# Blackshadow Terminator (4xXM-L T6 NW, 4x18650) Review



## candle lamp (Dec 19, 2012)

The Terminator is a follow-up model to the earlier Darth from Blackshadow. It runs on 4x18650 batteries is four XM-L U2, high-output light. My review sample is XM-L T6 (Neutral White) version.












Packaging is a cardboard box with built-in packaging foam. Included inside is the light, user manual-warranty card, extra o-ring, nice lanyard.
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*Manufacturer Specifications* from Blackshadow website & user manual :
• Dimensions : 69mm(HD)×132mm(L)×93mm(H)
• Weight : 395g (Without battery)
• Color : Dark brown
• Emitter : 4×CREE XM-L U2 or XM-L 6 LED
• Battery : 4x18650
• Circuit : Digital CC circuit, Low-voltage alarming system, Power indicating system
• Mode : High-Mid-Low-OFF, hidden Strobe mode
• Dimming : Smart button switch
• Lumens : High (3500Lums) - Mid (1500lums) - Low (400lums) - Strobe (3000lums)
• Runtime : High (1h10min) - Mid (2h40min) - Low (11h25min) - Strobe (1h40min)
• Material : Aluminum alloy
• Lens : Impact-resistant optical lens with AR coating
• Reflector : Metal reflector
• Head & Tail : Stainless steel bezel ring, tailstanding tailcap
• Waterproof : IPX-7, unable to support dive use.
• Accessories : Tactical parachute-cord, Spare O-ring, User manual and Warranty card.
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The hard (type III) anodizing is a slightly glossy gray and consistent throughout with no chips on my sample. All labels are sharp, clear, and bright white against the background. There is hot surface warning mark on the head, and manufacturer, model name with serial number on the battery tube. There are two bands of knurling and four flat sides on the battery tube. A big "X" is engraved on two flat side. 
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The light has mainly 2 parts (i.e. head and battery tube). 
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There is an independent flat stainless steel bezel ring on each lens. The light has three independent smaller cooling fins & four integral cooling fins on the upper & lower part of the head respectively. The handle is fixed with bolts between the upper and lower cooling fins and not removable. There is a button switch on the handle. 
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The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it.
All metal reflectors are smooth, and nicely finished. The terminator comes in a choice of emitter types, and my review sample is the XM-L T6 neutral white. Each emitter is well-centered in its own reflector. There is a waterproof o-ring between the stainless bezel ring and reflector.
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The integral handle is not only useful but convenient to use the light. The fixation bolts are made of carbon steel. The button switch on the handle is electronic switch. Switch feel is about typical for this class and not much different. The switching travel a bit longer than average, with average resistance and provides audible click when engaged. It looks like the switch cover hides the green & red LED to signal the state of the light (i.e., battery status, standby modes). The gripablility is very good due to finger grip indentations on one side of the handle. These seem to be well placed for over-hand operation. There is a hole at the end of the handle for lanyard (comes with the light) attachment.
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When you first connect the head to the battery tube with batteries installed, the green light comes on. This is to indicate that the Terminator is in Standby mode and the battery is not low. When the battery runs low, the red light will constantly flash quickly 2~3 times per second. The blackshadow says the low battery alarming will work when voltage is lower than 2.7V.
This green & red light are helpful if you are trying to find the light in the dark. If you don't want to see these lights, break the current by loosening the head a little. The constant green light & blinking red light however are quite bright, and the red light flashes so quickly. I wish it could go much lower and flash once per 3~5 seconds or so.
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The head base of the light has a raised brass yellow positive contact ring to contact with all positive contacts of the batteries. The negative contact rim surrounds the central positive contact. The light doesn't use a battery carrier. This makes the light more compact than others in this space.
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Screw threads are triangular cut, but seems good quality. Note that both male & female threads on the head & tube are anodized for head lock-out. They are smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking on my sample.
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The battery tube has four flat sides, continuing rounded corners. There are two bands of knurling and aggressive design elements around the battery tube which provide decent grip. 
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The Terminator has battery compartments which are molded into the aluminum, with common negative springs and hold four 18650 cells. Battery handle is quite compact, and easily houses 4x18650. The battery wells are in parallel. The overall construction such as wall thickness seems thicker and more solid than expected. It looks sturdy and well-made.

All types (i.e., true flat-tops, wide and button-tops) of 18650's work fine. All my longer & wider protected high capacity (2600~3100mAh) cells all fit. 
You can see the fully loaded battery tube with unprotected & protected cells. I don't have any problem or issue to insert my shortest & longest 18650 cells into the tube. But note that only 4x18650 li-ion cells can be used in the light. (i.e., it doesn't support multiple CR123A or RCR123A due to 2.5~4.2v input voltage.) The battery tube introduces little rattle if you shake the light laterally when it's fully loaded with 18650's unprotected. But no rattle with the protected 18650 cells installed in my sample.
The four 18650 cells are arranged in parallel, so you can run a lower number of cells, but with increased current draw on each one. I don't recommend you try to run High output level on anything but the full complement of cells. 
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The tail end has flat side where big "X" is engraved on. The rectangular-shaped knurling should provide more than enough grip. Knurling is a bit aggressive. 
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You can attach the lanyard came with small attacking cone to the hole in the head as shown above. The light can tailstand perfectly.
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*User Interface 
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*The Terminator provides three constant output levels and hidden strobe. They are accessible by clicking the switch. A click on switch can transfer in the order of Low -> Med. -> High -> Standby -> cycle. Light doesn't have memory, and the light first comes on in Low mode always. When you press and hold the switch for more than one second, you can access Strobe. Clicking it again returns to the last constant output level used. You can also access directly to Strobe from standby mode, and clicking the switch again returns to the standby.
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*Standby Current Drain
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*Due to the electronic switch design, the light will be drawing a small current when the head is tightened. I measured this current as 4.42mA for 1xVicLite 18650 (2600mAh). Since the cells are arranged in parallel for 4x18650 cells, that would translate into around 3 months before the cells would be fully drained. This is high standby current. So I would recommend you to store the light physically locked out by loosening the head when not in use. I think this standby current can be reduced by decreasing the brightness of the switch and its flashing interval.
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From left to right : VicLite 18650 protected, Niteye Eye40, Blackshadow Terminator, XTAR S1. Terminator is compact and shorter than EYE40.
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The gripability is good. The build feels solid, and the light is fairly compact for their classes. I found it to be well-balanced and comfortable to hold and use. The *overall build quality* is very high.
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*Measured Dimensions & Weight**
[*Correction of battery tube dia. 13.03.17*]
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*[*Correction of battery tube dia. 13.03.17*]*
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*PWM
[*New 12.12.20*]





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*The Terminator uses PWM for its lower output. (i.e., there is a flickering at Low, Med, output detected by waving the light, but can't see it at High.) The frequency at Low doesn't seem high enough to not be noticeable to sensitive user in practical use. *[*New 12.12.20*]
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*Runtime**
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1. Fan Cooling 






On Med, the Terminator is initially stably flatter regulated, then increases to more than initial output and slowly drops down in output in a quasi-regulated state. On High, I don't see any sign of flatter regulation. As shown above, I have run the light on High output on higher capacity 18650 cells (3000mAh), and got the same pattern (i.e., just with a longer quasi-regulated period). 

The runtime for 10% output of High & Med. output is as follows.
1) High : 67 min. (2600mAh), 87 min. (3000mAh)
2) Med. : 127 min. (2600mAh)

Note that the bare cell of the NLTEK is LGABD11865 (3000mAh), and its maximum charging voltage is 4.35v for full capacity. But I charged it 4.2v for runtime test, so the capacity is about 2700mAh reduced with about 300mAh.
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2. No Cooling






I measured with thermal probes attached to three points of the light for the no cooling run. The room temp. was 24.8~27 degrees C, and window was closed in the test room. The resting temp. for Terminator was 28.7 degrees C. You can see the three points on the light where the thermal probes were set in pace as illustrated above.
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I have done a comparison of fan cooling and no cooling for the light, and measured surface temperature on the no cooling run as I had done that in _Darth review_. 
The rise in temperature triggered a step-down from High to Med. after 10 minutes of runtime.
Although not shown above, I have run the light on same capacity 18650 cells (2600mAh) on condition of leaving the window open a little in the test room, and got the same pattern but different 15 min. of runtime in stepping-down from High to Med. output. It means this is not a timed drop-down but a thermal sensor feature to avoid overheating the light. 
Balckshadow informs me that the Terminator has a thermal control feature designed to protect the circuit from excessive light inner temperature (i.e., greater than 60 degress C).
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Note that left y-axis is the relative output. The black, cyan, and green lines represent surface temperatures of the light in degrees centigrade (celsius) should be read off the right y-axis.
I found that the light stepped down when the temperature at the point #2 reached approximately 59~61 degree C and never stepped up the output again. You can reactivate the High output by turning the light off and on again. 
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*Relative Output Comparison
[*New 12.12.21*]




**[*New 12.12.21*]
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*Beamshot

*1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door)
- ISO100, F/10.0, 1/200sec, Auto white balance 





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- ISO100, F/10.0, 1/500sec, Auto white balance 





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- ISO100, F/10.0, 1/1250sec, Auto white balance 






The light has almost same sized bright hot spot as EYE40, and it is well focused. There is a soft corona surrounds the hotspot. The edge region of the spill beam has no artifacts and the beam profile is very good. The hot spot and corona region show an warmer tint and the spill beam region shows the same tint as well. The beam shows neutral tint as claims.
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2. Indoor beamshot (about 7m from the target)
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance 






- EYE40 (XM-L U2 CW)
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- Terminator (XM-L T6 NW)
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3. 55m Outdoor Beamshot 
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance





- EYE40 (XM-L U2 CW)
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- Terminator (XM-L T6 NW)
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4. 60~65m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance





- EYE40 (XM-L U2 CW)
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- Terminator (XM-L T6 NW)
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Terminator supplied by BlackShadow for review. Thanks!


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## gopajti (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks my korean friend, what do you think this light working with Fenix ARB-L2 batteries? You say this light working "flat-top" batteries.


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## candle lamp (Dec 20, 2012)

gopajti said:


> Thanks my korean friend, what do you think this light working with Fenix ARB-L2 batteries? You say this light working "flat-top" batteries.


Hi friend gopajti, 

Exactly! The height of the positive contact from the wrapper on my 18650 protected cell is about 0.6~0.67mm, and looks like the Fenix ARB-L2 cell.
If the two cells are similar, ARB-L2 cells will work fine.
Please see the photo of my 18650 protected cell. I wish I could take a picture very well like you. 




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*PWM* updated!


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## d337944 (Dec 20, 2012)

Thanks for the great review mate - well done!

It's a real shame about the PWM though - I am very sensitive to it, so will not buy the light even though everything else about it sounds great.

Cheers, and have a great Christmas.


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## candle lamp (Dec 21, 2012)

d337944 said:


> Thanks for the great review mate - well done!
> 
> It's a real shame about the PWM though - I am very sensitive to it, so will not buy the light even though everything else about it sounds great.
> 
> Cheers, and have a great Christmas.



Thanks for your support. d337944!

It's a shame the frequency is not high enough on lower modes.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas too.


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## indenial (Dec 27, 2012)

Great review! It's a beautiful light. I heard, however, that BS is introducing an XM-L U3 1C version soon. Do you think that would make a noticeable difference?


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## candle lamp (Dec 27, 2012)

indenial said:


> I heard, however, that BS is introducing an XM-L U3 1C version soon. Do you think that would make a noticeable difference?


Thanks. indenial! The local dealer says U3 1C version will be brighter by 7% than U2 version, and the carbon steel will be changed to stainless steel in the fixation bolts of the handle.


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## Patriot (Dec 27, 2012)

Thanks for a such a thorough review! I love the size of this light, it's just too bad it doesn't have quite the performance of the Eye-40.


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## firelord777 (Dec 27, 2012)

Great review buddy!!!


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## candle lamp (Dec 28, 2012)

Patriot said:


> Thanks for a such a thorough review! I love the size of this light, it's just too bad it doesn't have quite the performance of the Eye-40.


Thanks. Patriot!
You seem to be saying the output difference. There's quantifiable difference between the lights, but EYE40 appears only slightly brighter visually (i.e., I didn't notice much difference in output to the naked eye). 



firelord777 said:


> Great review buddy!!!


Thanks. firelord777!


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## gopajti (Dec 28, 2012)

more beamshots, here 

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...res-***-Blackshadow-Terminator-(4*XM-L-T6-NW)


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## Kabible (Jan 1, 2013)

Any chance someone could post comparison beamshots with a TM11?


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## Nightbird95 (Jan 24, 2013)

12345


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## candle lamp (Jan 25, 2013)

Nightbird95 said:


> Thank you for helping me decide through this great review.


It's my pleasure. Hope you love it. Nightbird95!


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## xevious (Mar 4, 2013)

Thanks for the detailed review. Interesting looking light, with the aggressive handle.


d337944 said:


> It's a real shame about the PWM though - I am very sensitive to it, so will not buy the light even though everything else about it sounds great.


Same for me. I'm surprised they weren't able to correct it after the Darth model. I'd definitely go for the Nitecore TM26 instead.


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## candle lamp (Mar 5, 2013)

xevious said:


> Thanks for the detailed review. Interesting looking light, with the aggressive handle.
> 
> Same for me. I'm surprised they weren't able to correct it after the Darth model. I'd definitely go for the Nitecore TM26 instead.



Thanks for your support & interest. xevious!
I expect they will be able to release a better one in the near future. You know there's a saying. "Rome was not built in a day."


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## xevious (Mar 7, 2013)

candle lamp said:


> Thanks for your support & interest. xevious!
> I expect they will be able to release a better one in the near future. You know there's a saying. "Rome was not built in a day."


I hear you. The good thing is that I'm not in the market for a TM26 as yet, so there's still plenty of time to wait for the next revision.  I wonder if Blackshadow already has the PWM vs. controlled circuit aspect under consideration.


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## HiltiHome (Mar 12, 2013)

Did anyone measure the PWM frequency?

PWM frequency higher than 4KHz, would be ok.

I'm sold on this light, but visible PWM flickering is a deal killer for me.


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## SHOXX (Mar 16, 2013)

Candle Lamp

I've noticed you've done a review on both the Black Shadow Darth and Terminator. Would you happen to know if the body of the Terminator will fit on the head of the Darth? Measurements show both 44.3 and 44.5

I love my Black Shadow Darth as a general use torch, but if the Terminator's body with 4x 18650 would fit, that would be even better


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## madecov (Mar 16, 2013)

SHOXX said:


> Candle Lamp
> 
> I've noticed you've done a review on both the Black Shadow Darth and Terminator. Would you happen to know if the body of the Terminator will fit on the head of the Darth? Measurements show both 44.3 and 44.5
> 
> I love my Black Shadow Darth as a general use torch, but if the Terminator's body with 4x 18650 would fit, that would be even better




_Just tried it and no, it does not work._


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## candle lamp (Mar 17, 2013)

SHOXX said:


> Candle Lamp
> 
> I've noticed you've done a review on both the Black Shadow Darth and Terminator. Would you happen to know if the body of the Terminator will fit on the head of the Darth? Measurements show both 44.3 and 44.5


As madecov replied, the body of the Terminator doesn't fit on the head of the Darth. The body of the Terminator is bigger than Darth. The dim. on the above table was wrong, *44.3x48.9mm* is right.  Sorry about that and thanks for the comment. Have just corrected it.


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## Fusion_m8 (Apr 15, 2013)

I've got my eye on this as my prawning light, which will be used submerged in seawater to a depth of around 3ft. International Outdoor's website says the light is rated to IPX-7 standards which is OK for my kind of usage. What is your view on the water resistance ability on your light? Are the O-rings good quality? Is there a gasket that seals the 4 stainless steel bezels against the glass lens? I usually find that to be a point of weakness on poor quality lights and where many water leaks occur.


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## candle lamp (Apr 15, 2013)

Fusion_m8 said:


> I've got my eye on this as my prawning light, which will be used submerged in seawater to a depth of around 3ft. International Outdoor's website says the light is rated to IPX-7 standards which is OK for my kind of usage. What is your view on the water resistance ability on your light? Are the O-rings good quality? Is there a gasket that seals the 4 stainless steel bezels against the glass lens? I usually find that to be a point of weakness on poor quality lights and where many water leaks occur.



There is an o-ring between each lens and bezel. Also it seems there's an o-ring at the base where the bezel threads into the main head. However, one user said that the part where the handle is mounted to the main head is not perfectly sealed. So He doesn't recommend using the light in the water.


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## Fusion_m8 (Apr 15, 2013)

WOuld you be able to upload a pic of the weak spot that you're mentioning? My younger brother is an automotive mechanic, we can make up some thin rubber gaskets to waterproof it if I have a clearer picture of the area in question. Thanks in advance! BTW, what do you think of PSY's new song: Gentleman?


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## candle lamp (Apr 15, 2013)

Fusion_m8 said:


> WOuld you be able to upload a pic of the weak spot that you're mentioning? My younger brother is an automotive mechanic, we can make up some thin rubber gaskets to waterproof it if I have a clearer picture of the area in question. Thanks in advance! BTW, what do you think of PSY's new song: Gentleman?









Of course! Please refer to the photo. You may need to unscrew the two fixation bolts after separating the two bezels from the main head.

It's hard to believe, I still haven't heard that song. My daughters say the two songs (GangNam style & Gentleman) are similar. 

Cheers,


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## Fusion_m8 (Apr 16, 2013)

*Thanks for the quick response!* 

From what I see in the pictures, I cannot see how water can enter the flashlight via the threads in the screw holes unless the screw threads are not separated from the battery compartment or the individual front bezels. From the pictures I cannot see that is the case. The screw threads appear separate from the battery and bezel chambers.

Lucky you, my teenage daughters have been driving me nuts with Gangnam Style dancing and singing for weeks and now THIS!!!:duh2:


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## candle lamp (Apr 16, 2013)

Fusion_m8 said:


> *Thanks for the quick response!*
> 
> From what I see in the pictures, I cannot see how water can enter the flashlight via the threads in the screw holes unless the screw threads are not separated from the battery compartment or the individual front bezels. From the pictures I cannot see that is the case. The screw threads appear separate from the battery and bezel chambers.
> 
> Lucky you, my teenage daughters have been driving me nuts with Gangnam Style dancing and singing for weeks and now THIS!!!:duh2:



My pleasure! The fixation bolts are irrelevant to that matter. There could be something wrong with the contact surfaces between the handle and the main head in waterproofing.

Fortunately, my daughters (21, 18 year old) don't bother me at all. I didn't see they were dancing to Gangnam style. Are they normal? I think they take after me in that sence. So I'm not in a good condition. :ironic:


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## Fusion_m8 (Apr 18, 2013)

Candle Lamp: What is the current supplied to each emitter? 2.5A?


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## candle lamp (Apr 18, 2013)

Fusion_m8 said:


> Candle Lamp: What is the current supplied to each emitter? 2.5A?


According to the manufacturer's comment, it's 2.9A on max. output level.


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## pppppp (Aug 9, 2013)

Thx for the review... 

'Just curious how my U3 Term's would compare, 
seeing as how they're 2 revisions brighter than the T6...


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## candle lamp (Aug 10, 2013)

pppppp said:


> Thx for the review...
> 
> 'Just curious how my U3 Term's would compare,
> seeing as how they're 2 revisions brighter than the T6...



I guess your U3 version has a ~14% increase in output over T6, when they have the same current for each mode.


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## BWX (Aug 20, 2013)

I love the "no cooling graph". I would like to see the same exact "no cooling" graph for the Xtar S1.. Did you ever make one for that?


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## candle lamp (Aug 20, 2013)

BWX said:


> I love the "no cooling graph". I would like to see the same exact "no cooling" graph for the Xtar S1.. Did you ever make one for that?


Sorry. I didn't test the runtime on the condition of no cooling for the Xtar S1. The light has really a massive head and it doesn't (either thermally or timely) step down. So I guess that the lack of cooling will cause a small drop in output over the time. This will result in longer runtime.


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## fulabeer (Dec 9, 2013)

Just an update. The Blackshadow Terminator is now available with XML-2.
I've just bought one advertised as XML-U2. Picture was the black bolt version. The silver bolt (previously XML-U3) version turned up.
I've checked on here, and it appears it is XML-2!


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## Burggraben (Jan 10, 2014)

fulabeer said:


> I've just bought one advertised as XML-U2. Picture was the black bolt version. The silver bolt (previously XML-U3) version turned up.


Hi fulabeer, did you buy it from FT by any chance? I want to get the version with silver bolts but their picture is with black bolts. I am pretty sure the silver bolt version will turn up, but a confirmation from a third party would be nice.


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