It’s actually worse for Li-ion cells to discharge completely between charges, you’ll see a shorter life from the cell or battery pack. If they’ve told you that about cell phones they want you to buy a new one frequently.
Used to be this recommendation was true, back when rechargeables wer NiCd’s… they’d develop a memory for capacity. No longer the case with today’s low self discharge NiMH and Li-ion cells. I’ve typically seen that it was best to keep a Li-ion charged with short charge cycles, like use it then charge it. There will be opinions on this that run the whole gamut of course. I have a LOT of flashlights and a LOT of cells, I keep charged cells in all 200+ of my lights, each one ready to grab and use at a moments notice. Right or wrong, their way or my way, that’s how I do it with over 300 cells… they’re rechargeable but they do have a life cycle and are considered disposable, typically around 500 full charge cycles. Charging frequently reduces the percentage of the charge cycle and prolongs the calendar life of a cell, but it’s still going to die around 500 cycles, however you go about putting those cycles through.
Got my sofirn sp33. I will share my impressions, mostly very positive.
The lantern is well made, the control is simple and clear, there is stabilization, there is charge indication.
Thermocontrol works perfectly smoothly from 55°C begins to gradually reduce the brightness, until the lamp starts to cool, while the brightness decreases the lamp has managed to warm up to 58°C. I did not have time to check whether the temperature control is two-sided. Why left a two-minute stepdown in the turbo in the presence of adequate temperature control, I absolutely do not understand, this is a drawback.
Dynamics of heating at 24°C of the medium and output of 1000 Lm:
10 minutes - 37°C;
20 minutes - 41°C;
40 minutes - 46°C;
70 minutes - 48°C.
It turns out that in the 1000Lm mode the sofirn sp33 is approximately equal in thermal efficiency to the BLF Q8 and greatly exceeds the C8F. Now I really want more of different lanterns on emitters XHP50 and XHP70. For example C8F 3*XHP35 or 3*XHP50 and BLF Q8 4*XHP50. These would be very practical lights, powerful and without problems with overheating.
Colour temperature:
5350-5700K I like a lot more.
And an unexpected gift from Sofirn, "puppet flashlight" :
As a result, it seems to me that for $ 24 this is more than a good flashlight, I hope in the future they will remove the stepdown by timer and will start putting neutral and warm emitters.
I ordered an SP33 on Nov 16th from the Sofirn Ali store and still haven't received it. Sofirn says it was re-shipped (again) on Jan 6th, but tracking history starts on Jan 17th and sent to the US on Jan 18th -- oh boy. Had lots of problems with the Sofirn Ali store, but orders from other Ali stores came through fine in reasonable time. I have another order from Dec 15th from the Ali Sofirn store - tracking doesn't work, no reply yet from Sofirn... Ugh
Why is the Sofirn Ali store the only place to buy this light? Weird...
Edit: Did't realize the reviewed light in the OP is an XPL. So it's the 3rd generation, XPL -> XHP50 -> XHP50.2, if I understand this right.
Your just having bad luck with the Sofirn Ali store. You also ordered during the busiest season in China, which might also explain things.
They never offered it with a xhp50. I think they took some pictures of it, but it never got sold. I’ve not heard of a single person to get a xhp50 version.
Say what you may about the season, etc., but I've made and received several orders in this time frame from China including Sofirn orders, delayed from usual times, but no major issues. The other order from Sofirn uses an unknown tracking # from every known shipping service, goin on 5 weeks now, no response from Sofirn for 10 days after saying they'd check into it and get back to me.
For example, ordered a B158 for $25 from an Ali store on Jan 9th, rcv'd it Jan 18th. Clearly there's some major differences in shipping services. Look at this Ali store's listings:
Amazing that there's lots of junk, and they can ship a $25 light in 9 days. Why they have a quality light like the B158, no idea, but it's a decent price, and it arrive and looks fully legit, mint condition. The lens is actually super clear - like the best I've seen in a zoomie.
You could try stippling the original reflector.
Remove the reflector, get some clear spray paint …
hold it about 12-15” above the reflector and spritz a quick shot.
Let the paint rain down on the reflector in a mist.
It creates a stippling effect ala orange peel.
Each spritz will add more OP finish, so start slow and add to your liking.
I’ve done this more than a few times and it works perfectly.
I realize my post count makes me look like a noob, but I promise you I spent many years learning and sharing over at CPF.
You sliced it, but you didn’t dice it. Important step. By removing the extra phosphor that sits on the substrate and surrounds the die you lose all that yellow peripheral light.
Zozz did a neat photo documentary on doing this with an 70.2 emitter
