which of the new Fenix's are good on not-rechargeable?

riccardo

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Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
208
Hi all,
I'd like to buy a new flashlight, some kind of thrower with a good brightness.
I already have several CR123 (one and two cell), all xp-g based/compact sized and one triple xp-g from oveready. I do love all of them but none of them are able to throw much.

Now I had a look to the actual Fenix's catalogue and I got curious about 4 models:

TK-41
TK-35
TK-60
TK-70

My problem is that I don't want to use rechargeable, I use my flashlight only sometimes and I want them to be ready, moreover I hate waiting for charging time. I prefer to stock 2/3 set of fresh battery for each flashlight plus the one installed inside, I keep everything in some Pelican cases. I think that in case of emergency it's a much better solution than using rechargeables.

So here we are, I'd like to ask you which of these flashlights will offer same intensity in turbo mode with non rechargeable alkaline or lithium compared to the rechargeables.

If I understand the TK-70 (what a wild beast!) is asking too much current for standard batteries, but did anyone compare this lamp on the two kind of batteries? And what about the other models?

TK-41 is a nice piece, is it going to run on same brightness on alkaline as on ni-mh? And what will happen to the runtime? Lithium AA can be stocked for long time and are easily available..

TK-35 is nice and it can be used with the same cr123 that I'm having for all other my lights but ... it's the less throwier, it's a pity.

I hope you'll help me to decide!

:)
 

Haesslich

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Nov 2, 2003
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TK35 had its runtime tested with CR123's. The rest were tested with NiMH, and I'd worry due to the serial c-cell rows in the battery carrier for the TK41 hitting the circuit with too high a voltage (1.7v nominal on those L91's), whole alkalines will quickly lose voltage under heavy load. No turbo after 10 minutes would be what I recall of the TK41 on alkalines.
 

riccardo

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Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
208
It would be nice to have the TK35 with same reflector of TK41.. but they are different and the difference in throw is substancial..
I'd like to know if someone tested the TK41 with standard Alkaline or the L91's, is there any information from fenix about the usage of lithium cells?

Eneloops can be a solution but I really don't like the hassle of having chargers and rechargeables... but I would forget eneloops if this lamp could hit at least the 80 minutes line on turbo (not necessarily constantly on) with Duracell Ultra or Lithiums. At least I could stok 16 primary cells for emergency while keeping eneloops inside.
 

mmace1

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Sep 1, 2006
Messages
363
I use my flashlight only sometimes and I want them to be ready

Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable only loose ~15% of their charge/year. So unless you mean somtimes in terms of multi-year gaps, they would be ready.

moreover I hate waiting for charging time

Well no help there...! Even the fastest chargers take almost 2 hours for say - 4 completely drained envelops.


Though good chance you already knew all of the above...in that case sorry, but someone was bound to make the case for Eneloops anyway given their popularity on this site.
 

Haesslich

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Nov 2, 2003
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1,433
Location
Canada
This is the the user manual for the TK41. Scroll down and it shows appropriate batteries for this light.

http://www.fenixtactical.com/manuals/fenix-tk41-manual.pdf

Note that the lithium primaries listed have 1.5v specified like any other AA. L91 batteries start at 1.7-1.85v on average, and don't drop below that for quite a while... so the light seems designed for 3v of input from 4 series, and fresh (or not-so-fresh) L91's will give almost 4v for quite a while.

If your lithiums are EXACTLY 1.5v or less, go wild. But fresh Energizer (and Duracells given they also use the LiFeS2 chemistry) will NOT be 1.5 despite the specs on the package. Might work, but I don't know if the extra 1v will damage the circuit. The LED itself wouldn't have a problem with that type of voltage, though.
 

squaat

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Aug 11, 2008
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Vancouver, BC
I have a tk35 and I love it. Yes it's not a huge thrower, but the amount of light this thing produces is amazing. I can easily make out things at 100m. Do you need much more throw than that?
 

Richub

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Jun 6, 2011
Messages
371
Location
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Of the lights you mentioned, the TK35 is the way to go.

Buy a box of CR123as (which have a 10 year shelf life) together with that TK35, and there you go. :)
As for throw: I think you'll find it throwy enough on turbo.

You definitively don't want to use any of the other lights on alkalines. They give crap runtimes, and the chance of those alkalines leaking and damaging your flashlight is just too big.
 
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