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User Review: Nitefighter BT40S ( CAt Review )

205K views 1K replies 119 participants last post by  Dictatorsaurus 
#1 ·
First Ride; Initial first impression;

I received the BT40S just before leaving for work yesterday. Today I had some good weather so I put the lamp on my bars and took off for a test run.

The BT40S I found to be an interesting lamp. I'll speak more about the setup later but first I want to talk about the ride. Starting temperature for the ride was about 70°F. The 40S is much smaller than I expected, slightly smaller than a typical Tri-clone lamp. Being smaller than expected I was a little worried about over heating. The lamp did get slightly warm to the touch on the higher modes but over all was not a problem. The lamp is set-up with 4-neutral XP-G2 Cree LEDs.

I was pleasantly surprised that the output and beam pattern were quite useable regardless of mode being used. The lamp ( with standard optic ) throws out a medium wide beam pattern that expands the farther out it goes. Because of this the throw suffers a little but not to the point of being unusable. In all I had a very pleasant ride and found I could actual ride almost anything in the lowest mode with no problems unless I really began to ride faster. With the standard optics the beam pattern shines everything very well close to the bike. Distance throw on low is maybe 40-50 feet depending on terrain. The lighter the trail surface the more the light would carry. Over all I was very please with the low mode, that too was unexpected ( Note* I did try the flood optic and yes it supplies a very massive flood beam. No doubt some may like that but sadly it absolutely kills the throw which IMO makes it unusable. )

Distance viewing with the BT40S is a little different than the other bike lamps I have. I have yet to measure the useable distance throw but judging from the initial trail ride and the test I did on a soccer field later after the ride, I would think about 150ft max ( on high ). While this is not near as far as my Gloworms or KD2 lamp can throw it is still enough for general bar use IMO. I also found the lamp worked very well with my other helmet lamp I was using ( SSX3-neutral ). With both lamps on low I could ride almost anything and had no problems seeing, even when riding fast.

The two higher modes of the BT40S ( the lamp has four modes ) were of course better for seeing things a little farther out. During the ride when I used my SSX3 ( on helmet ) I found the two beam patterns complemented each other very well. So much for the initial ride. I'll follow up with more ride reports as I go. As with all my reviews I comment on the things I notice as I go along.

Now a little more about about the BT40S lamp itself. In this section I'll talk about the good and the not so good. The lamp has a large back section where the mode buttons are. Yes, I said "buttons" with an s. Some people will like this type of switch but I've not yet made a decision on it. Press any button and the lamp comes on. The upper button moves the lamp to lower mode levels, the lower button move the modes to upper levels. For the most part I had no problem working the buttons but it does take getting used to.

I did have to do something about the translucent plastic piece that covers the rear buttons. When you turn the lamp on a very bright green voltage indicator illuminates the entire back of the lamp. This I found not to be to my liking. Before leaving for the ride I just cut out a round piece of black duct tape and placed it in the middle, leaving just a small illuminated edge which turned out to work very well for me. Without doing that I would of had WAY too much light shining in my face from the voltage indicators. After the quick fix all worked well and I had no problems seeing or working with the lamp while riding. I'm not completely sold on this two-part UP/Down switch but it worked fine and as such I'll not count it as a negative.

Well, every lamp has some flaws and the BT40S is no exception to the rule. The 40S comes with two sets of optics. The standard and the flood. When I took the retaining ring off the front of the light to try the flood optic I was not impressed with what I saw. First, the emitter board is only held down with a bit of thermal paste ( and the pressure from the quad-optic once installed ). Not a big problem as I see it but you do have to make sure to reposition the emitter board if it slides around while putting in the optics. I had no problem doing this and when finished I found that the lamp got warmer when on. No doubt the retaining ring needed to be tightened to make sure the board was getting better thermal contact.

Last but not least; the biggest negative issue ( IMO ) is that the design of the front of the lamp doesn't seem to take much thought into preventing water ingress.
There is no O-ring at all toward the front of the lamp. That being the case I can see two places that water might be able to enter. . First, around the retaining ring and secondly where the ring contacts the plastic one piece quad optic. A flat good size O-ring might help the water around the optic but if it's too thick the retaining ring won't be able to completely seal. Sadly , the only fix I can see that might work is to use some kind of light grease or sealant to prevent water ingress. That said I've tried doing that to other lamps before without much success. Going forward, I have to try because otherwise I'd never use any lamp on my bars that I wasn't sure could handle a good rain. Hopefully someone else will have some ideas or perhaps the grease idea will be sufficient. It would be a shame to dismiss this lamp for such a problem. Later, I'll test the lamp for water ingress once I do something to fix the problem.

To whom it may concern; This lamp was provided by Nitefighter ( free of charge ) for review purposes. I have no interest in selling Nitefighter or any other brand lamp. My intent is to do an honest user review of the product and give an honest opinion ( pro or con ) on the quality and usability of the product. Thank you. CAt
 
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#39 ·
ok I think I found something on this light that is kind of worrisome. Was messing around with the mount trying to install the vancbiker gopro mount on the BT40S when I noticed that the original o-ring mount came with a very short screw and most of the threads on the screw are only attached to the finned portion of the light and by my estimate, probably only 2 or 3 threads(or less) are attached to the solid round hole portion of the lighthead past the finned portion.
I'm pretty paranoid about the light coming loose from all the bouncing around on a mtb so I think a longer screw is necessary here. I'm not exactly sure what is the longest screw that will fit yet since its too late to go to the hardware store but but I'm going to try M4x8mm and M4x6mm tomorrow when the store is open.
 
#40 ·
you have room to play with but not much. All these stock come with a very short screw, up to use to find the right size crew for our lights to fit the gopro adapters.

But IMHO (for everyone else) there is no need for a finned mount with these im yet to get mine near as hot as my yinding. Even now that I turned my driver up a fair bit still doesnt get THAT hot, might warrant a finned mount now but not a "need" like the yinding.
 
#41 ·
you have room to play with but not much. All these stock come with a very short screw, up to use to find the right size crew for our lights to fit the gopro adapters.

But IMHO (for everyone else) there is no need for a finned mount with these im yet to get mine near as hot as my yinding. Even now that I turned my driver up a fair bit still doesnt get THAT hot, might warrant a finned mount now but not a "need" like the yinding.
I think I didn't make myself very clear. I'm saying even with the plastic o-ring mount, you'd need a 6mm screw or 8mm screw to get good thread engagement into the solid portion of the lighthead.
For the(non-finned) gopro adapter from vancbiker I'll probably need a 12 or 14mm screw.
 
#42 · (Edited)
Yes the shell can accomodate like a 2mm longer screw shaft, so you're probably looking at a 10mm screw for the plastic mount and 16mm for Vancbiker's adapter (which unless you spring for the one he customized for the Nitefighter, will have to be shaved down on one end to accomodate the fin on the BT40S that protudes after the area flattened for the original plastic mount.) Make sure to bring the lamp with you into the store to fit, because there can be a bit of variance in length of the screw shaft, both due to margin of error in manufacture and how the head is shaped (as it is included in screw length.) And don't forget the Loctite!

BTW more worrisome to me is that plastic mount is only about 1mm thick under the rim of the screw head, so may not be able to long withstand the pressure needed to hold it tight, along with the forces mentioned working against it on a MTB. Maybe sealing in a flat washer and topping of with a lock or flex washer could help, there is certainly enough room to play with. Of course that addition woulf have to be factored in to the screw length, could be close to another 2mm.

EDIT: Problem sorta solved. Washers won't fit, exterior diameters too wide. So picked up a pack of #60 O-rings, stuffed one into the empty recess of the plastic mount, screwed in a SS M4 x 10mm, holds tight. Only flaw, still haven't reinforced the thin layer of plastic below the screw head rim; hoping the O-ring will alleviate enough of the stress to keep the mount from disintegrating right away. Also scored a tube of epoxy putty to be prepared for that eventuality. Incidentally, screw I used was flat head, i.e.: cone shaped. O-ring was able to accommodate that easily, for any of youse guys who can't dig up a 10mm round or pan head M4 locally.
 
#43 ·
I leave the sourcing of a mounting screw up the user for the very reasons discussed here. I've had folks tell me that they can only thread ~2-2.5mm into the body of some lights before running out of threads. Some clone lights are threaded into the drive housing and too long a screw can contact driver components.

The tab on the standard and finned adapter is a bit over 6mm thick. At minimum, a 10mm long screw and a drop of threadlocker is recommended. If someone has a light body with minimal threads, I'd advise getting a slightly too long screw and shortening it just until it tightened up well to get the max possible thread engagement.
 
#45 ·
No tigris, it is a bit different and tailor made for the BT40S. Edges curve up around the lamp's barrel, which is great, but the circle of material under the screw head rim is much thinner than on most mounts - at least on my unit, which also has a choppy, irregular surface on that underside. It is quite fragile looking in comparison to any of my others. But don't really think mine is a fluke, because were the plastic even 1mm thicker there, then the M4 x 8mm screw as what came with it would probably not make it past the fins and into the solid part of the shell at all. To put it another way, am pretty sure I could not break off any of my other plastic mounts from the lamp head without a lot of effort, but am afraid with the BT40S would be all too easy. Um... am not gonna try. :p
 
#48 ·
Interesting idea to run two but as bar lamps go I think one is enough. Still if running two it would be great if there was a quad optic available that offered more throw. Then it would make more sense running one flood and one spot. Other than that if I were to run two I'd just use the standard optic for both. Of course we must remember that a Nitefighter 7-up is suppose to be in the works. As for me I'm fine with just the quad on the bar and a SSX3 on the lid.

( edit ) Sorry needed to add more thoughts. Perhaps the proposed duel set-up ( above ) might work out well. I figure if both are kept to the second or third mode that would provide a very wide and usable beam pattern without using up too much battery power.
I would recommend a good 6-cell battery though ( if using a "Y" cable ).
 
#50 ·
Overkill, I agree but this is just a setup to compare 2 optics.
Plan is to retrofit one of the lights with MT-G2.

(edit) 6 or even 8 cell battery pack is a must, 1 and 2 level would be ok with 4 cell battery pack, 3rd level maybe for a short runs but 4th level just draws too much amps and 4 cell battery will not be able to keep up for a long time.
Y cable I got is quite short, total length is only 28cm and the cables are even thicker than those on lights, not sure what's inside thou, but they fit very nicely and they are waterproof or should I say splashproof.
 
#52 ·
Aight I need the all you that know more about cree emitters than the rest of us:

I was looking at going xp-g2 s3, waiting for "in stock" again

Then it occurred to me, XP-L. LAtest version is v6, at 1.5A is right on par (actually slightly higher) that xm-l2, 100lumens specced higher than best xp-g2. XP series, so would fit the board in the bt40.

Any reason NOT TO???? Make for one STUPID BRIGHT BT40,lol.
 
#65 ·
Interesting; I didn't know there was an upgraded version of the XP-L. Very good news that is. Stats on the XP-L ( high density ) look promising.

The BT40S looks like a lamp that might be easier to mod. I don't know how much current is passing through each LED but if it's near 1.2A , if you could mod with a quad XP-L ( High Density ) and find a quad optic to fit the lamp you could conceivably get ~ 2000 lumen OTF ( with neutral LED's ) with no driver mod. Depends of course on how much current is available and of course if you can find a quad emitter board and optic that will fit the current set-up. That said, might be a while till such becomes available. Might be one of the reasons why there is no Nitefighter 7-up yet.

Tonight I go out to test my neutral lamps again. While out there I plan to test the torch I have with ( cool white ) XP-L emitter. Most of the time though I'll be focused on the BT40S and the provided battery. Things are turning green in my area so I might be able to get some interesting photo's.
 
#60 ·
Ok well that was all the info I needed, I was concerned about driver compatibility and such. I'm good have no issues modifying.

Btw ledoman that spec is cree found people dedoming leds, so they did the same basically cutting the dome way down. But improved output when using optics. Which I just discovered the other night. A 45deg on a dedomed is actually brighter with much less spill then regular dome emitter with a 45 deg optic.
 
#63 ·
This is a really nice light, used it again tonight and it is fantastic on the bars. I do have those issues with the indicator changing early and I know it's super sensitive as I was running the mudder case with ncr18650pf (high drain) cells this time, no extension, straight into the port on the case so less than a foot of cable total. It's a great flooder and seems to have very good thermal transfer out of the box
 
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