You certainly aren’t wrong about the light activating too easily. I would prefer a recessed switch too.
Where I disagree is that I don’t think a recessed switch would make sufficient difference. My D4S has a recessed switch and it still gets turned on in my pocket occasionally. I have had pretty much every light I’ve ever carried do that at least a few times, which includes the FW3A, ZebraLight H600Fd, Fireflies E07, Thrunite TH30, and many others. The only lights I really trust never to do that are twist-on types. (And I never to get stuck using a modern UI with a twist-on switch!) Some switches are more prone to this problem than others, but with any light that really heats up, even once is a serious safety hazard.
So I have come to the conclusion that some form of lockout is necessary no matter what kind of switch is used. Given that, the lack of a recessed switch is a minor disadvantage, but not a critical one.
I have a D4 v.1 with Nichias (and no screws) where one has desoldered but will light up a bit if I take off and replace the optic, for a moment. I have a replacement LED although removing the MCPCB and reflowing the existing ones may get it up and shining. I have a daunting task. I just don't want to put it away in a drawer. I've reached out for help to some here in the forum but any recommendations are welcomed!
Thank you so much for all of the time you’re putting into this thread, in addition to your amazing work on the UI!
Based on the responses to my post there are at least a few of us who want to buy a pogo-pin adapter. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that someone will take pity on us and build a few for us. :-}
It does seem that more lights are going the pad route for flashing. I can hope that there will eventually be some kind of commercial product to do this. I just don’t want to wait that long.
In my experience, almost every sideswitch EDC light will occasionally turn on in the pocket. However, improved design reduces this occurrence. My experience:
Emisar D4v1 stock - accidental activation maybe once every few weeks. The switch protrudes, but usually requires a fairly firm press. Note however, that my D4s’ switches are inconsistent. On 1/3 of them the microswitch seems slightly damaged and activates with a much softer press.
Nitecore Concept 1 - accidental activation occurs immediately, 100% of the time when the light is placed into the pocket. (worst offender).
Zebralight SC63/64 series - deeply recessed button greatly reduces chance of accidental activation. I think I got an accidental activation about once per year with these.
FW3A - averaging an accidental activation about once every few weeks. Big exposed switch which can activation from multiple angles is the problem.
DQG Tiny IV 18650 - no accidental turn ons. Tiny flush button is quite resistant to accidental turn on. Button is hard to find by feel though.
So do I find lockout necessary? … no, except for the D4 v1 and the Concept 1.
Occasional pocket activation on non-turbo isn’t a big deal. I just turn it off when I notice and I’m good to go.
On the D4 v1, the risk is the button getting pressed and held by my pocket stuffing. Even if I turn the light off in moonlight it will ramp up to turbo and burn through my pocket. I roasted 2 pants pockets this way. Fortunately, the D4v2 features Anduril so I can set max ramp just below burning pocket level.
The Concept 1’s ridiculous protruding lever switch is so sensitive it triggers 100% of the time when put in the pocket. Definitely unusable without lockout.
For the FW3A, Zebralight, and my modded Emisar D4v1s with Anduril I do not consider lockout necessary. Even if they accidentally turn on in the pocket max ramp is set below “burning pocket” level. I think there’s little to no chance double-click turbo will spontaneously activate inside the pocket after it accidentally turns on.
I would have preferred a ring around the button on the D4v2 to reduce the frequency of accidental activation. I will likely mod the switch on mine to add a metal switch button and/or raised ring around the button to reduce this issue.
But my goal isn’t to 100% eliminate accidental activations…. just reduce the frequency.
Okay, so it wasn’t very interesting. The sustainable output at 50 C was higher than I expected, so it basically dropped to ~800 lm and then just slowly descended as the battery drained. The only interesting part was that it bounced around a bit before settling at that level. So I’m not really happy with how the firmware handled it, but the hardware did a nice job.
Also, it took 6 minutes to heat up enough to even respond. And that’s with a totally full battery, which is the worst case for heat. A lower battery wouldn’t make as much heat. So during normal use I doubt this will really be an issue.
In any case, it looks like I still need to make a thermal simulator so I can improve the algorithm without spending days at a time just running tests.
Great review with a lot of information. And great job as usual!
This D4 V2 has it all in such a compact shell. I know i won’t be able to refrain very long from ordering yet one more Emisar light.
Regarding EDC and accidental activation with the inconveniences it could involve, i’ve carried a 18650 D4 since it came out (in v2) and got used to lock/unlock it with six clicks. It is kind of a minor pain though and i’m glad this new one allows a somewhat faster ritual.
BTW: i thought the D4 was already in its second revision… so unless i’m mistaken that should be D4 V3?
Can anyone tell me why would anyone choose the xplhi version if the sst20 version is just as bright and have more throw.
Is it the tint? Less heat? Or…
brighter: 4300 lumens for XPL HI compared to 4100 lumens for SST20. And the gap widens dramatically if you compare the high-CRI SST20 since those only do 3000 lumens.
runs cooler: XPL HI doesn’t generate as much heat, so you can run it longer at higher power settings before it ramps down.
much better tint: XPL HI tends to have great tint even at lower power settings. Most SST20 tends to turn puke-green at anything less than max turbo.
SST-20 aren’t bad, but having tried them in various lights I still consider XPL HI to be the “gold standard” emitter for small triples and quads.
