# Tigerlight resurrection questions



## Stingray (Jan 27, 2008)

My Tigerlight has lost it's bright white beam the last couple of years. I have a gen 2 lamp and the slow charger with standard battery pack from a few years ago. I leave it on the charger when I'm not using it per recommendation from Mike Teig back when I bought it. It's from one of those Tigerlight special sales that TW had here back then when they weren't supposed to. Something about old battery packs bought for a deep discount with the agreement not to resell here. Anyway, I ended up buying one unknowingly, the price was good, but the light fizzled out really quickly, wasn't worth it.

So, what are my options for resurrecting this light? I really liked it a lot when it was new and bright. It still works, the battery reads 7.4V unloaded and a little under 5 when turned on. I'd say it's putting out around 60 lumens, about equal to my E2D except yellower. Still usable, but not bright enough for it's size and role as a bump in the night light. The body is still in great shape though. I started to read thru all the old threads but there's too much to go thru and it's mostly outdated so I thought I'd ask the hotwire guru's here for the most up to date advice instead. Looks like $150 for a new lamp, battery and smart charger at their website, more than I paid for the light back then. Any other options? Maybe just a custom battery pack that works with my current lamp and charger.


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## Stingray (Jan 27, 2008)

Fresh off the charger it reads 8.2V and under load it's 6V. The readings in the first post were after about 10 min useage. What should a good TL standard battery pack read under load of a gen 2 lamp? 

Anyone tried using AW's new C cells and a charger mod on these lights yet?


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## Bullzeyebill (Jan 27, 2008)

Stingray said:


> Fresh off the charger it reads 8.2V and under load it's 6V. The readings in the first post were after about 10 min useage. What should a good TL standard battery pack read under load of a gen 2 lamp?
> 
> Anyone tried using AW's new C cells and a charger mod on these lights yet?[/QUOT
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ...


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## Stingray (Jan 27, 2008)

I can't seem to find any place to buy just a battery on their website. It's not listed under parts. They must be in the middle of redoing the site or something. All the descriptions are the same for all the lights with different part numbers and prices. Take a look. I wouldn't mind a longer charging time with the premium battery as long as it wasn't more than 12 hours or so. The original standard battery wasn't bad and depending on price I wouldn't mind getting one of those, but the first one lasted less than a year and I didn't use the light that extensively. I don't mind the lamp I have now either, it got the job done. The beam quality wasn't super great but it was nice and bright and white. Are there any instructions here to roll your own packs, or is it not worth it vs just buying one.


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## Bullzeyebill (Jan 27, 2008)

See here http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl?c=ACCT29212&sc=8&category=&search=Premium battery

Close to bottom of page.

Bill


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## Bullzeyebill (Jan 27, 2008)

Their premium pack is first class. Hi amp discharge and quality parts.

Bill


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## Stingray (Jan 27, 2008)

Thanks for the link. Do they sell the lamp assemblies separately on their site as well?


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## Stingray (Jan 27, 2008)

duplicate post


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## Bullzeyebill (Jan 27, 2008)

They must be out of Gen4 LA's. I am having problem navigating their site too.

Give them a call.

Bill


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## Kremer (Jan 28, 2008)

If your battery sags right away to 5v under load hot off the charger then you have probably two shorted cells.

My pack was recently toasted also. :mecry: After searching around I picked up this Charger and Battery. It took a few minutes to solder a 9V connector on the battery and to gut the stock Tiger cradle and wire the charger up to it. This battery is a little longer but narrower than the stock battery, the 9V connectors can sit alongside the pack instead of under it, leaving enough room for the rubber shock tube and reflector.

Now my tiger runs for longer than it ever did new, and charges in ~2.5-3hours on the slow setting of the charger (900ma) and a little over an hour on fast (1.8A). The battery and charger cost me $58 delivered + ~30 minutes of my time to wire it all up. The charger has a red/green light which is nice, Red light = bulk charge, Green light = peak detect/in trickle. I generally leave it in slow mode as I don't like to rush the cells too much and the fast mode gets the light a bit warm.

Here's a pic of the cradle and charger attached to an old plaque board, mounted on the wall:






I don't know how this battery will hold under load of the 375Lu LA compared to the super premium pack, but it definately holds voltage on the stock lamp better than my stock pack did. Someone around here was selling custom welded packs of eneloops, those would be an excellent choice, and I would have picked up one instead of the pack above if I had found it before I ordered that one, for the LSD and known high discharge capability.

Of course a regulated TL with 8AA eneloops would be even better...

~Dougk


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## js (Jan 28, 2008)

Stingray,

You need a new battery and probably a Gen4 LA if you want throw.

I can send you a new pack for free, no problem, but I don't have many Gen 4 LA's left. Still, the new battery should set you up pretty well.

OK. Most important point to make:

*DO NOT LEAVE YOUR LIGHT ON THE CHARGER ALL THE TIME*

You will destroy the battery pack. I'll send you detailed care and use instructions with the pack also.

Send me a PM with your address.


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## Stingray (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks Kremer :thumbsup: $24 for the pack sounds good to me, unfortunately they're out of stock at the moment.

Do you know if that pack can be charged using my existing charger? What are the specs of the Tigerlight battery packs? I was just wondering how the mAh rating compares between the two, since you're getting longer run times. 

Hot off the charger my pack sags to 6V. After about 10 minutes usage it sags to 5V, so mine is toasted too.


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## Stingray (Jan 28, 2008)

js said:


> Stingray,
> 
> You need a new battery and probably a Gen4 LA if you want throw.
> 
> ...


 
Wow, thanks js :twothumbs
PM on the way


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## Kremer (Jan 28, 2008)

Stingray said:


> Thanks Kremer :thumbsup: $24 for the pack sounds good to me, unfortunately they're out of stock at the moment.
> 
> Do you know if that pack can be charged using my existing charger? What are the specs of the Tigerlight battery packs? I was just wondering how the mAh rating compares between the two, since you're getting longer run times.
> 
> Hot off the charger my pack sags to 6V. After about 10 minutes usage it sags to 5V, so mine is toasted too.



Oh yeah, any 6 cell NiMh pack will go right on the stock charger no problem. But I wanted to upgrade to a smart charger too, the charger mod and battery mod are seperate from each other and both compatible with otherwise stock parts. I believe the stock TL pack is 1.9ah or something like that. You definately have a bad pack, after 'the incident' my stock pack immidately sagged to 2.4 under load (Yep, 4 of the 6 cells were fried) and the tigerlight was more of a nightlight. Now it holds over 7V for at least 30 minutes (with the Gen2 LA)...that's when I got tired of holding the leads onto the charger contacts. 

I'm interested in getting a 375Lu LA to try out with this thing.

~Dougk


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## js (Jan 29, 2008)

Kremer,

You can also just cut off the snap connector harness, and solder the lead wires directly to the battery pack. Just make sure that you get the polarity right. The + wire is the one that is electrically common with the _rear-most_ charging contact on the light body.

You can also remove the switch core and really shorten the battery pack leads and solder them directly to the bottom of the pack (well, the top of the pack, but with the top of the pack inserted first and facing toward the rear of the light).

To remove the switch-core, unscrew the charging contact bolts, remove the rubber switch core cover, pull off the plastic housing into which the charging contact bolts were screwed (it just pulls off with a pair of slip-joint pliers), then push in the switch, and push the switch-core out the front of the light by pushing on the lip around the switch plunger. But DO NOT push on the switch plunger itself. It's not designed to take a lot of lateral force. I use a popsicle stick to push the switch core out.

Then it's easy to solder the wires to the battery pack tabs or directly to the contacts (if you know how and are careful).

Then, with the switch depressed (i.e. ON), push the switch-core and battery pack together back into the light. You'll have to take some care regarding the orientation, and it's a bit tricky, but the point is that you can fit a full-sized A 6 cell pack (like you pictured) into the TL body without taking up any extra room. Or you can use an 8 cell AA pack, which is what I use for my regulated TigerLights. But I also modify the switch-core and re-wire it so that it has a Willie Hunt LVR3K PWM regulator in there. hehe.

Stingray,

Your pack is en route to you via First Class USPS mail. It's a pack TL sent me for testing and evaluation, and so is not labeled properly or anything. But it's a very good pack--not as good as a premium pack, but still good. And I think it will even drive the 375 lumen LA if you want, as it held very good voltage under load. It's only an 1800 mAh pack, though, vs. 2150 for the premium pack. But still . . . you'll be impressed with the improvement.

As for instructions, well, don't leave the pack on the charger all the time. But niether leave it sitting around unused for years. If you don't use your light for a couple or three weeks, feel free to charge the pack overnight again. And feel free to charge it overnight anytime you run it for more than a minute or two. But don't leave it on the charger for longer than 12-16 hours if you want to get the most life out of your battery pack.

Be careful when opening up and closing up your TL. On some models, there's an o-ring that can get caught in between the bezel and the body. And ensure that the LA doesn't twist around with the bezel because if it does, it will twist right out of the lamp pin connectors and the light won't work. The bezel should turn but the LA should stay in place in the rubber gasket, not turning relative to the light body.

Good luck.


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## Kremer (Jan 29, 2008)

js said:


> Kremer,
> You can also just cut off the snap connector harness, and solder the lead wires directly to the battery pack. Just make sure that you get the polarity right. The + wire is the one that is electrically common with the _rear-most_ charging contact on the light body.



That was option 2 if I couldn't get it to fit in nicely with the 9v connector down the side of the slightly slimmer than stock AA pack.



js said:


> Or you can use an 8 cell AA pack, which is what I use for my regulated TigerLights. But I also modify the switch-core and re-wire it so that it has a Willie Hunt LVR3K PWM regulator in there. hehe.



I'd like to look into this, do you have any pictures of the regulator installed in the switch core?



js said:


> On some models, there's an o-ring that can get caught in between the bezel and the body.



One of mine has the improved bezel/O-ring where the O-ring snugs down under the bezel on tightening, the other light is one where it gets sandwiched between the faces and you have to go around the light a few times to keep the O-ring tucked in while you tighten, that's a little annoying, is there any easy fix for that, like a thinner O-ring?

I hooked up my DMM to the Tenergy charger while charging the TL, it's constant current in bulk charge, then in trickle it seems to go into a low current pulse, which is good because I think thats the preferred way for long term NiMh maintenance charging.

Even though you aren't directly part of the TL team, your insight and development work with the Teig's is a great resource, Thanks for being around Jim.
~Dougk


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## Stingray (Jan 31, 2008)

js said:


> Stingray,
> 
> Your pack is en route to you via First Class USPS mail. It's a pack TL sent me for testing and evaluation, and so is not labeled properly or anything. But it's a very good pack--not as good as a premium pack, but still good. And I think it will even drive the 375 lumen LA if you want, as it held very good voltage under load. It's only an 1800 mAh pack, though, vs. 2150 for the premium pack. But still . . . you'll be impressed with the improvement.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks js. Mine has the o-ring that goes between the bezel and body, and I have to be careful not to squish it when retightening. I remember dealing with this when upgrading from the 1st to 2nd gen lamp assembly. Looking forward to the new battery pack.

Steve


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## moraino (Jan 31, 2008)

Kremer said:


> I'd like to look into this, do you have any pictures of the regulator installed in the switch core?
> 
> 
> 
> ~Dougk


 
I also like to see it if not too much trouble.


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## Kremer (Jan 31, 2008)

moraino said:


> I also like to see it if not too much trouble.



I'm actually interested in it more because of the low voltage warning and cutout than the constant delivered voltage to the lamp, though both are sweeeeet.


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## js (Feb 6, 2008)

I can't get really detailed with the switch core mod, but I will be posting some pictures in my sales thread at some point tonight, including a picture of the LVR3K regulator.

Stingray,

Have you gotten the pack yet?


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## Stingray (Feb 6, 2008)

js said:


> Stingray,
> 
> Have you gotten the pack yet?


 
js, no, it hasn't arrived yet. Seems like it should have been here by now, how was it packaged? Just wondering if it would fit in my mailbox.


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## js (Feb 6, 2008)

It's going via First Class mail in a padded envelope. No worries yet. It'll probably get there in the next two or three days.


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## sunspot (Feb 6, 2008)

Stingray said:


> My Tigerlight has lost it's bright white beam the last couple of years. <snip> It's from one of those Tigerlight special sales that TW had here back then when they weren't supposed to. Something about old battery packs bought for a deep discount with the agreement not to resell here. Anyway, I ended up buying one unknowingly, the price was good, but the light fizzled out really quickly, wasn't worth it.
> 
> <snip> Looks like $150 for a new lamp, battery and smart charger at their website, more than I paid for the light back then. Any other options? Maybe just a custom battery pack that works with my current lamp and charger.


I was in on the same deal. $100? if I remember. I'm a bit disappointed in my TL. It was nice and bright but didn't last very long. Now it's a paperweight.


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## Stingray (Feb 11, 2008)

js said:


> It's going via First Class mail in a padded envelope. No worries yet. It'll probably get there in the next two or three days.


 
js, it arrived today. The light is nice and bright now. Thank you !

Sunspot, that was it I think, it came with a few pepper spray cannisters also (which were expired).


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## sunspot (Feb 12, 2008)

Stingray, maybe it was another deal? I bought a FBOP verison. I still remain a Dissatisfied Tigerlight customer.


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## Bullzeyebill (Feb 12, 2008)

sunspot said:


> Stingray, maybe it was another deal? I bought a FBOP verison. I still remain a Dissatisfied Tigerlight customer.



Satisfied Tigerlight owner here.

Bill


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## Stingray (Feb 12, 2008)

It wasn't Tigerlight's fault, it was Dan at Tactical Warehouse. He bought some old inventory with outdated and/or defective components at a huge discount with the explicit agreement not to resell it on the retail market and then he dumped it on us with one of his "big sales".


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## sunspot (Feb 12, 2008)

Stingray said:


> It wasn't Tigerlight's fault, it was Dan at Tactical Warehouse. He bought some old inventory with outdated and/or defective components at a huge discount with the explicit agreement not to resell it on the retail market and then he dumped it on us with one of his "big sales".


I had no way of knowing that. I bought it in good faith and now I have a "Doorstop" with Tigerlight as the product name.
If tigerlight had outdated/defective lights, why did they sell them to anyone? They should of been scraped as soon as they knew about a problem.
Whatever went on between a Manufacture and a reseller, I'm the one who got screwed.


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## Bullzeyebill (Feb 14, 2008)

sunspot said:


> I had no way of knowing that. I bought it in good faith and now I have a "Doorstop" with Tigerlight as the product name.
> If tigerlight had outdated/defective lights, why did they sell them to anyone? They should of been scraped as soon as they knew about a problem.
> Whatever went on between a Manufacture and a reseller, I'm the one who got screwed.



Complain to TL. If your battery is not good after a few years then maybe they will cover it. Battery packs do go wrong overtime, depending on a lot of things, such as charging methods, undervoltage, overvoltage, or a bad cell. I could ruin a battery real quick if I did not do charging properly, or if I let it run down to 0 to many times, etc. Don't remain "dissatisfied", do something about it.

Bill


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## Kremer (Apr 7, 2008)

I've been looking at modding one of my TL's for a bit more wow/fun. I found some information recently about the SL-35x lamp swap, it seems most of the information from this seemingly popular and stupidly simple mod was lost at some time. With my new aftermarket battery I thought I'd give it a try.

WOW, it's bright! It seems to be about dead-on with my ROP-Hi, both in ceiling bounce and outdoor illumination throwdown. With the UCL lens it'll also start newprint smoking in about the same 2-3 seconds as the ROP. The gen2 TL Lamp I have in my other light throws the diamond spot with an intense line in the center. The 35x lamp has about the same intensity in it's spot as the gen2's line, but the spot is circular, with diameter roughly twice the length of the line. Throw distance is roughly the same as the original TL lamp, and with similar intensity, but the photons light up much more real-estate when they get to the destination. I'm not sure what the Lumen numbers are for this combo, I know my 6D ROP is darn healthy, and this TL35x is to my eyes equal to it.

My aftermarket 6AA 2500mAh pack falls quickly to 7.3volts and holds above 7 for maybe 10 minutes, it's definately toward it's limits of current delivery with the 35x lamp. An 8cell pack (eneloops of course) regulated down to 7.2 sure would be the ticket with this beast, if I can only get some information from Jim on the correct LVR and a few illustrations on how it lives within the Tiger's switch core . The charger modifications I already have a handle on.

EDIT: I've also been eyeing up the SSC P7 builds that have been popping up. a single P7 in a TL would be very nice also.

~Dougk


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## Kremer (Nov 6, 2008)

I just picked up a couple TL's with dead packs. I have a pile of Eneloops laying around and thought I'd give it a shot at making my own pack. I read JS's thread documenting how he built the KAN packs and got my solder station out. I used solder braid for the interconnects, and for the end to end connections I also used the braid and just folded it over before taping the cells in each stick of two. I practiced with a bunch of dead AA's I have in my recycle pile before breaking out the Eneloops. I lifted and re-used the polyfuse and 9v connector from the stock pack and integrated them into the new.

45 minutes later the bezel goes on and I test the light, WOW.
It goes on the fast charger.


60 minutes later it's done and I start a run test. Man do the Eneloops hold under load. I measured the Lamp pulling right at 2.0A after 10 minutes runtime. It was brighter and much whiter than my other TL's with stock lamps and packs, and while not brighter it made my 35x equipped light look yellow. It ran for about an hour before sharply kneeing over and dropping from 7V to 5V in about 20 seconds, I guess the cells are matched well.

I'm very impressed with the Eneloops in the TL.

I was also eyeing up this OC version I have. Hmm, 8 AA cells fit in the barrel, and 4 more would fit in the OC compartment, 6S2P with a couple jumpers through the bulkhead and switch core, and the dummy cap on the tail. Double runtime, and it would still run all the stock lamps and the new LED module. I'm surprised that I have not seen this possibility considered before.

A double battery mod and a multilevel (or gulp, even triple) P7 in the front end could just be the ultimate tigerlight if you are willing to sacrafice the OC, no offense to anything JS has previously built.

~Dougk

EDIT: 4xAA's leave a bit of room side by side so for crapps and grinns I just now tried to see if 5 AA's would fit in the barrel. they do! But they barely even wiggle. you'd have to assemble the pack around the lamp wires and connect it right to the switch. Hmm, I wonder. 12V tigerlight all series, or 6v @5s2p (or 3p using the OC storage area) would drive some LED modules nicely.


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## moraino (Nov 10, 2008)

Kremer said:


> I just picked up a couple TL's with dead packs. I have a pile of Eneloops laying around and thought I'd give it a shot at making my own pack. I read JS's thread documenting how he built the KAN packs and got my solder station out. I used solder braid for the interconnects, and for the end to end connections I also used the braid and just folded it over before taping the cells in each stick of two. I practiced with a bunch of dead AA's I have in my recycle pile before breaking out the Eneloops. I lifted and re-used the polyfuse and 9v connector from the stock pack and integrated them into the new.
> 
> 45 minutes later the bezel goes on and I test the light, WOW.
> It goes on the fast charger.
> ...


 
Thanks for sharing. What's your eneloops capacity?

My TL still waiting for the slowly fading 8AA plus LVR solution. I think I have better chance waiting for AW's D size Li-ion....hopefully next spring. I will be using two 18650 in the near future when I get a chance.


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## Kremer (Nov 11, 2008)

moraino said:


> Thanks for sharing. What's your eneloops capacity?


they are the standard 2Ah Eneloops.



moraino said:


> My TL still waiting for the slowly fading 8AA plus LVR solution. I think I have better chance waiting for AW's D size Li-ion....hopefully next spring. I will be using two 18650 in the near future when I get a chance.



The 2xD stick will fit? Two 18650's leave tons of room to spare, even with a PCB added, it almost seems a waste of the space, but is the same capacity or better than the factory pack.


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## sunspot (Nov 11, 2008)

Kremer. How many Eneloops did you use on your pack? Are you using the stock LA?
I have a dead TL that I would like to use again.

TIA.


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## Kremer (Nov 11, 2008)

sunspot said:


> Kremer. How many Eneloops did you use on your pack? Are you using the stock LA?
> I have a dead TL that I would like to use again.


Six, same quantity as the stock pack, but it is a bit longer and narrower because they are AA and not 3/4A or whatever the regular cells are. which means it's a little tighter fit to get the lamp in, but not enough that the pins get bent or anything. I made up some of the length by placing the 9V connector on the side instead of the end of the pack, since with the slimmer cells there's room for it next to the pack. I'd offer to build you one, but I don't have any shrink wrap or kapton tape, so they are sort of electrical tape wrapped and quite DIY looking. None of that polish really matters to me once it is sealed up in the light, as long as it is safe from shocks and shorting. I've made two packs so far, at about 45 minutes each to do it isn't hateful, but not what I'd call production line. I figure for $15 in Eneloops and materials + my time I've got a pack to equal the new premium pack with the advantage of Low Self Discharge.

Yes, using the stock lamp, but I did put the 35X lamp on one for a couple minutes, wow... The Eneloops should be able to power about anything up to 5A I think per the NiMh shootout thread, so if your question is about running the 375 lumen lamp I don't think there would be any issue. All of my interconnects are soldered so they are as good or better than the welded bits I saw in the old dead stock packs I took apart to harvest the 9V connector and polyfuse from.


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## sunspot (Nov 11, 2008)

Kremer. Thanks for the fast responce. I thought it was 6 cells but I wanted to be sure. I have some solder wick somewhere. I'll try to make myself a batt pack.

I have the old LA, not the 375 lamp but if the pack works, I may jusy but the newer LA, _*if*_ the older TL will accept one.


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## Kremer (Nov 13, 2008)

The only thing keeping you from running the 375 lamp is the potency of your battery.

Here's a picture of my completed eneloop pack, for reference:




~Dougk


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## Bullzeyebill (Nov 13, 2008)

Kremer said:


> they are the standard 2Ah Eneloops.
> 
> 
> 
> The 2xD stick will fit? Two 18650's leave tons of room to spare, even with a PCB added, it almost seems a waste of the space, but is the same capacity or better than the factory pack.



Probably right about a 2X18650 pack compared to basic stock TL pack, and your Eneloop pack will do much better than 2X18650, even unprotected LG's, at 3-4 amp draw.

Bill


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## Mr Happymoose (Oct 24, 2009)

Hi folks,

Hope no one minds me resurrecting this thread but I've recently moved to deepest, darkest Derbyshire in North West England and as winter is drawing in, I was looking to fire up my trusty Tigerlight again. Unfortunately it's been some time since it was last used and it would appear that the battery pack has died. I was wondering if someone could put me on to a UK supplier or a US supplier who wont charge a huge amount for shipping.

Many thanks in advance.


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## Bullzeyebill (Oct 24, 2009)

Won't take a charge at all? Would need about 16 hours on charger.

Bill


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## Mr Happymoose (Oct 24, 2009)

Hmm...I had it on charge for about 8 hours and it just about made the filament in the capsule glow a very faint orange. I'll leave it on over night and see what happens. I'd still be interested in suppliers though, the premium pack looks rather good.


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## Mr Happymoose (Oct 25, 2009)

Well, I've had it on charge overnight now, probably a good 20 hours or so and still no joy. I've tried replacing the capsule with the spare that I have and it doesn't make any difference so I'm definitely thinking battery pack. As it doesn't look like there are any UK suppliers, does anyone know of a US supplier that will ship to the UK??


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## Bullzeyebill (Oct 25, 2009)

Mr Happymoose said:


> Well, I've had it on charge overnight now, probably a good 20 hours or so and still no joy. I've tried replacing the capsule with the spare that I have and it doesn't make any difference so I'm definitely thinking battery pack. As it doesn't look like there are any UK suppliers, does anyone know of a US supplier that will ship to the UK??



Try PM'ing js, and ask if he has any ideas.

Bill


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## Mr Happymoose (Oct 25, 2009)

Bullzeyebill said:


> Try PM'ing js, and ask if he has any ideas.
> 
> Bill


Thanks for the heads up Bullzeyebill, I'll give it a shot.


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