Nitecore TM26 Water proof?

Hello guys yesterday i was outside of my house but it was raining, and i was using my tm26 and i notice that the flashlight its not really waterproof, the light its totally crazy now, the OLED is blinking now and one of the leds won't turn on. What can i do? If i dry it with a silica gel inside will work?

thank you!

Giankieluna said:

Hello guys yesterday i was outside of my house but it was raining, and i was using my tm26 and i notice that the flashlight its not really waterproof, the light its totally crazy now, the OLED is blinking now and one of the leds won't turn on. What can i do? If i dry it with a silica gel inside will work?

thank you!

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How old is your torch? I hope you still have a warranty, that is an expensive torch!

As far as repairing it yourself, hopefully some of the experts on here can help. From what I know, the silica can help, however it depends how extensive the water damage is. if a lens of a light is fogging up a bit, it can help with removing the moisture. Your situation sounds more like short circuiting.

Hopefully someone on here can help. If not send it back because according to their specifications, it suppose to be waterproof in accordance to IPX-8, which I believe is 2 meters under water. A rain storm should NOT have done that.

Good luck :thumbsup:

Ciao,,,,,,Roberto,,,"Capo di Capo" "KEEP LIGHTING UP THE DARKNESS"

I have fully submerged my TM26, probably down to about 3 feet, in a river, and had no problems at all. You got a defective one - if possible, send it back and get a replacement. There is no reason you should bother to dry it out, unless you think you can't get it replaced.

If you can't get it fixed and need to dry it out, try putting it in a bag of rice for a couple of days, and it should suck the moisture out.

Hi Again,

This is only a thought, maybe look at it as a suggestion. No matter what there are always pros and cons and we all have different tastes and expectations.

My TK-75 is my favorite light, however I just purchased a BST [Black Shadow Terminator] from Illumination supply in San Jose, Ca. It is STILL on sale for $105.00 down from $150.00. Check it out.

It also has around 3500 lumens[ maybe a little less after being reviewed/tested]. It has 487 yards of throw compared to 453 for the TM26, BST has 59,300 candela, TM26 has 43,000 candela. Not a major difference there. They both have a 4 headed look. BST has 4 Cree XM-L[U3] LED'S, TM26 uses 4 Cree XM-L [U2] LED'S. Very close in size, BST- 5 13/64" and the TM26 is 5.59"

The real difference is the price!! I have seen the TM26 anywhere from $350,.00 to $399.00. I am not sure what you paid for yours.

Just food for thought. If you have a good warranty and can get a refund, I don't think you will be disappointed with an extra $250.00 plus and a torch that is very similar in output.

The BST does not have all those technologically advanced features. LED battery indicators.

The one thing I do not like about the BST is the handle. but it is necessary because the barrel can get warm, but mostly because that is where the switch/firefly is.

Whatever you do, I hope it works out.

Ciao,,,,,,,,,,Roberto,,"Capo di Capo" "KEEP LIGHTING UP THE DARKNESS"

Nice "ad" capolini:thumbdown:

On the tm26, did you notice in the battery compartment? Silica won't hurt it but it sounds like something is wrong with the light

Speedfreakz said:

Nice "ad" capolini:thumbdown:

On the tm26, did you notice in the battery compartment? Silica won't hurt it but it sounds like something is wrong with the light

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Thanks!!! I appreciate your opinion.

It is NOT an "ad",,,,,,,,did you read the whole thing, especially the SECOND LINE??? You must not understand they way I word things, which is never to tell another what to do.

Ciao,,,,,,Roberto "Capo did Capo" " KEEP LIGHTING UP THE DARKNESS"

Hey Now i saw were is the water geting in, and its from the OLED. I put it under water and bubbles came out from the OLED screen!!! But i allready talk with the seller on ebay and im going to send it back tomorrow. It has 3 days with me.

Only yesterday my TM26 received water damage. It was only in a bowl of water but I was clicking both the power+status buttons while submerged, perhaps it's not built for that? Because now the LEDs are constantly flickering, changing modes works but goes into funky modes instead and the OLED readout only shows random dots.

I *would* be annoyed but the TM26 has already broken in two ways (won't charge + some internal ring fell off in the battery compartment) so that's why I wasn't bothered with being careful with it. It's probably gonna go in the bin soon!

Waaw hahah too bad. well my TM was doing the same thing, but i shipped allready back to the seller for exchange to a new one!

Nockm said:

Only yesterday my TM26 received water damage. It was only in a bowl of water but I was clicking both the power+status buttons while submerged, perhaps it's not built for that? Because now the LEDs are constantly flickering, changing modes works but goes into funky modes instead and the OLED readout only shows random dots.

I *would* be annoyed but the TM26 has already broken in two ways (won't charge + some internal ring fell off in the battery compartment) so that's why I wasn't bothered with being careful with it. It's probably gonna go in the bin soon!

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Boy, I am sorry to hear the problems you guys are having with this light. It is very expensive! I hope you get reimbursed somehow.

My present problem is my TK-75 It was shipped to Oklahoma for a free replacement for a minor problem. However, the U.S.P.S. sent it to St. Paul,Minn. by mistake where it has not moved for a day and a half! Good thing I have insurance on it to cover the value of the light! However, it is not considered lost until it is M.I.A. for 30 days!!

Ciao,Roberto,,"Capo di Capo" "KEEP LIGHTING UP THE DARKNESS"

Capolini said:

Boy, I am sorry to hear the problems you guys are having with this light. It is very expensive! I hope you get reimbursed somehow.

My present problem is my TK-75 It was shipped to Oklahoma for a free replacement for a minor problem. However, the U.S.P.S. sent it to St. Paul,Minn. by mistake where it has not moved for a day and a half! Good thing I have insurance on it to cover the value of the light! However, it is not considered lost until it is M.I.A. for 30 days!!

Ciao,Roberto,,"Capo di Capo" "KEEP LIGHTING UP THE DARKNESS"

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waaaaw for 30 days!?!!! Mmm well we are ok, warranty and good to go, but 30 days? I would be crazy!! Im so sorry for that man.

Interesting to hear of two separate water ingress accounts. The TM26 has historically been admired for its toughness and water resistance as reflected by at least two youtube videos. I've personally had mine submerged in 2ft of water and hit it with a couple of minutes of pressurized water. Fortunately I didn't run into the problems you guys did. I wonder if Nitecore released a batch of faulty lights that are lacking the proper seal around the OLED.

Best of luck getting these problems resolved quickly guys! Please keep us updated.

Patriot said:

Interesting to hear of two separate water ingress accounts. The TM26 has historically been admired for its toughness and water resistance as reflected by at least two youtube videos. I've personally had mine submerged in 2ft of water and hit it with a couple of minutes of pressurized water. Fortunately I didn't run into the problems you guys did. I wonder if Nitecore released a batch of faulty lights that are lacking the proper seal around the OLED.

Best of luck getting these problems resolved quickly guys! Please keep us updated.

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Thanks Patriot! Unfortunately I don't hold out much hope, I've been contacting hkequipment for the past 2 months who at first replied to me (when our initial plan was to try out a new charger) but they have since ignored me completely. I'm thinking of getting a Niteye40 to replace it (got 4x 18650s looking for a home!) and buying from somewhere with bulletproof warranty/CS.

I probably got unlucky and hit a bad batch, which is a shame because it's a great light. I'm now untrusting of high-end Nitecore and discount sellers. I'm most pleased that most others seem to be having trouble-free times with theirs.

Hopefully that wasn't too off-topic! Just had to rant it out there...

I turned on my TM26 after a week since the water issues were affecting my OLED readout, with flickering light output and modes going crazy.

OLED readout is fine now. Light output and modes are fine. Except on standby one of the four LEDs stays on, in even lower intensity than when on the lowest '3 Lumen' mode. I guess I have a moonlight mode on my TM26.

I'm not sure which flashlight it was that I had, but after I submerged it, one of the LEDs would not turn on and it would always come on strobe. I knew water had gone inside, so I disassemble it and put it out in the sun. After a few hours I put it back together and worked perfectly. I suggest you try it, especially if you don't have any warranty.

Sounds like a good idea that couldn't hurt. There's hardly much summer left so I'd better snatch the next opportunity. Thanks!

I just ran into this problem recently, and I'm on my second TM26, which also developed water issues. Both of which happened while rinsing the flashlight under the tap water. I know there is a new version of TM26 that had a white OLED screen instead of the Blue one, I'm guessing it's because of these leakage issues might be from an improper seal around the OLED screen?

Nockm said:

Thanks Patriot! Unfortunately I don't hold out much hope, I've been contacting hkequipment for the past 2 months who at first replied to me (when our initial plan was to try out a new charger) but they have since ignored me completely. I'm thinking of getting a Niteye40 to replace it (got 4x 18650s looking for a home!) and buying from somewhere with bulletproof warranty/CS.

I probably got unlucky and hit a bad batch, which is a shame because it's a great light. I'm now untrusting of high-end Nitecore and discount sellers. I'm most pleased that most others seem to be having trouble-free times with theirs.

Hopefully that wasn't too off-topic! Just had to rant it out there...

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Soon after my post, I received a PM from Sysmax Ind. offering my warranty to be honoured.

After some messages I shipped off my TM26 and have received a working replacement, which definitely deserves acknowledging in this thread. Thank you!

Someone above mentioned the bag of rice. This really works. I had my iphone in my pocket while wading in a lake to load up a boat. Put in in a bag of rice for a few days and things dried out so that the phone would work again. I hope you send this back for replacement but in the meantime you might want to try the rice. Be sure to open the battery compartment and dump some rice in there too.