My new TrustFire F15-T6 would not turn on, so I opened it up and found this:
Somebody stepped on the spring, picked it up then used it anyway and there are probably a few guys here that could do a better soldering job holding the gun between their toes.
After that, something on the tail cap provided a moderately painful scratch on the back of my hand. Took a closer look and saw this:
The aluminum finish and machine work is very 502Besque, perhaps after a few miles tied behind a truck.
The double o-rings are kinda cool, I guess.
If I can get a replacement or if this one can be fixed, I'll see about beam shots, etc. If performance is as good as its quality then, the 980L has nothing to worry about.
QC aside, I think there has been something going on in the manufacturing industry in China.
Not just in the budget light sector but overall. These products are sitting in warehouses worldwide. It might be the time to step back and wait the current inventory out.
Look at just within this forum are reporting lately as far as the quality level of the products. well liked vendors are sending out sub-par product.
Foy, I hope you can work this out with the vendor.
It might be that the budget brands are getting a lot more attention now that the demand is higher but the QC as it was has become (even)lower.
sometimes there is just too much complaining about little problems, this isn't one of those times. The driver pulled out and the spring crushed? You think a raccoon got in there?
Well, E is right; it's a quick fix. It just bothers me that it has to be fixed right out of the box. I also have to grind down the razor sharp burr on the tail cap so it won't cut me again and I guess for $25 (or whatever it was) you don't get smooth aluminum and edges without chips.
Compared to the 980L, this F15 is a piece of trash, inside and out. If it turns out to be bright, then it will be a bright piece of crap.
Was only thinking what a great looking light it was, not a blemish or mark on it , with a nice beam on it, all over a good bit of kit. Quite a bit brighter compared to the Manafont 3mode drop in that came at the same time.
Which came first ; Budget lights or modding skills ?
I have had to repair my Ultrafire T6 which came apart just like the pictured pill . It didn't take long , and now it works better than before . ( After using it as a bike light for a while, it broke . ) It was only the second soldering project I had ever attempted . The first project I did was modding my Tmart special 502b ( The same one you got which by the way has an easily moddable driver ) to a two mode .That and a slight mod to the clip and now I have a light I really like . ( Langcjl , please tell Foy how easy it was )
I believe that it could be time for you ( Master Reviewer ) , to pick up a soldering iron .
This has nothing to do with the fact that you should have received a working light . It's just that budget lights have their idiosyncrasies and many problems can be repaired easily .
And being able to mod or fix a light is a cool thing .
Look at how many people on this forum mod . The sense of accomplishment you get from successfully making a flashlight YOUR light is intoxicating . ( O.K. that might be a lttle strong . )
Mine came with the same issue with the driver disconnected from the pill, but the spring was in good shape. Mine still has not been re-soldered, but the pressure of the battery against the spring has still allowed it to work perfectly, go figure. At some point I'll re-solder it, but it has been working just fine in the meantime.
Mine did not have any cosmetic flaws, just the issue with the driver/solder.
Too bad about the negative 1st impression!
Oh, almost forgot. If you want to make it work, first press the driver into place by hand. Then, don't tighten the tailcap all the way down after you put the battery in, and I bet is works fine.
Man, this place has so much class . . . I am truly impressed with everyone's respectful responses and apologize for being a little harsh. Got a few things going on with my other hobby (real Life) and maybe I'm getting a little moody.
Anyway; after rudely inserting a Solarforce 2400 battery several times (and pushing the unattached driver carefully into place until it stayed there on its own) the light finally powered up. When it came on I was immediately reminded that the F15 is indeed a T6 equipped flashlight. I was able to get the following tail cap measurements:
Solarforce 2400
high - 3.80 amps nominal (highest reading 4.0)
low - .28
Panasonic unprotected
high - 3.80 amps nominal (highest reading 4.15)
low - .31
Putting aside my whinning about metal burrs and such, the F15 looks like it might be able to run with the big dogs. And again; thanks for tolerating me.
Glad you're back on track. :) All those solarforces have probably spolied you a bit. :P
I think the F15 will do great. Afterall i made myself one and should not differ much, if at all. Performs splendidly and above expectations. The KD 2.8A modes tweakable driver is excellent for such flashlight. 2.8A on max (for not very long tho) seems really a ncie spot for the XM-L. Perhaps 2.6A is better.
So sorry you got a bad one Foy. Like I said in my review, the one I received was flawless inside and out! No offense but I had to laugh when I read your 1st impression and said to myself, “it figures he’d get a bum example”. I hope they send a replacement for you as I still feel it is a wonderful light but that’s easy for me to say when mine was in the shape it was. I’m very happy to see your tail cap readings and even more happy that you softened your opinion just a little with it. Looking forward to you getting a good example. It looks to me like this one was dropped during packaging. A true shame when that happens with any light. My KD sf mini clone came with a bigger gouge in the tail cap but I like it more and more now that I got over it.
I've waited too long to give a shout-out to E1320 about the fine job he did on this F15. He took this poorly assembled light with its flashy modes I don't like and made it a rock solid performer that is just about the same as my 980L, in terms of perceived output.
This is now such a well regulated light, the amps vary hardly at all no matter what battery I feed it. I draws 3.45 on high, 1.06 on medium and .15 on low on an AW/IC 2900 and it draws the exact same numbers on an unprotected Panasonic 2350.
Here are some ceiling bounce shots:
F15 on the left and the 980L on the right.
The F15 is using an unprotected Panasonic 2350 and the 980L a TrustFire Flame 2400. I guess if you stare at it for a while the 980L just barely edges it out but the difference is slight. The thing is, the 980L varys wildly depending on the battery used. To make this comparison more equal, I used the TF Flame because the 980L draws 3.50 amps on that battery. It draws 4.70 amps from a Solarforce 2400 and of course, is brighter. The F15 with E1320's driver swap draws 3.47 from the same Solarforce battery.
Also, the driver board actually stays attached to the flashlight now, unlike the factory build.
E thinks the stainless collar around aluminum is bad for heat management and I agree but no matter how hot it gets, so far no failure - just a very bright XM-L flashlight.
