[Unboxing] FIREFLIES E01 21700 Flashlight

They may be afraid of burning out the SST40, which can burn its bond wires around 9A. It hits max output around 6A iirc

I think this will be my next lantern. :person_facepalming:

Ordered the E01 and just received it the other day. Didn't have time to test it but it doesn't work, maybe someone can help figure what could be the problem?

(just fast play through the video since it's about 1 minute long)

  • upon battery insertion and tightening the tailcap, the main LED doesn't blink (I think in NarsilM & Anduril, there is usually a blink from the main LED)
  • the side button switch 4 mini-LEDs are always lit up, even when I click the button (on the ROT66, 2 LEDs will turn off upon clicking the button, I would suppose the E01 would work the same way, but it does not)
  • the side button being lit up indicates there is power, I tried to do multiple clicks -- 3 clicks, 4 clicks, 5 clicks, 6 clicks, 8 clicks, but nothing seems to happen, the side button indicator light stays lit all the time

what might be the issue? (I am reporting to the seller, but would like to know what might be the issue in case I'm doing something wrong)

What battery u using?

Battery discharge shud be no more than 10A or you could fry the emitter.

I used Liitokala Lii-40A 4000mAh 21700, not sure of the Amps rating of this battery.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t source any 10A 21700 battery in our country, and foreign stores do not ship batteries to my country (not economically anyway, higher than $20-$50 shipping from abroad)

(The other 21700 batteries I currently have are the Sofirn 4000mAh 21700 from Sofirn flashlights).

As there’s no flash on inserting the battery my guess would be either no power to the LED or a faulty LED.
I’ve just tried to replicate the problem on my E01 and can’t.

Just to be sure there are 2 things to try:
1- Before you put the battery in make sure the head is tightened properly onto the body, then insert the battery and tighten the tail cap to complete the connection. (It’s possible to loosen the head while still having a connection, while i can’t replicate your issue while doing this, if your battery is slightly too long for the head to tighten properly once the battery is inserted there’s the smallest of chances it’s having an effect.)
2- Try your Sofirn battery. The issue with potentially damaging the LED is only on full power, so as long as you don’t go into turbo you won’t have the potential to damage the LED. Certainly, just seeing if the LED flashes when the battery is inserted will not damage the LED, it doesn;’t flash at full power. (I think it flashes at the default mode of 350ma, which is the maximum output of the 7135 and the maximum regulated mode.)

If still nothing i’d say it’s an LED/power to LED issue.

Edit: Forgot to say, all 4 switch LEDS are constantly lit so only tell you when the battery is connected, they’re no indication of what the driver’s doing.

It looks like the main LED is broken or disconnected.

The button LEDs are hardwired to power, so they’re on whenever a battery is inserted. They don’t respond to anything else. It’s not like the other FF products, which can blink.

Hi,
I just bought a fireflies e01 and a ffe07.
It was broken and they are sending me a new head for free.
In the meantime I’ve realised it’s not compatible with my 21700 batteries because they are 30a and this driver has a maximum of 10a. I have some old 18650 batteries, but I plan on using them for bikepacking (one for me one for my girlfriend) and weight matters, so I would like to carry only the 21700 30a ones and I would like both flashlights to be compatible with them.
I’ve already taken it apart and the driver is 24mm in diameter.
Which driver could I use with the same LED (I already bought a replacement) that fits in, is compatible with the side switch and can handle the 30a batteries?

About the modes, I like the anduril full version from the e07. It would be cool to have something similar

I’m definitely getting the feeling that I am the odd one out but: are there any plans to make a Ti/Cu version? It’s a question of personal taste (of course) but I think the E01 is the prettiest of them all. Plus I am not a believer in multi-led lights. And last but no least, I’m (a bit) colorblind so I’m not advocating to change anything else but the material of the shell.

That’s not really how it works. It’s fine if the battery’s maximum sustained amp rating is higher than the amount of power the device actually wants to use. It doesn’t push 30 Amps through anything it’s used in… the device pulls whatever power it needs.

This is an over-simplification, but in general I wouldn’t worry about the battery’s amp specs being too high.

It can be reflashed if you have the right adapter.

Well, I’ve been reading around and investigating a little more since my last comment and apparently the led lasts about 30” at turbo with a 30a battery and then it dies.

That’s an over simplification for explaining this driver doesn’t have a current protection circuit (two transistors and a bunch of resistors, it’s a kind of modified operational amplifier, oversimplifying again a current-limiter) and when you do a direct connection it allows to pass all the current from the battery to the led. The driver and the flashlight itself of course have their impedance so the current will be way less that 30a, of course, but still more than the 5a the led can handle before burning.

You go ahead and put a fully charged Samsung 21700 4000mah 30a on a fireflies e01, hit turbo and let it sit for a while… be my guess.

On my own e01… No more than 10a batteries allowed.

It would’ve just been better to use something like a 6A linear driver and be done with it.

Ah, it sounded like you were talking about something else. Usually when people arrive on the forum and their first posts are questions about batteries, it is because they don’t know much at all about how it works. People usually seem to think that the cell’s amp rating needs to match a device’s estimated power usage, in much the same sense that a cell’s voltage rating needs to match the device’s voltage rating. So they see things like… a Convoy S2+ uses 3A but the cell is rated at 20A, and they think it’s not compatible.

If it was 3V and 20V, they would be right. It’s a reasonable question for someone who is new to all this.

So, my apologies for assuming your question was of this nature.

You are right though. On direct-drive lights it’s possible to overdrive and damage the emitters. For example, it’s not a good idea to use a full VTC5A cell to power a single Nichia 219C emitter in direct drive. The point where the battery’s voltage sag meets the emitter’s Vf curve is so high that it’ll turn the LED into smoke. And this can be easily avoided by using a weaker cell instead.

I’ve used an E01 on turbo quite a bit, while doing thermal testing. However, I mostly stick to cells with a high mAh rating instead of cells with a high Amp rating. So I had no problems running it on turbo.

In general, I recommend that people use high-energy cells (high mAh rating) in most lights instead of high-current cells (high A rating). The extra brightness gained from a high-current cell is rarely perceptible, but the extra heat, extra risk, and reduced runtime are pretty significant. I enjoy a good turbo blast, but I’ve never really seen the appeal of maximizing that at the expense of so many other things.

I should be the one apologising @ToyKeeper for my previous answer, sorry. Thank you very much for your answers anyway.

I was looking for a way to convert the flashlight to be able to take the 30a batteries (safely!) so I can mix and match all of them. I use the flashlights for bikepacking, so weight matters. There´s little room inside the head of an E01 but I think the current protection circuit could fit… the problem is my company moved me to Australia (from Spain), here I haven´t got many tools (multimeter, adjustable power source, etc.) or much spare time… time I want to spend modifying a flashlight, I mean. :stuck_out_tongue:
So… I already bought the dammed 21700 10a batteries, which by the way are B-bin ones, I’m afraid… Samsung batteries that come into a “Shenzen Fest” box… suspicious… everything is chinese here… I couldn´t find real ones! not even in the vaping shops! well, whatever… let´s hope for the best.

Anyway, I ordered a E07 and a E01, the E07 works fine but the E01 didn´t work at all (I tried it with some old cheap 18650 batteries from previous flashlights). Then they sent me a new E01, so now I have one working with it´s own batteries and one totally dead I can fix, so if you know about a driver or driver + led I could buy and replace easily, I would appreciate it.
As you realized I don´t know much about flashlights or where to buy replacements, let alone from Australia. I couldn´t find a single driver on the correct diameter!

P.S. all that about the weight is bullshit, the truth is my the E01 is for my girlfriend and I’m sure she will put one of the 30a batteries in her flashlight and fry the led, so in the end when we go together I will have to carry the E01 and leave the E07 to her. If I hadn’t been a cheap and I had bought 2 E07 this wouldn´t had happened. Anyway, the E07 is way better for the handlebar, it floods a lot.

She might be brighter than you give her credit for though… letting her know that it could potentially damage itself with too much power might be enough. I don’t know what she’s like, but I would take a warning like that pretty seriously. I’ve been carrying high-powered lights in my purse for ages, and have never damaged one or burned anything with one by accident.

Oh, she´s very bright! that´s why she doesn´t listen to anything I say :stuck_out_tongue:

Hi ToyKeeper.
Browsing your hex files for fsm lights I found anduril.2019-08-05.ff-e01.hex.
What are the differences between this firmware and the 2019-06-01?
How to identify the version that came with my FF-E01?
Thanks

I can’t speak as to the differences between two versions of anduril less than 2 months apart but between either anduril version you list and the FW that came on the E01 there are several major differences. The E01 did not ship with any version of anduril, it came with a heavily stripped down FW that while it did function similar in the main ramp it lacked most all special modes and [iirc] all config options. Can’t say for sure cause I flashed my E01 to real anduril on day 2 of owning it but the FW that came in it was a special build TK created at fireflies request to be more simple to use for the average, non-flashaholic person. Because of the low price point FF wanted to target your average consumer, not specifically BLF members, hints the new more basic UI.

Cereal-killer, thanks for your help.

Did you use a progkey to flash your E01, or took the driver off like TrueRMS posted?

Did you compiled the anduril or was a ready available hex file?

Is there anduril full firmware for this?

Can if be flash via the via's?