I am not ragging on this new version but I just have 2 questions;
So only after these mods of replacing the FET and beefing up connections is this flashlight just now getting to the output I already have out of the box with the 18650 version when used with a good cell?
Just a newfangled 21700 battery capability.
Where’s the love?
Will wait for the factory BLF approved/vetted Hotrodded version.
The FET they used in the early drivers did have a little more resistance in it which reduced output. The details are in post #17
I actually don’t know what a triple xpl can do amperage wise. Right now each emitter is doing about 3.2A and about 1000 lumen.
Should we be expecting 15A and 4000 lumen?
Is there too much resistance in the led wires?
A completely new driver might tell us if there is something in the Sofirn driver that is creating a bottle neck.
Frankly, I was okay with the stock driver that only drew 7.25A and 2600 lumen. I tend to set it at about 500 lumen for walking around and do the occasional blast of turbo. It’s a big jump in output and it doesn’t get too hot or run the battery down too fast. It is a good general purpose light.
Using the 30T and 4000mah battery gets the light hot so fast it’s not that practical anymore. If I put a Lexel driver in it and got even more output, I’d probably remove the spring bypasses to try and reduce output on turbo to make the light practical again.
I know, it’s not the BLF way to reduce output, but I use this light at work where it needs to be a bit more practical.
I looked up reviews for the 18650 xpl version to find amp draws. (This is usually more accurate than lumens)
Bilakos10 measured 8.33A with a Samsung 25R cell, but that is not a very good battery.
Robo819 measured 8.4A with the Sofirn 18650 and 8.9 with an LG HE4 cell.
ImA4Wheelr measured 8.8A with the Sofirn 18650.
Barkuti measured 9.7A with a Samsung 30Q. He used a shunt as apposed to a clamp meter.
DB Custom drew 13.57 amps with a very high drain VTC5A 2600mah and with slightly lesser batteries, like a 30Q, he got between 10A and 11A. This was with 18ga led wires and an upgraded MOSFET though. So it doesn’t really count as stock.
Since the 18650 version is supposed to be about 2500 lumen and the 21700 version is supposed to be 3500 lumen I’m guessing there is some kind of bottleneck with this 21700 driver. The 21700 light should probably be drawing at least 12A to 13A stock to get 3500 lumen. Sofirn may have over rated this 21700 version. It might be a true 3000 lumen light.
3015.3 Lumens……………3018.75 Lumens…………….3125.7 Lumens
……2756.66 at 30 sec…………….2691 at 30 sec
This is stock from what is described.
Amp draw do not know.
After 18 gauge wires and new mosfet went well over 4000
Bottom line, If I can’t see the difference I do not need to be buying a new battery form just to be “like the new kids”
Like the New Version just can not justify another version at this time.
Thanks!
I think I figured out a small design flaw in the manufacturing that is causing reduced output.
It seems the new aluminum driver retaining ring is not able to fully tighten down on the driver (at least my driver). I thought it felt strange as it only tightened up to one point and then would go no further. I used some marker dots to confirm this. The ring seems to be squeezing the driver lightly instead of firmly.
The 2A difference I saw earlier with my battery tests and again a 1A difference after I swapped to 18 ga led wires. I can move the driver around when the retaining ring is about 1/16 of a turn from its “tightened” position.
So maybe the driver pcb is a bit thinner than it was supposed to be or maybe the threads are not cut far enough. Maybe they should have continued using a brass retaining ring. I’m not sure.
Thanks for the review and also the analysis on why the Sofirn C8F 21700 may sometimes be underperforming… Hope Sofirn will solve the “underperforming” issue soon.