I assume you’re talking about my earlier comments on the heatpath from the star. I had previously commented that having a worse heatpath can sometimes be an advantage, and might be so in the E07.
That was based on my own experience modding small hotrod lights.
A few years ago I modded a DQG Tiny III into a small triple with a FET driver. It was extremely bright, but became extremely hot. This heat didn’t appear to be a danger to the LEDs, driver or battery. They were fine and seemed to have no trouble taking the heat. No… the problem was that the head became so hot the light was extremely dangerous to hold. You could burn your fingers with it just trying to turn it off if it accidentally turned on.
To address this, I eventually built a sleeve made of aluminum and then coated it with paint and brush-on super glue to wrap around the head. I doubt the sleeve helped heat transmission at all since the exterior glue was insulating. But it DID have the effect of allowing the user to hold and use the light for a longer period of time before having to manually ramp down. In that respect it was helpful.
In a more recent example we have lights with optional copper heads like the Emisar D4 or Astrolux S41 or S42. In my experience, having a solid copper head is considerably LESS useful than having an anodized aluminum head. This is the case even though aluminum can’t hold as much heat as copper and is less good at transmitting heat from the LED.
Why? … same reason as on my DQG. Copper gets dangerously hot to the touch extremely fast and my hand can’t take nearly as much heat as the LED inside the light. I’ve found that I sometimes cannot run a light with a copper head at turbo for as long as I can with an aluminum head light if the light is of a type where my hand needs to touch the copper.
For the E07 I was concerned that any benefits from improving the heatsinking might be countered by too much extra heat transmission to my hands… with the result that max practical output would actually be lower.
However, this was based on the assumption that the extra heat wasn’t having any effect on the LEDs. After reading a couple reports in this thread from people reporting diminished peak output, I changed my mind in regards to this specific light and did go ahead and fix the stars on both my E07s.
Right, so the fact that the issues are relatively minor as far as how easy it is to fix them goes makes it very appealing that Fireflies will adapt the small changes necessary and the light will be as epic as it appears to be.
However, stating “facts” about a mushy switch that can’t be tolerated on the heels of stating this issue was keeping the individual from buying one made me wonder how he/she knew exactly how it felt, how they came to the conclusion that it felt so back they wouldn’t buy one? Mine clicks just fine, the slight mushiness is so shallow that it doesn’t impede the switch activation in the least, not on my light anyway. Which is why I was wondering how they knew not to buy it due to a bad switch feel. Mine’s responsive, accurate, I never miss what I’m trying to achieve with it, be that a long press or a double press or a triple press or a quad press or whatever. So if it works, reliably and accurately, I’m at a loss as to why it would prevent someone from purchasing the light.
I’m curious by nature, Why should be my middle name…
My e07 just arrived from flights. Beautiful finish but….
My light is making clicking sounds and it continues even after its turned off. I can only think it’s related to heat but now I’m concerned about safety. Does anyone else have this issue?
FWIW, I haven’t had any issues with a Fireflies switch, or an Emisar switch, or Olight, or ZebraLight, or Sofirn, or any e-switch with a rubber cover.
I only have two lights where the switch doesn’t work sometimes… One is the Reylight Dawn, which tends to stick sometimes so it needs to be wiggled before it’ll make contact. The other is the FW3A prototype, which works reliably in the middle of the button but requires a firmer press on the edges. The former probably just needs some lube or sanding. The latter could easily be fixed by making the button narrower, but then it wouldn’t look as nice. And it doesn’t really have issues during normal use, since I tend to hit the button with a knuckle. It only fails to connect if I intentionally try to press at the very edge.
My first E07 made some clicking sounds, usually after being turn on for awhile.
It’s harmless. Just expansion of parts or air inside the bezel. After redoing the thermal compound on the star, my first E07 the clicking sounds are gone. And my second E07 never clicked in the first place.
Agreed. There’s no way anyone can possibly tell if the switch is too mushy without actually trying it out. For someone to say that the switch is “objectively” worse without actually ever having held the light or tried it just doesn’t pass the smell test.
I also agree with TK. I haven’t really had any significant problems with any rubber switches. They’re usually very simple and reliable.
The worst flashlight switches I’ve tried were the following:
I have an early Imalent light from a few years ago that has an infrared sensor for the “switch”. In practice, I found getting it to work would sometimes take 10+ tries. It was awful! Reminded me of someone trying to reinvent the wheel with a square shape just be different. Yuck!
My Sunwayman V11R came with the optional Titanium switch kit. The original V11R came with the titanium switch installed, but due to complaints they reverted to using the rubber switch. But they continued to ship the titanium parts in a little baggie as an optional switch. After trying it out I could see why people complained: The titanium switch sat in a titanium housing. Due to the design the switch would tend to tilt slightly. Titanium on Titanium tends to bind. The result: Looked great, but the button got stuck a lot and made a squeaky sound. Not very functional.
I’ve occasionally had electronic sideswitches lose their click. This usually happens when the membrane on top of the switch is damaged in a modding attempt. The switch usually still works, but isn’t very satisfying to press without any tactile click.
After buying my first “real” light (the D4) I bought a Klarus XT2CR where the secondary switch (micro push button) failed after 2 months of every day yet minor use.
Which SMD package size are the aux LEDs in the E07 approximately?
Mine did this also till I loosened the bezel some. I think if it’s torqued down the o-ring heats and expands and contracts causing the pops. After just snugging the bezel it quit and hasn’t done it since
When I was playing with the strobe mode, I must have accidentally switched the ramping from smooth to stepped. I’ve tried to follow the instructions to get it back to smooth ramping, but I’ve been unsuccessful. Any advice for me to get it back to smooth ramping?
That’s tough to gauge. I ordered on December 5th, but in fairness to Fireflies, they said that the “clear” anodized version wouldn’t be available to ship until late December. So in my opinion, they promptly shipped, but the tracking just sucked. Three weeks is a fair assessment as they seem to have shipped as soon as it was available.
Yeah, the tracking is pretty useless, but the overall timeframe doesn’t seem to be too bad. Did your light arrive?
No, I messaged him on Facebook several days ago, and asked him to raise hell with fireflies. He answered me back immediately, which is when I pointed him to all these threads and reddit so he could see what was going on. He had no idea, and I don’t think fireflies did either for that matter.
