Waiting for next batch [AMZ US Available Now] $49.99 Sofirn SP36 Anduril Version

I’ve mostly found that the SP36 handles heat pretty well. From a cold start, I find it usually takes 2 to 3 minutes before it starts ramping down from turbo. Anduril does still regulate the brightness down eventually though, and here’s how that looks. The blue line in these graphs shows how it behaves.

There are no immediate step-downs. Brightness is gradually adjusted as smoothly as the hardware allows, which makes it difficult to actually notice during use. If the light later gets cold, it adjusts smoothly back up. This tends to happen when the battery voltage drops, because it gets more efficient and produces less heat as the battery voltage drops closer to the emitter voltage. The overall pattern is shown in the graphs below:


I’d recommend using a high-capacity cell like the 35E, if possible. It increases runtime at most levels, and also increases the length of time the light can spend on turbo before ramping down. The only downside is that turbo won’t be quite as bright. The difference isn’t very perceptible by eye, but it does make a noticeable difference in terms of how long it takes to get hot.

Agreed….

  • No Glue anywhere
  • Use a driver retaining ring

Interested in 2 if no glue, otherwise 1

I am interested.

It would be better if it didn’t charge to 4.25V.

New Sofirn SP36 charges to 4.25 volts

Interested in 4000K 90CRI

True, but normal. Most chargers have a variance of +/- 0.05V in their termination voltage. I’ve seen that on every charger I’ve ever measured. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not at all unusual.

On my SP36, it stopped right at 4.20V. But normally I use chargers which are biased a bit lower than that, stopping at 4.17V or 4.18V. And in the ones I’ve measured, I found anything from 4.11V to 4.25V even from major brands. Stopping right at 4.20V is somewhat uncommon.

In practice though, I find it doesn’t matter because I normally don’t charge cells all the way. The battery lives longer if it’s never completely full or completely empty, because li-ion cells have a longer life span at half charge. So I use a light until the battery gets to 3.3V or maybe 3.4V, and then I charge it to 4.0V or 4.1V. The SP36 actually makes this easier, because I can put it in battcheck mode, plug it in for a couple hours, then unplug it. All three cells get partially charged equally, which is difficult to do in an external charger. And because it’s convenient, I can keep it in an even smaller voltage range if I want, like from 3.5V to 3.9V. I can just plug it in a bit more often for a shorter time.

The battcheck mode isn’t very precise or very accurate, but it does at least work well enough to let me know when it has charged enough to unplug the light. As soon as it blinks 4.0, that’s typically enough to give me more runtime than I’ll ever need in a single night… usually enough to last several months.

Maybe the most palatable choice to the BLF community is an unassembled host.

Everything but the LEDs.

Solves the problem of disassembling a glued driver and everyone can have there 1st choice of LED.

If not my choice of LED would be a 3000k 90cri xpl-hi or 3000k sst20. I bet I represent a minority though.

I am in. Own all Sofirn lights released.

Interested

Interested in LH351D 4000K 90CRI if it has not the driver glued, may be screws like the Q8 or retaining ring like the GT or the Astrolux MF series the to hold driver in place.

Maybe interested.

My suggestions for LH351D:
5700K 80CRI or 6000K 90CRI (LH351D has this latter option as well, checked that from documentation)
5000K 90CRI
3500K 90CRI

Sofirn+Anduril. Interested

nterested. I would probably choose 5000K W6

Oh yea, no glue = INSTA BUY :heart_eyes:

This light has so much mod-potential, ruined by glue.

Interested in a NO GLUE 4000K 90CRI

Interested in NW or WW for one.

Interested in 4000K or warmer

About the no-glue thing, it’s worth pointing out that the SP36 would need host modifications to make it work without glue. It would need screws or a retaining ring or something. Because without glue, the driver falls out every time the body tube is unscrewed. And then if it’s in the wrong place while putting the light back together, it can cause a short and turn its own wires into smoke. I know this because it happened while I was testing an unglued sample.

So it’s not a simple matter of just skipping the glue during assembly.

I hope some sort of solution can be found though. It’s a really nice light, but the glue seriously limits the potential.

Understood. But as you pointed out - replacing the glue with a screw on the driver should be rather trivial.

^ the screws need to go somewhere. Like in the Q8, the driver cavity must be reduced in favor of two extensions of the shell that house the screw holes. That implies that the driver cavity must be machined instead of turned (it is not round anymore) which is a bit more expensive. Also the driver lay-out must be re-designed to clear the areas where the driver sits on the protrusions from components.

The thickening of the shell walls where the driver screws go do provide the opportunity to add the tripod hole btw, 90 degrees from switch and USB-port.