Sofirn SP70 Alone $50, PM for AMZ US CODE(LIMITED)

Nice set of output tests Jason! :+1:

One small correction, I actually installed dual BeCu springs from BlueSwordM in my L6. It’s not bypassed stock springs.

My number of SP70 is close to Jason for reference I give a lumen of stock S70s NW (look like the same tint as L6) and L6 OP XHP70 N4 3A
(0s/30s)
stock S70s NW Lii50A = 3648 / 3553
stock L6 Lii50A = 3382 / 3303

stock SP70 Lii50A = 5320 / 4845
Sofirn HD = 5415 / 5130
Shocki 5500 = 5510 / 5092

(with bypass 20 awg both drivers/tail keep dual springs)
Sofirn HD = 6156 / 5662
Shocki 5500 = 6242 / 5871

My measure may not so accurate but should not far behind . Sofirn HD is quit good comparable to Shocki 5500 but I don’t measure capacity yet will report back

Neat that we are getting such close measurements.

I guess I need to solder blob my Shockli 5500’s so I can test them out.

I have not tested the capacity of my Sofirn HD cells either. I haven’t had a chance to run them down yet.

So it looks like the BLF edition just needs some better springs and it will see a big jump in performance. Nice.

A better MOSFET and larger leads from the driver to the emitter makes a big difference too. :wink:

Your numbers sound low Jason could the larger lights play with your sphere? Cause it to give weird numbers? I would think your modded L6 would do close to 9k lumens? If you do a ceiling bounce test between the two are the numbers still close?
The amount of current doesn’t add up to the output you get even if you add loses for the reflector and lens.

Mine will arrive today via Amazon. I’m interested to play with it

I have owned a lot of flashlights over the last 20+ years. I must say this Sofirn SP70 in the 2x26650 form factor is my favorite. The only other light I can compare to in terms of engineering beauty is the Surefire M3-CB Millennium Series Combatlight. This Sofirn SP70 and the 26650 High Drain rechargeable Lithium Ion battery totally rocks! :partying_face:

Based on the two spheres I have, no xhp70.2 light can put out 9000 lumen. I don’t know how some guys measure such high outputs.

I did a quick ceiling bounce test with both lights using the Sofirn HD batteries at 4.1v and sensor about 14” away from light. I let the output settle for 3-4 seconds. The L6 measured 810 lux, the SP70 730 lux. I brought out my lumen tube and did the same test waiting 3-4 seconds for the numbers to settle. The L6 did 5300 lm and the SP70 did 5100 lm.

So the SP70 was about 10% less in ceiling bounce and 4% less in lumens.

Both lights had the SMO reflector. I measured again with the sensor 4” from both lights to maybe rule out the hot spot size difference. I got 950 lux and 850 lux which is about the same 10% difference.

I would not worry too much about lumen numbers. Some people treat them as gospel. If person A measures 9,000 lumen and it pulls 18A with a clamp meter and person B measures 5,000 lumen and the same 18A and they both measure about the same throw distance, this tells me the lights are performing about the same (using same model of flashlight of course).

I don’t know why DB measures 10,500 lumen after all his mods. Iirc, his pulls 21A and does 92x 971 meters throw. The throw is not that much more than the 860 meters I measured on the stock light with stock reflector. So all his mods do boost output, but the lumen numbers seem so much higher. Note that he us using a diffused lumen tube and it’s calibrated with a Maukka light. So I don’t know. It’s a mystery.

971.6M throw Jason. Based on a 30 second 236Kcd reading. And yes, my lightbox is calibrated with Maukka lights, the same pair of lights that Robo819, TomE, Manxbuggy1 and RMM used. Yes, we passed them around and compared the results because all of our light boxes were made by the same 2 guys. Richard even tested two different kinds of light meters.

I also have a 6” to 4” reducer that I can use and in testing it with the Maukka lights it is calibrated even closer than my base set-up. So I can test some pretty big lights.

I just relate the numbers as I see them come off the devices, it is what it is. But you have to consider if I use lesser cells, cells like some of y’all are using, my numbers are also considerably lower.

Today I removed the factory springs and replaced them with Blue’s large springs that are bypassed with 18 ga wire. Even on Basen’s my light can do 9150 lumens. I don’t want to force the 21700’s in it as I don’t want to compress the springs for use with the higher capacity bigger cells.

How do we know our lumen tubes are near the accuracy of the S2+ & BLF maukka light when measuring a higher output?

We don’t. You would probably need to buy a big professional integrating sphere to get the best accuracy. That’s thousands of dollars. We are just hobbyists, so we have to accept a certain lack of accuracy to keep the costs reasonable.

The thing about the Texas_Ace Lumen Tubes is that they are all built the same, so even if it’s off, it’s off by the same amount for everyone. I think Dale’s lumen tube is one he built himself. It’s also bigger in diameter than my 3.5” TA Lumen Tube. Maybe there is something about the bigger diameter that changes the response curve at higher output levels? I’m not sure. I’m also not too concerned about it. I know Dales heavily modded SP70 is not actually doing double the lumens of mine. It’s a bit brighter because he’s pushing the led harder, but not double the lumens.

I did not make my light box, as I’ve said many times, even just a couple of posts above…

“971.6M throw Jason. Based on a 30 second 236Kcd reading. And yes, my lightbox is calibrated with Maukka lights, the same pair of lights that Robo819, TomE, Manxbuggy1 and RMM used. Yes, we passed them around and compared the results because all of our light boxes were made by the same 2 guys. Richard even tested two different kinds of light meters.”

And yes Funtastic, that has always been my problem with the small calibration lights. When my box was built some 5 years ago the brothers R tested it with some 25 known brand ANSI rated lights, big ones small ones powerful ones and not so much. The averaging of these 25 lights gave me the multiplier I used. Then other people started making lesser boxes and tested with puny outputs and everybody signed up and declared my box numbers off by ludicrous margins. I finally just gave up. For the greater good, right or wrong, my box is now diffused to read actual lumens on the meter according to the Maukka calibration lights everbody else swears by. So the box is “sworn in” on a 290.8 lumen little tube light and I am supposed to assume my 4” diameter 17 emitter 23,300 lumen Ham’r is being given a fair shake. (this about 3000 lumens below what the original light box read)

If I ever find someone able to measure Ham’r in a true blue sphere I will certainly give it a go.

For whatever reason, Jason has been the biggest voice against my original light box and even now, calibrated according to Maukka, I am doubted. It is what it is I suppose. There was a time when experience counted for something. Seems I am misunderstood. I do not post “trying to have the biggest numbers”, I mod with top components, sparing no effort, (and have spent over $10,000 in the process) to show the maximum capability of a light to the best of my ability, share it to show what I have found can be done so other modders have a reference point and the stock light a base value. Some have found ways to surpass my findings and some have not. Not important really, the goal has always been to show that a stock light can be better and give an idea how much. And to inspire sales so we, this forum, can enjoy budget lights at their best. I have struggled with physical issues for over 20 years and I mod as an escape, I am not here to be constantly challenged and shot down so, to put it simply, I will not be here much any more.

Unsubbed

We got us a Hot Damn Texas shootout here folks.

Y’all just need to meet up and fight it out with lightsabers and be done.
Or strap on bull horns and gore each other.

Whichever you decide on, be sure to record it for prosperity :slight_smile:
Peace out

I have good reason to believe an XHP70.2 can exceed 9000 lumens.

We also have to remember that Jason's L6 is sliced. My understanding is that slicing can knock off as much as 30% lumens, which would easily drop 8000 to 5600. As for the lumen tubes, there are so many variables involved that I'm not sure how we can ever know whose tubes are measuring accurately. I appreciate the efforts to make your tube more consistent with other tubes Dale, whether that's more accurate or not.

I was under the impression you sent your Manx Buggy tube to Toykeeper and built yourself a newer, bigger diameter one. I don’t really know what’s going on with your lumen tubes lately, plus it’s hard for me to remember any changes you’ve recently done.

The only issues I had with the Manx Buggy tube is that it wasn’t diffused so thrower lights would read higher than floody lights. Secondly was that the calibration ws based on an average of several lights factory ratings. Those 2 things go against the basic principles of an integrating sphere which is to diffuse and integrate all the light together and then measure that light level with accuracy.

It would help me to understand if I knew more about your setup. Are you still using the Manx Buggy 3.5” tube but with 1, 2 or 3 added diffuser panels? Do you set the light on a glass shelf? Do you have some type of setup to put around the edge of the light to keep it from spilling out around the edges? Does the sensor mount on a flat wall at the end of the tube or in a necked down piece to capture more light? If your using a 6” to 4” adapter, does it taper down smoothly or does it bounce a lot of light directly back into the reflector? What effect does this have on the readings? When using the calibration light with the adapter, is the light shining down the middle or does it shine down the edge of the opening so some of the beam hits the reducer and bounces the light back towards the reflector.

So you see, we are not using the same design lunen tubes so there could be differences in the response curve or differences depending of the beam shape, etc…

The Texas_Ace Lumen Tube may not be perfect, but it’s consistent. That’s one of the key design points. If it’s inaccurate, it’s inaccurate for everyone so there is still consistency. This is why a I tell people to not take lumens so seriously. Homemade integrating spheres are great for doing mods and measuring if you got an improvement or not. They are also great for comparing different lights in a person’s collection.

Don’t be bitter, we are all just trying to understand things better. How can your 70.2 light read so many thousands of lumens higher when the amperage is so close (19A to 21A)? This really has me scratching my head. I wish our numbers were closer together.

I’ve been thinking about making a beach ball sized (1 meter) integrating sphere with a barium sulfate coating and a higher end lux meter, but it’s still really expensive and a lot of work. I don’t know if I care enough to built it. Flashlights are cool, but I’m not a Flashaholic or anything. I use them for work, not collecting.

No, not sliced.

You can’t go by that. That was written before TA had any calibrated source for his Lumen Tube and it was reading about 30–40 too high. I can’t remember the exact number.

You also have to factor in that he’s measuring a raw led with no reflector or lens. If you put that same led in a flashlight, the output goes down based on how efficient the reflector and lens is.

I don’t see us fighting at all. We are just trying to figure stuff out. There are mysteries to be solved.