[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

I would like this light to have maximum runtime. So I vote 20 mA if 30 mA will reduce the runtime dramatically. These type of lights are not meant to be bright anyway.

I am interested in 3 of ea.
So a total of 6
CJW

I’m afraid I will need to do a current/output test this evening, and a 24hrs runtime test at 60mA to see how they last. That will generate some data on what current is best.

Has the question of potting come up? Will the Sofrin be potted?

In for one of each.

originally in for 1. If Sofirn and $6, in for 3 more.

Kind Sir, if you’re in California, I will buy you a drink!

I suggested it to Barry, but had to explain what it is, I’m not sure if that is picked up very well so I may have to emphasize it once more.

Being of a skeptical nature, in the meantime I did some searching for the need of potting drivers and what came up is that it is about heavy components that come loose on impact, such as thoroids with ferrite rings. This light will have a tiny boost driver that needs to produce very little current so it has a very small (lightweight) coil, that needs much larger impact to come loose than a big thoroid. So I’m in doubt if the potted driver of the E01 is overkill or not.

So before I bug Barry about this: is there any experience at all among BLFers of small lights failing from broken-off components upon impact?

Not likely, in fact I’ve never been out of Europe sofar, but if I get there I will hold you to that! :slight_smile: :beer:

Only issue I (and another member) had so far was with Sofirn SP10! Somehow the impact (1m above the ground) damage a component or link between components and the light stopped working (even with magnifying lens I was never able to figure what it was).
But the SP10B has a different architecture regarding the driver. So, concerning these even smaller lights, I never had any issue. Don’t know if this helps, but that’s my only experience :zipper_mouth_face:

+1 on grey (Matte)

They can be driven with 30mA at up to 45°C temoerature (at the solder points). This should never be exceeded at night, hotter climates.

I would go with 25mA just to be safe.

Overdriving them is a very bad idea! They will die much sooner because the heat has nowhere to go. I think there are some tests on this on CPF.

I’m in for one warm-white and three cool-white.

I’m interested in two 3200K and two 5600K :slight_smile:

Thanks to all involved, this seems much more likely to happen now :+1:

I was on the list for two of the mooted Fenix version, but with Sofirn aiming for $6, I can put the same money in for twice as many lights!

I strongly recommend that the LEDs only be driven at 20mA.

We’re trying to build a bulletproof light here, and that’s the recommended spec from Yuji. One of the best ways to make electronics ultra-reliable is to run the parts well below their maximum rating.

If I had this project on my lab bench, I’d even be experimenting with 15mA, on the off-chance that the light output might still be acceptable.

Regarding the three colour choices, I’d suggest: hard-anodised black; hard-anodised grey; and red.

Black because many prefer an unobtrusive option; grey as an option that’s easier to find in the dark, but can still be hard-anodised; and red where high visibility is the priority, despite the slightly less robust anodising.

Yes it does matter. Impacts cause extremely high G loads. Solder is not a particularly strong material at 1000 G. The robustness of the E01 is legendary and there have been many tests of it against other unpotted 1xAAA lights. It always comes out on top.

I agree with Parametrek about potting the light.

It’s very important for impact resistance, and it can also help with water resistance in the event that an o-ring fails.

I’d also like to see a spring on the driver board to cushion impacts bouncing the cell around, even at the price of an extra couple of millimetres in overall light length.

Interested in one of each tint.

As I said, I’m skeptical and like testing. There clearly is a correlation, the E01 is robust and the E01 has a potted driver, but that does not neccessarily have to be a causality. Solder is not strong but perhaps way strong enough for this, 1000G sounds an impressive number but a soldered tiny coil may survive 10,000G, who knows without testing.

So the “yes it does matter” still needs backup for me to accept it, either by experiences from small flashlight users, or actual impact tests of electronics showing mechanically failing components.

Size is not the most important feature of this light. It should be bombproof. So nice thick walls and a few mm for a spring is not a problem.

I wish one could upvote posts. I’m saving this as an example of rational thinking to show to so many people I encounter in real life.

It is likely a good idea to pot the driver, and a short stiff driver spring may be a good idea as well.
But I hope for actual data to back ideas up.

Over the 6 years I have been on BLF (and CPF), I have encountered many many flashlight myths, a lot were tested and dismissed very easily, a few were actually true, and some were too difficult to test. I dislike developing flashlights with unneccessary build-in BLF-myths.