Titanium Flashlights

Are Ti flashlights as functional as aluminum lights? I own 4 LED flashlights, 2x Fenix, 1x FourSevens, 1x Custom Built. All four of my lights are aluminum and when they run for more than a few minutes they get VERY hot. My homemade light can reach temperature up to 150 F when I leave it running for more than 7 minutes or so. I really like the look of some of those Titanium lights out there but I'm worried that the emitter could overheat pretty easily. The thermal conductivity of Titanium is an eleventh of that of Aluminum.

What experience do people have with Titanium lights. Is overheating something to be concerned about, or no? Thanks for the info, I'm looking forward to it!

(Some photos of Titanium lights would be nice too :thumbsup

Did someone say they want pics of nice Titanium lights? Most of the lights in my website are titanium.
It doesn't get as hot as the other materials on the outside so I guess they are running hotter but they aren't cooking either. I think it's a reasonable material for most applications.

I only have a modded Sunwayman V10r Ti and a Mac's Tri Ti EDC. But I have not ran into any problems really...the Sunwayman does seem to get hotter more quickly though. But like anything else I would have thought...the high modes on some of these custom lights (which are usually titanium) need to be used with care and common sense.

The fact that mine still get quite warm in the hand, must mean the thermal conductivity is still working well I guess :thumbsup:

And franzdom...nice collection! I can only hope one day to gather such grails :bow:

I have quite a few titanium lights, none are customs though, and even though titanium doesn't transmit heat as well as aluminium, I haven't noticed that many differences in practical usage.

I have the Jetbeam TCR-1; Niteye eye10 TiC; SWM V10R Ti+; SWM V10R TiS; SWM M11R sirius; Eagletac D25C Ti 2012 & Eagletac D25A Ti 2012.

The one titanium light I owned and subsequently sold left my hands mostly because the head got very hot and did not transmit the heat to the body of the light, locking the high temps up top. Yes, titanium lights will not conduct heat from the head of the light to the body as well as aluminum/copper lights.

Depending upon how hard you drive your lights, this may or may not be an issue for you.

But the following rings true: If everything else is identical, the heatsink, driver, LED, threads, epoxy/heatsink compound used, I mean everything, and the only difference is that one light is composed of aluminum and one is composed of titanium, then yes, the titanium light will not conduct the heat away from the emitter as well.

There are many advantages to titanium, but conducting heat is not one of them. McGizmos are "under driven" and it is suggested not to use a li-ion 14500 on the Flute. A titanium light is much stronger than the same sized light in Aluminum or SS. Titanium is corrosion proof. Titanium oxidation (i.e. tarnish) has unique electrical properties.
I have a modded Maratac copper 123 that is over driven. A real pocket rocket and the whole light gets warm quickly.
Different horses for different courses.

LEDAdd1ct said:

The one titanium light I owned and subsequently sold left my hands mostly because the head got very hot and did not transmit the heat to the body of the light, locking the high temps up top. Yes, titanium lights will not conduct heat from the head of the light to the body as well as aluminum/copper lights.

Depending upon how hard you drive your lights, this may or may not be an issue for you.

But the following rings true: If everything else is identical, the heatsink, driver, LED, threads, epoxy/heatsink compound used, I mean everything, and the only difference is that one light is composed of aluminum and one is composed of titanium, then yes, the titanium light will not conduct the heat away from the emitter as well.

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This is sort of what my concern is. I use my flashlights as work lamps when I work on my car at night. Which means that they run for 2 to 3 hours on max power because I clip them onto something and then forget about them. However, chances are that I would not use a Ti light in this fashion because of the heat issue, but it's definitely something to consider.

I once left an alum light tailstanding on high for an hour. It was so hot that I couldn't pick it up. I had to get oven mittens to pick it up and turn it off. It may have been conducting the heat, but there was still a lot of heat at the emitter.

I've left my titanium Haiku XM-L on high for a long time and it doesn't get hot. Not because of the titanium, but because the emitter isn't over driven.

yoyoman said:

I once left an alum light tailstanding on high for an hour. It was so hot that I couldn't pick it up. I had to get oven mittens to pick it up and turn it off. It may have been conducting the heat, but there was still a lot of heat at the emitter.

I've left my titanium Haiku XM-L on high for a long time and it doesn't get hot. Not because of the titanium, but because the emitter isn't over driven.

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That is a good point. My FourSevens QPL is way overdriven on "Turbo Mode" it gets so hot that I can't pick it up for more than a second at a time.

yoyoman said:

I've left my titanium Haiku XM-L on high for a long time and it doesn't get hot. Not because of the titanium, but because the emitter isn't over driven.

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Agreed. That's why I love my McGizmo Haiku so much. Though under driven, it is by no means dim although still dimmer than some of my other single 123 cell lights. The brightness is more than enough for 95% of my use and that is all that is really needed in an EDC light. Combine that with a super robust titanium body and sapphire crystal lens, you get the most elegant illumination tool ever.

It all about the beam. The McGizmo and some of my other favorite lights have nice, clean beams. So much more important than lumens and even, to a lesser degree, than tint.

I have a weakness for AAA lights and one of the problems with them is it is hard to get a nice beam in a package that small. Especially reflector based lights. I have a Dereelight DA3 - kind of a weird tint, but it has a beautiful beam. Not my favorite AAA, but I like it.

My personal opinion is that polished Titanium flashlights look shinier and have more bling, but for everyday usefulness, aluminum is much better.

Aluminum conducts heat better and is significantly lighter. The difference in weight between an aluminum and titanium flashlight of the same model is quite noticeable. For an EDC light that's going to spend most of its life in my pocket that extra weight is important.

I have both aluminum and titanium lights, but for my EDC light I generally stick with aluminum.

I´m EDCing 3 lights at the present: a Ti Volere AA and an LF2XT Ti AAA in one shirt pocket and a V10R Ti on the outside of the other shirt pocket, all trit modified and all wearing Moddoo clips. With the Moddoo clip I´ve never had any problem with the V10R loosening or falling off the pocket and the added weight of the Ti is for me not a problem at all. It is the light I use the most, the others I hold in my mouth when I need extra light and both hands are needed for the work in progress. As the distance is not very far from the light to the work in hand, the lights are amost never run on high so heat build-up is never a problem. Works for me.

Most light manufacturer or builders will tell you that the high mode is a turbo mode. It should be used sparingly and with caution. Not only the titanium but in other metals too.