Sofirn SP10A 500lm AA $9.99 on Amazon

Hey, anyone have issues with the tailcap being really tight and scratchy? Lots of binding, no obvious damage to the threads that I can see, but still really tight and scratchy about midway through.

Thought maybe it was just lack of lube, but it seems pretty decently coated.

Mine are obviously ALL new Revs of the SP10a. I ran all of them today checking them out, making sure they were all the same (Version 2 ui), etc. (I was supposed to be doing taxes).

They all checked out good and they (along with three SP32s) all checked out in all depts. I took the tail caps off to measure voltages about 5 times each light— all good on mine.

Good point. The moonlight mode is fairly useless with Li-Ion cell, and it’s even more useless with a NiMH cell, at least on my version of SP10B. :slight_smile:

Current draw from Li-Ion cell is 1.2 mA.
Current draw from NiMH cell is 2.7 mA.

Some smart guy here should be able to raise low.

I received a SP10A from Sofirn @ AliExpress store, not Amazon.

The UI:

- click for ON, always on the firefly mode

- when ON, single click to change modes (FF > L > M) and “long” press for OFF (1 second, maybe)

- double click for Turbo

- triple click for Strobe

  • from OFF, 4 fast clicks to Lock/unlock
    EDIT: Long press from OFF goes to the last regular mode used before shutting OFF

Also, I bought a driver for my SP10B and it has the same UI!

What I found on this new SP10A is that only button top cells (at least the 14500s) work. There may be something different in the driver design that hinders the flat tops to work!

BUT, curiously, the driver I bought for the SP10B, works perfectly both with button or flat top batteries… This is something weird…

Also, using a Panasonic Ni-MH battery below 1.38V, the light almost doesn’t turn ON. It may be the LVP protection working. I don’t know if this supposed to happen constantly as I just tried it for experimenation purposes!

Last but not least, on this new light, and only by “eye measurement” the max level with AA / Ni-MH doesn’t seem so distant from the max level on 14500. But, as I said, it is eye measurement, not objective or accurate measure.

Now my recently obtained SP 10A does have memory if you long press from off. Short press from off always goes to FF…

WHAAAA I hadn’t noticed that :person_facepalming: :person_facepalming: :person_facepalming:
You are right, mine does the same thing!! I will correct my words :person_facepalming:

Thanks for letting us know that!!!
So…Sofirn has a similar UI to Olight :wink:

EDIT: It is not the same, sorry! What I meant was that the access to Firefly, Turbo, Strobe and last regular mode used are the same. The operation (clicks vs press & hold) are different :person_facepalming:

Oh my God, my head hurts…

Why is that? :stuck_out_tongue:

Hum… my flat top Panasonic runs fine in my several SP10a (new revs) I did test last week when I go them in. The same 14500 flat top HAS run also fine in my first SP10a I’ve had for about 6 weeks now (my indoor carry, so it’s been well checked out).

I love this little light, so I bought several of the same (newer) 10SPa’s for gifts to give my family muggles. At first, I was going to just let everyone getting one just use AAs. But Lightbringer explained the “alkileak” problem (set me straight fast! :wink: ) and so I bough a few chargers and BT 14500’s to pass out to them.

I’ll just tell everyone that IF they use any alkaline AAs: it may “produce poison gas, as ”this light goes to 11.” (which are both true statements… I think). :stuck_out_tongue:

And since I’m also giving most of these kinfolk an 18650 light too— they can use the ONE charger to charge both battery sizes. So I’m using “light” fear tactics and giving them what they need to work it all out for themselves. No kids around with these gifts, so hopefully no little hand (or barns) get burned down.

I guess my SP10A has something wrong with it then :frowning:
The Ni-MH and AA batteries (button top) work fine as do the Sofirn 14500 Li-Ion, button top as well.
My Sanyo 14500 and Efest 14500 don’t work, I tried if for a while… I’ll check on this again!

Thankfully it is not a general issue :wink: …despite mine is bugging me :confounded:

Thanks for the AE link. I ordered two (blue & red) for US$19.34 shipped to Australia. I got their US$2 off US$15 order store coupon, plus exchange 20 AE Coins for another $2 off. Great deal! Love colored lights :smiley:

Mine works fine with a Efest 650mah purple flat top. Been in the light since day one.

I got mine to work with the Sanyo, but the Efest…still not working :frowning:
But the Sanyo and Sofirn will do the job I’m sure!

Thanks for letting us know and sorry if I induced someone in mistake. My light - NOT ALL - has a problem ! (and I will solve it soon :smiling_imp: )

My bad,

I misstated “Panasonic” - but it was the Sanyo UR14500P flat top I used- 100% go on all SP10a’s.

— another brain fart brought to you my the guy who just finish his taxes (and can’t see straight!) :disappointed:

Does anyone have a reliable source that will ship internationally, to order 14500 batteries that will work in this flashlight?

Fenix store says $15 international shipping . This battery fits in mine

https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10008963/5302405-fenix-arb-l14-icr-14500-3-6v-800mah-protected
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002180/8482600-soshine-icr-14500-900mah-rechargeable-li-ion
I like the Efest 650mah purple the best, holds a higher voltage under a load. Either of the above should work fine.
Button top and flat top works in my SP10A.

I only got the SP10B (I got both red & blue versions, but not the black) from Sofirn @ AliExpress.
So far, I notice for batteries, my flat-top PKCell 14500 didn’t work. But I think there was once where it did work. So my guess, is the flat-top usually does not “match” the “+” side head of the SP10B (the head does not use spring). Using a magnet spacer on the flat-top PKCell 14500, did make the flashlight work always though (so it appears to be an issue with certain [but not all] types of flat-top batteries).

Another thing I tested, I just purchased a protected 14500 (my first time to get hold of them), these protected 14500s are much longer than the regular 14500.
I tested the protected 14500 and it seems to be just a wee bit too long for the flashlight tail (it seems to screw in fully, but light does not turn on). As a random thought, since I also got the Sofirn SF14 (which worked fine with the protected 14500 I tested with). I screwed the Sofirn SF14 tailcap on the SP10B (it appeared to fit perfectly), then I pushed the SF14 tail button (so it’s ON), then used the side-switch. Now, the SP10B works with the longer protected 14500 battery.

(what that means is the SP10B tailcap is just a wee bit short so it doesn’t make proper contact when using longer protected 14500 batteries. But the SF14 tailcap is long enough to make contact with the SP10B body tube which made it work with the protected 14500.)

Just sharing my 2 cents worth of various random testing…

Nice price! I already have a Lumintop Tool AA though.