Trustfire TR-801

[JimZinVT]

I've heard a few people here recommend this Trustfire TR-801 flashlight as a good option for use as a helmet light. It's a single mode light, 230 lumens. I see they also offer a 5-mode Trustfire TR-801 which seems to have the same specs, as far as emitter, battery, lumens, etc. Does anyone have any experience with that one? I like the idea of having 3 brightness levels, to conserve power.

Thanks.

JZ

[HuffyPuffy]

I was just thinking of getting one of those for the same reason, after seeing this thread:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=453678

(check the link in the thread for beamshots)

That looks like a powerful light for it's size. The only drawback (for me) is that it does not use AA's, even so I could overlook that for a good light.

This is the one I use on my helmet and it does the job (not super, but better than most). On high on a dark night it really helps to see around corners:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12093

I just read some of the reviews on DX and took another look at the beamshots from the link and it does not look like it has quite the throw to make a difference for me. One review says it is not a thrower. On the helmet I like a good throwing light with the bar light filling in for the flood.

[JimZinVT]

I went ahead and ordered one....I'll let you all know what I think when it shows up.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

OK it arrived today, I strapped it to my helmet and took it out for a night ride tonight, and I'm diggin' it! Thank you to Capnstem, who recommended the TR-801s in an earlier thread.

I ordered this light (same specs as above but with 3 brightness levels), these batteries, and this charger.

First, let me say don't order that charger....it's crap. On mine the left side shuts down the charge early and the status LED doesn't work right. If I had read the feedback on the DX website I would have known it was junk. Capnstem recommended this one in the other thread, and I think I'll get one next time I put in an order.

I don't have any other "good" LED lights, and I was riding solo tonight, so I don't have anything to compare this to. But it's definitely bright enough on high....brighter than the 12w side of my dual halogen handlebar light, and similar to running both the 12 & 20w halogens together, but much whiter. (that may not be a fair comparison...the battery pack on that light is dying...I'll see how they compare when the new pack arrives next week). And it doesn't have the pronounced blueish tint of some other LED lights I've seen.

Medium level is still pretty bright; fine for climbing on singletrack. Low is on the dim side for riding, but perfect for trailside repairs or digging through the camelback looking for the Snickers bars. There is also an amusing disco strobe mode, and a pointless SOS mode (unless maybe you're lost at sea?) It has mode-memory....whatever level it's at when you turn it off will be what it turns back on to. And a cool glow-in-the-dark rubber clicky switch on the back end. It's 4.5" long, 1" in diameter, and weighs about 3.75 ounces with the battery.

Capnstem said the single-brightness version of this light was more of a flood beam. Again, I have nothing to compare to, but this 5-mode model has a fairly strong center spot, with a wide but dimmer side spill. Similar to the spot beams of my halogen light. I'd love to add a pair of the floodier single mode 801s on my bars...that should be a sweet set-up. But since I just ordered a new battery for the halogens, that will have to wait.

I rode tonight for 2 hours, switching between the 3 brightness levels frequently, according to speed and terrain. I didn't notice any decrease in brightness in that time. The fully charged battery measures 4.2v; after my ride it measured 3.8v.....still above the battery's rated voltage of 3.7! I won't hesitate to run it at full brightness more often on future rides....the runtime should be more than adequate for my standard 2 hour night rides. And the spare battery is in the camelback if needed. I think this is an awesome little light, especially for about $40 all up.

JZ

[Cino]

Thanks Jim,

Could we trouble you for some beam shots?

[capnstem]

Glad you like it. I recently had flicker issues with mine, and found that the pill (if you can call it that) that holds the rear switch was not screwed tightly. I used a set of longnose pliers and wound it in tighter (you can use the 2 little grooves in the pill to latch onto). I have a belief that the pill starts to unscrew eventually (either from the bumpy trails, or from the unscrewing action during battery removal). In any case - it is a very easy fix - so do not feel let down by this little wonder. It does have a strong white spot, but its spill is quite excellent (giving it the impression of a flood torch). Compared to my other torches that don't have the same spill, these guys are my fav light for bush bashing. Had a chance to compare it to a Fenix Q5 (it took 2xCR123's) - so I am not sure of its model number. But that torch was quite spotty with very little spill.

[notnormal]

Did you order 1 or 2 of these? I found 1 okay for off-road mtb night riding. The hot spot was good but the spill was a little bit dim. I'd say equivalent to a 15W halogen mtb light. However, 2 of these were great. Larger hot spot area, and the overlapping spill was very nice and bright. Two of these replaced my 20W halogen spot light, on my helmet. Easily brighter and much more usable (more compact, no wires, etc).

[rideandshoot]

I have a single mode TF-801. So far so good. I'm running it on my helmet along with a bar mounted amoeba flood light. Two early morning rides here in Phoenix were fine. Ambient air temp around 85 degrees F. Tonight I'm riding and it will be more like 93degrees. Hoping the heat doesn't hurt either the 801 or the amoeba...

[RandyBoy]

I placed a good size $90 order for a P7 MTE 5 mode 12060 and a TF801 single mode with 4 18650 Blue TrustFire protected batteries and a charger on 10-3-08 at 8 AM, and a TF801 5 mode on 10-8-08 (today), so we'll see... seems to take them a while to get the items from the vendor before they ship out and notify you.

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by Cino

Thanks Jim,
Could we trouble you for some beam shots?

Yeah, I can give it a try. Are there some sort of standard camera settings used for beam shots? f-stop, exposure time, iso setting? I have a digital camera with a manual mode, and a tripod.

Seems to me if there was a standard procedure it would be easy to compare shots from different people.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by capnstem

Glad you like it. I recently had flicker issues with mine, and found that the pill (if you can call it that) that holds the rear switch was not screwed tightly.

When I first got mine and installed the battery it was flickering. I found that the rear cap really needed to be tightened down firmly to make good electrical contact. I should check that lockring too.

(I keep seeing the term "pill" being used in reference to something in these led lights, but I'm still not sure what it means. I was a pharmacist in a previous career....I know what a pill is, and there aren't any inside this light :-)

Originally Posted by capnstem

It does have a strong white spot, but its spill is quite excellent (giving it the impression of a flood torch).

I just discovered while sitting here fiddling with it that the front portion of the light can be unscrewed 2 different ways: removing the entire light head, or just removing the lens and reflector, leaving the led unit in place. By unscrewing the reflector section slightly the center spot can be expanded. You can't go far, or you're no longer compressing the rubber o-ring, and the reflector section could rattle itself off while riding. But maybe putting a fatter o-ring on might help keep it snug. I'll have to see what they have at the hardware store....they have a drawer full of o-rings.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by notnormal

Did you order 1 or 2 of these? I found 1 okay for off-road mtb night riding. The hot spot was good but the spill was a little bit dim. I'd say equivalent to a 15W halogen mtb light. However, 2 of these were great. Larger hot spot area, and the overlapping spill was very nice and bright. Two of these replaced my 20W halogen spot light, on my helmet. Easily brighter and much more usable (more compact, no wires, etc).

I'm running one on the helmet, with a dual 12w+20w halogen setup on the bars. I'd love to run 2 more on the bars, in place of the halogens....I think that would be a great setup. But I just ordered (before the TR-801 had arrived) a new 14.4v 5Ah battery pack for the halogens....over-volting them is supposed to dramatically increase their light output. We'll see how that works out.

I've read that halogens put out 15-20 lumens per watt, so you're right, one of these should be similar to a 15w halogen. But so much whiter light....I can't believe how yellow my halogens look in comparison.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by rideandshoot

air temp around 85 degrees F. Tonight I'm riding and it will be more like 93degrees. Hoping the heat doesn't hurt either the 801 or the amoeba...

Wow...your air temps are about double what we've seen here in VT the last few days!

I've noticed no heat problems with the 801. I haven't really been paying attention to heat while riding, but when I reach up to change brightness, I haven't noticed that it's warm at all. And my helmet has not caught on fire. Running it on high mode for 5 minutes, here on the desk with no airflow, it gets warm but not too hot to hold.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

I've had a ship time of 8 days on my last 2 shipments.(from the date their tracking site says it leaves Hong Kong).

[rideandshoot]

Both operated perfectly. It ended up being a little cooler than expected by the time we switched the lights on. Still it was near 90 degrees F and no problems with either. They both got warm, the amoeba was very warm at the top of the longest climb but performance never dropped off at all.

[Cat-man-do]

JimZinVt wrote: ...(I keep seeing the term "pill" being used in reference to something in these led lights, but I'm still not sure what it means....and.. ( about the TR-801 )...I just discovered while sitting here fiddling with it that the front portion of the light can be unscrewed 2 different ways: removing the entire light head, or just removing the lens and reflector, leaving the led unit in place. By unscrewing the reflector section slightly the center spot can be expanded. You can't go far, or you're no longer compressing the rubber o-ring, and the reflector section could rattle itself off while riding. But maybe putting a fatter o-ring on might help keep it snug. I'll have to see what they have at the hardware store....they have a drawer full of o-rings.

Some LED torches have the LED/driver attached to a metal plug that screws into the torch tube. I believe the term "pill" refers to that metal plug. ( if I'm wrong about that someone please correct me ) About moving the reflector....Yes I too noticed the same thing when I was fooling around with my P-7 torch. Because a P-7 torch uses an "orange peel " ( textured ) type reflector, I found that when I unscrewed it a tad I could get a little better center hot spot. Tonight, messing with the torch again, I decided I was going to do some throw comparisons of the P-7 with the reflector in different positions. If I see more throw with the tighter hot spot I'll post some photos. I like your idea of using some more O-rings to lock the position in although I'm not sure that would work on my P-7 torch. My idea was to use some Loc-tite on the threads. I've not tried it yet because I don't know what kind would work best. I also need some for my disc brake levers ( Hayes niners ) to keep the adjustment screw set. When I find the right type I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone.. ...Recommendations anyone?

[capnstem]

Cat-man-do - i think you're right. I have been seen the folks over at CPF refer to the metal plug which typically holds the LED on one side, and a snug fitting driver on the other side a "pill". Having said that, I have seen the metal plug thingy on the other side that typically holds the reverse or forward clicky a "pill" too. Who knows, maybe any metal plug thingy that contains electrical goodies and screws into a torch barrel might be called pills!

I am still kinda new to this stuff too. For instance, I have only worked out what a forward or reverse clicky is in the last month! (and no, the CPF did not have anything to do with the discovery!)

[sxr-racer]

Originally Posted by Cat-man-do

Some LED torches have the LED/driver attached to a metal plug that screws into the torch tube. I believe the term "pill" refers to that metal plug. ( if I'm wrong about that someone please correct me ) About moving the reflector....Yes I too noticed the same thing when I was fooling around with my P-7 torch. Because a P-7 torch uses an "orange peel " ( textured ) type reflector, I found that when I unscrewed it a tad I could get a little better center hot spot. Tonight, messing with the torch again, I decided I was going to do some throw comparisons of the P-7 with the reflector in different positions. If I see more throw with the tighter hot spot I'll post some photos. I like your idea of using some more O-rings to lock the position in although I'm not sure that would work on my P-7 torch. My idea was to use some Loc-tite on the threads. I've not tried it yet because I don't know what kind would work best. I also need some for my disc brake levers ( Hayes niners ) to keep the adjustment screw set. When I find the right type I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone.. ...Recommendations anyone?

Loctite "Blue" would do fine. Green should be ok also, just do not use the Red.

[notnormal]

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

But I just ordered (before the TR-801 had arrived) a new 14.4v 5Ah battery pack for the halogens....over-volting them is supposed to dramatically increase their light output. We'll see how that works out.

Going from 12V to 14.4V should see an 85% increase in output of light.

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

I've read that halogens put out 15-20 lumens per watt, so you're right, one of these should be similar to a 15w halogen. But so much whiter light....I can't believe how yellow my halogens look in comparison.

That's the thing, the colour/tint of the light. I've read that the eye perceives white/blue better at night then yellow.

[Johnnydrz]

... Actually, I've heard that you needed less power from a yellow light for it to be perceived...That's why the fake HID bulbs (the standard bulbs with a light blue coating) you can buy in car shops, are more than the standard 50/55 watts, in order to compensate for lower visibility.

...That's what I've read !!!

Johnnydrz

[RandyBoy]

Well, the wait is going to be long, after ordering on Oct 3rd, with the webpage indicating that they were in stock... I now get a ETA from their Vendor for batteries being 10-13 in Hong Kong, and not until 10-18 for the lights. The charger has shipped, though I'll have nothing to charge in it for another week or more, depending on how much the date slips for delivery of lights and the batteries to run them.

Do these 18650 batteries come fully charged, half charged, or dead?

Patience.... I think Turveyd and his buddies put a run on these lights. BTW the TR801 5 mode I have on order has shipped, I only placed that order Wednesday afternoon, it Thursday Morning here now. ..

[notnormal]

Originally Posted by Johnnydrz

... Actually, I've heard that you needed less power from a yellow light for it to be perceived...That's why the fake HID bulbs (the standard bulbs with a light blue coating) you can buy in car shops, are more than the standard 50/55 watts, in order to compensate for lower visibility.

...That's what I've read !!!

Johnnydrz

Photopic (Daylight vision) - perceives green the best, and then yellow.
Scotopic (Dark adjusted vision) - perceives blue the best.



As for the fake HID bulbs, they're using a blue filter to only allow blue light through. All other wavelengths are absorbed by the filter. This is not the same a true HID bulb that naturally produces light in the blue spectrum.

[Johnnydrz]

Thank you Notnormal !!! I learned something today thanks to you!!!

Johnnydrz

[sxr-racer]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

Well, the wait is going to be long, after ordering on Oct 3rd, with the webpage indicating that they were in stock... I now get a ETA from their Vendor for batteries being 10-13 in Hong Kong, and not until 10-18 for the lights. The charger has shipped, though I'll have nothing to charge in it for another week or more, depending on how much the date slips for delivery of lights and the batteries to run them.

Patience.... I think Turveyd and his buddies put a run on these lights. BTW the TR801 5 mode I have on order has shipped, I only placed that order Wednesday afternoon, it Thursday Morning here now. ..

Same here for my MTE P7. 10-18

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by notnormal

Going from 12V to 14.4V should see an 85% increase in output of light.

Whiter too, from what I've read.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

My camera has died. So no beam shots from me. Sorry.

I messed around a little more with adjusting the reflector to change the beam. One thing I found is that the lockring that holds the reflector and lens in was loose, which allowed the reflector to move around a lot when I loosened the front part of the housing. Once I tightened down the lockring, I could definitely make the center spot bigger (about twice the normal diameter) by unscrewing the reflector section a turn or so. If I loosen it too far I start to get dark areas in the spot. The spot of course gets dimmer the further it's expanded. I'll have to try this out while riding.

If you want spill, take the reflector section right off....then it's all spill

JZ

[PaintPeelinPbody]

JimZin,

So what all do you have and what was the total cost for the best setup?

You had said earlier you had two mounted on the bars and one on the helmet. Is that two of the flashlights on the bars or something different?

Can you over-power the Trustfire's for more light?

[RandyBoy]

As it is now, the Trustfire is running 1050 to 1100 Mah... it's already at the limit, it's really designed around 700 Mah. Don't send a boy out to do a mans job.

[manowar669]

How are you guys mounting these to your helmets?

[pepko]

TR-801 Q5 1mode are fine ... I have two of them ...

But I use it with two Aurora AK-P7 and two MXDL with cree R2 leds ...

This is my 2000 lumen setup

http://forum.fotonmag.cz/index.php?s...t=0&#entry3423

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by PaintPeelinPbody

JimZin,

So what all do you have and what was the total cost for the best setup? You had said earlier you had two mounted on the bars and one on the helmet. Is that two of the flashlights on the bars or something different?

I have one of the 5-mode TR-801s on my hat, and a twin halogen light I bought 13 years ago on my bars. I just ordered a new 5Ah 14.4v battery for the halogens, so they should be getting way brighter next week

If you scroll up near the top of the first page of this thread, I listed links to the light, batteries, and charger I bought. It came to about $40. But look down further at the post where I reviewed the stuff I got.....the charger is crappy, and I listed a link to another one that someone else suggested.

I wish I had bought 2 more of the 801s for the bars....I think that would be a killer setup. I still might, but I think I'll let the feeding frenzy die down first, and see what my over-volted halogens are like.

Jim Z. in VT

[JimZinVT]

2000 lumens.....can you even tell that it's dark out?

[KanyonKris]

Originally Posted by Cat-man-do

... Tonight, messing with the torch again, I decided I was going to do some throw comparisons of the P-7 with the reflector in different positions. If I see more throw with the tighter hot spot I'll post some photos. I like your idea of using some more O-rings to lock the position in although I'm not sure that would work on my P-7 torch. My idea was to use some Loc-tite on the threads. I've not tried it yet because I don't know what kind would work best. I also need some for my disc brake levers ( Hayes niners ) to keep the adjustment screw set. When I find the right type I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone.. ...Recommendations anyone?

I used a length of thin (18 gauge) solid conductor electrical wire wrapped around the reflector below the lip as a spacer to widen the beam of my light. Works fine and the cap still screws down far enough to contact to the o-ring so it should seal and be fairly water tight.

[capnstem]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

Do these 18650 batteries come fully charged, half charged, or dead?

Just so happens I checked my last batch of 18650's I got from DX with a mutimeter I also received in the same shipment. They measured around 2.8v.
Fully charged, the 18650 3.7v 2500mAh trustfire batteries are actually 4.2v.

[RandyBoy]

How many lumens are these TR801's rated at? I think if I get around 4 to 500 lumens for riding single track and maybe 250 lumens on the 5 mode for riding up the fire roads, I'll be just fine

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by manowar669

How are you guys mounting these to your helmets?

I use these excellent and inexpensive universal helmet light mounts.

JZ

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

How many lumens are these TR801's rated at? I think if I get around 4 to 500 lumens for riding single track and maybe 250 lumens on the 5 mode for riding up the fire roads, I'll be just fine

DealExtreme claims 230 lumen on their site. I can't say whether that's an accurate number or not....nothing here to compare to. But I don't think you'll be disappointed....especially with that P7 on your bars!

JZ

[notnormal]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

How many lumens are these TR801's rated at? I think if I get around 4 to 500 lumens for riding single track and maybe 250 lumens on the 5 mode for riding up the fire roads, I'll be just fine

You won't get 250 lumens probably closer to 200 lumens. However, the eye perceives light logarithmically so you won't perceive much of a difference between 200 and 250 lumens. However, you do get a longer runtime.

[RandyBoy]

That's good, I gotta budget time for lighting for emergencies like when I get that inevitable flat at night and need to change out a tube, or go OTB and have to sort things out /assess the damage.

[JimZinVT]

Just wanted to post a quick update. I did another night ride with the TR-801 on my helmet. It easily carried me through the 2.25 hour ride using the medium and high settings. Good thing too....my dual-halogen bar light quit after 15 minutes (forgot to charge the battery )

If you want to try something cool, switch to the strobe setting on a fast, straight section of singletrack surrounded by leafy trees. Remenber that scene in the original Star Wars movie where they made the jump to hyperspace speed? Whoa!....freaky!

Randy, are your lights here yet?

JZ

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

Just wanted to post a quick update. I did another night ride with the TR-801 on my helmet. It easily carried me through the 2.25 hour ride using the medium and high settings. Good thing too....my dual-halogen bar light quit after 15 minutes (forgot to charge the battery )

If you want to try something cool, switch to the strobe setting on a fast, straight section of singletrack surrounded by leafy trees. Remenber that scene in the original Star Wars movie where they made the jump to hyperspace speed? Whoa!....freaky!

Randy, are your lights here yet?

JZ

Well, something arrived today, ordered on 10-05... brackets to mount my lights on the handlebars. It's only 10-18 today.

My 10-8 order should be here by Monday I suppose, for a 5 mode TrustFire 801 they had in stock. But the bread and butter 10-03 order of four 18650 protected batteries, the cheesy charger, and the juicy flaming wall of light P7 900 "C" binned 900 lumen emitter with 5 mode 12060 is.... well, in route I think, making it's way through the maze of customs, and the USPS system... maybe by Tuesday or Wednesday night I have something to run these lights on that's fully charged up.

[capnstem]

Originally Posted by manowar669

How are you guys mounting these to your helmets?

2 bits of cut-up tubes tied together and thru the vents on the helmet. Each torch is wrapped in tube for grip. Not trying to be a tight-arse, it's just I needed something that didn't stick out too far (the other mounts I tried lifted the torches too much and stuck out too far).

[HuffyPuffy]

Oops, I removed this since it made no sense in context.

[RandyBoy]

Yup, TR-801 5 Mode arrived in the mail Monday, 10-20, hopefully 4 batteries and a charger arrive on Wednesday along with the MCE P7, 10-22-08. I can see how it's important to screw the back end all the way tight to make electrical contact with the switched rear end. I'm really surprised how light the whole outfit is going to be for a bike light with battery. Should be just dandy. And a helmet light with no cords dangling around is great too!

[CathastrophiX]

Which TR-801 is brighter, the single mode or the 5-mode?

[JimZinVT]

I don't have both, so I can't compare brightness. I chose the 5-mode so I could stretch the runtime, and it's working out well. I rode over 2 hours last night, and over an hour the night before. It's still good and bright. The battery is now testing at 3.8v (no load). Right off the charger it's ~4.2v.

JZ

[Vermont29er]

Careful of the grey Trustfire chargers. They work well, but the spring loaded contacts bend really easy, then snap.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by CathastrophiX

Which TR-801 is brighter, the single mode or the 5-mode?

OK, they arrived today... whooo hooo! Broke out the Vaseline and greased/lubed all the threads and O-Rings, much better and smoother. Nice build quality.


On High mode, they are identical, I just did a wall test. For the money, I'd just buy the single mode and be done with it... the 5 mode is kind of a hassle, and the run time will be close to 2.5 or more hours on the single mode. Buy a pair and stick them on your handlebars.

I'm going to round up some O rings to space the reflector farther out from the emitter, to get less throw and more fill. So far, great lights with a powerful power supply that will run a long time.

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

OK, they arrived today... whooo hooo!

Finally! Enjoy! ( I have 2 friends waiting on theirs )

On High mode, they are identical, I just did a wall test. For the money, I'd just buy the single mode and be done with it... the 5 mode is kind of a hassle, and the run time will be close to 2.5 or more hours on the single mode.

I haven't done the math, but that's longer than what I've read. Let us know how long your single mode goes. I've gotten used to the 5-mode....1 tap from high to med., and 4 quick taps back to high. No problem.

I'm going to round up some O rings to space the reflector farther out from the emitter, to get less throw and more fill.

Let us know how that works too....I thought of that a while ago, but haven't gotten around to trying it.

JZ

[capnstem]

Originally Posted by Vermont29er

Careful of the grey Trustfire chargers. They work well, but the spring loaded contacts bend really easy, then snap.

Ultrafire WF-139

Love it - works really really well. If u look @ the DX site, you'll see a mod to handle LIR123A rechargeables too

[notnormal]

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

I haven't done the math, but that's longer than what I've read. Let us know how long your single mode goes.

I have 3 single mode TR-801. They all run at constant output (regulated) for 2 hours. Afterwards, they run for another hour but at diminishing levels.

[pricecw]

OK, I just ended up with a few Trustfire TR-801s, and a drop in for a Surefire I have. Went out this evening and shot some beamshots

lights -- http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13095
batteries -- http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3287
charger -- http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6105
drop in for Surefire -- http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11836

All shots with a Canon A570 IS manually set @ 6 sec, f4.0, ISO 100, daylight WB

These are somewhat dimmer than they appeared to the eye, but pretty good.
The white papers on dowels are at 25 paces, 50 paces, 75 paces, 100 paces and 150 paces (the 75 pace one is set about a foot lower, dowel broke).

Clicking on any image should get the large pic up.

First, a HF 9 LED flashlight -1x


Next, the Surefire G2 with a P60 head in it (65 Lumen)


Next, the Surefire G2 with the DX R2 head


Now onto the TR-801 (1x)


TR-801 (2x)


TR-801 (3x)


TR-801 (4x)


Hope this helps anyone thinking of these, I feel I could get off a hill slowly with one of these lights, with the 4, it looked like I would feel comfortable out to about 150yds seeing things, with excellent close in viewing.

--Carl

[JimZinVT]

When I first got mine and installed the battery it was flickering. I found that the rear cap really needed to be tightened down firmly to make good electrical contact.

The flickering came back when I changed the battery a few days ago, and tightening didn't help much. I poked around a little on the DX forums, and found a fix: I took a sharp drywall screw (any sharp steel object will do) and carefully traced my way along the threads on the rear end cap, scratching off the gray anodizing (but not f-ing up the threads!). That apparently makes for a better electrical pathway....it's bright and steady again.

JZ

[qdave]

I finally rode my mountain bike with the TR-801 last night. Strapped it to my helmet with the sku 12000 velcro mount, but I still rode with two other bar lights (triple P4 + HID).
Very impressed with the output. My two friends had L&M Stella 200's and the light output from the TR-801 was almost identicle, including the spread. Light ran for maybe 1.5 hours with the Trustfire 2500mah battery before starting to dim. I carried a spare battery, but was trying to do a run-time test.
I just ordered a 5-mode TR-801 so I can try it on the medium mode for longer burn time. These will make good climbing lights and are small and light enough to carry as a back-up light.

[pricecw]

Also, check the retaining ring for the switch, one of mine was very loose, and would kind of flicker, mostly off. Tightened this solid, and it seems to have fixed it very well. Looks like that makes the ground connection with the switch.

--Carl

[capnstem]

Originally Posted by pricecw

OK, I just ended up with a few Trustfire TR-801s, and a drop in for a Surefire I have. Went out this evening and shot some beamshots

Outstanding!

I don't have to see that far in front. Our terrain here is semi-tropical with trails that are almost non existent. But it is awesome to see what 4 x tr-801's will do. I can see how it would help with more fast paced trail riding.

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

The flickering came back when I changed the battery a few days ago, and tightening didn't help much. I poked around a little on the DX forums, and found a fix: I took a sharp drywall screw (any sharp steel object will do) and carefully traced my way along the threads on the rear end cap, scratching off the gray anodizing (but not f-ing up the threads!). That apparently makes for a better electrical pathway....it's bright and steady again.

I just wanted to clarify what I wrote above: the threads I removed the anodizing from were those at the rear of the main flashlight body; the threads in the end cap were already bare unanodized aluminum.

JZ

[rideandshoot]

I had my first problem with my 801 single mode. I moved it from helmet mount to the bar. I'm not sure why but it flikered and went out several times. I have cleaned the threads and shortened the tail cap a bit (I read somewhere that this helps). Tried it for a short ride tonight an didn't have a problem. Should I try cleaning the anodizing off of the threads for the light head too?

[JimZinVT]

It couldn't hurt. I was going to do the front too, when I cleaned the rear threads, but I can't get the front to unscrew. But it's worked fine since I cleaned the rear threads.

The other thing to check is that the lockring that holds the switch inside the tailcap is tightened down snugly.

JZ

[RandyBoy]

Q5 vs P4 Beam Shot comparisons.

Try tightening up the retainer ring inside the tailcap that retains the clicky switch. I just straight out and use a paper clip to tighten up the retainer ring, works fine if you have a large paperclip.

I just received 3 TR-801's yesterday...12-04-08. Crappy brightness on all of them, short on the amount of lumens, and all of them have a greenish tint, whereas my first two were white as white can be and probably 40% brighter. Their QC has gone to hell before Christmas, and the color of the reels they are getting suck. The ones I got in October were far brighter and better in whiteness and color.

Two of them, every time you remove the battery, you need to get in there with the end of a paper clip to re tighten the clicky switch retainer ring. QC passed, my butt. Frustrating.

1.



2.




3.





All of these pictures feature my original TR- 801 TrustFrie Single mode on the left, the new flashlights, samples 1, 2 and 3 on the right.

I'm of the opinion they loaded these up with P4 emitters and not Q5, right before the holidays.

Edit

OK, I opened them up and this is what a Q5 emitter looks like... it says "Cree" quite clearly on the pill and on the mounting board.



another view






The Q5 on the left, and the pseudo Q5's on the other three TR-801s, with the black mounting boards. Looks like TrustFire has pulled a switcharoo.




A comparison of the emitters on the boards side by side, white on left Q5, black P4 or whatever on the right.




The 3 posers that aren't with Q5 emitters that they shipped me.





Check your emitters and send them back to Deal Extreme and let them deal with TrustFires POS emitters that aren't Q5's as stated in their ad.

[Pedal/Paddle]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

I just received 3 TR-801's yesterday...12-04-08. Crappy brightness on all of them, short on the amount of lumens, and all of them have a greenish tint, whereas my first two were white as white can be and probably 40% brighter. Their QC has gone to hell before Christmas, and the color of the reels they are getting suck. The ones I got in October were far brighter and better in whiteness and color.

Two of them, every time you remove the battery, you need to get in there with the end of a paper clip to re tighten the clicky switch retainer ring. QC passed, my butt. Frustrating.

Wow, that stinks. I've been on the fence about ordering a pair of 5 modes, protected cells, and a charger for a commuting set up. Whatcha gonna do? I have read alot about DX slow shipping and QC issues but can't recall anyone mentioning if they were able to return/exchange stuff. Didn't even think about the Xmas rush aspect, guess I will wait till January.

[sxr-racer]

get the MTE P7 12060.

[Pedal/Paddle]

Originally Posted by sxr-racer

get the MTE P7 12060.

Yeah, I would love to have a pair of P7's, but they are 2X the cost. I know, I know, you get what you pay for. But I have still have to factor in: 2 PB Superflash, Reflexilite (sp?) tape, ankle bands, vest, Hi-vis jacket, rack and trunk bag. And the budget is spread pretty thin already so every penny counts.

Anyone have any info on these:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16241

Figures that there aren't any reviews. R2 seems like a good emitter from what I have read.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by Pedal/Paddle

Wow, that stinks. I've been on the fence about ordering a pair of 5 modes, protected cells, and a charger for a commuting set up. Whatcha gonna do? I have read alot about DX slow shipping and QC issues but can't recall anyone mentioning if they were able to return/exchange stuff. Didn't even think about the Xmas rush aspect, guess I will wait till January.

I've asked to return them and have them replaced. They sent me to the "forum" there at DX to see if I could find a fix. The fix is proper emitters.

I think TrustFire just threw in some old P4 emitters they had laying around. I shouldn't have to disassemble and reassemble lights to get them to work properly. More hassle than it's worth. The TR801s I ordered in October work perfectly right out of the package.

[E Sherman]

I think I may have the same issue. Got a Trustfire 801 about a week ago based on reviews here and on other forums. I was pretty disappointed with the output. Not at all what I expected from the reviews, but I don't have another one to compare it to. I guess I'll try for a refund or exchange.

[JimZinVT]

That's a bummer. I assume you guys have tried the usual fixes....scraping the threads, cleaning battery contact points, tightening the lockrings, tightening the hell out of both ends. Very disappointing.

JZ

[dogstar]

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

That's a bummer. I assume you guys have tried the usual fixes....scraping the threads, cleaning battery contact points, tightening the lockrings, tightening the hell out of both ends. Very disappointing.

JZ

That is a bummer -- mine just hit "packaging" today and I now have a feeling I'm going to get a bum unit, too. I'm expecting something in the range of my Home Depot /Husky 200 lumen 2D light saber style light. Is that about right?

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by dogstar

That is a bummer -- mine just hit "packaging" today and I now have a feeling I'm going to get a bum unit, too. I'm expecting something in the range of my Home Depot /Husky 200 lumen 2D light saber style light. Is that about right?

Open the head end of the light, and remove only the lense, reflector and head, fore of the chrome ringed pill. If you have a white washer stuck to the emitter board, instead of stuck to the reflector, carefully, without damaging it, pry it up with a pin or a needle. You should have a "Cree" logo on a white emitter board if you got the Q5 emitters. If it's on a black board and doesn't say anything at all at the top of the notched side, they gave you something else besides a Q5 emitter. All of my October orders had honest to god Q5 emitters... Trustfire is pulling a bait and switch on us and we need to let Deal Extreme know that this is not acceptable. Open them up and show them pictures. I will get a picture of a Q5 from my good lights.

JimnVT, can you open your trustfire 801's and take a picture of inside the pill of the emitter in Macro mode with a digital camera?

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

JimnVT, can you open your trustfire 801's and take a picture of inside the pill of the emitter in Macro mode with a digital camera?

Sorry, I can't....camera is broken. But mine has a 14mm round white board that says cree in tiny letters near one edge. This one is from a Sept. order, and it's still working great....I just got in from a ride :-)

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

If it's on a black board and doesn't say anything at all at the top of the notched side, they gave you something else besides a Q5 emitter.

I'm not sure that's necessarily true. Different vendors might be mounting genuine Q5 emitters on various boards. I just received a dozen Q5 stars in the mail the other day. One batch are on black 20mm stars marked "cree xre 7090". The other set are on round white 16mm unlabeled boards. While the boards are different, the emitters look absolutely identical on both. DX also sells them on square 14mm boards.

But surely something is not right with your lights. Could be the led, the driver, bad connections somewhere, high resistance somewhere in the electrical path...who knows. I'd definitely talk to DX about a replacement.

JZ

[dogstar]

Mine went to "shipped" tonight. I'll check back with status in ? maybe a couple weeks?

[pricecw]

Just a thought, check your order and make sure your SKU ordered isn't 14712
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14712

That is a p4 3mode TR-801.

These are the two that list the Q5
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13095
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15335

I say this, because I almost clicked and ordered the P4 version when I ordered mine.

--Carl

[Cat-man-do]

Originally posted by RandyBoy...I think TrustFire just threw in some old P4 emitters they had laying around. I shouldn't have to disassemble and reassemble lights to get them to work properly. More hassle than it's worth. The TR801s I ordered in October work perfectly right out of the package.

I've been following the the last series of post on the TR801's. I'm not so sure that the problem is that the LED is not a Cree Q-5. I have a couple torches that are using Cree P-4's. I know that they are P-4's but one was noticeably brighter until I starting doing all the stuff that JimVinVT mentioned. Both look about the same now..( thanks Jim ) From the photos you gave I see little difference in the LED's themselves. After looking carefully at the P-4's I have, I can't really say I could tell the difference between them and the Q-5's or R-2's just by looking at them. None of the emitters have anything written on the actually LED or star board. I know that the boards on your torches are different. That only proves that the board is different then the original. Another possibility is that the Q-5 LED's are different bins than what was originally used. In my opinion I think this the most probable case for the difference in brightness. A while back I ordered a Cree R-2 drop-in for one of my torches. It was quite bright and I was very impressed. Others have ordered the same drop-in through D/X and reported a much diminished brightness. Once again, it might have been a difference in bin or a difference in *driver ( *in case of the drop-in's ). Once again quality control and lack of specification in the D/X ads is a problem. It would be nice if D/X would test, guaranty and list the lumen output of all their torches on their specification lists.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by pricecw

Just a thought, check your order and make sure your SKU ordered isn't 14712
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14712

That is a p4 3mode TR-801.

These are the two that list the Q5
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13095
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15335

I say this, because I almost clicked and ordered the P4 version when I ordered mine.

--Carl

I ordered single mode Q5 emitters, Qty 3 sku13095


That's what I'm thinking.... they put those p4 emitters in the Q5 spec. flashlights to get rid of them. Few new to LED flashlight customers would know the difference, unless they compared them side by side, or even better, went for a night ride with a real Q5. I've never seen the sku 14712 on backorder, it is always in stock.... that's not the case with the Q5 models TR801's, they state "ships in 3 to 5 days" or more than likely "on Backorder until such a date.". I've a feeling that Trustfire can't sell or move the P4 LED Cree flashlights,

The lights I got in December are beyond duds, they are completely unacceptable. The two I got in October with real Cree Q5s were at or very close to the 230 rated lumens claimed in the ads.

I've done all the thread scraping, tightening, shorting the battery to the housing to eliminate the switch as a culprit. I even switched pills, putting the good Q5 pills in each new body and switch, and through the process of elimination,even putting the new emitters in my October bodies, and the results of the pills from the new lights is the same, sub standard performance. Which is why I believe they switched out the emitters and stuffed the new lights with P4's.

[RandyBoy]

Well, I noticed down at the bottom where people ask questions on this sku13095, that someone else ordered 3 of these lights, and that the shrinkwrap was labeled "P4", when he ordered Q5 lights. This was back in early October... so, I 'm wondering if the same was done to me, because I also ordered 3 lights at the same time in November. However, my bubble pack was not labeled P4. I am certain, however, that that was the contents in my order... it was so lacking in power and brightness... Someone over there at Trust Fire or Deal Extreme is pulling a fast one when you order a quantity of 3 lights and they give you the price break on them with the $3.75 off total for the three light.

[Rock Climber]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

Well, I noticed down at the bottom where people ask questions on this sku13095, that someone else ordered 3 of these lights, and that the shrinkwrap was labeled "P4", when he ordered Q5 lights. This was back in early October... so, I 'm wondering if the same was done to me, because I also ordered 3 lights at the same time in November. However, my bubble pack was not labeled P4. I am certain, however, that that was the contents in my order... it was so lacking in power and brightness... Someone over there at Trust Fire or Deal Extreme is pulling a fast one when you order a quantity of 3 lights and they give you the price break on them with the $3.75 off total for the three light.

I just got my on Saturday haven't had a chance to ride with it yet, but from my limited garage test it seemed white, not the green that your new one showed. I'll take it apart tonight and see what my emitter board says. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I ordered the 5 mode regulated one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15335.

That really does suck if DX is giving people lesser quality if you order the 3 pack. Keep us posted on what DX does for you.

[pricecw]

Sounds bad if they are getting swapped out. I got my 4 with 4 larger 5-mode R2 lights, so I am confident that I got the TR-801 with the Q5 (compare favorably to the R2 lights).

I wanted to get some more of the TR-801s, may put it off for a bit though. These are a great size light to carry while out.

--Carl

[Johnnydrz]

Just want to let you guys know that I ordered 2 of the 5-mode 801's back in November while they were B/O. I got delivery last week finally (I'm in Canada) and I just opened both up and can confirm that I have 2 Cree's. I'm happy !!! These 2 are going on my helmet while I will be using 2 P7's on my handlebars.

Johnnydrz

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by Rock Climber

I just got my on Saturday haven't had a chance to ride with it yet, but from my limited garage test it seemed white, not the green that your new one showed. I'll take it apart tonight and see what my emitter board says. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I ordered the 5 mode regulated one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15335.

That really does suck if DX is giving people lesser quality if you order the 3 pack. Keep us posted on what DX does for you.

Sent them all back to their return facility in Miami FL.


See my post above with the pictures. Get back to us with maybe a macro picture of what yours looks like on the inside. thanks.

The Q5 is really a remarkable LED, 2 of them should provide about 400 lumens, 3 of them about 600. They are pretty damn bright. I find the medium mode on my 5 mode is plenty, without getting the head hot or being overdriven.

It may very well be that someone is doing the switchero, as the P4 3 mode may be regulated via the tailpiece so you just can swap tailpieces and have a 3 mode Q5 instead of the 3 mode P4, but the 5 mode, had the driver and PWM circuitry located back behind the emitter on the pill, so you'd be screwed if you swapped out the tail piece on a 5 mode with a 3 mode tail piece, and would turn it into a 15 mode pain in the butt.

Interestingly, all of the pills and heads on these 3 TR801's were not tightened down nearly as tight as those in my October order. The Chromed pills were barely hand tightened. I tightened them up before testing, as well as lubing with vaseline the orings and threads on all of them. I don't know who is doing the switchero, but somebody is and knows what they are doing, I believe.

[kgardnez]

Will the TrustFire TR-801 fit the TrustFire Protected 18650 Lithium Battery?
Nevermind, I see in the 5-mode reviews where someone states they fit fine.

[pricecw]

Just to follow up, I have the protected 18650's in mine.

--Carl

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by Johnnydrz

Just want to let you guys know that I ordered 2 of the 5-mode 801's back in November while they were B/O. I got delivery last week finally (I'm in Canada) and I just opened both up and can confirm that I have 2 Cree's. I'm happy !!! These 2 are going on my helmet while I will be using 2 P7's on my handlebars.

Johnnydrz

I don't think the 5 modes are an issue, it's the single mode Q5's that are getting messed up or swapped out or hijacked or whatever it is that someone, somewhere is screwing up on the build and not checking or testing the product output.

[momentum...]

I ordered two of the five modes on Friday 28 November and they arrived yesterday. Both white boards with cree written on them. I expect that this was a packaging mistake, rather than a fraud attempt. At the price DX are knocking them out for I doubt it would be worthwhile!

[JimZinVT]

Randy, I just came across your beamshot comparisons further up the thread, and I'd say the dramatic difference in brightness is more than the difference between a P4 and a Q5. I was just reading on CPF that the eye can not discern a 10% difference in brightness, which is about the difference between a P4 and Q5. That looks like way more than a 10% difference in yours. Who knows what the problem is, but hopefully they'll send you some bright new ones

JZ

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by momentum...

I ordered two of the five modes on Friday 28 November and they arrived yesterday. Both white boards with cree written on them. I expect that this was a packaging mistake, rather than a fraud attempt. At the price DX are knocking them out for I doubt it would be worthwhile!

If it was a packaging mistake, they'd be 3 mode clicky P4 emitters TR-801 models with a high, low and a SOS mode that I'd receive...not single mode P4.

Interestingly, all of the pills on all three lights were barely finger tight in the bodies.... the orders I got in October required vice grips to get the pills loose from the body. This is why I believe they were tampered with.

The 5 mode Q5 is not in the clicky, it's in the pill, with just an on/off switch in the clicky. The 5 mode pill won't work with a 3 mode clicky tailpiece, you'd end up with 15 modes. So the 5 modes can't really be tampered with, they never made a 5 mode P4 TR-801.

The P4's just aren't on back order or selling well since the Q5 versions came out.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by JimZinVT

Randy, I just came across your beamshot comparisons further up the thread, and I'd say the dramatic difference in brightness is more than the difference between a P4 and a Q5. I was just reading on CPF that the eye can not discern a 10% difference in brightness, which is about the difference between a P4 and Q5. That looks like way more than a 10% difference in yours. Who knows what the problem is, but hopefully they'll send you some bright new ones

JZ

The day they arrived, I put 3 hot off the charger batteries in them and left on a ride around sunset. 45 minutes in to the ride, I turn all 3 of them on, and I'm in disbelief at how poor the amount of light is coming out of them onto the trail. I was 8 miles in when I made that wonderful discovery. When I swapped the pills out on good bodies/tailswitch assemblies and the light coming out was still poor, that's when I went in to check the emitters and found out things weren't what they should be. P4's are 150 lumens rated, Q5's are 230 lumen. It was very noticeable on the trail... 3 of these wasn't even close to the amount of light from 2 Q5's TR801s, it was poorly illuminated, I had to go really slow, I just couldn't see. I don't think I even had a full 250 or 300 lumens.

[Cat-man-do]

RandyBoy, Something I just noticed while looking at the D/X web site, they sell the Q-5 emitters separately. They have one mounted on a white round board ( like your good one ) and they have one sold on a black star board as well ( marketed as a "premium emitter" 228lm ). This might not be the fault of D/X. It could be they just got a lousy lot of Q-5's in their last order. If the one's on the black star boards are Q-5's they should be better than the ones on the white. I do agree with you though that the output on those torches look very much like what is seen with the P-4. At this point I suppose you could send them all back or see if D/X will send you some of the white boarded Q-5's and you do the mod yourself or maybe you could request that D/X do the refit(?) It might take a while to get them back but at least you would get what you wanted.

[k4rma]

This might be an odd question, but does the tail/cap screw onto the head without the body in the middle. I see a lot of these lights and think if they would screw together that way it could make a really compact light with a wire ran to an external pack. More like 3 heads and 1 pack. Just curious. tyia

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by Cat-man-do

RandyBoy, Something I just noticed while looking at the D/X web site, they sell the Q-5 emitters separately. They have one mounted on a white round board ( like your good one ) and they have one sold on a black star board as well ( marketed as a "premium emitter" 228lm ). This might not be the fault of D/X. It could be they just got a lousy lot of Q-5's in their last order. If the one's on the black star boards are Q-5's they should be better than the ones on the white. I do agree with you though that the output on those torches look very much like what is seen with the P-4. At this point I suppose you could send them all back or see if D/X will send you some of the white boarded Q-5's and you do the mod yourself or maybe you could request that D/X do the refit(?) It might take a while to get them back but at least you would get what you wanted.

I've asked them to cancel my order. Once they do that and issue me a credit for return shipping, I'll probably go ahead and order three of the 5 mode lights.

The time it takes to do business with them over the emails and internet when someone in the chain of build, supply, and sell screws up takes the patience of a Saint, something I don't have a lot of.

[momentum...]

Just a quick update on my 5 mode light which is that the mode choice is quite erratic. It's meant to go hi>med>low>strobe>flash, but mine sometimes goes to strobe too quickly and misses out flash altogether. Not the end of the world but a bit of a pain. It would be great of they made one that just did high>medium>low as the flashing modes are pretty pointless for most people.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by momentum...

Just a quick update on my 5 mode light which is that the mode choice is quite erratic. It's meant to go hi>med>low>strobe>flash, but mine sometimes goes to strobe too quickly and misses out flash altogether. Not the end of the world but a bit of a pain. It would be great of they made one that just did high>medium>low as the flashing modes are pretty pointless for most people.

Have you contacted DealExtreme about this with a suggestion?

[momentum...]

No I haven't, but it's a good idea!

[JimZinVT]

Originally Posted by momentum...

It would be great of they made one that just did high>medium>low as the flashing modes are pretty pointless for most people.

The next time you're lost at sea you're going to be glad you have that SOS mode
That's a common complaint both here and on the DX forum. But I guess the flashlight fanatics dig all the crazy modes, so they keep building them like that.

Originally Posted by Cat-man-do

They have one mounted on a white round board ( like your good one )

Cat-man, I just bought a half-dozen of those Q5s on the 16mm round white board....they're not exactly the same as the ones in my TR-801. But they are bright. I did a side-by-side "white wall" comparison last night, my TR-801 on high vs. one of those Q5s, driven by the cheap DX driver, through the cheap DX cree narrow optic. It was slightly brighter than my 801, with a similar beam. I also have some of the black ones on the "premium star". Not sure what makes the star "premium"....it is thicker aluminum than the 16mm round, and has more solder points. But the light output is the same, to my eye.

JZ

[RandyBoy]

My TR801 only has an "SO" mode, it's missing the last S now.

[qdave]

Just for the record, I got a 1-mode TR-801 in November that works great with very white light. Ordered a 5-mode which I received last week and it is a bit dimmer than the previous 1-mode, plus the color is a bit orangish(?). This light was delayed by the back-order that DX had. Maybe Trustfire had issues getting a decent batch of Q5's. Bad contact quality when threading on the head on the 5-mode as well, but that is patched now with a little solder.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by qdave

Just for the record, I got a 1-mode TR-801 in November that works great with very white light. Ordered a 5-mode which I received last week and it is a bit dimmer than the previous 1-mode, plus the color is a bit orangish(?). This light was delayed by the back-order that DX had. Maybe Trustfire had issues getting a decent batch of Q5's. Bad contact quality when threading on the head on the 5-mode as well, but that is patched now with a little solder.

I got a 1 mode and a 5 mode that I ordered back in October, that were white and bright as can be. I am very happy with them... but it seems their vendor may have cheaped out and bought a huge bin of cheap, off color reels of LED's. I get the feeling perhaps Deal Extreme gets good product when it first comes out as a new model from TrustFire, the reviews get written up as how wonderful they are, they get burried in backorders and then TrustFire subtitutes lesser quality/lower priced or inferior emitters later on down the line to boost profits.

I've got three 5 modes on order now... if they arrive and the color and brightness don't match my existing TR801's Q5's lumen and color output, they will go back again to Deal Extreme. I refuse to pay for misrepresented goods of inferior quality, when there's lots of good emitters out there.

[Rock Climber]

I know you have already sent your bad batch back to DX, but just for the record I opened up mine TR 801 last night and my emitter board was white and said cree on the top, looked exactly like the good one you posted.

I really want an SSC P7, but I am leery of the issues people have with DX. I am fairly mechanically inclined, but haven't dealt much with electronics and I am not interested in basically fixing all of the QC issues when I get a brand new flashlight. I would prefer it to work out of the box, but I guess when a light that bright is so cheap I can't expect the quality of Dinotte or L&M.

[RandyBoy]

I have not heard of any issues for the P7 lights. Clean the threads up if need be and call it good. Myself, I think 3 Q5's in the single mode TR801 provides more light and more running time than a single P7. The problem with the P7, while a great light, is that it does not have good reflectors to redirect the light of a 4 square emitter, so you don't get a lot of good forward projection. This is fine if you want a big flood light. Deal Extreme, if you get screwed by them is time consuming in the sense that you will be going back and forth by email, a day at a time to resolve it.

Right now, I don't trust TrustFire or Deal Extreme on the single mode TR801's, so I ordered 5 modes to replace the three single modes that they screwed up. We'll just have to wait and see on the quality of the emitters, hope they are good on the 5 modes.

I've ordered the 5 mode TT801's today, 12-11-08... a month after my original order

[jmk999]

Three weeks after placing the order, my two single mode TR 801s arrived. And while torrential rains have prevented a real field test (I have checked runtime and compared light output), I'd say it was worth the wait. (the same wait - by the way - I've experienced on my two previous DX orders).

My aresnal of bike lights now includes: (2) TR 801s; (1) 8-Mode SSC P7; (1) Fenix L2D QE and a Cygolite Dualcross 200. And while each system has its virtues, of the four, the TR 801s represent the best combination of usable light, runtime and cost effectiveness.

[RandyBoy]

Originally Posted by jmk999

Three weeks after placing the order, my two single mode TR 801s arrived. And while torrential rains have prevented a real field test (I have checked runtime and compared light output), I'd say it was worth the wait. (the same wait - by the way - I've experienced on my two previous DX orders).

My aresnal of bike lights now includes: (2) TR 801s; (1) 8-Mode SSC P7; (1) Fenix L2D QE and a Cygolite Dualcross 200. And while each system has its virtues, of the four, the TR 801s represent the best combination of usable light, runtime and cost effectiveness.

Would it be too much trouble to ask you to get a couple pictures of the emitters in your single mode TR-801's and post them here? Also the date of your order and the date they arrived? Thanks! I'm hoping it's just me and trying to narrow the time frame down that Deal Extreme was sending out bum emittered lights.

[GeeTeeOhh]

Originally Posted by RandyBoy

My TR801 only has an "SO" mode, it's missing the last S now.

I received one of thes TR801's - it too sends an "SO" message from day 1.

Other than that, I love the light, great spot, extremely bright with none of the issues mentioned above.