TriLight_III drop in module from Inretech?

Hi all,

I am thinking about getting one of these. I read a review in the LED Museum, but am curious about anyone elses opinion who might own one.

Thanks for whatever you can say.

I got the Helios from them, and quite frankly I think it's way overpriced. I would assume the TriLight III would be overpriced too. Trust me there are many other better lights you could spend your money on. My Helios is only just a little brighter than my L4! That is just unexceptable. And the L4 even cost less than the stinkin Helios. Never mind the size, I was aware of the size before I bought it, so that's not a factor in my dissapointment. However it's not acceptable that a light that expensive and that large is only a tiny bit brighter than my little L4. Further more I had to adjust (realign the optics) the stinkin thing a dozen times to get the dim spot out of the center of the beam pattern. That was driving me crazy. I would have sent the whole thing back if I couldnt get that dim spot out of the center. Anyway if you haven't gathered I'm not that happy with this very costly light. And I'm no stranger to spending hundreds of dollars on lights, I just think this one seems so costly because it's a very poor value for what you get. Good luck if you get one, but my advice is to avoid it.

KartRacer31, thanks for your honesty. There is so little on these forums (that I could find) about the larger flashlight products that I had to ask. What you said makes the L4 seem all the more impressive.

No problem. I didn't want to sound like I was ragging on Inretech to bad. I actually typed out a real ***** fest about them and the Helios after I first got the light, but I held off. I figured I didn't want to vent in anger. But the fact is that I really felt ripped off. I'm not trying to push Surefire products, but the L4 is nice. Actually the L5 would be in the same price range you're in as well, and it would blow away the Inretech lights. But just to be fair you have many choices in that price range, another suggestion would be something from ELectrolumens. I have a few of his lights and they CRUSH the Inretech Helios. Mr. Bulk also makes lights that would kill the Inretech lights. I'm glad I could offer you some advice that could save you from making a poor choice. I realized after I bought the Helios where my mistake was: the good reviews that Inretech has of their lights are old news. When the reviewers did them they may have seemed bright and "cutting edge" but the technology has advanced so quickly that the Inretech lights are underpowered and weak, oversized and overpriced by todays standards. --Tim

I don't have the TriLight.
I have the Tri-Star from ElektroLumens. I have the 1x3 with three 1 watt Luxeons & I have the 3x3 with three Luxeon IIIs. These are both pretty bright with a nice large hot spot and they put out a lot of light. They are about the size of a 3D Mag. ElektroLumens makes very nice lights. IMHO they are the "best" of the large lights. I have had 3 Blaster IIIs & 1 Blaster 1R. They are all very nice lights and I can recommend them. I think the Tri-Star is rated for 12 hour runtime & the Blaster III is rated for 24 hour runtime.
I also have Surefire L4s & I can recommend them too, but for different uses.

I agree with you Hoghead. I'm very impressed with my Tristar 3x3. Electrolumens is going to be offering them again soon, or is right now. They are an exceptional value. Geode, I really hate to recommend a light to someone, because we all have different ideas of what is good or bad, and I would hate to think you were unhappy after I suggested something for your needs, however, you really can't find a better/brighter light out there for the price than the Electrolumens Tri-Star 3x3, you should check into it.

[ QUOTE ]
Geode said:
Hi all,

I am thinking about getting one of these. I read a review in the LED Museum, but am curious about anyone elses opinion who might own one.

Thanks for whatever you can say.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't know of anyone else here at CPF who has a Trilight III. So, for the time being, my review is probably about it.
I just now went to where I last put it, and it wasn't there...ehhh doodlebugs!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
That's three flashlights I've mislaid since Christmas... a Trilight III, an Arc LS royal blue, and an Inova X1.
I guess my usefulness in this thread has just about come to an end. Unless I find my Trilight III of course.

(Edit, late next morning)
Found my Trilight III, so I guess my usefulness in this thread can now continue. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've got an InReTech Trilight. The major advantage of the larger lights are the amp hours of the batteries isn't it? What's the runtime on an L4 (yes I have one of these also - it is a different "tool" for a different reason than the Trilight) vs the runtime of the Trilight...I'd have to go to our Reviews Forum to see if Roy has done runtimes on them and/or InReTech/SureFire's websites to find out.

My L4 is an easy to carry tool that I use at work (along with an ARC AAA, ARC LS, and a MiniMag w/InreTech AA drop-in)...

My Trilight <more of a flood beam> (and yes I also have an Elektro Lumens Tri-Star in the same bag <more of a focused beam>) is one of my emergency long run torches in my bag.

NOTE: MAJOR IMPROVEMENT MUCH TO MY SATISFACTION!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif by putting my Trilight in a 4 D cell Mag!!! It's home is there forever!

I like mine! I also like my Tri-Star! You know the motto..."Buy em both!" (but put the Trilight in a 4 D cell Mag!)

.

We would be glad to change the resistors on the Helios and increase the brightness, with a reduction in run time - sorry, there is always a trade off

Hello Geode,

Like Tim, I was wishing for a little more output from my InReTech TriLight. This is what I did.
My changes

My TriLight now blows away my L4 and lasts a lot longer too.

I must admit that the L4 fits better in my pocket, but the modified TriLight beam just blows the L4 beam away.

Tom

Mike from Inretech - I'm actually had hoped you would show up in this thread, sorry if you feel I've bashed your product. However, I stand by what I said above, but maybe there is a solution to make me a more satisified customer.

You mention changing the resistors in the Helios for increased brightness and diminished runtime. Can you give me a better estimate on both ends. I.E. will it be 25% or 50% brighter and have 10% or 60% less runtime? Also will changing the resistors alter the usage of the light in any other way, I.E. drastically shorten the lifespan of the LED's, get extremely hot, etc.

The one thing I failed to mention about the Helios is that I was never worried about leaving it on for hour after hour. I assumed it was so underdriven that it could take extended periods of runtime with ease. That is a comforting feature. However the reality is that this isn't a true emergency light for me that I intend to keep on for multiple hours. I'd rather have it a lot brighter for less time. Additionally there is another feature of the Helios I do like, and that is in it's current form I felt it was underdriven enough to be run in a 2/D mag body with a 6/AA holder. I did this and it worked fine. I don't know what your official take is on doing this Mike, but I would like to know. Also Mike, do you have a limit on what powersupply you recommend? Some of the new D-cell rechargeables carry a lot of punch, and I know that some of the flashlight modders on CPF have warned us about the higher mAh cells. I would assume in the 6/AA format I could use the Energizer 2100 mAh cells without a problem, correct? And finally while I have your ear, like I mentioned above I had a heck of a time getting the dim spot out of my beam pattern. I actually just kept trying the optics in different locations until I got it. However I'm not sure what really caused it to go away. I'm thinking it might have something to do with what Silverfox mentioned in his post, about the actual pressure the lens applies to the optics, so tightning or loosening the bezel may be a factor. Do you have any insight on this? Thanks for your help - Tim

We used those resistors in what we thought was the best brightness/time ration that the customer would want; with a fixed power source (batteries) raiseing brightness would always lower operating time

We are looking into changing the resistors to increase the brightness, and would gladly install them on any order that a customer desires

The TriLight/Helios/etc series have a massive heatsink which does couple quite a lot of heat to the case; even so - I have only felt the case get a little warmer on the most powerful of our products - the MEGA6

Any type of batteries/combination can be used on the products, as long as they don't exceed the following currents

TriLight:1.1A
TriLight-III:3A
Helios:2.1A

Super6:2.1A
Super6-III:6A
Mega6:4.5A

Please note - the Super6/Mega6 series have a beam of FLOOD and not usefull for any distances; we have had customers buy these products just for their high light output and return them since they didn't understand the definition of "FLOOD"

If you plan to use the smaller AA/Packs, make sure the ESR of the battery is able to sustain the large current demands

When properly installed, the lenses should make correct contact with the glass lens - and keep them in alignment for a correct beam; a plastic lens might "flex" a little from the pressure of the lenses and cause the beam to distort; we really suggest use of the UCL lens (www.flashlightlens.com) since it adds another 8-9% more light than the "cheap" plastic lens that comes from the factory

I hope that answers your questions

Mike - Thanks for your quick response. I should have mentioned that I did purchase the UCL lens through you.

I asked: "You mention changing the resistors in the Helios for increased brightness and diminished runtime. Can you give me a better estimate on both ends. I.E. will it be 25% or 50% brighter and have 10% or 60% less runtime? Also will changing the resistors alter the usage of the light in any other way, I.E. drastically shorten the lifespan of the LED's, get extremely hot, etc.


You said: "We are looking into changing the resistors to increase the brightness, and would gladly install them on any order that a customer desires" "The TriLight/Helios/etc series have a massive heatsink which does couple quite a lot of heat to the case; even so - I have only felt the case get a little warmer on the most powerful of our products - the MEGA6"

Your answer mentions that you are looking into changing the resistors to increase the brightness. So can you give me an estimate of the effectivness of the change. Again, is it 20,40,60% brighter with a 10, 40, 80% shorter runtime? Please give me something to go on.

Also If I choose to do this to my light are you offering to make the change at no charge if I pay for shipping.

Thanks -Tim

The brightness/runtime will take time here to perform the tests, but you can plan on twice the light for half the time being a good rule of thumb

The heatsink in the product is more than enough to allow the LEDs to run at full current

Again, one problem would always be the ESR of the batteries, which would also limit the max amount of current - we simply can't test every battery combination

Yes, updating it would be just the shipping cost

TO ALL READERS - OK, my earlier posts really ragged on the Helios, while I'm not going back on anything I said, I do want to acknowlege that Mike at Inretech has been very helpful and has offered a reasonable solution, at no charge (sans shipping), to make me a more satisfied customer. I'll venture to say that you really can't get hurt with a purchase from a company when they are this willing to satisfy their customers.

Rest assured I'll be doing a full review of this light after it's been modified by Inretech. About twice the brightness and half the runtime sounds fantastic, I would be very happy with that kind of performance.

Mike, About twice the brightness for half the runtime would be perfect with me. I'm anxious to have this done. Please direct me as to my next step. I'd be happy to send my Helios back and have the conversion done, or if it's easier for you to build a new helios with the different resistors from scratch, I'll send mine back (it has been used for less than 1hour) in trade for the other unit. Please let me know if you are ready for this to happen now, or if you need to do further testing on the resistors to get the best combination.

Thanks --Tim

WOW that's great service!

.

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DrJ said:
KartRacer31...do you plan on using alkaline batteries, or rechargeables?

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Actually I like to use both. When I run it in the 6/aa configuration I'll use rechargables. In the 6/D configuration alky. If I'm using it in the 6/d config. the power in my house is out and I want it to have long runtime, and the large size of 6/d isn't a problem for that situation. The 2/d body and 6/aa rechargeables come into play most other times.

PS - I'll be sending my Helios out to Mike at Inretech tomorrow for an output upgrade. I'll be posting a full review of it shortly after I get it back. --Tim

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