Sofirn SP36, impressions of a sample

As long as the final charge voltage does not exceed 4,25V, you are good.

4.24 vs a 4.25 limit is a tad close for confort IMO…
Doesn’t it put extra stress on the cell, shortening it’s lifespan too?

Shouldn’t noticeably so, as it is noted in the datasheet.

This is why programmable voltage chargers are so useful, and why I don’t like USB lights anymore IMO. I usually charge my cells at 4,1V unless I want max power/max capacity(BLF Q8), so getting extra cycle life is very nice.

Tom, I put the LH351D W6 5000K in my D4S and it makes a little over 6000 lumens. I have used quite a few of both the W6 5000K and an 80 CRI U6 5000K and I like the color profile better from the W6 even though it’s only 70 CRI. I also have the 80 CRI version in my scratch built 18500 Ti Cu Quad EDC, just LOVE the beam profile even though it’s a little warmer than I typically prefer.

I tried a few of the 80 CRI variant, then bought 25 of each to play with. I’m out of the W6 and only have a few of the U6 80 CRI left. Really enjoying them…

As a matter of fact, the Samsungs are the driving force behind my 25,427 lumen 458 Ham’r, with no less than 8 of them in the array of 17 emitters… 4 U6 80 CRI and 4 W6 70 CRI.

I managed to remove the driver and swap the leds on my SP36, I put four XPL-HI V3 3C 5000k

I’m seeing 3800lm and 450m. I was expecting a little more

however the beam is much better and also the tint

I’m glad the loop method worked for you. My driver was not glued back because it sticks in well enough by friction, how is yours?

My SP36 has sliced high CRI LH351D leds and makes even less light, around 3000 lumen. This output I think suits the size of this light well enough.

I’m glad I went all good tint and high CRI, but the 5000 lumen stock setup is also a nice one, and tough to improve.

I'm wondering how LH351D 5.000K 70CRI with W6 bin would perform in the SP36. In terms of maximum output they seem to be at least as good as XP-L2 but without significant tint shift. Maybe this could be intriguing for DB Custom as he has managed to create a "Ham'r" and a boosted D4S with this Samsung LED.

With similar output those would be an improvement over stock, the larger die could make it slightly less throwy.

But to be honest the beam from the stock XP-L2 leds I found much less distracting than I thought it would be. All the tint changes typical for the XP-L2 are there in the beam but overall the beam just looks fairly ok to me.

My driver also sticks well without adding glue again, it’s a tight fit

I prefer the beam of the HIs rather than the extra lumen from the XPl2, but I was hoping for more than 500m (the sofirn Q8 makes 700m)

You could do the Q8 ritual of bypassing springs and use thicker shorter ledwires, and get a few more lumens out of it. But the 3-battery situation will inevitably be a bit less powerfull than the 4 batteries of the Q8.

Hi Dale! I tried 1 LH351D W6 5000K in a Maeerxu M8 and only got ~1750 at start, ~1650 at 30 secs. I checked my notes and it's the only W6 5000K I used. But I have 3 lights using XP-L2 V6 3B's that get over 2000 lumens at start, one hit ~2220. (SD26). Though the Lumintop SD26 is a great light, and I don't have a W6 5000K in a SD26 to compare apples to apples, it's been my experience, limited as it is, the XP-L2 V6 5000K LED's out performs the LH351D W6 5000K LED in real world FET based driver single LED modded lights. Also I consistently measure higher amps, up to 9.6 amps in the SD26 running a 30T (the SD26 will fit my 21700 cells).

Granted, I do need to try the W6 5000K in more lights though - maybe I did a bad reflow in the M8, dunno.

SST-40's and Luxeon V perform slightly better than even the XP-L2 V6's, least in my single LED mods, but the amps get pretty insane.

The SD26 performs so well and consistently, I use it to compare batteries many times - it takes 18650, 26650, 20700, and 21700's, so a great FET based platform to test/compare with.

Ohhh, in a NA40 with triple SST-40's, after a driver swap and some tweaks, I got 5700 at turn on, 17.5 amps, but drops to 4980 at 30 secs -- that's with the stock three SST-40's. It would probably do better on a 30T or 40T, just haven't tested it, but the 21700 cells should fit. With standard LK 26650's, the battery is a bit loose. I am not a fan though of the SST-40 cool blue beam/tint though.

@TomE, do not forget the XP L2 has a lower forward voltage than the LH351D.

So while it is technically less efficient, it can still beat it by drawing an insane amount of power.

Yeah, that's my point, what I was think'n - real world usage. So what would be the highest output LED in a SP36?

Maybe the ugly SST-40's (XM form factor though), perhaps the Luxeon V (non-std form factor) but the Luxeon V I believe had issues under high amp usage (think it loses output over time/usage). That leaves the also ugly beam/tint of the XP-L2 V6 in 5000K even. I'd like to re-visit the LH351D 5000K W6 because I'm thinking the M8 is a poor host and was not a good platform to test it in (suspect the optics - glass/reflector/LED position). Since then though, I moved on to the LH351D 4000K 90+ CRI, and the XPL HI V2 5D. I really prefer the ~4000K tints, plus liking these now high CRI LED's, so the combo of both is fantastic. The XPL HI V2 5D has the best beam/tint consistency I've seen anywhere, but unsure of the CRI - probably 70's. Put it in a SMO thrower and the consistency is mind blowing.

Supposedly the 5000K SST-40 is out or very near so.

I keep hearing about “the larger die” of the Samsung LH351D, is it really? It is the XP footprint and the die surface is smaller than an XP-L die, I’ve sliced a few of em and it shows up smaller than an HI for example. Of course, there’s a price to pay in output when slicing and they don’t strike me as impressive this way so I have stopped slicing them. I have seen increased lumens in quads though, over the HI. I rarely use the flip chip Cree’s as I truly dislike the beam profile. If it comes with XP-L2, it’s gotta go! 50.2 I slice and dice, removing the phosphor from the surface of the substrate around the die really improves the beam quality, no bond wires to interfere so a clean slice is easily achieved. XP-G3’s that come here go straight in the trash.

I have a few of the 80 CRI U6 left, I’ll re-check. Try one in a straight FET light. I think the only one I’ve done singly is the little TK05 with Anduril.

Yeah, agree - XP-L2's and XP-G3's are pretty bad look'n. I got XP-L2 U6 4000K 90 CRI's in a recent triple X6R mod, and it's the best looking XP-L2 I've seen. It's our classic X6 triple optic from way back, forget who/what brand/model but has that dimple surface and I used the stock AR glass over it.

I found that I had one Samsung LH351D W6 5000K that I’d removed from another light, still on an mtnelectronics 20mm copper star, so I swapped that into a D1s to check on Anduril. On a Sony VTC5A it does 2060 lumens at start.

We used Ledil CUTE-3 over triples in X6’s, still do… a favorite build of mine. Optics can help tame the odd irregularities of the flip chip, sure better than a reflector over one!

I have my last XP-L W2 2B in another D1s, using the same Sony cell it makes 1828 lumens. This is an XP-L, HD, but NOT an XP-L2… it’s an W2 tint from Cutter back when they first shipped the real deal to me. It’s showing bond wires, but no flats on the sides of the dome. An interesting emitter, this one. Don’t think I’ve seen it’s like since that one shipment from Cutter.

Cree

Samsung

Ahh, ok, then I definitely will try the W6 5000K in more mods. I bought qty 10 from Mouser a while back, still got 9 left.

Yep - ok, Ledil CUTE-3, does sure cleanup the beam. thanx Dale!

Hhmm, think I still got some marked XPL W2's but not from Cutter, so probably not real. There were some bad ones around.

The Samsung LH351D are cheaper at Arrow and free next day shipping. I could drive to Mouser in a couple of hours, far easier to get the better deal at Arrow. :wink:

(when I was about to assemble the 458 Ham’r Arrow was out of the W2 5000K, expected them in a week so they should have them now… if I could have gotten them then I probably would have put 16 LH351D W6 5000K 70 CRI in the Ham’r)

Oops, was Digikey back in July, $29.47 shipped for the qty 10. I always do check Arrow first, sometimes though the searching is a mess.

Arrow shows no stock: SPHWHTL3DA0CF4RTW6, 6400 qty increments - ugh...

Wow, that W2 XPL sure is weird look'n for an XPL with it's round dome.

Ohhh - Digikey goes down to $1.67/piece for qty 25 - wow! Also can get shipping pretty cheap, but they charge NY state tax... Qty 10 price is cheaper now than it was in July at $2.25 now, $2.34 then.

Still, marginally, maybe cheaper in higher qtys than from Richard, but Richard's prices are very fare for these.

Arrow doesn’t show to have any in stock, saying 6 weeks lead time. Looking like they don’t plan to re-stock, they show a T6 in stock but in increments of 800. Always something.

I was looking for this part descriptor… SPHWHTL3DA0CF4RTW6