Tovatec Fusion 1000

[EireDiver606]

I paid 115€ for this torch and everything works fine, I enjoy the variable beam for taking photos or videos. I also enjoy the run time.

The one thing about this torch that I don’t like is the brightness. I was diving in low light low vis conditions yesterday and could barely see anything with this torch which is advertised at 1000 lumens. My buddy had a Magicshine MJ 810B which is 50€ and 1000 lumens and it seemed at least twice as bright as mine. I even noticed that my previous 1000 lumen torch also definitely had a brighter beam.

My torch was definitely not on full battery charge, if a torch was almost empty battery wise, would the perform decrease? Or would it run at 1000 lumens until the battery quits? Maybe it is 1000 lumens but is not controlled as well into one spot?

Any other torch suggestions out there? That are cheap, powerful, reliable and aren’t overly huge?

Thanks

 

[runsongas]

depends on the led driver. direct drive will get dim at low battery life whereas regulated does not. hybrid drivers also exist that are regulated until they hit a low battery threshold voltage when they switch to direct drive.

since the tovatec is an adjustable beam, did you make sure to have the beam down as tight as it can be at 12 degrees?

the xtar d26 is a pretty decent alternative and runs 35 to 40 dollars if you import it direct from china

 

[EireDiver606]

Yes it was tight beam, full power.

Interesting about the drivers, could you find out what driver it has?

 

[runsongas]

you can try emailing tovatec and asking. only other way is to do a full teardown and analyze the driver IC

 

[EireDiver606]

I Justin can’t underrstand why my friends torch isn’t half the price and twice as bright?!?!?!

 

[stuartv]

It's a pretty safe bet that any really inexpensive light is going to have a cheap driver in it, which means it gradually dims over time. So, you should not compare your Tovatec with half a charge to any other light with a full charge.

Give the Tovatec a full charge and THEN compare it.

 

[EireDiver606]

It's a pretty safe bet that any really inexpensive light is going to have a cheap driver in it, which means it gradually dims over time. So, you should not compare your Tovatec with half a charge to any other light with a full charge.

Give the Tovatec a full charge and THEN compare it.

Ok it’s funny because I think you recommended it to me last year.

Hopefully it’s brighter than what I saw on full power setting. Only 1.5 meters or 2 ft and on full beam, could barely light up ground in low vis. Disappointing. Hopefully, I’m wrong and this torch was worth it.

 

[stuartv]

Ok it’s funny because I think you recommended it to me last year.

Hopefully it’s brighter than what I saw on full power setting. Only 1.5 meters or 2 ft and on full beam, could barely light up ground in low vis. Disappointing. Hopefully, I’m wrong and this torch was worth it.

And I still would. I think every light I own works like that. The Tovatec is still the only one I know of in that price range that has variable focus. But, any light that is only 1000 lumens is only going to be really bright on its narrowest setting. The more you spread the light out, the less bright it will be in any given spot.

 

[EireDiver606]

UPDATE:

I used it on full charge a few days after posting this thread again and it was much brighter!

@stuartv i guess you were right it is a good torch. How long have you had yours?

 

[stuartv]

I don't have one. I have said that I would like to get one, for the variable focus. But, I have not bought one. I just haven't had the motivation. I don't do much night diving. I do a fair bit in low viz, but a wide beam angle is not good for that, so my current Xtar D26s are fine.