@PiercingTheDarkness Thanks; I’ll check for that.
@cm64 An easy to loose contact is a definite flaw in a fair number of them. The incidence would probably be a lot lower with some better parts being used.
Not my video but what we both experienced: SP10S issue - YouTube
And this lost contact from shaking: Sofirn SP10S Flashlight Failure - Power Loss Problem When Shaken, #1 - YouTube
Have you tried a regular AA battery?
I’ve sold over 40pcs and haven’t had any so sensitive to a bump like those videos.
They do lose contact with a bump on the table but a lot of lights do that with only a rear spring. Tried a stiffer spring like cm64 suggested and now it takes a pretty hard hit to switch off.
Spring used is Convoy’s high drain springs, these work well.
Good point. I didn’t realise that it was aluminium :laughing:
@PiercingTheDarkness The tap to turn off still happens with a run-of-the-mill alkaline AA. I noticed that the impact needed to lose contact is lower the brighter the mode. A very light tap would accomplish this on the highest brightness. The lowest brightness is fairly resistant to switching off in this way and has to be tapped a lot harder.
Glad this was brought up, I’ll be swapping the spring out on all my stock. It wouldn’t be ideal to drop the light and it switch off making it difficult to find
Maybe Sofirm will read this thread & use a better/firmer spring.
Since SP10R is in development right now, I will be glad to pick up these suggestions and let Sofirn know about it.
Thanks that will be great.
One other improvement - maybe a direct way to switch on Moonlight/Eco mode - by long press when off. Like the Sp33v3
Yes, that's also part of the plan.
Can anyone please clarify for me, for the SP10S, in which mode does it turn on? The OP says it comes on in low and you have to cycle through all modes to get to eco, or moonlight. However the product description on Sofirn says that it turns on in eco, like the SP10b used to. Is it possible they updated the driver since this thread was started due to the criticism? I’d like to get a driver to replace the one I mucked up in an older SP10b but I will wait for new developments if does not turn on in eco. I’ve looked for other reviews but they are all old or conflicting about this.
You’ll want to wait.
14500 - mode memory
AA - starts on low, not eco
Eco is too low anyway imo, it’s lower than anything else I have seen
Thanks for the comment. So if you are using 14500, does it come on in eco? We used it as a bathroom light on a trip to Iceland and eco was perfect for that. If it comes on in eco using 14500 it is just like SP10b. I probably will wait anyway, to see if the Anduril driver ever comes out.
SP10S lowest level seems to be about 1 lumen (or maybe just a bit lower), I find it acceptable as a “Moon” mode.
The SP10B’s lowest level is very low (likely less than 0.5 lumen), and is (mostly) useless though.
However, one thing I find nicer on the SP10B is the shortcuts.
On the SP10S, there is no shortcut to Lowest mode (Hold from Off does not do anything - does not turn on the flashlight). Single-click (with 14500) goes to Mode Memory; and to 2nd level (with AA battery). No direct-Moon whether AA or Li-Ion.
On the SP10B, it has a shortcut to Lowest level and to Mode memory, although the UI seems to be counter-intuitive now that there are several flashlights that use “Hold from Off” to go to Moon mode (eg. Narsil, Anduril, and some other lights).
On the SP10B, “Hold from Off” goes to Mode Memory (Last used level), whereas a single click goes to Moon (wish they had included this short for the SP10S, but swap them, so that single click goes to Mode Memory, while “Hold from Off” goes to Moon level).
About all the moon mode is good for on the B is to drain the battery when you put it away without knowing it is on. Really hard to use for work when you have to constantly check it before pocketing it.
I agree, moon was far lower than anything useful, I was constantly checking to see if it was actually switched off.
For me the “eco” on SP10b is perfect for bathroom night light. We used it in the hotel when traveling. And it lasted many days.
That’s why I was never interested nor got any ’Ses. Gf’s got an ’A, I got a coupla ’Bs, but when I saw the UI of the ’S, I was like, “nah…”.
I actually quite like the lowlowlow firefly mode of the ’B. Perfect for just flicking on to see the LCD clock.
I will comment for the first time.
When I started using the SP10S, I also noticed that the memory behavior sometimes went wrong.
This seems to be due to the driver board not correctly identifying the battery type, which is more likely to occur when swapping from 14500 to AA and vice versa.
In other words, the memory function appears when switching from 14500 to eneloop, or there is no memory function when switching from eneloop to 14500.
To prevent this, it seems that pressing the button for more than 1 second when the battery is not in it will accurately recognize the battery type the next time the battery is connected.
Kewl. Probably burns off stray charge keeping the µC alive and forces it to reset, vs “holding up” even though the cell’s been changed.
False recognition of the battery type also affects the LVP, so if there is any strange behavior, it is better to perform this reset operation.