I recall the SP32 is glued, which is why I passed on getting one. I can’t say about the SP31.
I’d bet what you saw getting through the filter is far blue/violet light, which is present in white LEDs; it’s what excites the phosphor that re-emits the energy as white/yellow light.
Blue light will make many things phosphoresce.
Yea it’s glued.
I was able to open it up with strap wrench. Then use something like Isopropyl alcohol to clean up the glue on the thread and replace it with thread grease
Most Sofirn lights are easy to open except for the original SC31. I’ve been unable to budge the bezel, now is that even possible? :person_facepalming:
Newbie here; I just got a light that came with the first 18650 cell I’ve ever owned.
It seems it wasn’t charged very much.
I bought a Tenergy T4s charger to charge it up with.
1. First question: is this a decent choice of charger?
The cell is labeled INR18650-35E / SAMSUNG SDI / 3 JJIT.
2. Is this a rechargeable cell? I guess so but the manual for the light said it does not come with a cell, but it did come with a cell, so I can’t trust the manual.
3. The Tenergy charger has a switch for Li-ion or LifePO4. Which setting is right for this battery, if any?
This random page: Test of Samsung INR18650-35E 3500mAh (Pink) says the chemistry of a cell with similar numbering (I think it’s the same cell) is LiNiCoAlO2, which sounds pretty different from anything listed on the Tenergy charger, so:
4. Maybe this isn’t the right charger? What charger would you buy?
The samsung 35E is a top notch lithium ion cell (2.5v-4.2v). That charger will work fine. Seems it will charge it at 850mA. A little slow, but will work.
There are better chargers out there that show you the voltage, charge rate, measured capacity and internal resistance. Plus can charge that cell faster at about 1.5A or 2A. They can be in the $20-$30 range.
LifePO4 isn’t used in flashlights. Maybe rarely. They have a lower max voltage (2.5v-3.6v). So only use the li-ion setting.
Li-ion are always shipped at a low voltage of about 3.4v-3.7v for safety reasons. All the power is in the 3.8-4.2v range. I usually recharge my cells once they get down to 3.7v or so.
Thanks JasonWW! Charging now. I should have asked what the favorite charger is around here… would like to consider that one, whatever it is. But for now slow-ish charging is OK for me. Figuring it out as I go; I hope this charger stops when the battery is “full” (say 4.2v) but just in case I’ll be monitoring it and checking voltage periodically.
Have my eye on the Enova GYRFALCON ALL-44 4x Li-Ion + NiMH charger now after searching around a bit. When shopping for something like this my question is: can this be the last charger I’ll ever need? Assuming I’m not going to need massive charging of say more than 4 cells at once.
That Gyrfalcon is fine.
I like the Miboxer C4-12. It can do 3A x 4 and I charge a lot of 26650 at 3A. I don’t like waiting hours (you should always be nearby and alert while cells are charging for safety reasons). My time is valuable. It’s a bit pricey, unless you catch it on sale. I actually see it for $33 on Aliexpress. That’s cheap.
The Moboxer C4 Plus looks pretty good and can do 1.5A x 4. It’s cheap as well at about $23
A lot of chargers top out at 1A x 4. Certain cells can handle more than that. The 35E can do 2A max, but might reduce it’s lifespan a bit faster. I don’t care too much about that and would charge it at 2A. For max life the 35E recommends 1A. 1A is fine for all 18650. Certain 18650 can handle up to 3A. You have to look at the data sheets for each cell to see what charge rates they list.
There are other highly recommended chargers, but I cant think of their name off hand. I’m sure someone will chime in.
Edit: LiitoKala Lii-500S is a good one. It does 1A x 4 or 2A x 2. Make sure to order a cord with it. It’s an extra cost option.
Opus BT-C3100 is another good one.
Thanks again JasonWW! Now severely tempted by the SkyRC MC3000 although it’s not exactly “budget.” LiitoKala Lii-500S looks nice too! Might just get sucked into this light and battery thing… AAA, AA, CR123, 18650, … who knows what’s next.
Really good sale on LiitoKala Lii-500S on banggood right now btw, $22!
Thank you for your help, JasonWW and flightless22.
Good to know that these lights are glued. I will get a strap wrench like you suggested and see if I can open them. I would like to swap the leds for warmer ones.
What does “professional grade searchlight” mean on the description for the new Acebeam K65GT? Does this mean I can handle it and toss it around like the old Surefire’s? Currently, I baby my K30 GT and K75. Will this professional grade searchlight, the K65GT mean I can take this with me everywhere, bumping into things, fingers smudging the lens accidentally, all Okay and fill the niche of a “take a super thrower with you everywhere flashlight?“
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Good Question, Acebeam is not even on the ANSI-NEMA FL-1 list. Google: ANSI-NEMA FL-1 - Flashlight Wiki
Maybe some body from Acebeam can jump in and explain.
It’s probably marketing speak. Impact resistance is rated at 1 meter, while the older K65 is rated at 1.2 meter. So no big difference there. You may want to ask them directly.
I’ve never seen Acebeam representatives here on this forum. Have you ever seen one?
I know many people have used the Lii-500S without any problems, but my unit was consistently failing to terminate charging when the cell would reach 4.2V. That’s a pretty big safety defect. Just something to watch out for if you end up buying this charger.
Question #1: Who here uses Google GMail?
Question #2: Who here has approached the 15Gb limit & is getting notices from Google to buy storage?
I really think Google is now trying to force long time users of Gmail to start paying $1.99 per month for using GMail. Last year I’d gotten this notification and spent hours DELETING old emails with attachments. I must have cleared at least a couple gigabytes of data. YET… Google didn’t really seem to reclaim the space. Now I’m back again with the warning. I have ZERO emails with attachments over 1mb. And now I think I’ve figured it out… it’s the insidious “PROMOTIONS” and “SOCIAL” separation tabs. All that junk email we get from all over the Internet. It’s like being nibbled to death by 1 kilobyte emails. It must be consuming more storage. So now I’m setting out to go pruning all the JUNK that silently accumulated like falling snow in the dead of winter.
Has anyone here gone through this exercise with a notably lower storage outcome?
I did it last year. cleared promotions and some junk stuff. Took a few minutes, got some space buck, but am now approaching full again. Have no intention of paying them and will have to make it a semi-regular exercise.
Since this is the No Question Too Stupid thread I feel safe asking… did you empty the trash after deleting? Gmail keeps trash forever unless you set otherwise.
My Gmail says, "Messages that have been in Trash more than 30 days will be automatically deleted."
You could try the settings to disable those promotions and social tabs. I don’t have them.
If you get some emails frequently that you don’t need you can add some filters to delete them directly. And all promotional mails that I won’t read like those from Banggood or Ebay get deleted straight away.
Maybe delete some notification mails from BLF as well? 
I have over 2000 of them already.