerably brighter.
Anyway, I found that the spot was brightest with the "adjustable focus" end screwed on tight. So I wondered if the range of adjustment just wasn't enough to get the focus quite optimum. A few minutes with a piece of fine sandpaper on the table, and I had a few thousandths of an inch removed from the bottom of the lens assembly, allowing it to be screwed down farther. Sure enough, the focus improved and the brightness went up about 20%. That's not a whole lot, but does improve the throw by about 10%. It's sure easy to do, and there's no down side except I suppose voiding the warranty. (Be sure to keep the grinding residue out of the reflector -- might be a good idea to stuff something non-linty in the hole before you start sanding.) You can't tell if you've hit the best spot until you take off a little more than necessary. But if you want to have the end down snug, you can rig up some sort of shim.
My X-3 still isn't up to the brightness quoted in the reviews, but it's closer. And brighter than the Minimag.
c_c
But in the process of checking out various alternatives, I got a Nuwai X-3 (TM-320XE3). I was disappointed to find that it had a lot less throw than the reviews indicated. (I use a cheap lux meter that usually correlates pretty well with the reviews.) It was around the same as a Minimag 2AA LED, which isn't too shabby, but the reviews show the X-3 to be considerably brighter.
Anyway, I found that the spot was brightest with the "adjustable focus" end screwed on tight. So I wondered if the range of adjustment just wasn't enough to get the focus quite optimum. A few minutes with a piece of fine sandpaper on the table, and I had a few thousandths of an inch removed from the bottom of the lens assembly, allowing it to be screwed down farther. Sure enough, the focus improved and the brightness went up about 20%. That's not a whole lot, but does improve the throw by about 10%. It's sure easy to do, and there's no down side except I suppose voiding the warranty. (Be sure to keep the grinding residue out of the reflector -- might be a good idea to stuff something non-linty in the hole before you start sanding.) You can't tell if you've hit the best spot until you take off a little more than necessary. But if you want to have the end down snug, you can rig up some sort of shim.
My X-3 still isn't up to the brightness quoted in the reviews, but it's closer. And brighter than the Minimag.
c_c
