The build is pretty decent but the tint and output on AAâs is pretty bad. I am not sure how easy these would be to mod. I have only built P60âs and C8âs. If someone cones up with a good mod plan please let me know. I could see these as nice AA lights for my kids. Not sure about running a 14500 on these since I am unsure about the internals.
If theyâre actually Thorfire lights, I think Thorfire should reconsider having their name on the lights at all.
Not at all the usual TF quality on, well, any other TF lights. These are the kind of lights youâd expect from a seller called HappyFun or WolfZoom or something.
Hardware-wise, they donât seem too bad, but nasty nasty emitter and cheapcrap driver.
Should be moddable, just pry out the driver (didnât measure, but might be 17mm), unsolder the LED board, replace both.
Yep, Iâm gonna hafta go back to the old way of âbundlingâ things.
What gets me, though, is that most of the time even with free-shipping items, theyâll sit on the order for a week or so, and if you have multiple things sitting in the hopper, send alllll those in the same box.
Wonder if you pay the standard-shipping for multiple items, if theyâd do the same thing.
On the bright side, I ordered âFour Box, 4 bayâ 21700 storage cases [note the plural] from seller âPcoilâ. Umm, sure sounds like 4 boxes, each one a 4-bay box to hold 4 cells, no? Apparently not. Got 1 box. Couldâve just returned it for free, grexing about a misleading title or headline or whatever you call it. Did a live-chat with Amâs customer service, they said keep it, and weâll still refund your bux. Pretty kewl, eh?
Similarly, the shirt I got to pad the order for those CT01s was grotesquely small. Got other shirts that fit fine, so this shirt (or maybe their whole line) âran smallâ. After the fact, I saw the sellerâs reviews, pretty good, saw a few reviews âyeah, the shirt ran small as indicatedâ. Arrrgh. Click the return thingy, got my label, will be returning the shirt no hassle.
So I guess it all evens out. I ainât gotta run fasterân the bear, just fasterân youâŚ
I only say that cause iâve bought this style light for $3.50 many times but it does have some nicer touches than those. I love that it has a little knurling on the tail cap. Really easy to grip! The lens looks like it has been through a washing machine but I guess thatâs par for the course.
I am curious how you take it apart though. These lights preceded my modding days. Does that metal piece above the mcpcb just peel off to reveal this pill w/ holes? How about the switch, did you just put some holes in that plastic shroud and pull?
Easy to tear down - work from the bezel down, simple press fit driver. See the rough edge of the driver? That's what is a little flexible, easy to press fit in and remove. Yes, ol school budget modding
Pretty much classic SK68, but that switch - might be better than regular SK68's, not sure. The switch's on the low budgets can kill the deal at times - difficult to replace with better low resistance parts, etc. OL used to re-build the switch from hand cut copper - a challenge for many.
I think KB is missing showing the plastic ring that holds down the LED/MCPCB - keeps it in it's place. On some of these I used to swap the LED/MCPDB and use some thermal epoxy to keep it down and dump the plastic retainer thing, which usually gets torn up from removing ti anyway.
Yanked out the press fit metal retainer holding mcpcb down. Drilled holes into the rollo pill to facilitate removal, the bezel wouldnât grip the o-ring enough to help and drilled holes into the plastic press fit switch retainer, it was pretty tight. Removed the mcpcb, popped the driver out. Easy PeasyâŚ
Ahh, yeah - brings back memories... I got mine but didn't tear it down yet. Tailswitch is super stiff - just like the SK68's - don't think I fixed that before. Ohh, I see the drilled holes in the tail switch now - I've done that before too. The ZeusRay had a terrible switch, but at least they had the real thick shelf and decent LED, least at some point - quality was hit&miss.
Oh, bugger. So itâs not a 16, then. Wondering if I could just shave it down a fractional-mm and not kill it. Hate when They⢠put hair-thin traces so close to the peripheryâŚ
Screw it⌠might just stick in a NĂ7135 dumb driver (ie, 1-mode, just hardwired 7135s and a diode) and not worry about it. Itâd be a 14500-only light, no more alkaleak/NiMH support, but who cares.
That deal appears to have expired, but when I clicked on the linked Amazon ad yesterday, it appeared to be for the original version with the higher moonlight and unimproved tail switch, rather than the newer version with .5 lumen moonlight and improved tail switch.
I could find next to nothing on the PF04 in regards to reviews, just one video.
Even at the regular price of $14.99, it seems like a decent deal, if itâs a decent light. Iâm tempted, though I donât know if it would kick my Nitcore MT06 (now out of production) out of my pocket.