I was asking a similar question a few posts ago.
Itās starting to look like Tool-AA should be used only with protected 14500. (or eneloop AA, or alkaline AA)
A-MAC, I hope you donāt mind if I post here some things on the Lumintop Tool AA
So, after my post yesterday, I made some experiences with the Tool AA!
As I mentioned, with a 14500 cell (Sanyo, unprotected), it was flickering on Low (not PWM, really flickering), but not on Medium nor on High. Also, those modes were not lower in brightness than usual.
By suggestion of jon_slider, today I measured the battery Voltage level and for my surprise I found that it is on 3.91V
So, this is not a drained or depleted battery.
I also used it with other 2 Li-Ion (unprotected) batteries, one with 3.80V and another with 4.06V. It didnāt flicker with none of those 2 batteries. Also, it didnāt flicker with an AA alkaline nor with an AA Ni-MH battery I used.
I tried all the 5 batteries with the tail switch and with the magnetic tailcap, and it only flickered on that specific battery (so far). So, Iām getting a bit intrigued and donāt know what to think :person_facepalming:
Can it be something related to the battery and not with the flashlight itself?
Or can it be something related to the specific Voltage level (3.9V) that makes that flickering?
@ delusional: with this kind of situation, Iām not even sure anymore if being protected and unprotected has importance on these situations. Maybe it has on draining and protection, but flickerings and other behavioursā¦I aināt sureā¦
In any case, I will use another battery on it to see how it performs (if it flickers again) and also because that flickering annoys me a bit. :rage:
Another thing I noticed was that using the magnetic tailcap (instead of the tail switch) increased the audible noise on Low and Medium modes (due to PWM), on 14500 and Ni-MH cells. On AA Alkaline, the noise is lower than on the other cells!
Just wanted to share what Iām having here and try to see how the ones from other members are performing! :+1:
Here are some pictures from the Sofirn SF10 (Medium) > Lumintop Tool AA (Medium) > Sofirn SF14 (Medium).
Just to remember: Sofirn SF10 = PWM on ML, L, M modes; Tool AA = PWM on L and M; Sofirn SF14 = no PWM
Whaaaa? 13$ ? Oh boy, I wanted to order some drivers and other things, but if the shipping prices rise according to the weight of the packageā¦I may not be able to afford that!
I wanted to try one of their drivers on the Sofirn SF10 host, maybe with Crescendo firmware installed. Gotta see those prices, thoughā¦
Meanwhile, I took a photo of the Tool AA emitter and it was the firs time I saw this:
Can somebody please explain me what is/may be this on the plate and what does it serve for?
Thanks in advance :+1:
Hum, sorry for bringing back this thread, but Iāve been thinking to make a driver swap on my Tool AA, but I was hoping to leave the emitter as it is now (just unsoldering/soldering the wires).
I have one doubt, though! The āthermistorā it has on the emitter, can it provoke any kind of malfunctioning with the new driver? Is it supposed to work only with the stock driver?
Sorry, but my knowledge on this is at āzero levelā so any input is welcome!!
Thanks in advance!!
I want to put FET 15mm dive in it but will not order on MTN just for this item (15$ shippingā¦)
When Iāll do it, Iāll post it here.
This AA Tool has great potential as a host
I have one of those 15mm drivers (with Crescendo installed) on the way from MTN, and I may end up using it in this host!
As the original tint is not that good, I may swap the emitter too and put an XPL-HI U6-3A on this.
It should work nicely with the SMO reflector it has :sunglasses:
Hum, thatās an issue I have! The plate I have (14mm) is aluminium, not copper, and is thinner that the one the Tool AA has currently!
So I donāt know what will happen when running it on max with a 14500 battery!
I hope it doesnāt unsolder the LED due to the heat!
One thing that I guess Iāll have to do is to āsandā the bottom borders of the pill or, instead, the edges of the driver to make it fit well. The stock driver has that different shape to fit the pill, so it may need some work first!
But, sure, Iāll post here the mod when done!
The driver is still on its way, maybe it just arrives next year, I donāt know :zipper_mouth_face:
BTW: 3D tint must be muuuuch better than the original one :sunglasses: That greenish lookā¦. :person_facepalming:
Today I decided to play with some TIR lenses in the Tool AA, just for fun! Below you find some beamshots (click the images to get larger)!
Please note that the TIR lenses used are more suitable for XP-E and XP-G Leds and the one on the Tool AA is XP-L HD!
REFLECTOR >>>> TIR 1 (60Āŗ angle) >>>> TIR 2 (Pebbled 60Āŗ Angle)
_
_
Nice Got some pocket rocket over there for sure
What batteries are you using with it?
Did the beam suffered any change with the new LED (with that reflector)?
Iām still waiting for my pieces (driver) to arrive!