Streamlight TL-3 LED question

The beam on the TL-3 LED is supposed to be adjustable (according to the manual and Streamlight's website), but as soon as I rotate the bezel more than a degree or two, the light shuts off.

Looking at the innards, it appears that the LED module depends on the reflector to press it into the positive battery contact to make the circuit. In some orientations, , the LED will light dimly (just enough to see the 4 dice in semi-darkness)[/i].

Loosening the tailcap has a very slight effect on focus.

I'd guess that the TL-3 LED isn't really meant to be focusable (unlike the xenon variety), and it's a goof on Streamlight's part... but if it is supposed to be focusable, is there anything I can do to fix it? I've considered some sort of conductive spacer in the battery compartment.

My fairly early model TL-3 LED is definitely focusable, with no "shut down" at any point.

You might try cleaning the contacts that you can reach with a pencil eraser/etc. Clean the battery ends/tailcap spring also.

The original TL3-LED was adjustable. The current model is not. I think it has something to do with a lawsuit from Mag Flashlights.

When you unscrew the head, the LED holder is pushed away from the metal liner that acts as one of the conductors. This turns it off.

If you drive a small screw into the spot where the LED holder meets the body it should hold it in place and allow you to focus the light. This means that you'll lose direct contact with the reflector which is acting as part of the heat sink.

Mine is already perfectly focused, so there's no advantage to changing mine.

Daniel

Hi Erik,
I am assuming this is the light that you got from me off of the BST board. I had no idea if it was adjustable or not since it was still in the clamshell. I have the TL-2 LED and it is fully adjustable. I hope you are not too disapointed with it. I am glad to see that it made it you in fast order. Did I use a big enough box /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif?
Jeff

Jeff:
It works great and I'm pleased with it. The lack of focusing looked to be by design - I just wanted to see if I was missing anything obvious. It's not going to light up a small cabin 2 miles across a lake, but its focus pattern is a nice compromise between spot and flood. Also, the tailcap switch doesn't allow for lockout (and 123s aren't cheap!).

The box was so large I almost thought that I'd gotten something else entirely unexpected!

The reflector looks to be a large percentage of the heatsink mass, so I'll leave that alone.

I'm not sure what about the TL-3 LED would prompt mag to sue streamlight - there are plenty of flashlights that focus by unscrewing the head; and most of those are so cheap that I doubt they're paying mag any "royalties" or "licensing fees."

Many of the lights that look similar to a MAG are being changed. The Garrity 2AA that looks a little like the minimag lost it's focus capability this year. It turns off if you unscrew the head. I think all the new Garrity's are doing that.

The Pelican M6 Lithium has gone from a focusable reflctor + seperate lamp with spring to a new design where the lamp is glued into the reflector. It no longer focuses.

I saw some others, but can't remember which ones at the moment. I think a lawsuit was mentioned in another thread.

Daniel.