I hope someone on here can make a quick video of them fixing the thermal issue as a guideline for others to follow. If a picture is worth 1000 words a video should be worth a million;).
They took a picture of the “new” way. It looks like an iced cupcake. Probably will be only marginally better until they do it the right way.
Fixed the star on my second E07 last night. Took about half an hour the second time around and the light works fine.
However, now that I’ve had a chance to compare my original yellow E07 with my new clear E07, I can see that my first one won the tint lottery. Both are 4000K XPL HI, but the beam on the first just looks richer and slightly less yellow. 2 of its emitters look cooler than the rest when looking into the bezel on moonlight, while all of the emitters on the new one look the same.
I like the body feel of the clear one better though. I think I’ll swap the stars in my E07s so I can have one light with the best beam and best body. Unfortunately, the effort required is going to be like trying to fix 2 stars at the same time. I figure 40 minutes to one hour to do the swap.
I also think I might do the finishing washer around the switch button mod on the clear E07. I think I can file it to a perfect fit and it should look great.
Here is a tip for those seeking to fix the star (or doing any modding): Take it slow and methodical. Don’t try to rush or take shortcuts since that’s where things tend to break.
The only thing that withholds me from buying this light is the crappy switch, not even the quality issues. It’s extremely soft and has a very short click travel, mushy feeling and is not clicky at all : /
I quite like the slightly squishy feel of the switch. Reminds me of the switch on my old Olight S10, of which I have fond memories.
If you’re daring, you can probably mod the switch for a firmer feel. Something as simple as popping off the boot and then coating the rubber piston with super glue to make it more rigid would probably do the trick. However, be VERY sure you want to attempt this before trying. There’s a real chance you might destroy the boot, and even if you don’t there’s no going back.
I have a similar mod in the switch of my Wizard but done with a shim cut from a plastic food box, works like a charm. However the Fireflies switch is objectively inferior to the Emisar one.
I think it comes down to personal taste. It’s subjective, not objective.
I actually like the switch in the E07 more than the one in the D4.
The D4 switch has a pronounced click and is raised above the head. Chances of accidental activation are high. The E07’s switch is smaller and flusher. Accidental activation is less likely.
Also the quality-control on the D4 switch seems to be a bit off. My early model D4 lights all have a very pronounced click. But my two later model D4 lights have a much softer click. I removed the boot to take a look underneath, and the switch appears to be the same type, but the older D4 had one where the membrane on the top appeared more intact, which seemed to account for the firmer click.
thanks… that explain alot…
The E07 uses a FET+3 driver, same as the PL47. It’s very similar to the D4S driver. Two channels, where one is 1.05A and the other is a direct-drive FET.
Ryzbor, am I/are we to assume that you have handled the light somewhere else? A friends perhaps? Because you state you are holding off due to the switch then you describe the feel of something you already confess to not having bought. Seems confusing.
So has anyone been able to verify if any actual 40T cells were shipped? I ordered from Neal and I really don’t want to be stuck with a knockoff when I bought a genuine 40T, but Neal seems like a nice, honest guy and I don’t want it to come out of his cut. Do you think Fireflies will compensate him for any refunds and/or replacement cells he has to deal with to make customers happy?
I assume you’re talking about my earlier comments on the heatpath from the star. I had previously commented that having a worse heatpath can sometimes be an advantage, and might be so in the E07.
That was based on my own experience modding small hotrod lights.
A few years ago I modded a DQG Tiny III into a small triple with a FET driver. It was extremely bright, but became extremely hot. This heat didn’t appear to be a danger to the LEDs, driver or battery. They were fine and seemed to have no trouble taking the heat. No… the problem was that the head became so hot the light was extremely dangerous to hold. You could burn your fingers with it just trying to turn it off if it accidentally turned on.
To address this, I eventually built a sleeve made of aluminum and then coated it with paint and brush-on super glue to wrap around the head. I doubt the sleeve helped heat transmission at all since the exterior glue was insulating. But it DID have the effect of allowing the user to hold and use the light for a longer period of time before having to manually ramp down. In that respect it was helpful.
In a more recent example we have lights with optional copper heads like the Emisar D4 or Astrolux S41 or S42. In my experience, having a solid copper head is considerably LESS useful than having an anodized aluminum head. This is the case even though aluminum can’t hold as much heat as copper and is less good at transmitting heat from the LED.
Why? … same reason as on my DQG. Copper gets dangerously hot to the touch extremely fast and my hand can’t take nearly as much heat as the LED inside the light. I’ve found that I sometimes cannot run a light with a copper head at turbo for as long as I can with an aluminum head light if the light is of a type where my hand needs to touch the copper.
For the E07 I was concerned that any benefits from improving the heatsinking might be countered by too much extra heat transmission to my hands… with the result that max practical output would actually be lower.
However, this was based on the assumption that the extra heat wasn’t having any effect on the LEDs. After reading a couple reports in this thread from people reporting diminished peak output, I changed my mind in regards to this specific light and did go ahead and fix the stars on both my E07s.
Right, so the fact that the issues are relatively minor as far as how easy it is to fix them goes makes it very appealing that Fireflies will adapt the small changes necessary and the light will be as epic as it appears to be.
However, stating “facts” about a mushy switch that can’t be tolerated on the heels of stating this issue was keeping the individual from buying one made me wonder how he/she knew exactly how it felt, how they came to the conclusion that it felt so back they wouldn’t buy one? Mine clicks just fine, the slight mushiness is so shallow that it doesn’t impede the switch activation in the least, not on my light anyway. Which is why I was wondering how they knew not to buy it due to a bad switch feel. Mine’s responsive, accurate, I never miss what I’m trying to achieve with it, be that a long press or a double press or a triple press or a quad press or whatever. So if it works, reliably and accurately, I’m at a loss as to why it would prevent someone from purchasing the light.
I’m curious by nature, Why should be my middle name…
My e07 just arrived from flights. Beautiful finish but….
My light is making clicking sounds and it continues even after its turned off. I can only think it’s related to heat but now I’m concerned about safety. Does anyone else have this issue?
FWIW, I haven’t had any issues with a Fireflies switch, or an Emisar switch, or Olight, or ZebraLight, or Sofirn, or any e-switch with a rubber cover.
I only have two lights where the switch doesn’t work sometimes… One is the Reylight Dawn, which tends to stick sometimes so it needs to be wiggled before it’ll make contact. The other is the FW3A prototype, which works reliably in the middle of the button but requires a firmer press on the edges. The former probably just needs some lube or sanding. The latter could easily be fixed by making the button narrower, but then it wouldn’t look as nice. And it doesn’t really have issues during normal use, since I tend to hit the button with a knuckle. It only fails to connect if I intentionally try to press at the very edge.
My first E07 made some clicking sounds, usually after being turn on for awhile.
It’s harmless. Just expansion of parts or air inside the bezel. After redoing the thermal compound on the star, my first E07 the clicking sounds are gone. And my second E07 never clicked in the first place.
@TK
is it true the nichia E07 has a different firmware?
or is it just different setting?
or just a myth?
Agreed. There’s no way anyone can possibly tell if the switch is too mushy without actually trying it out. For someone to say that the switch is “objectively” worse without actually ever having held the light or tried it just doesn’t pass the smell test.
I also agree with TK. I haven’t really had any significant problems with any rubber switches. They’re usually very simple and reliable.
The worst flashlight switches I’ve tried were the following:
- I have an early Imalent light from a few years ago that has an infrared sensor for the “switch”. In practice, I found getting it to work would sometimes take 10+ tries. It was awful! Reminded me of someone trying to reinvent the wheel with a square shape just be different. Yuck!
- My Sunwayman V11R came with the optional Titanium switch kit. The original V11R came with the titanium switch installed, but due to complaints they reverted to using the rubber switch. But they continued to ship the titanium parts in a little baggie as an optional switch. After trying it out I could see why people complained: The titanium switch sat in a titanium housing. Due to the design the switch would tend to tilt slightly. Titanium on Titanium tends to bind. The result: Looked great, but the button got stuck a lot and made a squeaky sound. Not very functional.
- I’ve occasionally had electronic sideswitches lose their click. This usually happens when the membrane on top of the switch is damaged in a modding attempt. The switch usually still works, but isn’t very satisfying to press without any tactile click.
Is there a howto on redoing the thermal paste, how difficult is it and what thermal paste is recommended?