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

[slowtechstef]

@jon_slider

@Kona G

my light paint peeled off … metal in rusted condition! Clip is in garbage can, light will soon to follow!

Bull
Pics or it didn’t happen

I understood it was only the metal clip that was rusted which caused the black paint of the clip to peel off.
The body of the C01 is made of aluminium, which oxidizes, and is not able to “rust”.

A photograph would be nice in this case so anyone can assess the exact nature of the problem.

That said: the anodization of the C01 body and the paint of the clip will wear down over time, especially when worn on a keychain.
The anodization type is nowhere explicitly specified by Sofirn, so it is probably the less robust Type II.

[polarweis]

so which AAA do we like? and is a lithium AAA an option? never heard of those.

[iamlucky13]

@polarweis

so which AAA do we like? and is a lithium AAA an option? never heard of those.

Energizer Ultimate Lithium is a primary (non-rechargeable) cell known for excellent shelf life and tolerance to high and very low temperatures, good discharge characteristics, and little to no leak risk. The downside is they’re a little bit pricey, but have been getting better lately. It’s an excellent option if you’re ok with the price.

Alkalines will work well in this light from a runtime perspective, especially the reduced output that occurs after the first 8-10 hours of operation. However, there is the ever-present leak risk that has to be considered for alkalines. I’ve had good luck cleaning up alkaline leakage with vinegar, so I might still use alkalines in mine. I haven’t decided.

Rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries have very good discharge characteristics, a low potential total cost of ownership due to being rechargeable, and little to no leak risk. However, their lifespan is shortened if over-discharged, and this light is capable of over-discharging them. Recharging when the light gets noticeably dim will probably be reasonable protection against that.

[HONDARIDER]

@djozz

@HONDARIDER

I ordered 1 of each this morning to see what all the hype is about.

Uh oh, now you will find out that it is just a nice little light with nice tint and pretty weak output. :person_facepalming:

Edit: you did write post #2000 in this thread, that is good start

I have not been a member for a long period of time but this thread has showed up at some point every week. The output is what had deterred me from purchasing this light. I would think a 30 lumen high would make this light more ideal. Just money. Sure I have spent it on worse things in the past.

[polarweis]

Nimh sounds good thanks for the reply. I check my batteries pretty often. Just put them in a charger for a sec to see how they’re doing.

[defloyd77]

Just got my 3200K light about 30 minutes ago and wow, I can now get why people would pay up the wazoo for a modded E01 with one of these Yuji’s. I was worried I wouldn’t like the 3200K judging by the beamshots others have posted, but I’m really liking it. If I can find my camera, I’ll try doing some comparison shots, but comparing my warm white high CRI XP-G Preon to the C01, the preon looks surprisingly green.

The body itself looks flawless upon initial inspection, no chips or peeling, same for the clip. Really loving the look of the tailcap and it tailstands much better than the E01.

Now if they’d hurry up with the colored versions……

[manithree]

I just got my first 2 3200K lights. Very nice. I can’t wait for the red & blue.

[jon_slider]

@defloyd77

Just got my 3200K light about 30 minutes ago and wow, I can now get why people would pay up the wazoo for a modded E01 with one of these Yuji’s. I was worried I wouldn’t like the 3200K judging by the beamshots others have posted, but I’m really liking it. If I can find my camera, I’ll try doing some comparison shots, but comparing my warm white high CRI XP-G Preon to the C01, the preon looks surprisingly green.

The body itself looks flawless upon initial inspection, no chips or peeling, same for the clip. Really loving the look of the tailcap and it tailstands much better than the E01.

Now if they’d hurry up with the colored versions……

Yay
I was also concerned about how yellow the Yuji warm would be… I can say that it is more orange than a 219c… which Im happy about, because I find 219c too yellow. And yes, the Warm Yuji is very nice at night…

I was curious how the Warm Yuji compared to a 3000k 219c that I have in an Olight i3s, and also to see how the 2000k E21A in my Utorch S1 Mini w Aspheric beam, and my 4500k 219b 9080 Utorch compared… and I threw in an HDS from 2011… so, without further ado, more beamshots:

.
.
.
Im pretty much done with the purple tinted Fenix after this pic… but in parting I will say, it throws much farther than the Yuji LEDs…

Hotspot overexposes part of the pic:

Floody even beam:

Gotta Love the Warm Yuji when its time to get mellow

[RobertB]

Nice comparison Jon. The 5600k looks fantastic on that colored cloth

[djozz]

I’m always disappointed in beamshots that are supposed to show tint (never matches reality), but these shots are very good! Nice comparisons!

[slowtechstef]

Jon_slider: nice comparison pictures

[slowtechstef]

@defloyd77

Just got my 3200K light about 30 minutes ago and wow, I can now get why people would pay up the wazoo for a modded E01 with one of these Yuji’s. I was worried I wouldn’t like the 3200K judging by the beamshots others have posted, but I’m really liking it. If I can find my camera, I’ll try doing some comparison shots, but comparing my warm white high CRI XP-G Preon to the C01, the preon looks surprisingly green.

The body itself looks flawless upon initial inspection, no chips or peeling, same for the clip. Really loving the look of the tailcap and it tailstands much better than the E01.

Now if they’d hurry up with the colored versions……

Thanks for sharing your first impression, and looking.m forward to those comparison pictures!

[slowtechstef]

@iamlucky13

@polarweis

so which AAA do we like? and is a lithium AAA an option? never heard of those.

Energizer Ultimate Lithium is a primary (non-rechargeable) cell known for excellent shelf life and tolerance to high and very low temperatures, good discharge characteristics, and little to no leak risk. The downside is they’re a little bit pricey, but have been getting better lately. It’s an excellent option if you’re ok with the price.

Alkalines will work well in this light from a runtime perspective, especially the reduced output that occurs after the first 8-10 hours of operation. However, there is the ever-present leak risk that has to be considered for alkalines. I’ve had good luck cleaning up alkaline leakage with vinegar, so I might still use alkalines in mine. I haven’t decided.

Rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries have very good discharge characteristics, a low potential total cost of ownership due to being rechargeable, and little to no leak risk. However, their lifespan is shortened if over-discharged, and this light is capable of over-discharging them. Recharging when the light gets noticeably dim will probably be reasonable protection against that.

Thanks for the crystal clear battery choice write up :+1:

By the way, although outdated and deprecated NiCd might not be a bad choice for use in the C01 as these batteries can be fully drained to 0 Volts. 0 Volt is actually the recommended state for storage according to NASA.

[Hondo]

@djozz

This issue needs a good pic I see now.

Left my Fenix E01. You can see that the copper is extending to the edge and that the contact area is ok, not great IMO but this light has proven over the years that it is adequate.

Middle is one of the C01 prototypes. I see now that the copper here also does not extend to the side, but that the contact area is only good because the circuitry is not overly well centered on the board, so that one side makes for a very good contact area, the other side much less. Btw, at the time of the prototype I did warn Barry to pay attention to good contact points.

Right is the production C01. The circuitry is even a bit further from the edge of the board compared to the prototype, not much of a contact area leftover.

But it works and maybe for a very long time, again mind that there is no hard data at all at this moment that this is a failure point at all, we are speculating based on what we see. It will not help for this production run but I will confront Barry with this picture.

(in the picture not all boards seem the same size, this is distortion of my phone camera, in reality the boards are all the same size)

In my extensive review of all - one - of my lights, I have found that the contact surface goes completely to the edge of the circuit board for both contacts:

So there does seem to be a significant variation for this parameter. I certainly hope the lights on my other two orders, moving at the more normal slow pace, look like this first one that I received. But I have used the simple method of just tinning the contact surface with solder when they appear like they are wearing, and the solder provides a durable, replenishable, contact to the battery tube.

[Lagittaja]

@Lagittaja

@Lagittaja

@Lagittaja

@Lagittaja

Thanks for the notification Tally-ho, placed an order for my two pieces. Waiting for the price adjustment.

About 5 hours later price changed from 17.76$ to 13.00$. Paid.

And my two pieces have arrived here in Finland.

21.11.2018 22.00 order made
22.11.2018 03.00 price adjusted and paid shortly after
22.11.2018 12.00 “shipped”
24.11.2018 22.00 actually shipped
06.12.2018 18.00 arrived in Finland

I’d expect the parcel to be available for pickup at my local post office next Monday or Tuesday unless the customs decides to take a look at it.

And indeed the parcel was available for pickup today.

Unfortunately I only received 1x 5600K when I ordered 1x both. Only one inside and even the CN22 form said “quantity 1”.
Oh well, shit happens. Not a big deal! Sent a message to them. They’ll probably get back to me later “today”, it’s 2AM in Shenzhen right now.

Like I said before, at this moment I could order more C01’s but since I did not get both CCT I don’t know which one I like more. Argh…

Figured I’d update again since Sofirn got back to me very early this morning apologizing and saying they’ll resend the 3200K. And three hours later I got a tracking number for it. 10/10 customer support, even in this busy holiday season.
I’ll probably receive it early January.

—

So, I’ve been using the 5600K C01 for a day or so. Pretty good for the price. Epoxy-resin-whatever looked solid to my eyes, I didn’t try poking it though.
Not sure about the anodization thickness or durability, managed to scratch the end while putting the ring on. Quite likely my own fault.
I did notice that the Yuji LED in mine doesn’t look to be perfectly level, i.e. it leans to one side of the “reflector” and you can see a gap on the other side. Not a big deal either.
Threads are excellent, force required to twist just right and as far as the contact surfaces go they look good.

[Streamer]

@jon_slider

@defloyd77

Just got my 3200K light about 30 minutes ago and wow, I can now get why people would pay up the wazoo for a modded E01 with one of these Yuji’s. I was worried I wouldn’t like the 3200K judging by the beamshots others have posted, but I’m really liking it. If I can find my camera, I’ll try doing some comparison shots, but comparing my warm white high CRI XP-G Preon to the C01, the preon looks surprisingly green.

The body itself looks flawless upon initial inspection, no chips or peeling, same for the clip. Really loving the look of the tailcap and it tailstands much better than the E01.

Now if they’d hurry up with the colored versions……

Yay
I was also concerned about how yellow the Yuji warm would be… I can say that it is more orange than a 219c… which Im happy about, because I find 219c too yellow. And yes, the Warm Yuji is very nice at night…

I was curious how the Warm Yuji compared to a 3000k 219c that I have in an Olight i3s, and also to see how the 2000k E21A in my Utorch S1 Mini w Aspheric beam, and my 4500k 219b 9080 Utorch compared… and I threw in an HDS from 2011… so, without further ado, more beamshots:

.
.
.
Im pretty much done with the purple tinted Fenix after this pic… but in parting I will say, it throws much farther than the Yuji LEDs…

Hotspot overexposes part of the pic:

Floody even beam:

Gotta Love the Warm Yuji when its time to get mellow

Great Work Jslider! Thanks for posting this and making it nice and clear! :+1:

[jon_slider]

@RobertB

Nice comparison Jon. The 5600k looks fantastic on that colored cloth

@djozz

I’m always disappointed in beamshots that are supposed to show tint (never matches reality), but these shots are very good! Nice comparisons!

@slowtechstef

Jon_slider: nice comparison pictures :+1:

@Streamer

Great Work Jslider! Thanks for posting this and making it nice and clear! :+1:

Thank you all for the very kind words

Im very happy with the 5600k, and glad I got it. It is working perfectly and makes a great light for close range such as in my Westfalia camper.

I also really like the 3200k option, including its color, as it is not overly yellow. And after sunset it is very nice to have the warm Color Temperature, particularly since I use Incandescent light at home, which is a very close match to the Yuji.

The only issue Ive had with the lights so far, is that the 3200k is a bit stiff to turn on one handed, and sometimes if I bump it, it turns off. I have found my Fenix has the same behavior. These lights want to be turned on with a firm twist to make good contact.

I feel a little guilty for making Sofirn provide a reversible clip, since I removed one of mine, just to feel the symmetry of the tube without the clip. To use a clipless light as a headlamp, I just tuck it under my hat, and it works very well. In fact, this makes it easy to shield others from the line of sight to the LED on my head. I can use the edge of the hat to ensure that someone in front of me only has their chest illuminated, not their face.

I lubricated the Orings slightly, and did a few dozen twist cycles to start to break the Oring in so it becomes easier to use the lights one handed. The 5600k feels perfect to me, no issues. The 3200k is still a bit tight, but Im sure its just a matter of a few dozen more twist cycles and all will be smooth in Paradise.

Thumbs up and respect to slowtechstef and djozz for all the time, and effort bringing us these lights, and thanks to Sofirn for taking on the project.

These lights are actually a culmination of many good suggestions by many people here. Thank you all for adding a couple great Cockroach Lights to my selection. I can see these little lights could make handy tools for Elderly people like myself, that need help reading a menu in a dark restaurant.

thumbs up all around
Merry HolyDays

[tastewar]

So, for installing magnets and trits, is the approved method basically a drop of superglue for each?

[shirnask]

I think the recommended adhesive is Norland Optical Adhesive-61 - it is what I use but is rather expensive (requires UV light to cure)

[danak1000]

agreed,worth the price and works great!!