Review of OLight M31 Triton

[HKJ]

Is the 2222mA the tailcap current? I got 2060mA yesterday and only 1900mA now regardless of any battery set I use. Anyway to make it draw current as much as yours?

Edit: Ok, I think the tail current goes up when voltage drops.

Your last remark explains it perfectly. In my review I have a voltage scan, where you can see the current draw at different voltages.

 

[Oztorchfreak]

OLight usual has a good build quality.The M31 looks nicely done, only place where you have some sharp corners are the teeth on the tailcap. The threads has fine tolerances.
What I could have wished for was square threads with a coarser pitch and stainless steel bezel and tailcap.

I can add to the wish for better screw threading as I have only just received a replacement Olight M30 due to the screw threads wearing out after only 11 months.


The threads on the left is my M30 worn out torch body. The ones on the right are of the M30 unused battery extender.

Luckily it was replaced under the Olight 24 month warranty.

I posted about this on CPF as below.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/290911

I still get people saying that I abused the torch, but even the dealer stated that he could not explain the bad threads.

This is something that could happen to the Olight M31 as well.

 

[R-lights]

Hi All - Great review! I'm new to the site, and find these reviews very - - - extremely helpful. I'm moving from an Olight M30 to and M-31. If there are any owners here that can help with a few questions, that would be great!
First - what's the real deal with the heat? I'm thinking my application would be in the 10-20minute on constant range - would that be an issue?
Also if anyone has either the M31 & SR50? Wondering if other than the look and interface there are any real differences between them?

Cheers & many thanks - R-lights

 

[HKJ]

what's the real deal with the heat? I'm thinking my application would be in the 10-20minute on constant range - would that be an issue?

If you want to stand it on a table for 10 to 20 minutes it will get rather hot, but probably still within the safe limit.
If you are holding it in your hand it will have better cooling and not get as hot, i.e. no problem.
If you place it under a pillow for 20 minutes it will probably cook itself.

The problem with cooling is that it is very depends on external factors, a hand or airflow will increase the cooling a great deal.

 

[dhouseng]

I did a little regulation test today without the extension tube.

Will do another test when my 2x18500 arrives.

 

[mike6187]

Nice write up here! thanks for sharing it to everyone

 

[Halfpint]

HKJ,

Thanks for the great review!

Definitely solidified my decision to buy a SR91 as my next `step up' from my M30 `Smooth Tailcap'. That is *not* to say that I won't eventually add an M31 to my Olight `collection. I'll just sit back and get one when I finally get `a round tuit'. {GRIN!}

Just an `Olde Fart's' 2¢ worth? {VB GRIN!}

 

[dhouseng]

The M31 is fully regulated with 2x18500.

Runtime is 33 minutes and a sudden shut down with no dimming at all according to my lux meter. Measured the batteries and they both read 3.64 volt, not quite sure what's triggering the shut down.

 

[CaptPat]

Greetings, I'm new to the site, and find these reviews very helpful. Thanks

 

[MichaelW]

The M31 is fully regulated with 2x18500.

Runtime is 33 minutes and a sudden shut down with no dimming at all according to my lux meter. Measured the batteries and they both read 3.64 volt, not quite sure what's triggering the shut down.

How hot were the cells?

 

[dhouseng]

How hot were the cells?

Barely even warm.

 

[phantom23]

Measured the batteries and they both read 3.64 volt, not quite sure what's triggering the shut down.

Very high current (about 2C), are your cells protected? + remember that voltage drops at high current.

 

[zehnmm]

Hello folks. After reading countless CPF posts, including this thread about 3 times, I pulled the trigger and got an M31. My finalists in my search included the ThruNite Catapult and the Jetbeam RRT-3. Eliminated the RRT-3 due to cost. Was a close call between the M31 and the Catapult. Chose the M31 because, even though it cost more, I got 2 more modes (low and strobe) and a few other reasons. To be honest, I could have chosen the Catapult and probably would have been very pleased.

Before I proceed further, I say thanks to HKJ for his top notch work. Also, no thanks to HKJ and all the rest of of you for your enabling of my illness here! :naughty: Heh, heh.

Anyway, all kidding aside, my first impressions are that this appears to be a quality well-made light. Cannot wait for darkness to test it out. Sure does seem bright on high in a dark room. I had no trouble cycling through the modes. If I hold it kind of up front, I found I could do it one-handed. While I do not like the strobe just past high, wherein I have to cycle past strobe to get from high to low, I can live with it.

FYI, my AW flat-top 2200mah 18650 cells did not power it up. My new AW 2600mah 18650s with the 3 small triangulated dots on the negative side work, as do the older AW 2200mah button tops. Three CR123s in the included battery holder work. But, when I tried 4x CR123s, with the battery holder and the extender, it would not work. 4x CR123s without the battery holder did work. Having said this, my plan is to run it with two 18650s, with two more as back-up. As another backup, will use 3x CR123s in the battery tube on the light without the extender. That should give me quite a bit of usability and runtime.

I might say that the more I learn about the Luminus SST-50, the more I am impressed with it. Probably will not be my last one. My planned use is to run my light mostly on the medium level, with the advertised 320 lumens otf, with up to 3.5 hours of run time. Then with one quick twist of the head, I get the high mode when I need it. We live out in the county in the foothills of the mountains in south central New Mexico. This light will be used pretty much nightly/early morning on dog walks; moreover, since we are now in elk hunting season around here, we get our share of poachers. I need a good thrower light to let 'em know that I am ready to call the sheriff and game wardens. So far, have been using an MN16 in a KT4 head on a Leef 2x18650 body. In 3 separate instances after shining the light some 250 yards away from suspected poachers (behind cover, but with my Kimber Stainless Target II in 10mm at the ready) they get the heck out of there pronto. But, the MN16 runtime is less than an hour, and the throw, while pretty decent, is not as far as I would like. I need about 200 yards or more of decent throw with reasonable spill.

Additionally, will use the light for a bump-in-the-night light to check things out. Out here, we have mountain lions, bears, wolves, coyotes, elk, deer, skunks, and other creatures such as neighbor's dogs on the loose. Sometimes we have had burglars prowling around too. Being able to light up things around our house is a big deal to me. Until now, the go-to lights for this have also included my ROP Low Mag 2d and my 4D Mag with an Osram 65W IRC bulb at over 3,200 otf lumens running off of 5x AW IMR 26500s. Runtime on that latter beast is about 20 minutes, where I cannot run it more than about 3 minutes straight due to heat issues.

While I dearly love my incan hotwires, I guess you can say that I have now partaken of the LED kool-aid.

I will post some more after I get more experience with it.

Blessings,

Steve

 

[Swedpat]

The light has a very fine regulation on 18650 batteries and also a good runtime, but 3xCR123 batteries do not really work in the light, at least not on high.

A bit late to comment, but thanks for another great review! :thumbsup:

The question I have is if M31 works well at high with 4xCR123?
The throw seems to be impressing, it totally outperforms Fenix TK30/40 in this respect!

 

[HKJ]

The question I have is if M31 works well at high with 4xCR123?

I have not tested with 4xCR123, but I will expect it to do considerable better. With four batteries the voltage will be higher i.e. less current draw, and each battery can go down to a lower voltage, before the light has a problem.
The only downside is a higher risk for reverse polarisation of the batteries , i.e. it is very important to use batteries with equal capacity (All batteries same type and only load with new batteries).

The throw seems to be impressing, it totally outperforms Fenix TK30/40 in this respect!

The TK30/TK40 was never designed as throwers (they uses a shallow OP reflector).

 

[Swedpat]

I have not tested with 4xCR123, but I will expect it to do considerable better. With four batteries the voltage will be higher i.e. less current draw, and each battery can go down to a lower voltage, before the light has a problem.
The only downside is a higher risk for reverse polarisation of the batteries , i.e. it is very important to use batteries with equal capacity (All batteries same type and only load with new batteries).
Do you here mean a higher risk for placing some battery wrong way or that they will change polarisation when running low? (Excuse a stupid question)...:thinking:

The TK30/TK40 was never designed as throwers (they uses a shallow OP reflector).
I still was impressed by the throw of M31 according to your beamshots. Though TK30 isn't a thrower it due to the high output throws better compared to the most of my other flashlights, and compared to many non-throwers. So M31 would really impress out in the field!

 

[HKJ]

Do you here mean a higher risk for placing some battery wrong way or that they will change polarisation when running low?

The problem is when running low, M31 has a very high current drain and with four batteries in series you have voltage enough to get a rather high reverse polarisation voltage if there is one weak battery.

 

[Swedpat]

Thanks HKJ, I understand now!

 

[zehnmm]

Hi folks. Update of my previous post with some thoughts not necessarily in any order.

Got to use the light a bit and compare with my other lights. This light is indeed a good thrower; bright hotspot, sensible amount of spill. No Cree-type LED rings. I am satisfied about its ability to allow for me to see what is going on 200 or more yards. In my old, rather untrained eyes, the medium and high modes seem similar to my ROP low and high. But, if the advertising is true to form, I would get over 3 hours of run-time on the medium mode, advertised at 320 otf lumens.

The medium mode is really what I am planning to use the most. One question that I had was how would that mode do at 200 yards. I found out that I could see well enough on that mode to make out things. But, if I need the high mode to get a better look, then I have it. By the way, while it is possible that the high mode might really be 800 otf lumens in the first second or so, to me it seems more like 700. Not anything empirical here, just my opinion.

Also, the low mode seems to be very similar to my E2E incan rated at around 60 lumens.

Of course, the color temp on the M31 appears to be at least a 5700 and maybe even a 6500. Obviously the warmer temps in the incans are very noticeable outdoors versus the M31.

I am ok with the M31 color temp. However, the next SST-50 that I get will have something warmer, perhaps a 4500. Probably get one from Nailbender.

All in all, I am glad I got the light.

Regards,

Steve