tutorbell
Newly Enlightened
I was wondering if there is a way to indentify the various generations of lamp assemblies for the TL. Does the box have an indication, or is there some kind of marking on the lamp itself?
Bryan
Bryan
TigerLight Lamp Assembly--how to identify?
- Thread starter tutorbell
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SilverFox
Flashaholic
Hello Bryan,
I believe you have to plug it in and turn it on to tell the difference.
You can do a search to find what the various lamps look like.
Tom
I believe you have to plug it in and turn it on to tell the difference.
You can do a search to find what the various lamps look like.
Tom
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
Bryan,
The Gen 1 LA have no lip at the top edge of the reflector. Also, the inside of the Gen 1 is perfectly smooth and shiny.
The Gen 2 & 3 have a lip, and the inside surface is not perfectly shiny--presumably to help a tiny bit with beam artifacts. Also, down near where the lamp is potted into the reflector, there is a bit of difference between the Gen 1 & the others--the others go slightly off parabolic, but unless you've compared them side by side it would be impossible to tell just from that.
Also the outside surface of the Gen 1 reflector is dull, while the outside of the Gen 2 & 3 are more shiny.
There may be a Gen 4 out now, but I don't think there should be much difference between a 3 and a 4. And I don't know what the difference is bewteen a 2 and 3.
The Gen 1 LA have no lip at the top edge of the reflector. Also, the inside of the Gen 1 is perfectly smooth and shiny.
The Gen 2 & 3 have a lip, and the inside surface is not perfectly shiny--presumably to help a tiny bit with beam artifacts. Also, down near where the lamp is potted into the reflector, there is a bit of difference between the Gen 1 & the others--the others go slightly off parabolic, but unless you've compared them side by side it would be impossible to tell just from that.
Also the outside surface of the Gen 1 reflector is dull, while the outside of the Gen 2 & 3 are more shiny.
There may be a Gen 4 out now, but I don't think there should be much difference between a 3 and a 4. And I don't know what the difference is bewteen a 2 and 3.
tutorbell
Newly Enlightened
Jim, thanks for the explanation...
According to Dan at Tactical Warehouse my TigerLight has the newest LA, a Gen 4. He said it has been released within the past two or three weeks. It was drop shipped from TL about two weeks ago.
But the appearance of the beam has me wondering if this is an improvement.
It's not like a Gen 1--the beam is bright white and does not yellow until close to 60 minutes of runtime. My lamp does have a lip at the top, like a Gen 3, but it is also quite shiny inside. Also the outside is very dull, almost gray like aluminum oxide looks.
And the beam has what I think are described as batwing artifacts--in other words, it kinda looks like this:
>O<
The "O" is the hotspot, and the "><" are the pie-shaped dark areas in the beam. So in that respect, it looks like what people describe as a Gen 2. I don't have any beamshots of previous ones to compare to, so I don't know what to think.
It appears bright but the batwings are bothersome. Why is TigerLight having such a problem finding a good manufacturer of lamp assemblies?
-Bryan
According to Dan at Tactical Warehouse my TigerLight has the newest LA, a Gen 4. He said it has been released within the past two or three weeks. It was drop shipped from TL about two weeks ago.
But the appearance of the beam has me wondering if this is an improvement.
It's not like a Gen 1--the beam is bright white and does not yellow until close to 60 minutes of runtime. My lamp does have a lip at the top, like a Gen 3, but it is also quite shiny inside. Also the outside is very dull, almost gray like aluminum oxide looks.
And the beam has what I think are described as batwing artifacts--in other words, it kinda looks like this:
>O<
The "O" is the hotspot, and the "><" are the pie-shaped dark areas in the beam. So in that respect, it looks like what people describe as a Gen 2. I don't have any beamshots of previous ones to compare to, so I don't know what to think.
It appears bright but the batwings are bothersome. Why is TigerLight having such a problem finding a good manufacturer of lamp assemblies?
-Bryan
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
Bryan,
I messed up on the outside finish thing: all the Gen 1-4 LA have a dullish outer surface. Sorry about that.
As for the batwings, I'm not sure what's going on. My Gen 3 doesn't have any batwings, or none to speak of, really. It's a fairly pretty beam, but not as pretty as a SF beam, but also much tighter than the non turbo head SF beams.
In any case, though, I would take the bright and white with the batwings and consider it a net gain. This may be why TigerLight has taken what to some may be a step backwards (if indeed this Gen4 is typical): they got a brighter whiter LA in exchange for a bit more artifacts in the beam. TigerLight manages to squeeze out a lot of light and runtime from these long-life lamps, which is quite remarkable. I can do the same thing with the over-driven WA lamps, but they won't last for 6 months guaranteed! (And reports are that the TL LA's last for significantly longer than this, even when used by LEO's on a daily basis). At this level of performance, it's all trading off a bit of one thing for another.
Try emailing Mr Teig about this. I know for sure that he can answer the question better than I can.
I messed up on the outside finish thing: all the Gen 1-4 LA have a dullish outer surface. Sorry about that.
As for the batwings, I'm not sure what's going on. My Gen 3 doesn't have any batwings, or none to speak of, really. It's a fairly pretty beam, but not as pretty as a SF beam, but also much tighter than the non turbo head SF beams.
In any case, though, I would take the bright and white with the batwings and consider it a net gain. This may be why TigerLight has taken what to some may be a step backwards (if indeed this Gen4 is typical): they got a brighter whiter LA in exchange for a bit more artifacts in the beam. TigerLight manages to squeeze out a lot of light and runtime from these long-life lamps, which is quite remarkable. I can do the same thing with the over-driven WA lamps, but they won't last for 6 months guaranteed! (And reports are that the TL LA's last for significantly longer than this, even when used by LEO's on a daily basis). At this level of performance, it's all trading off a bit of one thing for another.
Try emailing Mr Teig about this. I know for sure that he can answer the question better than I can.
tutorbell
Newly Enlightened
Maybe I should back down a little bit...
I didn't think about the fact that the bulbs are guaranteed to last six months. When I take that into account, it seems that they really are making some disparate things (light/runtime vs bulb life) possible.
In any case, the batwings disappear when you are targeting anything 50+ feet out...
Bryan
I didn't think about the fact that the bulbs are guaranteed to last six months. When I take that into account, it seems that they really are making some disparate things (light/runtime vs bulb life) possible.
In any case, the batwings disappear when you are targeting anything 50+ feet out...
Bryan
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
[ QUOTE ]
tutorbell said:
Maybe I should back down a little bit...
I didn't think about the fact that the bulbs are guaranteed to last six months. When I take that into account, it seems that they really are making some disparate things (light/runtime vs bulb life) possible.
In any case, the batwings disappear when you are targeting anything 50+ feet out...
Bryan
[/ QUOTE ]
Bryan,
No need to back down at all! If a LA has batwings, then it has batwings--and that's not a plus. I've never seen a Gen4 LA so I couldn't say what the beam is like. Anyway, if you loose them at 50+ feet, that's probably a complete non-issue as far as TL is concerned, but I'm just guessing and putting words in their mouths.
tutorbell said:
Maybe I should back down a little bit...
I didn't think about the fact that the bulbs are guaranteed to last six months. When I take that into account, it seems that they really are making some disparate things (light/runtime vs bulb life) possible.
In any case, the batwings disappear when you are targeting anything 50+ feet out...
Bryan
[/ QUOTE ]
Bryan,
No need to back down at all! If a LA has batwings, then it has batwings--and that's not a plus. I've never seen a Gen4 LA so I couldn't say what the beam is like. Anyway, if you loose them at 50+ feet, that's probably a complete non-issue as far as TL is concerned, but I'm just guessing and putting words in their mouths.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
I found out yesterday that the Gen4 LA's should be more or less identicle to the Gen3 LA's (The brighter, whiter LA's didn't work out--too fragile; instaflashing hot off the charger; shorter life; etc). So if you feel the artifacts in yours are too much, give TigerLight a call and I'm sure they'll swap you out LA's. My Gen3 LA has no batwings at any distance.
brightnorm
Flashaholic
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2001
- Messages
- 7,160
I have seven Tigerlight lamp/refector modules dating from Tigerlight's inception to about six months ago and I have found no clear pattern of excellence or lack thereof. I still think it's the luck of the draw, the lamp equivalent of the Luxeon lottery. Perhaps there has been a technological advance in the last few months but I wouldn't bet on it.
Brightnorm
Brightnorm
SilverFox
Flashaholic
Hello Bryan,
I must admit that the best lamp I have had in my TigerLight was a SL35X. It just did not last that long. Nor did the second and third ones I tried. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
The best TigerLight lamp I have is a Gen I that Chris at FlashlightLens sprayed something on the reflector. It has a nice smooth beam at the cost of a bit of throw. I don't know if he is still offering that lamp.
Tom
I must admit that the best lamp I have had in my TigerLight was a SL35X. It just did not last that long. Nor did the second and third ones I tried. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
The best TigerLight lamp I have is a Gen I that Chris at FlashlightLens sprayed something on the reflector. It has a nice smooth beam at the cost of a bit of throw. I don't know if he is still offering that lamp.
Tom
