Surprise, Surprise... Hyper Lux V

While doing research on the 5 watt LED's, I came across TNC Custom Products (www.tnccustomproducts.com). Chris does his own machining and has a line of 1 watt (Hyper Lux I) and 5 watt (Hyper Lux V) lights. I talked with Chris for some time and found out that there was a dark spot in the middle of the beam in the 5 watt lights. He was working on a deep reflector that would eliminate that dark spot. I ordered a Hyper Lux V (Orange and Black Splash) and told him to hold off on shipping it until he had the revised reflector installed in it.

I have been playing with it for the last few days and all I can say is WOW!!!

This light outshines my L4 hands down. The interesting thing is that it has alsmost the same beam size as the L4, it is just a whole lot brighter. Ray (This_is_Nascar) mentioned that holding his L4 chest high the spill beam starts about 5 feet away. The Hyper Lux V spill beam starts about 5.5 feet away.

The center hot spot on the Hyper Lux V is just a little bit smaller than the L4, but it is way brighter. As a matter of fact, the Hyper Lux V reminds me of an L4 on steroids.

The machining and finish are top quality, and there are several variety of colors and splash combinations to choose from.

Chris says that the wider Fraen optic works well, but the narrower optics leave a dark spot in the middle of the hot spot. The nice thing is that you can just unscrew the bezel and pop out the reflector and drop in an optic. Chris is also offering heads with different color LED's in them. To change color, just screw another head on.

My light is twist to turn on. Chris also has protected clicky replacement switches at a reasonable price.

I have not checked battery run time, but Chris mentioned something like 1-1.5 hours on 3 123 batteries.

Beyond 3' there is a hint of darkening of the center part of the hot spot, but it is far less than that observed on my L4. The custom deep reflector seems to be doing its job rather well.

The Hyper Lux V is 6.75" long, 1" diameter at the body, 1.5" diameter at the head, and weighs 7.75 ounces. The head is 2.75" long. It is also water PROOF to 100'.

I fired up my trusty light meter. My L4 reads 590 lux at 1 meter, the Hyper Lux V reads 1663 lux at 1 meter. I believe this puts it close to the SureFire L6.

I know Chris M (across the pond) has one. Does anyone else have one?

Tom

Just got my clicky switch in the mail for my orange/black splash light today. The switch is black but looks good with the light and I appreciate the added functionality. Bodaciously beautiful beam on mine - gotta love the output of this light.

If it's 1.5" diameter at the head, then it would better compete with the L5, which is the same size diameter and produces a much brighter hotspot than the L4. Small reflectors can only do so much.

It sounds like a great light! Being able to swap the reflector for optics is a nice option.

The only TNC flashlight I have is the 5W LS LED Splash Ano that I got last May.
Find it at http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/splash.htm

Hello Sean,

I was expecting a tighter spill light from this light. More like the L5 and L6. I was really surprised by the large spill diameter.

I was walking down the trail and checking the throw of the light tonight. I could pick out things over 350' away with some street lights increasing the ambient light.

I understand what you are saying about the 1.5" reflector. This light has a hot spot just a bit smaller than the L4, but a lot brighter. I do not have a L5 or L6 to compare it to.

Looking at your photo's of the L4, L5, and L6, it compares in beam size to the L4 and in brightness to the L6. Do you have any output values of the L4, L5, and L6?

By the way, the reflector on the Hyper Lux V is 1" deep.

Springnr,

I don't know much about the clicky switches. When I asked Chris about them, he said that he had not sold many of them. Let me know what you think of it after you have some time to break it in.

Tom

Hello Craig,

Chris said that you had an early prototype of the light. He has changed the whole thing around. It is now waterproof with the twist head (I don't know if it is still water proof with the clicky switch) and does not come stock with the optic. He has come up with a deep reflector and is using 3 cells instead of 4.

I am getting a higher output reading on mine than you got on yours. I should try to get Chris to send you one of these new styles so you can review it.

Tom

Does it have any regulating circuitry?

Hello Steelwolf,

I believe it is not regulated.

Tom

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:
Do you have any output values of the L4, L5, and L6?

Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I don't have a lux meter.

If someone can make the head fit Surefires...

Hello Craig,

I will send you the new Hyper-Lux V for review! So you can check it out and put it on your site.

Chris

I have beam shots on my website that will show the difference of the Surefire KL-4 and the Hyper-Lux I and Hyper-Lux V. The new reflector for the Hyper-Lux I is awesome. Extremely tight beam pattern. Makes the H-L I seem brighter than the Surefire.

Hmm,

I emailed TnC for information about their new lights and didn't even get a response back. I thought I had found an alternative to having to buy a L5 or L6. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Wilkey

Hello Ginseng,

I never got an e-mail from you. I return all e-mails I get.

I can't say I never got it,but I return all e-mails I recieve.

Ginseng:
It is odd, usually Chris is very prompt and courteous, I never had to wait for more that 24 hrs for a reply to my email.

Personally, as I posted elsewhere, I am very happy with my HL-V and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a custom L5/L6 class light.
Alex

I did a search on this light and for some reason did not find the earlier thread on it.

Here it is

I still am on the first set of batteries. Does anyone else have opinions on run time?

Tom

[ QUOTE ]
TnC_Products said:
Hello Craig,

I will send you the new Hyper-Lux V for review! So you can check it out and put it on your site.

Chris

[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Chris,

Thank you very, very much!!! I'll put it on my website ASAP, and put the link in this thread!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

TnC,

I'll give it a try again in the next few days. The email will come from "ginseng".

Wilkey

Ginseng,

Alright! We'll see if it works this time!