The thermal limit was set to 75 and it didn’t step down which is good cause it hadn’t reached that temp yet. Turbo steps down fast but if the batteries voltage a bit low so the output is under about 75% I can run if for about 4 minutes without any problems. Seems like it’s a similar problem to the MF01 mini. Hopefully there’s an easy way to fix it even if it involves but another part like with the MF01 mini.
Would setting the ambient temp falsely to trick the light into thinking it’s colder work? Would this be risky for the led?
Here’s a screenshot at 16:32 from ZozzV6’s video SBT90.2 hype train. Is the Astrolux FT03S worth triple price than FT03? - YouTube
It’s easy to do this. To avoid risk, hold the light and turn off if it starts to get too hot. The led should be able to handle it.
The FET and MCU are a good ways apart. For there to be a heat path from one to the other we would need to look at the electrical traces. Assuming there is a heat path from the FET which is causing the MCU to heat up prematurely, there might be a couple ways to reduce the effect.
Like with the MF01 mini, you could add extra mass to the FET. You could take a cube of copper and attach it to the FET with thermal adhesive. What it does is make the FET heat up at a slower rate. Adhesive will make it hard to remove the FET in the future if you ever need to, but it’s the only way I can think to keep it attached.
Another option might be to just swap in a FT03 driver. You can run NarsilM or adapt Anduril to it. I don’t think the FT03 has these step down issues. I kind of prefer NarsilM because you set the stepdown temp by turning on Turbo and then holding the light. When it feels hot enough, you click the button. Whatever that temp is gets memorized. Or you can use a timer or turn it off completely.
Another option might be to try a less powerful battery. The P42A is really strong and probably pulls a huge amount of amps. Switching to 50E or similar (30Q) might solve the problem. Have you tried a different cell? The high amperage might be pushing whatever FET they used to run hotter than it should. Backing off the amps a little (not enough to really notice) might make a big difference. This is what your seeing when the P42A is not fully charged. It pulls less amps.
@ Th558:
I was getting similar results, on turbo my light would drop from 5100 lm (at startup) to 2200 in 10 sec. Had set the thermal limit to 75ºC. Tested against other batteries (iJoy, Molicell, Efest and Sony VTC5A) and would still drop like a fly. Then it occured to me that I had placed a metal ring between the driver and retainer (to align the body tube flats). Thinking it was brass (had cleaned with fine sandpaper) only to realize it was electroplated aluminium with some clear coat.
Changed to a stainless ring and the numbers are back up. After some 2 minutes, 4200 lumens and head at 50ºC.
The led is drawing much amperage, any small resistance in the electrical path throttles the output. I’ve dedicated the iJoy 26650 / 4200mAh cell for this light as can handle the 20 to 25 amps for some 5 / 4 minutes (by HKJ’s tables).
Tighten the retaining ring and check if other contact points are clean.
I can use a weaker cell but they rated the light at 500kcd which it can’t do and less output would mean even less throw. When the group buy was still in the interest collecting stage I messaged them and asked how long it would run for on turbo and was told it hadn’t been tested… Let’s make a high powered light, claim 500kcd and release it without testing it properly. Let’s also redesign the reflector and make it worse. Seems like a great idea. I understand that Mateminco is a value brand but how could they mess up that badly. My NI40 got scratched pretty easily and didnt have the best UI but at least it worked as advertised and hit the rated numbers whilst costing less. I don’t usually use turbo for long but when I do one day it’ll be annoying having a 20s stepdown. I really didn’t expecting this light to come with problems as it’s just an upgrade to an existing light. Anyway I hope they fix the problems with the newer batches and send out new reflectors for free or at least at a discounted price.
Edit: Just saw Sidney Stratton’s post. I’ll try this and see what happens. Hopefully it’ll fix the issue.
Do you have any pictures, or any additional way of explaining what you did for people that are new to modding? It sounds like you found a pretty straight forward improvement if I’m reading this right!
No, Sidney added something that hurt performance then changed it after realizing it. Now performance is back to stock, so no actual improvement.
I have all the FT03’s, not all tints but I couldn’t bring myself to buy this one for $90. I did get an NI40 from Neal. Probably should have got this one for the all around better light. Really not sure why I didn’t jump on this. Maybe it’s the $60 difference for this particular LED. Guess you all are happy with this version? Maybe It will be cheaper at a later date. Maybe.
No. You must not have read the last several pages.
This version of the light received some bad reflectors not capable of focusing the beam properly. The throw numbers are way less than advertised. Even with good reflectors from the FT03 swapped in it’s still a bit short of throw.
1400 meters is way more than the other versions. The SST-40 is about 900 meters. So 500 more meters is a really big jump. I think they estimated what is should be instead of actually measuring it.
I can feel your disappointment.
I had some problems with this unit also. When I took it out for a test run I had no mode memory. Then the turbo wouldn’t hold up. I was somewhat deceived as I had purposely set my order to be in the second batch - bugs and kinks are too often present in the first run. But with the overall picture of a great thrower and equally good UI, I dug in and found my mistakes. This version of Anduril has user selectable mode memory deactivation / activation. The ring I had placed as a shim between the driver and the retaining ring had some kind of brass like anodization or varnish. That limited the conductivity.
I had noticed the led’s phosphor reflection not completely filling the reflector but it wasn’t till ZozzV6’s post (#863) that pointed to an improper parabolic shape. Will see if a FT03 reflector will be available after CNY.
As for the green tint, yes it is visually striking at the lower outputs. This being a thrower, I set it to stepped from 1200 lm at lowest which gives a much better hue. I can’t see myself using this light for a night walk or searching for things in the house. It is for the great outdoors. BTW have set at two levels, high at 3000 lm plus the turbo, ~ 4500 lm sustained 5 minutes.
Overall, I’m quite pleased with the “overpriced” light. It does throw well to 200 m, above that my eyesight can’t detect well enough. The 5700ºK is a good temperature outside in my urban setting. The build and form factor are ergonomic.
Toykeeper got back to me and said she was not consulted to do a version of Anduril specific for this light. So the thermal response code may not be optimal. Mateminco probably just used an Anduril build from another light and adapted it to this one. This means the thermal code might be reacting too quickly on Turbo or the FET might be transferring heat directly to the MCU.
We are back where we started. 
for the price… just too many issues etc… bleh 
too me a rushed light asking premium money but failing to deliver…
Not every product is a runaway hit.
I wonder if a FT03 can be bought, then buy a SBT-90.2 and a MT-G2 mcpcb to put it on. You’d have to enlarge the centering ring, but in the end you’d get a perfect light. Good reflector, good driver, maybe even a cheaper cost if you don’t count your labor. One downside is this led is not easy to find at the moment.
Is there anything that can be done (like a relatively simple fix) to increase the turbo runtime on this light?
just keep it cool ;)
i compared the FT03 and FT03S here:
www.youtube.com/embed/FMvP4NDLg78
We haven’t really figured out why it’s stepping down prematurely. If the FET is responsible for heating the MCU, you could add extra mass to the FET. You take a cube of copper and attach it to the FET with thermal adhesive. What it does is make the FET heat up at a slower rate. This theoretically would make it step down when it’s supposed to.
Someone needs to test it, though.
Does your FT03S step down after 20 seconds using a high drain battery even though the exterior isn’t very hot?
I still don’t know if this is a widespread problem or not.
with a small fan / 23°C room
