Tiablo TL-1

Hi this is my first thread on cpf, I just recently became interested in flashlight collecting and I have a quick question on batteries.

My current light I carry around is the Tiablo TL-1, when I bought it at the gun show the light was really bright but I guess the seller had a special type of battery. After some research I came to the conclusion that it must be an either NIMH or Li Ion battery.

What's the difference between the two types? Which one will give me a brighter light?

Right now I'm using the regular AA batteries and the lady at Tiablo said I was getting around 120 lumens. I'm not sure if that is correct because I don't think that it actually reachs 230 lumens as its advertised by them.

Which battery would you recommend for me? Eneloop NIMH, AW 14500 or the Trustfire 14500 protected or unprotected?

Thanks

The Tiablo TL-1 will give it's brightest output from 14500 batteries(as will most flashlights that accept both chemistries/voltages)

As far as the brand and type of 14500 cell to use. AW batteries are generally accepted here as premium cells with all the safety features and delivering the rated mAh's etc. I personally have used the TrustFire, UltraFire 14500's on my TL-1 as well with no problems. They will both give you max output from the light.

If you have a choice, buy the AW's as you will get longer runtimes and a cell with a longer useful lifespan.

The only thing I'd recommend, regardless of brand, is to use protected 14500 cells; since the TL-1 does not have built in over-discharge protection or a low voltage warning.

I don't know which generation of TL-1 you have(they are both EXCELLENT lights) but the 1st gen versions had a "quirk" when using 14500 cells. They are extremely difficult to program when the batteries are fully charged (4.2~4.0 V). They can switch modes just fine but will be difficult to get into the programming mode. Once the voltage stabilized at just below the 4.0 Volt mark, then they will go back to normal. Just a heads up in case you ran into this quirk.

Hope this helps.

+1 on the above answer. Look at it this way, a AA is 1.5v, NiMH is 1.2v and 14500 is 3.7v, without a doubt, the 14500 will give more oomph to the light.

As ACHE said, get protected 14500s and AW is generally known to provide great cells. I have gotten Trustfire and Ultrafire cells and a fe wof them were duds, died after 5 - 10 minutes but got them replaced from DX.

Thanks for the advice, sorry I couldn't respond my computer had a virus.

I have the first gen version of the light so thanks for the heads up. Will I be able to program it normally after the voltage drops a little under 4.0 V?
Does anyone know the lumen output with a normal AA?
I'm going to the gun show again next weekend so I will search for some ultra fire or AW protected cells.

Thank You

Matt

mattgoeshunting said:

Thanks for the advice, sorry I couldn't respond my computer had a virus.

I have the first gen version of the light so thanks for the heads up. Will I be able to program it normally after the voltage drops a little under 4.0 V?
Does anyone know the lumen output with a normal AA?
I'm going to the gun show again next weekend so I will search for some ultra fire or AW protected cells.

Thank You

Matt

Click to expand...

Yes, after the voltage settles it programs as expected every time.

Even with the battery at full charge it does enter programming mode eventually; It just might take 3~10~? tries to get it.

mattgoeshunting said:

Does anyone know the lumen output with a normal AA?
Matt

Click to expand...

I thought u said the lady at Tiablo said u r getting about 120 lumens?
But based on extensive reading in cpf, it should be around 90 lumens out the front.

ACHË said:

Even with the battery at full charge it does enter programming mode eventually; It just might take 3~10~? tries to get it.

Click to expand...

Perhaps this might help?