TK45 Question

Hi
Just got this in the mail today and I have to say I'm pretty underwhelmed by the highest setting. I put what should be new Energizer Alkaline primaries in it and on turbo it just wasn't the level of brightness I was expecting, i.e. "Wall of Light" I thought maybe the batteries I had were not new as I thought so I put in the Duracell Procell alkalines that came with the light and no brighter.
I got my C3 with a M60 and compared, the TK45 is noticeably brighter, just nowhere near 3 times as bright, (understanding the advertised lumens in these 2 are measured differently), maybe 50% brighter at best.
I understand this light is meant to be run on rechargeable's but that should only effect runtimes not brightness, right?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

NiMh rechargeable cells are capable of delivering far more current than alkaline cells. So if the light is designed for rechargeable cells, it's probably current starved when running on alkaline.

--flatline

I'll quote Henry from HDS: Your eyes respond to light in a logarithmic way.

Doubling the lumens won't make you see 2 times the total amount of brightness.

According to their spec sheets , if I remember correctly, it draws 1A on turbo. Maybe for some reason your alkalines are not capable of sourcing that much. But, I doubt it. That's probably as bright as it gets, if the batteries are new.

When first got mine, I didnt have the nimh batteries yet, so I used some cheapie alkalines from Costco. It didnt seem any less bright with those, but they didn't last long at all, just like you are saying. Probably only 1/2 hour on turbo before they gave up the ghost.

Could be it doesnt meet your expectations, or could be its a dud. I'm really happy with mine FWIW.

The TK45 doesn't seem that bright as it doesn't really have a hot spot. Find a pitch black area and shine your other light on a wall from a 100ft back (I used a hanger at the airport). Then turn on your TK45. Instead of a small circle on the wall you'll be able to see the whole wall if it's working correctly. That's when my TK45 really blew me away. before that I was the same as you.........a little underwhelmed compared to my other 200-300 lumen lights. Remember, it's not a thrower.

TJx said:

Hi
Just got this in the mail today and I have to say I'm pretty underwhelmed by the highest setting. I put what should be new Energizer Alkaline primaries in it and on turbo it just wasn't the level of brightness I was expecting, i.e. "Wall of Light" I thought maybe the batteries I had were not new as I thought so I put in the Duracell Procell alkalines that came with the light and no brighter.
Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

I'd charge a batch of Eneloops, load them into your TK45, go to a dark place with all of your lights and then compare.

At least my TK45 absolutely throws a wall of light that is very pleasing to use and walk with. It's not a lamp that throws a tight spot but, rather, a great diffuse bank of light.

Earthlight

earthlight said:

At least my TK45 absolutely throws a wall of light that is very pleasing to use and walk with. It's not a lamp that throws a tight spot but, rather, a great diffuse bank of light.

Click to expand...

Excellent explanation..........it's very deceiving.