Review: ThorFire S1 Diving Light

Wauw you got some balls there Johnny! Receiving a light with water on the inside (though very hard to see, you actually say water on the lens and reflectors, dang just on one lens or reflector would have been enough for me to contact Thorfire and ask what is up) you bravely go on! And you even go on with such confidence you put a cell in the holder the wrong way. Man I would be on my toes and start with a drained cell just to see what is going to happen.

I see you did not try to remove the bezels as ferocious as the plastic part covering the driver or the handle. The pics do show that you got rid of the water, how did you do that?

Ah and of course, what did Thorfire say about the issues?

Doesn’t look air tight. Small holes in the pill, probably a crack around the edges of it. Pretty low air exchange though. Drying it out would take awhile.

FWIW I have a sealed diopter (magnifying lens for dive camera) that has been on hoards of dives. When I rinse it in warm water it fogs a little. Goes away as soon as it’s cooled off. This is a typical problem with dive camera gear. We often put desiccants inside the housing to prevent this. Going from warm>cold may create condensation if the warm air had a lot of moisture.

Nah, the water is still in there. To get those bezels off I’d have to make a special tool. Pliers and snap ring pliers don’t do the trick. I think they are glued on for better seal.

I told Thorfire to expect an unhappy review but haven’t heard back yet. Not everyone who gets free review lights is afraid to be honest and unbiased. I always call it like I see it and always will. I told them to take it as constructive criticism. The light has great mass but aside from the water in it the quality overall just isn’t there. Lots of potential with this light but not in my sample. I know some feel I was unfair but it is what it is. We’ll see how they take it. I was hard on Thrunite once or twice but they still love me. :stuck_out_tongue:

Hmm it is still there, maybe fill the tube with rice?

And, did you get the water out?

I checked mine out a little more closely, had given it to my son since it is so sturdy and stays cool no matter how long it is on. This feels really safe and nice.

There is no water.
And thanks to your attempts I did not try to remove the handle since I want to keep it looking nice. After giving the handle a lot of force yes it is possible to move it a little bit, it is not visble (the end of the handle moves maybe a quarter of a millimeter but it can be felt.

Then a funny thing, we need kids sometimes to see simple solutions.
I saw my recently turned 12 year old use this heavy monster with one hand.
How strong the power of suggestion from reading a review is, astounding, even I having one was thinking it needed two hands to operate.
And then I see one little hand do it…
And well you must have big hands if your pinky is not able to hold on (your pic above make t look like your hand is about my size and my four fingers hold the handle just fine but hey :wink: )

But my son holds the handle with his middle-, ring finger and pinky and uses his thumb and index finger to operate the switch ring.
So I tried it and well it works like a charm.
So I put on my toughest leather garden gloves and lo and behold, it works like a charm so I think divers can do it like that too :slight_smile:

JM , My sample was crystal clear inside the head and lens both. I tied mine off in the pond down where I do most of my testing for 7 1/2 hours and brought it back to the house and took apart what I could of the light and NO sign of moisture anywhere. The Lens / Bezels were all I could not get loose , but I looked very closely and no moisture as I say. My control ring also does not seem to be like yours as it is kind of stiff but moves fairly smoothly , it can be moved with the thumb but takes a little effort to do it that way and IS easier to use the control ring with 2 hands (1 hand holding handle). As far as the Anodizing mine looks to be “good” (not perfect but good) I did note in my video review about the SHARP edges on the lanyard holes also , as I felt the same as you in that they would cut a string attached lanyard.
My review HERE if you are interested in seeing the water submersion (or anything else for that matter) The light going into water (pond) starts at 5:30 of the video , coming out of water at 6:54 and the Teardown and still beamshots (couple of comparison shots with S70 also) immediately following that.
Note the teardown was done about 5 minutes after the light came out of the pond , as soon a I walked in the house with it.

You can take the light apart fairly easy! JohnnyMac get modding lol! This light should have enough mass for 3 XHP70.

I sat my light on my desk turned it on high for between 10 and 15 minutes, and it was only warm, not hot.

I have no problems with the selector ring either. I mean, it’s not like it’s on ball bearings, but it has to stay separate from the housing as a dive light should.

Do you think you could actually run a triple XHP50/70 in it?

How did you get thee insulator off the driver back without destroying it? Mine would not unthread more than half a turn without locking up solid. Are the bezels glued? All 3 are super tight on mine and my usual pliers in the notches won’t get them off. I will need to make a solid internal spanner or use Dale’s JB Weld stick trick.

I don’t know what he did JM but my insulator on the back of the driver simply unscrewed with some wide needle nose pliers, like unscrewing a retainer ring. It was not glued or anything and is plastic. You may need a small hook type pick or something like dentist use , to get in and under the holes to put some upward pressure to get the threads to engage properly though if it was screwed too far down.

I am also curious about the bezels though as I broke the end off a pair of needle nose pliers trying to get mine to break loose and had NO success.

I clearly remember the review; some Thrunite single 18650 with extension tube. The light had PWM on high (max output) in single 18650 mode. It was a pretty generic looking light with generic performance priced way too high. You showed other pretty bad flaws of the light as well, and you crushed the light… That’s how I like reviews; don’t BS and say it sucks if it sucks showing all the details.
…And Thrunite kept sending you lights. So much respect for Thrunite as well.
Anyhow, if you’re not afraid to give a bad review, then you also have way more credibility when you praise a light. I’ve been reading your reviews quite some time now (where the hell is the Manker MK34 review? You even had pics of the prototype…). Thanks a lot for your reviews! Big hug from me! :slight_smile:

Hmm ignoring people saying things not inline with your review :frowning:

Here we go again:

Did you get the water out?

Then a funny thing, we need kids sometimes to see simple solutions.
I saw my recently turned 12 year old use this heavy monster with one hand.
How strong the power of suggestion from reading a review is, astounding, even I having one was thinking it needed two hands to operate.
And then I see one little hand do it…
And well you must have big hands if your pinky is not able to hold on (your pic above make it look like your hand is about my size and my four fingers hold the handle just fine but hey :wink: )

But my son holds the handle with his middle-, ring finger and pinky and uses his thumb and index finger to operate the switch ring.
So I tried it and well it works like a charm.
So I put on my toughest leather garden gloves and lo and behold, it works like a charm so I think divers can do it like that too :slight_smile:

.
.
And to add something
The handle is just ideal to use for a lanyard, it hangs perfectly so if it would be used under water I assume it will hang just pointing in the right direction as it does hanging over my shoulder. Very nice balanced where the L6 and S70 needs a strap holding it at two locations to do this the S1 really does not need the tail openings to be used for a lanyard.

Thanks JM for a truly honest and unbiased review! I also had the chance to receive one for review as well but at the end I decided not to, I had the feeling this wasn’t going to be in line with other TF products in terms of quality…

+1

Let us remember that this is NOT a light of which you are supposed to say:” ooh golly, let’s order all five different colors”. This is intended to be a real diving light. For people working over 200 feet deep in murky water. Whose very lives depend on the quality of their equipment. Where there is no room for error. Who cannot reboote their lives when something goes uh-oh. Where quality control should be absolute. And it wasn’t!

I’d be more than happy to pay for shipping if you’d send me that light. Will gift it to my neighbor who is a professional diver. He won’t mind the condensation under the len’s. He told me he’s tired of replacing bulbs in his 600 dollar HID dive light every time he bangs it up against something. I will field test it in 20 feet of water over night before giving it to him.

Ignoring people who disagree with my opinion? What are you smoking? I already said I didn’t get the water out of it. Everyone else who has one stated there was no water in theirs so I stand by my opinion of the light. It obviously leaked when they tested it and missed it during inspection. I’m not that concerned about it. I have too much other stuff on my plate right now than worry about a dive light that I wasn’t too impressed with in the first place. No amount of what anyone else says about their samples being great will change the fact that mine wasn’t. Machining not great, anodizing very thin and bare in spots, not water tight, clunky control ring, etc. Other control ring lights I have can be turned with nothing more than my thumb. Mine can’t. I’m happy you found a way to do it one handed but I don’t like hanging a heavy light from the two weakest fingers on the hand in order to change modes. Ever think maybe your control ring works smoother than my sample? Others believe theirs do.

Lanyard holes in the tail not the best place to mount a lanyard? Agreed. The handle, where one places their hand is. But if you are going to make lanyard holes anywhere on a light the edges shouldn’t be sharp. Period. I’ll tell you what. Next time Thorfire offers me the chance to review a diving light I’ll send it to you so they get a favorable review regardless of the sample.

Wowowow, relax mate!

Yes I gave you the tip to put rice in the tube and asked if it has worked AND I told you it can easily be used with one hand and you answered others but not those two things, ergo time to comment and hence ignored :wink:

Lot of info in your post so here we go:
Ah good to hear the water isn’t a real issue, though I still disagree mixing li ion, electricity and water is a bad combination IMHO (though there is of course a huge difference in real water and some condensation others have written about happen in devices with glass lenses under certain circumstances.)

Bugger your ring us so rough and heavy to operate :frowning:

True any lanyard hole should not have sharp edges!

I deeply apologize, I did not know or saw you are missing your middle fingers, very insensitive of me :frowning:
and now that I know this, of course I forgive you your last part of the last sentence for I understand your need to lash out in anger with some B$ :wink: I hope it made you feel better man!

It’s all good. I hadn’t even see your “Hmm ignoring people saying things not inline with your review :(” post until a buddy of mine pointed it out to me asking who the dick was. Gotta admit, bro, you leaded off with a backhanded insult. Only one way to take it. You never know what shit a person is dealing with and how they will take a snide sounding remark no matter what your original intentions. No, I also agree about running it with any moisture in it being a bad idea. Who knows where that condensation is settling just waiting to short out. That’s why I have no plans for using it. Once I get caught up with everything going on I may decide to try harder and tear open the back of the light to get in by the driver. Rice is always one of the best ways to dry things out. I’ll give it a try when the time comes.

Nope, still have all my fingers. I misread your original suggest and only saw ring and pinky fingers on the handle. My bad. Remarking about me being sensitive? Might want to look in the mirror. I’m glad you like your S1. Lots of potential seen in them. A little more care and attention and it’d be a good light all around.

I’ve never gotten rice to work since it is already sits at the ambient humidity. Try a large silica desiccant pack (or several small packs). Put it in the oven for several hours at 170 degrees or so, to get it dryer than the ambient humidity, and quickly seal it up inside the light. You need a humidity differential to draw the water out.