TK75 for Cold BackYard Ice Rink

SeamusORiley · Jan 4, 2013

The new Fenix TK 75 is doing great lighting up the entire backyard as I work on our ice rink. The temperatures have been very low, conducive to great ice making, but it also appears to run down the batteries quicker than indoors.

The outside temperatures have been around, or just beneath 0 Degrees F. I found that on Turbo (2600), the drop down to the next level (at the 20 minute mark) is not restored by hitting the turbo level again. The turbo comes on but then goes down one level within a few moments. I think this is due to the extraordinary cold temperatures.

On the high (not turbo) level, I can set it out and my son can skate, with puck, without difficulty. It is supposed to hold at this level for 4 hours, but I have not needed to test it, since he skates for about 1 hour.

RCTPAVUK · Jan 4, 2013

I tested my TK75 in turbo mostly indoors, but a few times i went outside to walk in my park (Montreal, -15, -20c), and i must say that for that 30-40 min of walking and lighting the area i didn't notice the light-level drop you've described...
Try to charge your batteries, and repeat the action again.
It can be that your batteries weren't fully charged, or even worn out...
Or you can try to wrap the flashlight in some material... -18c isn't that good for any light i think...

TEEJ · Jan 4, 2013

You should just put LEDs under the rink to shine up through the ice.

RCTPAVUK · Jan 8, 2013

RCTPAVUK said:
I tested my TK75 in turbo mostly indoors, but a few times i went outside to walk in my park (Montreal, -15, -20c), and i must say that for that 30-40 min of walking and lighting the area i didn't notice the light-level drop you've described...
Try to charge your batteries, and repeat the action again.
It can be that your batteries weren't fully charged, or even worn out...
Or you can try to wrap the flashlight in some material... -18c isn't that good for any light i think...

Was it helpful?
I'd say that old childhood sweater sleeve should lie tight and cover battery compartment from some amount of cold... And it's easy to take it off...

CyberCT · Jan 8, 2013

The TK75 steps down after 20 minutes reguardless of temperature. That's how Fenix designed it. I also tested the tubo runtimne of my TK75 tonight in a bucket of cool water and it constantly stepped down after 20 minutes, and I just hit the mode button again that second to bring it back to turbo. Runtime for me was 58 minutes.

den331 · Jan 8, 2014

here in Ontario -20C at full charged ncr18650 batteries it can only at turbo up tp 30 sec the batteries cannot sustain the amp draw from the cold temperature

martinaee · Jan 8, 2014

Turbo mode not working because the light is too.... COLD. :laughing:

NorthernStar · Jan 9, 2014

den331 said:
here in Ontario -20C at full charged ncr18650 batteries it can only at turbo up tp 30 sec the batteries cannot sustain the amp draw from the cold temperature

So far I had a mild winter and I have not tested my TK75-L2 in tempetarures below 0C, but until the weekend there is going to be colder(about -10C). Then I will test my TK75 and see how it reacts to the cold. I will be disappointed if it turns out that it can not maintain turbomode in temperatures around -10C.

18650 batteries are supposed to perform well down to -20C so in your case it might be the cold that prevents it from maintain turbomode.

blah9 · Jan 9, 2014

My TK75 wouldn't stay in turbo mode for me when I was camping last weekend. It would only stay in the second-brightest mode without stepping down very quickly. This was with fresh batteries. The temperatures were somewhere around 25 degrees F.

This actually happened to me once when camping in ~40 degrees F as well. That time I left the light on the ground in a drizzle for an hour or so and then left it in the tent overnight lying on the bare tent fabric. That time the lens was fogged up in the morning too.

In both of those conditions my PD32UE worked just fine including its burst mode, but then again that light was in its holster which kept it warm when I was not actively using it.

During the colder of the two trips the Armytek Wizard Pro Warm stayed lit the entire time and had no trouble jumping into its maximum brightness mode whenever it was necessary. It stayed on my head in the elements the whole time, but perhaps keeping it on kept the light warm enough to operate well.

Anyway, I'm interested to hear other people's experiences because I was a little disappointed that the TK75 wouldn't stay on turbo in those conditions, particularly during the warmer night.

den331 · Jan 9, 2014

what brand of batteries are you using? i noticed sanyo is more resistant to cold whether than a panasonic ncr18650 a/b . i tried sanyo cells on my pd32UE it can sustain turbo but my ncr18650a cannot sustain in the turbo. both unprotected cells. around -9C

blah9 said:
My TK75 wouldn't stay in turbo mode for me when I was camping last weekend. It would only stay in the second-brightest mode without stepping down very quickly. This was with fresh batteries. The temperatures were somewhere around 25 degrees F.

This actually happened to me once when camping in ~40 degrees F as well. That time I left the light on the ground in a drizzle for an hour or so and then left it in the tent overnight lying on the bare tent fabric. That time the lens was fogged up in the morning too.

In both of those conditions my PD32UE worked just fine including its burst mode, but then again that light was in its holster which kept it warm when I was not actively using it.

During the colder of the two trips the Armytek Wizard Pro Warm stayed lit the entire time and had no trouble jumping into its maximum brightness mode whenever it was necessary. It stayed on my head in the elements the whole time, but perhaps keeping it on kept the light warm enough to operate well.

Anyway, I'm interested to hear other people's experiences because I was a little disappointed that the TK75 wouldn't stay on turbo in those conditions, particularly during the warmer night.

blah9 · Jan 9, 2014

I have 2600 mAh protected Tenergy 18650's in the TK75 and the PD32UE. However for the Wizard Pro I was using 3400 mAh Orbtronic 18650's.

That's very interesting about using different batteries. I should have mentioned the ones I was using in my original post. At one point I was wondering if the Tenergy ones aren't as good in the cold because they were cheaper batteries, but then I completely forgot!

den331 · Jan 10, 2014

i'm not familiar with tenergy . anyway you can try next time if your tk75 stepping down on turbo because of the cold temperature remove the batteries let it warm in your hands for a few seconds i tried this on my pd32ue

blah9 said:
I have 2600 mAh protected Tenergy 18650's in the TK75 and the PD32UE. However for the Wizard Pro I was using 3400 mAh Orbtronic 18650's.

That's very interesting about using different batteries. I should have mentioned the ones I was using in my original post. At one point I was wondering if the Tenergy ones aren't as good in the cold because they were cheaper batteries, but then I completely forgot!

TK75 for Cold BackYard Ice Rink

SeamusORiley

Enlightened

RCTPAVUK

Newly Enlightened

TEEJ

Flashaholic

RCTPAVUK

Newly Enlightened

CyberCT

Enlightened

den331

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martinaee

Flashlight Enthusiast

NorthernStar

Enlightened

blah9

Flashlight Enthusiast

den331

Newly Enlightened

blah9

Flashlight Enthusiast

den331

Newly Enlightened

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