ENEDED

Sorry can I just ask, if I get this with the 18650 tube, will I be able to get the best from it using a protected 18650? Or will I have to use an unprotected battery? If I use a protected battery, what will the results be?

For what i understand, when in turbo mode, the leds are drawing current from the battery without restriction and that generally induce a high current and the corresponding higher output. With a protected cell there are chances the protection will trip on turbo and the light will shut down until the battery protection resets itself. For best performance you’d want an unprotected high drain cell - 30Q for instance. But that only affects turbo mode.

How many lumens would the mode lower from the Turbo be?

A protected battery will almost assuredly trip the protection circuit everytime you turn it on.

I was afraid of that, fair enough, thank you.

My $25.70 S41S came in today and like the others it is the latest model with updated head and no glue.

It is a great little light, very nice looking and heavy. Only real complaint would be the overly aggressive grip. I am thinking about using some sandpaper to take the edge off, anyone tried that?

Makes a bit over 3000 lumens with a 30Q 18650 and the XP-G3. I plan to swap it out for 219C 90+ CRI LED’s.

VERY happy for the price, glad I grabbed it while I could.

Not yet, but i’m planning to do that too.
Will have to make a make shift lathe and use wet paper.
Hope it’ll work out good.

Unfortunately i didn’t…
I have the XP-G3 version too.
It’s stupid bright with VTC5. :smiley: Considerably brighter than with Enercig or Keeppower 18350.
Did put in a fat switch and shortened the leads to the MCPCB.
Also opened up the bezel so the optics aren’t shrouded anymore.

(edit) Just took a grainy picture (without flash):

If you have a roll of 1 inch wide, cloth backed 220 or coarser I would say sanding it would work. Otherwise it will just strip the paper.

Empty the tube and tail… I would figure out a way to get it in a drill and spin it. Use a file to get the tops flatter on the knurling before attempting to sand.

Got a Forster brass trimmer? :+1:

Not all will trip.
I use a KeepPower 18650 3400mAh protected in one of mine (I have several S41:s) and it doesn’t trip on turbo. (According to HKJ:s testing the KeepPower trips at 11.5A)

It most likely delivers less lumens than with an unprotected high drain cell. The difference is however not really noticeable to the naked eye, unless doing A/B testing.

EDIT: Just a warning though, protected 18350 are too long to fit in the 18350 tube.

I did get a few items in from Elfie, but not my S41S yet.
The Astrolux lighted tail switches for $1.31ea, 18650 tubes for S41 and S41S. Astro holster for $1.60

I want an 18650 tube for the S41S, what is the best deal going on them?

Good deal! I’m getting $26 (w/coupon) for the new version head alone.

Any thought on the tint of the XP-G3 being shipped now? Just curious why you didn’t opt for the stock 219 version BG offers. Is it the 219B rather than 219C?

Also, has anyone modded this head to have a combination of (2) XP-G3 and (2) 219 leds? Seems like a way to get the lumens and the high CRI in one light.

Yeah, that was quite the flash deal indeed, I knew it would not last long. If I had had the funds I would have got a few more.

The XP-G3 tint is cold for sure, I would say something like a 1A tint. Way too cold for my liking, once you go 90CRI you simply don’t go back.

I didn’t get the 219 version for a few reasons, first it is the 219B. I am not a fan of the 219B, also for a few reasons. First the lumen output is just too low even if it has a good tint, just not worth the sacrifice. Second the die is too large and it makes the beam floody further reducing the beam intensity. Last the 219B can’t handle nearly as much power as modern LED’s nor can it pull as much power due to the higher Vf.

The 219B that comes in these is also said to have a bit of a green tint and it is questionable if it is truly a 90CRI from what some said.

Lastly the XP-G3 version was cheaper and since I planned to swap LED’s anyways why spend more. The 219C 90+ CRI 4000K is a truly amazing LED when it comes to tint, I have it in I would say half of my flashlights now. Not the highest output LED but it is enough to be worth the tradeoff for the better tint and CRI.

Mixing the XP-G3 and 219C could be done but it would not really do anything. Better off with 4x 219C but I will be better armed to answer that after I swap the LED’s in mine. My other S41 has XP-G3 90CRI mixed tint LED’s in it and it is already good and puts out around 3500 lumens but I think the 219C will be better.

Havnt received mine yet, but great that it is the new version! I asked the seller directly and copied his answer here earlier. He said it was the old version. I don’t think he really knew but it is nice he didn’t guess to his advantage. Hope I didn’t steer anyone away from the deal…

I bought the 219b version of this light because I knew I wouldn’t like the XP-G3 tint. But just as I feared, the 219b’s sagged like crazy, just not the output level I wanted from the light. Don’t get me wrong — I definitely do like 219b’s in certain applications, but it just wasn’t right for this light. So mine got 4000K 219c’s almost immediately, along with an upgrade to a Bistro driver for the temp regulation and better programmability. Its fantastic now, love it. Too bad it wasn’t offered in this configuration from the factory.

Much better now…
Cut the tops off the knurling with a hand file. Only removed the head and went at it. Pretty easy to keep it moving and avoid flat spots. Also easy to see the size of the squares you are making to keep it uniform.

Guess which one.

Lots of good info there. Thank you. As I haven’t yet modded leds in any of my lights I’m now thinking to hold off on purchase of a quad set up until the 219C factory-installed is available. I have 219A & 219B in a couple lights & appreciate how red hues are brought out. Unfortunately they are not so bright.

Nice job! :+1:
Does it take a high quality file or is it not that hard SS ?
You didn’t have it spinning (just by hand?)?

Basic double cut half round Nicholson. Good files but nothing special. Used the flat side of course…
Finished it with a finer single cut flat file. Used 400 grit wet on a sanding block to get it uniform finish.

All by hand, not spinning, took about 20min. Rotate the file over the circumference slightly as you go. Knurling is high enough not to hit the other surfaces. Metal is pretty soft, annealed. You will see the squares appear as you go. Look closely and see they are pretty much the same size. Small squares, remove more in that area.

Still very grippy in hand but 10X better.

I’ve got a S41S on the way. The emitter decision was difficult, but I went with 219B in the end because I just can’t stand cooler tints. Really itching to swap in some 219C D320’s* for better efficiency and output. Not sure if I want to try my first reflow or if I just pick up a TPAD+Carclo from MTN. Any definitive results on that combo with the updated head?

*I know these aren’t the High CRI. I’ve tried High CRI, but they just don’t do anything special for my eyes. I’ve been wondering if that’s related to my colorblindness. I’m not very sensitive to reds.