Bruno Duerrenberger and his TillyTec 1500 experience

For years I’ve been looking for the perfect dive light. Three years ago on a dive expo in Germany I became aware of TillyTec. Their modular system had impressed me already back then. Though I still wanted to find out more about the different lamp technologies. Eventually the new lamp had to compete with the focus Kowalski LED that is perfect for night dives on the reef, however on cave or wreck dives, where more light is desirable, it has its limits.

Finally I decided to go for the LED 1500 with TT1  from TillyTec which didn’t disappoint me at all on my recent liveaboard trip in Belize. From now on it was my constant companion, also in all dives during the day. At a depth of 60ft  where day light looses all its colors, I couldn’t do it without my “artificial sun”. Initially a bit unsatisfied by the quite strong spotlight, the additional diffuser brought a beautiful, uniform illumination.
During night dives on the reef, however, I missed a dim function. Unfortunately many of the sea dwellers were disturbed by the enormous brightness and often disappeared very quickly between the corals. Though the "manual dimming function" (just put your fingers in front of the lens), quickly put things right again. For the next dive trip I will work on a plastic part that I can put between the lamp head and diffuser, which will hopefully reduce the light intensity.
In wrecks however the lamp shows its full strength and lights up even the very last corner. As already mentioned, without the diffuser the light has a spot brightness, but this actually doesn’t matter in this environment. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to test this dive light in caves yet, but I expect a lot there, too.

All in all, this dive light is a very high quality product and I certainly will have a lot of fun with it for a long time!

 

 

Richie Kohler and TillyTec

Richie Kohler, one of the Who’s Who of scuba diving, was diving with one of our light.

First let us introduce Richie for the people who don’t know who he is.

Richie Kohler is a very experienced technical wreck diver and shipwreck historian. Together with John Chatterton, another who’s who of scuba diving, he was identifying the German Submarine U-869 which sank during the WWII near the New Jersey coast. This wreck has also been the subject of several television documentaries. Based on Richie’s and John’s numerous diving trips down to this wreck is the bestseller “Shadow Divers” from Robert Kurson, which will be will soon a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox directed by award winning director Peter Weir (Green Card, The Truman Show and Master and Commander).
Richie was also, together with John, a co-host of the television series “Deep Sea Detectives” which was aired from 2003-2006 on the History Channel. Richie is currently one of the hosts of the new television series “Dive Portal Magazine”. He is also very often a consultant for the film and television industry on shipwreck and diving projects. Please watch also the many videos with Richie on YouTube.

Here is what he has to say about one of our lights:

I recently was asked to try a new LED light from TillyTec and with all the new advances in batteries and LED lights I was eager to get my hands on it and get it wet...I was not disappointed.

 
The light I tested is a TT2 4500 torch, which is a hand held light with lantern style grip. The first thing I noticed when I open up the package is the amount of thought which went into the entire set up. Tillytec has compartmented and padded travel case, which helps keep everything in it's place and protected whether in a airplane, trunk of your car, or bouncing around on a dive boat. The sealed light body/battery has a anodized and ribbed matt type finish, making it easy to handle wet and the knife edge lantern grip/handle mount is well engineered and extremely sturdy. The light head is robust and has a series of groove turned into the metal to also give purchase when wet or when using thick gloves. With the light head mounted into the battery/body of the light, the entire product is smooth and streamlined as there is no physical exterior no on/off switch. You simply turn the light head clockwise to turn it on and counter clockwise to shut it off. The other thing I like is that the TellyTec system is modular, so if you can either dive the light as a hand held "torch" (as I did) or you if prefer you can "back mount" the battery canister to your kitt and use an umbilical. I like that you can "have it your way".
 
Like cars, dive gear is sexy to look at, (at least to me) but the real fun is in driving, or in this case, diving them. I made a series of dive with the torch and was impressed with its performance. Its well balanced and after one test dive on a wreck in 100 fsw off Salem Massachusetts, I did a 40 minutes of bottom time in 38 degree water. The water was typically turbid and murky but the light cut through with little back scatter. Although my hands were getting cold, it was still comfortable to hold as a lantern stile light. My dive buddy ad a few other divers on the commented on how bright it was and wanted to know more about the system, which in this arena, is the best possible review you can get.
 
I am looking forward to the next light they ask me to review!
 
Richie Kohler
Technical Dive Training and Shipwreck Exploration
Titanic’s Last Secrets by Brad Matsen

 

 

Backup W40

A review from Jonas Eriksson (BlueCodProductions) (abstract)

 

TillyTec is based in Rastow, Germany and was started by Tilly Thomas according to what I could find. It is one of those small companies who specialize on one thing, and on doing that one thing better than most. TillyTec produces leading technology dive lamps based on modern LED technology.
Amongst the wide selection of models available, my first TillyTec lamp purchased is the TillyTec W40 - it is being marked as a "backup lamp" - the only reason being, I suspect , is because every other model is even more powerful. The W40 is the follow-up model to the W30 launched in 2007*, which featured approx. 11,200 Lux light output, which again was a follow-up to the earlier W20 outputting around 5,000-8,000 Lux back in the old days. Tilly has been doing dive lamps for a while.

A funny episode (and a clever marketing counter!) happened with the earlier W30 model: A Chinese made copy of the W30 hit the markets and was discussed on a German dive forum site. Instead of Tilly trying to denounce this in any way, he went ahead and reportedly bought 200 units to test them for himself and then replied in the same well-known German divers forum, offering anyone who wanted to buy a flickering Chinese copy light with lower output first, that he/she could upgrade to a "real" TillyTec W30 by paying the difference :-)

That's how you effectively take the wind out of your competitors sails - well done Tilly!

In any case, this company is serious about quality, and personally I'd never compromise on an item like a backup torch. Today, I therefore purchased a W40 (without even looking around if the Chinese copycats had gotten around to faking this one already or not).

As I said, I just got my first TillyTec (the W40), and after playing with it on land, I am already blown away by the amount of light than can be produced by three AA batteries (Mignon) and one LED these days. Check out the images comparing a slightly older Seac Sub X-LED (3-LED) lamp with the new TillyTec W40. Better comparison and "action shots" (underwater) to follow!

 

Front showing the led lens:

Same, light switched on (camera on auto-adjust, hence darker all-round picture):

TillyTec W40 from 5 meters away onto a white wall, a pretty flower, Swedish Glass sculpture (from Målerås), and a Genelec 6010A speaker

Same setup - different torch - the Seac Sub X-LED (a great torch as well, see SEAC SUB X-LED - Dive torch review):

Both at the same time - by itself, the Seac Sub is great... once the TillyTec W40 is switched on too, it kinda steals the show:

 

Proper comparison shots with Seac Sub X-LED below.

Note: The camera (Nikon D300 with 14mm lens) is tripod mounted and set to manual (same aperture + same exposure time)!

First image -  no lamps switched are on. You can see that the further away brick building is lit up by its own lamps, so any torch making a visible difference on that wall from close to 50 meters away is going to be rather good. Distances measured by laser distance measuring devices. Note how dark the windows left of the little arrow are...

Seac Sub X-LED switched on:
There is a faint light beam on the building wall 48 meters away (the lighter blueish kind) - not perfectly viewable in this picture is the fact that the Seac Sub also put some more light onto the roof/ridge - see the larger image in the gallery below for clearer shots!)

TillyTec W40 switched on:
Besides the obvious brightness (I hope you just said "wow!"), note how you can also distinguish items INSIDE the brick building - especially in the larger image (see gallery below), this becomes evident.

Both lamps switched on:
It's not just in the picture - with both switched on, the Seac Sub is no longer distinguishable as a separate light source...

And here I am, still driving around with a 3D cell Maglite in my car... why?
I could just get a second W40 and use them as fog lights! Blimey!

 

 

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Following a test report from Professor Tanja Pietrass, Virginia. You can contact Professor Tanja Pietrass under

 

WARP 10 Ultimate™ 9 LiFe LED

Pros: high quality workmanship; robust design; excellent beam quality; responsive customer service
Cons: price (offset by high quality and warranty); company not quite adapted to US customers (minor issue, expected to be corrected soon)
Overall: highly recommended

After switching to rebreather diving, I was in the market for a new light with longer burn time. I was looking for a burn time on the order of 10 hours, in order to provide sufficient back-up for 5+ hour dives, and to allow for diving in remote locations without having to recharge in between dives. My previous light is a DiveRite with slim line canister that I like for its small size. I do not, however, like the shock-sensitivity of the HID bulb. So aside from long burn time, I was also looking for a robust light equipped with LEDs. It quickly became clear that for this burn time, I would have to accept a larger diameter canister, and that the cost would be at least in the $1,300 to $1,400 range.

After some research, I came across the Warp-10. In addition to the information provided on the website, I had multiple additional questions that were expediently answered by Tillytec's US representative, Ralf Werner. There was some confusing information on the US Tillytec website that led me to believe that the Warp-10 had a shorter burn time than the TT3 battery coupled with the 1000-S2 head. Ralf updated the website and was very helpful in explaining the differences between the two light systems. With the equivalent burn time and the advantage of having a light that is focusable up to a depth of 150 m (according to Ralf; the test report on the German website says 60 m), I settled on the Warp-10 with the new lithium iron phosphate battery. Note that this is the ‘luxury’ model, hence the higher than average price. I liked that the three LEDs in the light head are independent of each other, meaning that when one fails, one still has a working light.

An issue arose in terms of shipping time - all Warp-10s were on backorder. Nevertheless, Ralf promised me my new light for the departure date of my next cave diving trip to Florida (about 3 weeks from the date of ordering). There were some delivery problems but Ralf kept me in the loop and sent the light directly and via express to Florida. The light arrived on time as promised.

When unwrapping the light, the extremely high quality of workmanship became immediately obvious. All parts on the light are machined, and the compartments are sealed off with a large number of smaller bolts. The seals are so well done that they remind me of ultra-high vacuum equipment. I also like the light switch which is large and easy to operate. The enclosure around the switch (to avoid accidental turning on and off) is large enough to easily accommodate gloved fingers. The cable is very well reinforced to prevent breaks at the light head and canister. Although the light head looked large on the photographs on the Tillytec website, the dimensions proved accurate and the head has a convenient size, even for someone with small hands.

There were, however, two slight dampers to my excitement: there was no manual included, and the wall plug for the charger matched the German wall outlets and cannot be used in the US as provided. Later I found out that the missing manual was due to miscommunication – Ralf figured that I’d be ok with the German version (as a native German speaker), and Tillytec Germany relied on Ralf to send me the English version. This issue is unlikely to arise for other customers. Once I notified Ralf of the missing manual, he immediately emailed it to me. The charger is compatible with 110 V and 220 V, so no problem here. I needed an adapter that I was not able to find at my diving location. However, a quick trip to the hardware store, a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, and a new US plug was connected to the charger. In addition, according to the German website, a clip as an alternative mounting option is included. I did not receive this clip, and Ralf verified that it was not supposed to be included. Note that the US website does not mention this clip – I gleaned information from both websites.

For my first dive, I had to figure out how to focus the light without having a manual on hand. A first inspection did not reveal any movable parts. I went online and searched around and finally found a test report on the German Tillytec website that included a description on how the ring at the back end of the light head can be used for focusing. It takes quite some effort to rotate this ring, and its role was hence not immediately obvious.

Further, I was not too impressed with the Goodman handle. The edges are too sharp, and the gap between the side mounting bracket and the light head itself might snag a line. My dive partner knotted a piece of bungee cord in place that spans from one mounting bracket over the light head to the mounting bracket on the opposite side, thus preventing any snagging. We cushioned the inside of the handle with sheets of rubber held in place with duct tape, to make it more comfortable on the hand, and also to prevent the handle from sliding. We were using scooters, and the hand holding the light head needs to be available for equalizing ears and controlling buoyancy. After these modifications, it was comfortable and snug. The slots on the side mounting brackets allow a very fine and easy adjustment of the gap accommodating the hand.

Having a smaller built and finite room on my waist belt, I removed the belt-mount from the canister and replaced it with double sided snaps. I mounted the canister the same way as my slim-line; behind my right shoulder and in front of the wings. Even though I have the oxygen tank for my rebreather mounted in the same area (behind the wings), this worked well for me. Under water, I could wiggle the canister into a position that let me forget it was even there. Even from the shoulder mount position, the cable is long enough to reach my left hand when scootering, and one or two wraps around my arm take care of the extra length when holding it in the right hand.

I charged the light up over night. No heat build-up was detected on the battery during charging. Charging actually presented a small problem. When connecting the light to the charger after completion of the first dive, the indicator light on the charger immediately turned green. As this was deemed impossible, we finally realized that the light switch needed to be in the 'on' position to close the charging circuit. It is obvious once you think about it, but I was used to a light where the battery is removed from the canister for charging. At this point, I did not yet have the manual on hand, and I had turned the light off after the dive. When the light was shipped, the switch was in the ‘on’ position so I did not become aware of this detail until the second charging cycle.

Before my first dive with the Warp-10, I tried a burn test with the light head immersed in water. After 10.5 hours, the last of us went to sleep, and the light was still going strong. So the only thing I can say at this point is that the burn time is longer than 10.5 hours - more than satisfactorily, given the specifications. On the US website, a customer reports a burn time of 13 hours! Unlike with HID lights, the light head does not heat up significantly. Ralf’s advice on the issue was to immerse the head in water if it felt hot to the touch. To avoid complications, I did so from the beginning of the test and did not notice any heat build-up.

Under water, the light performed extremely well. The beam is very bright, but not too bright. Two years ago, one of my dive partners test-dove a Tillytec 75 W and 100 W equivalent as back-up light, and actually opted for the 75 W option as he found the 100 W light too bright. This is not an issue with the Warp-10. On my first dive, I used the light in Jackson Blue that had good visibility (60+ ft) but particulates in the water. Scattering was not a problem, the beam is sufficiently disperse. My team mates commented that the light was not too bright, easy to see, and clear when used for communication. Deeper into the cave, the particulate density increased greatly and still, the beam illuminated the cave extremely well. Diving with buddies, I used the light in the most focused position. When overlaying my beam in the cave with that of my partner, his beam virtually disappeared. I also used the light on a solo dive where I experimented with the least focused position. The difference did not appear to be too great, but at 90 ft the focusing ring is expected to have greater resistance to rotation, and I may not have reached the fully unfocused position.

Later in the week, I used the light in two caves with poorer visibility and lots of particulates in the water. Scattering was not an issue, communication was easy, and the illumination of the cave superb. Attached are two pictures of the cave entrance to Jackson Blue, photographed from a distance of about 60 ft. On one of the pictures, I used the Warp-10 to illuminate the cave, the other one is illuminated by natural light only. The pictures were taken with a simple point-and-shoot camera and are thus not well focused but very nicely show the superb beam quality and illumination power of the Warp-10.

Entrance to Jackson Blue, FL, from about 60 ft into the cave: left, with Warp-10 illumination; right, without.

The bottom line is that I am extremely satisfied with my new light. The peace of mind of having a bright, reliable light for many hours is very comforting especially on solo dives. Despite its high price tag, I assume that the lithium iron phosphate battery will outlast equivalent nickel metal hydride batteries by a factor of three to four in terms of charging cycles (as described on the Tillytec website), without significant decrease in performance. Time will tell. This brings me to the last point – the 10-year warranty. I am confident that the light will live up to the expectations that such an extended warranty promises. If it does, it is well worth the few hundred dollars extra when compared to competitors’ lights.

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Following pictures were taken in France from Rafael Grillitsch with our WARP 10 Ultimate Exclusive. Thank you for sending us this. "After 13 hours of burning the WARP 10 Ultimate Exclusive finaly began to flicker" Comment Rafael Grillitsch

Rafael Grillitsch in the Ressel/France   The WARP 10 Ultimate Canister   WARP 10 Ultimate LED Light Head   WARP 10 Ultimate LED Light Head beside the M.O.D. Hyperion Light Head   WARP 10 Ultimate LED Light Head

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LAMP TILLY TEC W30 BACK-UP

Appeared in DIVER September 2009

After my adventures with the Tilly Tec TT2-LED 2000, a lamp so bright it left a trail of bedazzled fishes and cooked coral, I took the little W30 Back-up torch with me to the British Virgin Islands.

IT IS AROUND 20CM LONG, so it protruded from my BC pocket when I wasn't using it, but it comes complete with long lanyard and a karabiner clip so it was securely hooked to a convenient loop in that pocket and there was no risk of me losing it.
The unit looks as if it has been milled out of a solid lump of Delrin, with a comfortably ribbed finish to give a good grip.

Power Source

This lamp is powered by three AA batteries.
I used rechargeables with a three-hour burn-time. If you use alkaline batteries, instead of going out after three hours, it gradually dims and will give light for around two more hours,
enough to allow you to see your instruments.
The batteries are simply inserted inline into the otherwise solid plastic handle.

Light Source

A single high-output LED set in a reflector and mounted behind a lens provides the light. It is said to be almost indestructible.

Switching

All the working parts of this lamp are encased within the lamphead, which screws down to make contact with the batteries, facilitating switching on and off. The batteries are protected from flooding by a long thread and three O-rings. It is best to turn this sort of lamp on before entering the water and to leave it on until you are safely out again.

Beam

Although it is called a back-up light, I used it as my main light source on Caribbean night dives. The beam proved more than bright enough. It had an extremely even super-bright hotspot, plus a series of concentric halos that could light up sleeping animals without disturbing them.

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LAMP TILLY TEC TT2/LED 2000

Appeared in DIVER September 2009

Lamps continue to get brighter and brighter. This lamp proved to be so bright that it was an embarrassment while night-diving on a tropical reef. I ended up putting my whole hand over the front of it, and conducted my dive by using merely the small percentage of light that escaped through the gaps between my fingers - it was that bright!

AT FIRST GLANCE there seem to be a lot of similarities between this product and the ones of the Belgian company GreenForce, but the Tilly Tec is made in Germany.
It has a similar modular construction, with a battery-pack that mounts via a soft bag to the camband of your BC, an umbilical pressure cable that houses the electrical connection
lead and screws in to the battery-pack via a connection protected by three O-rings inline, and another similar one that screws into the back of the lamp.
The manufacturer promises to part-exchange parts in the future at a nominal cost for newer modules as technology advances.

Light Source

The lamphead measures around 6cm in diameter and houses seven high-output LEDs that emit an alarming 45,000 lux. If you thought that LED lamps emitted no heat, think again.
Out of the water, this one can get seriously hot, so it can be used this way only for short periods of time.

Beam

The beam is very directional and gives a concentrated cone of light that penetrates blue water well. You would never guess that it came from seven different points.

Power Source

Fully charged, the TT2 battery still gives up to 110 minutes of burntime, which is long enough to give the fish serious sunburn. It's a nickel-metal hydride battery-pack that can be recharged at any
state of play without damage. In fact, the manufacturer recommends regular topping-up and that it be charged before being stored.
I'm told that ni-mh batteries enjoy regular use, and the maximum achievable capacity is not reached until 20 or more charging cycles have been made in repeated daily use. If you dive only in the UK, this might not be practical.
Included is a fast charger that has a connection that substitutes for the lamp. This has an indicator light that tells you when charging is completed.
The optional larger battery (TT3) allows for double the burntime. Later, should you wish, you can upgrade to a lithium-iron (LiFe) battery

Switching

Simply screwing the lamphead's lead down onto its connection to make contact does the switching on and off.
This system is very simple, but in the hands of some incautious divers I feel it could lead to disaster. Either the lamp comes on inadvertently in their bag, melting the material of their suit, or they unscrew it too far to switch it off while under water, with dire consequences.
This sort of lamp is best transported unconnected, and then switched on immediately before entering the water and not touched again until it's safely out again later.