# Run time test on the new Nitecore Tube



## Timothybil (Nov 28, 2014)

I tried to find the original thread, but don't have the patience right now to dig that far. I already reported testing the run time of the new Tube keychain light on high. Nitecore claims one hour. My test came up a few minutes short of that time, but still close. Well two days ago, at 5:32 pm, I started my freshly charged Tube on low. It has been lying here on my desk for the last two days, merrily shining away. Every so often I would check the beam against my other Tube, which is still in its original packaging, and could tell no difference. Until, that is, 2:30 pm today. At that time the beam was a pale glimmer of itself. It may not be down to the official 10% output of the standard, but it is for all intents and purposes pretty much useless at this time. I know that when I checked it at 12:30 pm it was still going strong, so I'm going to call it at forty-four hours. That works out to 83% of the claimed run time. I will be the first to admit that a sample of one is not recommended for drawing conclusions, but I think that 83% of the claimed run time is still a very good showing for such a simple, low-cost light. If I get motivated enough I will probably run the test again to see what happens.

Selfbuilt, HKJ, and others, I now have a greater appreciation for what you go through to do your so thorough reviews. :thumbsup: That you guys go through this every time you do one of your reviews speaks to your dedication and perseverance. Thank you again for all the efforts you put forth to keep the rest of us flashaholics informed.


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## twl (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks for testing and reporting!

I just bought 3 Nitecore Tubes for stocking stuffers.

Do you have any other comments about the light that you'd like to share?


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## Timothybil (Nov 28, 2014)

I like the rechargeability a lot. As far as price point and function, it is similar to the LRI Photon lights, but a lot brighter on high, and longer lasting on low. And since there are no cells to replace, in a short time it will pay for itself easily. I like the rectangular design and just the over all feel of the light. I think Nitecore hit a homer on this one.


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## kj2 (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks for testing


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## Alex W (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks for testing!
Had you been charged it yet? how long would it take to be fully charged?


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## Timothybil (Nov 28, 2014)

Alex W said:


> Thanks for testing!
> Had you been charged it yet? how long would it take to be fully charged?


I believe Nitecore says two hours. I will let you know tomorrow.


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## rpm00 (Nov 28, 2014)

The more I read about this little guy the more I want one.


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## Timothybil (Nov 28, 2014)

It took 1:20 to recharge. It was plugged into a USB port on my PC - I can't tell you if it was USB 2.0 or 3.0 without crawling under the table and moving everything around, and my knees aren't up to it tonight. Nitecore says two hours in the user manual, so it must not have been down as much as I thought. It was dim enough that I could barely see it shining on the living room wall about a foot away with the room lights off.

To summarize: One can count on almost two complete days of useable light at one lumen before it drops out of regulation and dims. It took 1:20 to recharge in my test. Depending on how long it runs in that state, it could take as long as two hours to recharge. YMMV.


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## UnderPar (Nov 29, 2014)

Thank you for sharing. Thinking of having this light to attach it on car key holder.


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## ven (Nov 29, 2014)

Thanks for testing Timothy, i have 3 on the way and 2 will be for the kids(almost 5 and 8yrs). Its not something i want to be constantly checking being honest so i will be waiting for the "daddy its not bright" or "daddy nice but dim" :laughing: Then will charge up for them............will be interesting long term how much they can take!!(i will find that out) I can guess at them being lost well before they break though in my case . The idea behind the Tubes was a small edc light for their school bags.........or anything they want,be it around the house or in coats too of which the latter will most likely be the case(up to them).

I have a feeling the boss will pinch mine or want one as left out she does not know yet.............:laughing:

:thumbsup:


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## Berneck1 (Nov 29, 2014)

I just bought one for $7.50. I'll get it in a few days. Curious to test it out. 

I remember after September 11th I bought about 20 photon lights to give to family and friends. If I remember correctly they were OVER $20 each back then! Everybody thought they were amazing back then. I know some people who still have those lights, including me!! And they still work!

These days, I usually give the Olight i3s as a gift, but you would be surprised how many people even find an AAA light to be a bother to carry. This may be an even better option for some stubborn friends and family. I'm always encouraging anyone I know to have some kind of light on them at all times. 

I still prefer a good AAA light, so in the case of a power outage the battery can be replaced. However, for $7.50 you really can't go wrong with this light.


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## twl (Nov 29, 2014)

I have been a Photon Freedom Microlight user for what seems like a decade, or at least close to that. I find them to be excellent, and they have served me well. It is very light and small, so that you don't even know it is there. It has decent brightness for tasks like finding the keyhole, or walking a dark path, has ramping adjustable brightness, and has decent battery life for what it is. However, I found that having to change the batteries periodically left me "in the dark" on some occasions when I was lazy about getting to the store to buy more batteries. And the batteries at the regular stores cost a few dollars, which adds to the cost of the light over the years.

However, this Nitecore Tube has really gotten my attention because it appears to have a feature set that may kick the Photon off my keychain.
The specs seem to imply that it will be a lot brighter than the Photon on max, and it will also have a low 1 lumen moonlight level for if I ever need that. It is still fairly small, but not as small as the Photon. I think that will have to be determined about whether it is unobtrusive enough, but I think it will be. The other shining star of this light is the lithium-ion battery with on-board charger which can be recharged on a USB port, and has a charge indicator light built in. No more worries about having to go to the store to buy batteries, when I can just plug it in to my little USB port in my car or computer and get a full recharge at no cost, very conveniently. 
Very bright, no batteries to buy, conveniently rechargeable almost anywhere, and very inexpensive.

So, I am highly anticipating this light as my new light on my keychain, when I don't have any other lights with me. It seems to have the right stuff.
We shall see.


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## Timothybil (Nov 29, 2014)

Right now, I have Titanium Innovations button cell lights hanging as fobs on all my coats and sweaters. I could see the Tube as taking that place quite easily if I had a frequent need for a little light for finding keyholes, etc. I think for school age kids, it would be ideal for walking home from school in the winter, or around the neighborhood. If not on zippers, on a wrist lanyard or a breakaway neck lanyard would be ideal, especially if the lanyards were bright colors so they would be more visible if left lying somewhere. Glow in the dark would work too.
The way I look at it, button cells are about a dollar apiece if bought in bulk, so if the light lasts through ten charges it will have paid for itself. And they are so cute!


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## Timothybil (Nov 29, 2014)

Berneck1 said:


> I just bought one for $7.50. I'll get it in a few days. Curious to test it out.


Where did you find one for $7.50? Inquiring minds want to know!


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## Kilovolt (Nov 29, 2014)

Thanks for the report Timothybil. :thumbsup:

Mine takes about 75 minutes of charging when connected to my laptop. The only negative comment I have on the Tube is that I would have liked to find a cable included with the light. As it is I had to empty a drawer of cables and test a number of them before finding the right one. There's some that fit but don't charge.
For this reason I am not choosing the Tube for small Christmas presents.


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## kj2 (Nov 29, 2014)

Kilovolt said:


> Thanks for the report Timothybil. :thumbsup:
> 
> Mine takes about 75 minutes of charging when connected to my laptop. The only negative comment I have on the Tube is that I would have liked to find a cable included with the light. As it is I had to empty a drawer of cables and test a number of them before finding the right one. There's some that fit but don't charge.
> For this reason I am not choosing the Tube for small Christmas presents.



A small 10-15cm included cable would be nice indeed. But does raise the price.


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## Berneck1 (Nov 29, 2014)

Battery Junction had a Black Friday special for 7.90, and I also used a 5% coupon. Looks like it's back to 9.90 now.


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## NoNotAgain (Nov 29, 2014)

I got my Tubes as stocking stuffers. The outfit I get all of my computer cables from, monoprice has retractable micro USB cables for under $2.00 each. 

I was lucky enough to get the Tubes for $5.00 each which was a steal.


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## D6859 (Nov 29, 2014)

Thank you for testing! I will order a few of these for my family and best friends. Missing cable is not as problem as everyone has a recharger for their cell phone that fits the Tube nowadays. 

Did you notice any PWM annoying you while testing?


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## Timothybil (Nov 29, 2014)

I can tell it is there if I aim the Tube at my trusty table fan and watch the 'wagon wheel effect', but it doesn't bother me in real life. A few have mentioned in the prior threads that they have noticed it, but so far no one has said it is bothersome.


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## D6859 (Nov 29, 2014)

Timothybil said:


> I can tell it is there if I aim the Tube at my trusty table fan and watch the 'wagon wheel effect', but it doesn't bother me in real life. A few have mentioned in the prior threads that they have noticed it, but so far no one has said it is bothersome.



I've read something about it too, and I was wondering if it changes worse when the voltage starts dropping.


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## gravelmonkey (Dec 26, 2014)

Wow, didn't know 5mm LED's could do 45lm! Has anyone swapped the white for a coloured emitter? Are there any other LED's that would run at the c.150ma drive current?

I'd love a warm/neutral emitter or a red one for the usual 'preserving night vision' excuse.


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## Timothybil (Dec 26, 2014)

D6859 said:


> I've read something about it too, and I was wondering if it changes worse when the voltage starts dropping.



Since the light is well regulated, I can't see the PWM changing until it is down to the last few ergs in the cell, at which time it is time to recharge anyway.


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## StandardBattery (Dec 26, 2014)

Thanks for the tests. These lights are good. Non flashaholics I've shown them to are also quite taken with them. This was a really good idea and implementation.


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## Grijon (Dec 26, 2014)

This was a fun read; thank you for testing and sharing, Timothbil!


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## 5S8Zh5 (Dec 27, 2014)

Always wanted me some pwm...






Thanks for the test Timothybil.



_


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## burntoshine (Dec 28, 2014)

gravelmonkey said:


> I'd love a warm/neutral emitter or a red one for the usual 'preserving night vision' excuse.



Same here.

This is a great "extra" light to carry on your person. It disappears into my jeans 5th pocket. It's so dang tiny and thin, I always carry it when leaving the house. If someone needs to borrow a light, I will hand them this; keeping my EDC light(s) safe in my pocket(s).

Just give us a warm version, please.

Thanks, Bill, for the tests! It's good to know real-world runtimes, tested by an objective real person.


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## Timothybil (Dec 28, 2014)

burntoshine said:


> Thanks, Bill, for the tests! It's good to know real-world runtimes, tested by an objective real person.


Well, I think I'm real, if you ask "Real what?", you might get differing answers. And I try to be objective. Actually, it was a simple test to do since I spend most of my time in front of my keyboard anyway, and I wanted to get answers out to the others that were asking. As far as I am concerned, Nitecore really hit the 'sweet spot' with this light, and I think with the MT06 as well. Got mine a week ago, and the more I use it the more I like it. I do agree a neutral or warm version would be nice, a high CRI in the MT06 would be fantastic.


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## ForrestChump (Dec 28, 2014)

Any chance for a water resistance test?


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## thedoc007 (Dec 28, 2014)

I have just the thing in mind. Charging my Tube before bed tonight...as soon as it is done, going into a Nalgene bottle (about half full) and then into the freezer (will be on low mode). Tomorrow I will thaw it out with warm water, and we'll see if it is still faring well.

I have had bad experiences with freezer tests before, mostly due to my own error. Never know what will happen, it may compress the switch, ramp up the brightness, and kill the battery. But hey, for $10, I want to know. I have faith in the TUBE!


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## KITROBASKIN (Dec 28, 2014)

thedoc007 said:


> I have just the thing in mind. Charging my Tube before bed tonight...as soon as it is done, going into a Nalgene bottle (about half full) and then into the freezer (will be on low mode). Tomorrow I will thaw it out with warm water, and we'll see if it is still faring well.
> 
> I have had bad experiences with freezer tests before, mostly due to my own error. Never know what will happen, it may compress the switch, ramp up the brightness, and kill the battery. But hey, for $10, I want to know. I have faith in the TUBE!



Video of the unwrapping PLEASE


CandlePowerForums App


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## thedoc007 (Dec 28, 2014)

Probably won't be video, but I'll try to take pics of the process, if it survives the night.


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## ForrestChump (Dec 28, 2014)

thedoc007 said:


> I have just the thing in mind. Charging my Tube before bed tonight...as soon as it is done, going into a Nalgene bottle (about half full) and then into the freezer (will be on low mode). Tomorrow I will thaw it out with warm water, and we'll see if it is still faring well.
> 
> I have had bad experiences with freezer tests before, mostly due to my own error. Never know what will happen, it may compress the switch, ramp up the brightness, and kill the battery. But hey, for $10, I want to know. I have faith in the TUBE!


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## thedoc007 (Dec 28, 2014)

With flash and household lighting:





With household lighting only:





Lit only by the Tube, low mode:





Went in right around 2300 EST. Now I just have to remember to check it in the morning.

Edit: Also, wow. I really need to defrost my freezer...


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## ForrestChump (Dec 28, 2014)

You're a fun guy Doc.

:thumbsup:


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## thedoc007 (Dec 29, 2014)

No apparent problems in the morning, still going strong:





Tipped upside down, so you can see it is a solid block of ice:





Just melted enough so the entire block of ice is floating:


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## thedoc007 (Dec 29, 2014)

Now the ice is floating freely:





Free at last!


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## thedoc007 (Dec 29, 2014)

It does look like there is a little bit of water inside the light. Not much...TINY droplets, but at some point, whether from pressure, or rapid heating/cooling, or condensation, a little bit did get in. I was unable to capture it on camera, but I can definitely see it easily enough with my own eyes.

However, all modes work, no flickering, no problem with ramping, on/off, or double click. So I'm calling that a pass.


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## subwoofer (Dec 29, 2014)

NITECORE said they were going to send me a couple of TUBEs. If they do, I intend to do a normal review runtime test. I tend not to check the lower runtimes as the time it takes is sooo much longer and the datalogging can run into issues over 5 hours, and certainly when hitting 24 hours.


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## ForrestChump (Dec 29, 2014)

thedoc007 said:


> *It does look like there is a little bit of water inside the light*. Not much...TINY droplets, but at some point, whether from pressure, or rapid heating/cooling, or condensation, a little bit did get in. I was unable to capture it on camera, but I can definitely see it easily enough with my own eyes.
> 
> However, all modes work, no flickering, no problem with ramping, on/off, or double click. So I'm calling that a pass.




I know, I almost feel bad. I wasn't going to go as far as a freezer, but I didn't stop you either.:devil:


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## thedoc007 (Dec 29, 2014)

ForrestChump said:


> I know, I almost feel bad. I wasn't going to go as far as a freezer, but I didn't stop you either.:devil:



I don't! It'll dry out soon enough, and since no damage was done, why worry about it? I'm glad I did the test.

If I were to repeat it, I would probably lube around the charging port cover, and around the switch. But since it is inexpensive, I wanted to try it as is, same as out of the box.


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## skeefu (Dec 29, 2014)

Does anyone know what the size of the battery inside The Tube is as far as Mah? I have not been able to find this info anywhere. Not on any spec sheets and I even called Battery Junction and they too did not have any additional information on the specs for battery.


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## gravelmonkey (Dec 29, 2014)

skeefu said:


> Does anyone know what the size of the battery inside The Tube is as far as Mah? I have not been able to find this info anywhere. Not on any spec sheets and I even called Battery Junction and they too did not have any additional information on the specs for battery.



150mah according to fasttech :shrug:

Edit: My googlefu turned up this review with a photo showing 100mah printed on the cell.


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## ForrestChump (Dec 29, 2014)

thedoc007 said:


> I don't! It'll dry out soon enough, and since no damage was done, why worry about it? I'm glad I did the test.
> 
> If I were to repeat it, I would probably lube around the charging port cover, and around the switch. But since it is inexpensive, I wanted to try it as is, same as out of the box.




:thumbsup:


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## Timothybil (Dec 29, 2014)

You can always put it in a zip lock with some rice and let it dry it out.


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## NoNotAgain (Dec 29, 2014)

Timothybil said:


> You can always put it in a zip lock with some rice and let it dry it out.



Or just remove the four Phillips tipped screws, sling it a bit and mild heat with a hair dryer.


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## ForrestChump (Dec 30, 2014)

Or you could just put it in the oven to dry it out and perform a heat test. 


_Don't do that. _


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## thedoc007 (Dec 30, 2014)

All the tips are appreciated...but there was no need for anything fancy. As I said, the amount of water was TINY. I left the charging port cover off for 24 hours, and it is totally dry again, far as I can tell. In any case, it is working fine, fully charged and back on my keychain, apparently none the worse for wear.

Funny you should say put it in the oven, Forrest. I actually did just that with a cell phone, a ways back, and it worked perfectly. I did remove the battery, though...I definitely would NOT try it with a non-removable battery.


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## hivoltage (Dec 30, 2014)

I bought 20 of them to hand out to maintenance guys at work. Only 1 of them had a problem. The LED had a bad solder joint and it flickered when moved. Tried to solder it but ended up just throwing it in the trash. Great little lights though, just in time to replace my Rex which is about shot.


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## ven (Dec 30, 2014)

Love the test doc,i await the tm36vn next................

:laughing:

I got my 3 eventually 




I am trying mine out on my car keys to replace the DQG spy(cant see the test going on for too long tbh............)

Just caught madison with hers(red one) setting up a monster high doll display and using it as a back light :laughing:
Next min Callum has his for a ninja turtle meet up:shrug:




So they are more versatile than i thought :laughing:
Donatello thinks so too




.................i think............hard to tell with his expressions :laughing:


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## Grijon (Dec 30, 2014)

LOL, great post, Ven!


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## thedoc007 (Dec 30, 2014)

ven said:


> Love the test doc,i await the tm36vn next................



Uh-huh. Don't hold your breath. I did do a dunk test, to the extent I could...there weren't any bowls big enough to completely submerge it. But the freezer test - I think I will pass. :thumbsup:

The Tube is an impressive little light...I have a couple more on the way to give out as late gifts. Handy thing to have, and sure beats a Fauxton.


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## KITROBASKIN (Dec 30, 2014)

I too continue to have a Photon ReX on my key set, and am looking to replace it at some point. It would be interesting to hear direct comparisons with the V54 modded, in terms of runtime and how long the Tube vn can run on high before it is too hot to hold. Perhaps that info is on the V54 videos. I am just thinking that, with a 5 year old in the house, it might be better to stay with the stock version, as I let him use the ReX in the field sometimes. I think he gets tired of carrying the SolarForce L2P and knows it would not be good if he drops it, although the few times he has dropped it, he has tried not to let it be scratched. I am proud of him. The stock Tube should be able to fill that role.


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## ven (Dec 30, 2014)

My lad is 4( 5 in feb)and the standard tube is superb for him,easy UI and i like the press and hold to ramp the brightness to your desired level(just a nice touch and he now knows how to use it).
Once a week i will top both the tubes off (8yr olds too)unless they come to me 1st and tell me its dim :laughing: . In short they will get moderate abuse,will see how they handle it over the coming weeks/months..............

For me the low is of no use(for my uses anyway)but see the benefit for users who need to get up in the night...........or use it as toy display backgrounds :laughing: The 45lm is enough to light a room adequately for navigation or finding stuff,maybe around the car or house etc etc(appears less to me though). It makes a good back up key ring light,although i would not edc it on its own.

If i was to find a negative it would be down to the size for a young one,a bit too easy to loose. So best option would be to attach it to something larger,be it a key ring of some kind or even a school bag for winter use. Not that it would be an end of world scenario,just an inconvenience if lost and need replacing.

Cant comment on the v54 unfortunately..........


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## Timothybil (Dec 30, 2014)

There are a lot of nice wrist lanyards out there. What would probably work well would be one of the springy coiled ones that stretch out for use, then recoil back to around the wrist when released. Keeps the light out of the way and nice and close. Otherwise a nice neck lanyard with break-away would work. All of these can be found in many bright colors as well as GITD.


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## ven (Dec 30, 2014)

Timothybil said:


> There are a lot of nice wrist lanyards out there. What would probably work well would be one of the springy coiled ones that stretch out for use, then recoil back to around the wrist when released. Keeps the light out of the way and nice and close. Otherwise a nice neck lanyard with break-away would work. All of these can be found in many bright colors as well as GITD.




Excellent idea,totally skipped my mind,will get onto that one(or two i should say)cheers:thumbsup:


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## ForrestChump (Dec 30, 2014)

thedoc007 said:


> All the tips are appreciated...but there was no need for anything fancy. As I said, the amount of water was TINY. I left the charging port cover off for 24 hours, and it is totally dry again, far as I can tell. In any case, it is working fine, fully charged and back on my keychain, apparently none the worse for wear.
> 
> Funny you should say put it in the oven, Forrest. I actually did just that with a cell phone, a ways back, and it worked perfectly. I did remove the battery, though...I definitely would NOT try it with a non-removable battery.



Yeah, battery was why I said don't do it. Otherwise I would try to talk you into making NitecoreCakes. :devil:

Oven trick is great for drying out gear, I've used it plenty, just got to keep the heat low and door cracked, I found around 100F is the sweet spot.



@ Ven, My favorite was Raphael but after I lost one of his daggers under the deck I just couldn't look at him the same way anymore, it was driving me nuts. I had to bury him in the sand, he was just half the turtle he used to be... This was the earliest I can remember of the OCD... HAHAHA!


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## ven (Dec 30, 2014)

ForrestChump said:


> @ Ven, My favorite was Raphael but after I lost one of his daggers under the deck I just couldn't look at him the same way anymore, it was driving me nuts. I had to bury him in the sand, he was just half the turtle he used to be... This was the earliest I can remember of the OCD... HAHAHA!




:laughing:


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## ForrestChump (Dec 30, 2014)

Yeah you think its funny, I still have nightmares about it 25 years later....... HA!




To the topic: The Nitecore survived and looks like a fantastic light, and I will not be buying one, just ain't my thang. Thank you for the test though Doc.


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## f22shift (Jan 2, 2015)

anyone try to mod one besides vn?
i wonder if the boost in output is from swapping the led or increasing the wire size from the battery or something else.

i'm tempted to swap the led for a red or uv.


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## thedoc007 (Jan 2, 2015)

f22shift said:


> anyone try to mod one besides vn?
> i wonder if the boost in output is from swapping the led or increasing the wire size from the battery or something else.
> 
> i'm tempted to swap the led for a red or uv.



Vinh has said he leaves the stock LED. I believe the mod is just a matter of swapping resistors in the regulation circuit (not that that is easy, it is certainly beyond my ability).


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## gravelmonkey (Jan 3, 2015)

f22shift said:


> anyone try to mod one besides vn?
> i wonder if the boost in output is from swapping the led or increasing the wire size from the battery or something else.
> 
> i'm tempted to swap the led for a red or uv.



I'm waiting for someone else to try first... Let us know how it turns out!


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## RobertMM (Feb 28, 2015)

Any idea what LED these little buggers use? I'm thinking of getting a few for tinkering with. 
The batteries look similar to the LiPo batteries I used on my radio controlled "trainer" helicopters before I got a full on 450 class.


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## Robocop (Mar 10, 2015)

I bought 2 of these on an impulse simply as I was curious about the 45 lumen claim from a 5mm. I must say it looks very close and is very impressive for a 5mm led. Now I have been away a while however from what I remember 5mm LEDs were never pushing this kind of output. I have skimmed through some searched threads here and really did not see much talk of this......if so I missed it and sorry for asking however again is this normal now from 5mm LEDs?

I have at least 100 5mm lights ranging from beaters to customs and none can get close to this little 10 dollar tube. Now I have no idea about the long term durability however really for 10 dollars not an issue for me. Is this some type of super 5mm LED that has come along during my absence or is it simply way over driving the 5mm on high?

If I can figure out who makes the actual 5mm I would really like to buy some for mods to my other 5mm lights. It seems like to my memory that I believe 15 to 20 lumens was doing very well a year back and this little tube just really surprised me.

Anyway if I missed it already sorry and if not thank you for any information.


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## jimsmith1370 (Mar 10, 2015)

Wow. $5 each. Where? I paid almost $10 each for the 3 I bought during the holidays.


NoNotAgain said:


> I got my Tubes as stocking stuffers. The outfit I get all of my computer cables from, monoprice has retractable micro USB cables for under $2.00 each.
> 
> I was lucky enough to get the Tubes for $5.00 each which was a steal.


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## Timothybil (Mar 10, 2015)

When the Tube was first announced they had a deal with Nitecorelights to pre-order at $5 + shipping. A bunch of us got our first Tubes that way. Then Banggood had a sale and I picked up some more for a little over six, with free shipping. I forget what they are selling them for now, but it is less than the $9.90 that most places are selling them for. Banggood does free shipping to the US, but it takes about a month, and there is no trace. If the no trace bothers you, pay the extra buck or two to get the shipping with trace option. So far I have had great luck with all my orders from them.


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## Robocop (Mar 10, 2015)

I believe mine were 9 dollars however even so it really is a bargain if for nothing more than sheer output. That little 5mm LED still has me curious as to what the drive level is on high power. I really would like to have a few of these bare LEDs for other hosts.


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## scout24 (Mar 10, 2015)

Robocop- Vihn has been doing warm mods on these after sourcing new warm emitters. Maybe he would sell you the stockers he pulls, or point you to his source, maybe they have the cool as well ?


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## Robocop (Mar 10, 2015)

Scout thank you and I will surely ask him. I cant find anything on the power going to the 5mm led and the design makes it impossible to check with a meter. Any other 5mm I have seen will turn an ugly blue color and die quickly when overdriven. All of mine are nice and cool white on high and easily 3 times as bright as any other 5mm I have.


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## zipplet (Mar 28, 2015)

So I found out about the Tube a few days ago, and ordered one in blue and one in pink. I snuck the pink one onto my wife's keychain when she wasn't looking . Finally, I managed to get her to carry a small light that doesn't bother her and may save her a lot of trouble someday!

As for the one I kept for myself, it is surprisingly bright and has made its way onto my keychain as well. I just did a runtime test on high and it lasted about 50 minutes before dimming noticeably. Not bad.

These things are perfect for keyring use.


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## cm64 (May 9, 2015)

Just received one. Very impressed, my new favorite toy !
Couple of cons ...
The ramp time from low to max is a bit too fast & its difficult to select a intermediate level. A longer ramp time would be ideal.
Not sure how long the rubber cover on the micro-usb port will last, looks a bit flimsy, so it may not be too waterproof if it does break off.
I would like to see one in an international orange/hi-vis color.
The recharge cable needed is the same a my mobile phone so its perfect.


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## Woods Walker (May 9, 2015)

I was thinking about getting a few for my solar charging setups. My fold up chargers have 2 USB ports and often one is doing nothing.


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## Timothybil (May 10, 2015)

Woods Walker said:


> I was thinking about getting a few for my solar charging setups. My fold up chargers have 2 USB ports and often one is doing nothing.


That would work. In the interest of protecting night-adapted eyes I would recommend the black version. It has the least amount of bleed over of any of the colors. They are also great for hanging on zipper pulls and/or packs so they are always available. The five lumen low is more than enough for finding things and finding one's way, and the 45 lumens is always right there if needed, as well as anything in between.

BTW, what do you use for solar panels?


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## rb765 (Jun 3, 2015)

One question about these lights I have not been able to find. How long will the battery last in standby. I have had my photon on my work keys for years and it still works great with the original battery. I don't use it much as I always have other lights, but you can never have too many lights. My son recently saw these and asked for one. I had just seen them go on sale on Massdrop, 3 for $20 so I went ahead and asked the wife what color she wanted and ordered the set, one for each of us. If anyone has standby info, please let me know. Mine should be here in a couple weeks, but would like to know how often to throw it on the charger before hand.


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## zipplet (Jun 4, 2015)

Hi rb765,
I'm also interested in that information but it is not published anywhere. The best way to find out would be if someone is willing to take one apart and measure the standby current consumption. I don't have a multimeter accurate enough for such a measurement to be worth doing. Maybe someone else will be able to help us with this.


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## Dubois (Jun 4, 2015)

Subwoofer addressed this issue in his review, and found it to be negligible (114 years).


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## zipplet (Jun 4, 2015)

Dubois said:


> Subwoofer addressed this issue in his review, and found it to be negligible (114 years).


Thanks for linking to that great review


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## Trevilux (Jun 4, 2015)

Here my impresions in spanish about Nitecore Tube, I've included graphs: runtime and lumens with data obtained in sphere of UPz (colleague reviewer)












http://luxlinternas.blogspot.com.es/search/label/Nitecore Tube


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## Timothybil (Jun 4, 2015)

Does anyone remember if the Tube comes charged or not? I just test one of my extra Tubes still in plastic, and it was dead. I either got it last November with the initial release or last January, when I bought a few extra on sale. It charged up just fine, so we'll see if there was any long-term damage by it being discharged so low.


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## thedoc007 (Jun 4, 2015)

Timothybil said:


> Does anyone remember if the Tube comes charged or not? I just test one of my extra Tubes still in plastic, and it was dead. I either got it last November with the initial release or last January, when I bought a few extra on sale. It charged up just fine, so we'll see if there was any long-term damage by it being discharged so low.



They come partially charged.


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## Timothybil (Jun 4, 2015)

thedoc007 said:


> They come partially charged.


I found that out. I dug out another Tube that I bought at the same time as the last one, and it still works just fine. So that means that the partial charge Nitecore put in there is good for at least six month, and maybe eight. [I got three last Nov/Dec as part of the pre-release purchase, and bought three more on sale in January.]


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