Sunwayman T40CS plus

Sunwayman T40CS PLUS review:

Sunwayman T40CS plus intro:

Sunwayman was one of the leading Flashlight manufacturers on the globe. The last couple of years they haven’t been very succesful. Originally they started under the name Sunwayled. But still they are famous for some older type flashlights like the V11R and the V10A. Unfortunately they were discontinued. The T40CS first saw daylight in 2011 with a standard XM-L LED. The next version shipped with the XML-U2, and finally with an XML2. This “PLUS” edition was later added in October 2014 with a powerful CREE MT-G2LED. This pumped the output from 788 tot 1488 lumens.

What you get:

  • Sunwayman T40CS PLUS flashlight
  • Cardboard box
  • Lanyard +  attachment ring
  • Spare O-rings
  • Rubber rings
  • Holster
  • Manual, brochure and a warranty card

The T40CS Plus was delivered in a standard brown cardboard box) with great padding. Albeit larger, this is the same style of packaging as their other lights, including the famous D40A.

Specifications

BrandSunwayman T40CS
LEDCREE MT-G2
Battery config.2*18650
MaterialAluminum
Modes4
BlinkiesMany
ReflectorSmooth
WaterproofIPX8

Handling of the light

From the pictures the light looks longer than in reality. It`s certainly not overwhelmingly heavy, and holding it in 1 hand, with the thumb on the switchm doesn`t feel very heavy.

The light is well balanced. The side switch can be utilized to power the light on and off,  and also has mode memory, so you don`t need to switch the hand position to turn off the light. Although the body hasnt been updated since the first model because they knew what they had in house with their original T40CS xml.
With the rubber pistol grip ring, and the additional 5 rubber rings the light has enough grip. The negative of the rubber rings is that they get dusty too easily. You can wash them to return their original look.  They also included a lanyard ring that attaches the lanyard to the body. It sits just behind the little bump on the battery tube, behind the O-ring.
If you just want to have it on your belt, you can use their included holster.

swm-t40cs-plus-16

Knurling 

There is none, except for the tailcap.
The body of the T40CS has grooves and a flat surface to improve the grip. It also has the matte finish, just like the F40A I reviewed.Although this T40CS PLUS is an updated version of the origignal T40CS, I would have liked a little cosmetic changes.

Anodizing

The anodizing is done well all over the light without spots or blemishes.
On the head and body it has prints, which are done well. Only after disassembling the light I noticed that the rear threads were damaged and came unlubricated.

Threads

The threads between the head and Pill are non-anodized and included some moderately applied glue, which was no a problem to unscrew by hand.
The threads near the tail-cap are anodized. The threads on the rear part came unlubed, and I noticed some problems with anodization on those threads. Which is pretty bad for this kind of light.I applied some grease to the rear threads, and they go smooth again.I would like to point that out to Sunwayman.. This is pretty bad.

swm-t40cs-plus-11
swm-t40cs-plus-15

Lens and reflector

The T40CS has a stainless steel bezel. The reflector used in the T40CS Plus is smooth, but not supersmooth. Some sort of rings/marks are visible. Reflector
Width inside is max: 54mm
Depth: 33mm
The lens is coated. Lens
60mm dia
2.05mm thick.

The MTG-2 has a platic spacer to protect from a short with the reflector.

The pill is solid,and has a 4-5mm thick shelf which can help for some modding. The MCPCB (led board) is Aluminum, and not DTP.. so that would reduce the output and increase heat sag. (getting less bright because of the heat)

Dimensions and weight:

Length: 2300mm
Diameter max: 64mm
Reflector: 54mm x 33mm depth
Lens: 60mm by 2mm Weight :301grams (with the 7 rings and pistol grip ring)
Weight with batteries: 397grams (with the 7 rings and pistol grip ring) That is definitely a very attractive weight to have on your belt, not very heavy at all.

User Interface:

The UI is designed for situation that you need a lot of light instantly. It always start in Turbo. Because of the forward clicky you can use it momentary on for signally and more soding.

Changing modes is done by using the Side switch with a PRESS and HOLD, and you can also turn the light off with the side switch. This will have a very low parasitic drain, of 50μA according the specifications.The order of modes are in the following order:

  1. Turbo
  2. High
  3. Medium
  4. Low

I personally dont like switching modes with a press and hold. So this is definitely one Con.

Blinkies/SOS/beacon:

  • None

PWM:

  • None

Performance:

Measure by ceiling bounce with 2x NCR18650B 3400mAh batteries:
Ceiling bounce in lux (ceiling at about 1.5 meters above meter)

T40CS Plus Turbo High Medium Low
Lux 206 160 63 1
% 100 77 30 0

Turbo: 206 lux
High: 160 lux
Medium: 63 lux
Low: 1 lux
which equals  to: 100% – 77% – 30% – 0%For reference;
My ceiling bounce numbers, they can not be compared with other members` numbers, because of my setup..
They however, can be compared with my other numbers, using the same setup. To estimate the total output.

Ceiling bounce Lumens mfg specs
Acebeam K40M MTG2 158lux (4th mode) 1150 lumens
Acebeam K40M MTG2 263lux (5th mode) 1900 lumens
Sunwayman T45C XML2 137lux (max) 980 lumens
Sunwayman F40A XML2 130lux (max) 880 lumens
Sunwayman T40CS plus MTG2 206lux (max) 1488 lumens

The T40CS being brighter than the Acebeam K40M in 4th mode, and less bright than it in the 5th mode, we can conclude that 1488 lumens is a very trustable number. But I don’t have the means to have a precise Lumen measurement. Check out for lumen monsters: currently the brightest flashlight on the market.

Current Draw:

Used a Fluke 87III DMM with solid copper wires.
For the current draw at the Emitter, I unsoldered the Positive wire, and used my DMM to measure the Amps.
The Amps at the LED look higher than at the tailcap!

Turbo
 		High Medium Low
Amp @ tailcap 2.2A 1.35A 0.45A 0.04A
Amp @
LED 		2.3A 1.62A 0.57A 0.04A

Runtime

My first runtime test Started in Turbo..
After the light was off, 1 battery was below 2.6volts,and the other around 3.3V. Which is bad for the battery.
I hoped the protection would cut off below 3V.. but I guess at that point it was drawing too less amps to actually activiate the protection.
They are the exact same batteries, protected, but not from the same batch, and not from the same production date.
You better use Protected batteries from the same batch, and same production date, and same usage.Time recorded with my Canon EOS40D with digital timer remote control.
Unfortunately the remote control is not very precise… so its actually a bit less than 5 minute intervals.
Click on pic for larger sizeTURBOHIGH

In a graph:

Then in Medium: time interval 10 minutes

And in a graph:

Runtime till 10% output in Med mode: 7 Hours and 21 minutes.
Sunwayman claimed 4 hours on 2x2600mAh batteries in their manual.
The light will be going for another 20 minutes before its really dim.

THROW

Peak measured at 5 meters is 23000cd or 23kcd Although the T40CS was originally designed for throw, the T40CS PLUS is not a good thrower. 23000cd is a rather lame figure these days.  But the MT-G2 is very useful for close up and medium range objects. 5-50 meters.
That being said, its  a very useful light for nightguards for example. If you want to look for real throwers, check out the overview. If you want to have something with amazing throw and enough spill, take a look at the Acebeam K65 review.

Overall conclusion Sunwayman T40CS PLUS

Postive points:

  1. XM-L model upgraded to a MT-G2
  2. Easy UI
  3. Great for close and medium distance.
  4. Momentary ON
  5. Useful accessories included
  6. Well balanced in hand, both palm down and palm up
  7. Fully One-handed operation using the side switch
  8. Medium mode is over 6 hours on 2 18650 batteries
  9. Stainless steel bezel
  10. Side switch with OFF position and mode memory

Negative points

  1. Shape of the light hasn`t changed since its first appearance (which might be a Pro)
  2. Reflector is too small for a MTG-2 using as a thrower
  3. No driven hard, with 1500lumens
  4. MCPCB is made of aluminum and not copper, so heatsag.
  5. Tailcap threads came unlubed, and got scuffs after a little use.
  6. Output is not constant in High mode
  7. Rubber rings get dusty easily

Alternatives

Look here for other 18650 flashlights

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