Sofirn C8F host. 21700 C8F Available

Thank you. Whatever flashlights I have built would not be possible without this forum.

I have not soldered the 4 wires to the driver board yet, but just eyeballed that the factory spring would just touch my flat top cells (spring begins where the threads just end), but I will double check.

EDIT1: I was wrong! The shorter spring also works. And I have completed building this flashlight. While light output from the 219B triple is average at 2.4A, it actually renders things better than sunlight in red region (tested with wooden doors, skin, tongue, red multimeter leads, red buckets). Totally puts my 85cri Cree T5-5D1 to shame, which despite having a rosy tint looks orangey. Thank you JohnnyC for writing the awesome firmware (star momentary 1.6) that I used in this light.

EDIT2: If a beginner wants to repurpose Nanjg driver like me, please do not use solid core wires as they are not flexible, you may have a hard time pushing the driver down.

:+1: Me Too!! :person_facepalming:

I never had to do that back when I had an error-correcting modem.

I tested different clips including Pomona and 3M and - guess what - the cheap ones from ebay similar to this worked best: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-SOIC8-SOP8-Flash-Chip-IC-Test-Clips-Socket-Adpter-BIOS-Programmer-s/232633530767?hash=item362a09f98f:g:GQoAAOSw3fZaISf1
(Actually I haven’t ordered this specific one, it’s just the first I found in this moment).

Did someone built one with 3 dedomed xp-g2 S4? Wondering how it throws.

Sorry, my mistake on the XP-L2 statement… the emitters I got in mine were XP-L V6 2C/2D. Nice tint, nice output. Yes, the 3000 lumens out of the box was correct.

Another good news guys! I tried to convince Sofirn to sell switch tailcaps separately. So if you want you can lockout the C8F with it. I hope they will have it in the store soon.

Dale,

Confused, sorry-- I guess you have a FEW of these C8Fs ;) But your batch of XP-L2s (that you mention earlier) from Arrow... I ordered the same (I think), anyway wondering if I'm remembering right where you DO have BOTH an XPL Hi and XL-L2 FC8, right? If so was wondering if you had an opinion to share with regard to the differences between the two?

Also, didn't you also try the SST-40? (or what that another light- you write about so many!)

Thanks, Russ

I thought he tried the xpl2 in a C8F as well, but I guess not.

He put the SST 40 in a Supfire M6 as well as the blf Q8.

I don’t think he tried the xpl high but he did mention that the reflectors need to be designed for that particular emitter.

I ask, because I'm wondering it I CAN put 3 SST 40s in one of my C8Fs? }D

-- might not be the best compliment, but if I shave (or DD) the SSTs- wondering what might happen anyway

Just posted my UV build using this host here https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/49853#comment-1277010

And it looks like hosts are not being offered on the Sofirn site anymore. Temporary?

You would need to swap to a mcpcb with 5050 pads. Mtn Elec had a few pads left the last time I checked. You could also go with 3 x xhp50 and 2 x 18350 Aspire cells and get 10k lumen! According to DB Custom.

XP-L2 V5 5000K
MTN-17DDm FET+1

3,500 lumens turn on
10.95A @ tail

I would describe the hot spot as VERY strong and very white. There is a noticable yellow corona you see best in pic #2 and the spill returns to a whitish color as you get further away from the yellow ring (white > yellow > white). It’s quite floody overall but the hot spot is very bright white.

Moon:

Turbo (ISO200, WB @ 4700K)

Regulated, couple feet away:

~1ft:

Bonus E2L Nichia 4000k 90CRI with same Camera settings:

However, it doesn’t look nearly this rosy to me in person so I’m not sure how this helps? Am I supposed to keep the camera settings consistent for comparisons?

Personally, if I’m trying to show someone what the colors look like, I will adjust the images tint, etc… to make the picture resemble what I’m seeing with my own eyes. Why, because cameras can be funky! Lol

How about you use a grey card, a neutral color cardboard or a plain white paper to set the WB setting manually? This is how it’s normally done when one is trying to capture an image with a good WB setting. I think this approach will work with flashlights, too. The thing is, the WB setting of your camera must be correct when you capture the color temperature of the light coming from your flashlight.

Here is what DB said about installing the SST 40.

Here is the mcpcb you need with the 5050 pad and fits the reflector spacing on the C8F.

There is actually quite a bit of talk about the sst40 over in this thread.

Now, considering the posted images by contactcr, I’m still undecided if I should reflow my own XP-L2s with 5000K CCT for the C8F. I think the corona of the XP-L2 becomes more pronounced with this host. I have XP-L2s with 4000K CCT, too. I’m thinking with 4000K, it won’t be as bad? I mean, not that greenish.

11A on tail with 3 low Vf XPL2s is not really much, up to 20A from a fresh high drain cell can be possible if you reduce resistances on the host

I think I’m good with 10-11A. I’m not gunning for 20A or anything close to that. I’m not sure if the light as a whole can take that much punishment. Besides, I will be using NCR18650GA and MJ1 batteries for this anyway. I did upgrade the MOSFET of the stock driver with a better one from Vishay. Even the lone 7135, I replaced. I thought of getting Lexel’s but that would come along the way.

Hey, GREAT info JasonWW— thanks for the detailed links too— I (always) have more reading to do. :person_facepalming:

And Contactmr, thanks for the photos!!! :+1: