Review and disassembly: Thorfire VG10S

Flashlight was provided from Thorfire for free as a replacement for bad VG10.

Very similar with Sofirn SF36 I reviewed before so I will use some text from that review on identical things.

Specifications from manual:
LED: Cree XP-L, 1100 Lumen, 13200cd (mine has same LED as Sofirn SF36 and it’s XP-L2 V6-2A-D, 5350-5700K)
Operating voltage: 2.8-4.2V
Battery: 1x 18650 Battery
Switch: backward tail clicky
Size: 13.4cm length, 2.6 / 3.3cm diameter, 133g (without battery)
Material: 6063 Aircraft aluminum with Type III anodization
Reflector: smooth
Battery warning: Blinks 2x/sec. And turns off one minute later
Deep discharge protection: yes, at 2.8V
Lens: Hardened glass lance with AR coating
Waterproof: IPX-8 (2 meters for 30 minutes)
5 Mode: High 1100lm 15min; Mid 300lm 2h45min; Low 50lm 22h; Firefly 1lm 200h; Strobe 1100lm 45min;
Mode Memory: yes
Tail-stand: yes

Package:
Thorfire VG10S, manual, belt clip, 2x o-ring

Flashlight has nice feel and looks good quality.
Threads are square but little thin. They are anodised and came well lubricated.
Tube is not reversable.
Threads are not compatible with VG10 version, but are with Sofirn SF36, so you can use SF36 tailcap.

Tail switch is reverse clicky mounted on 17mm board. It has nice click.
Flashlight can tailstand without problems.

Driver is 19mm, bigger driver won’t fit. It’s fixed with retaining ring.
Wires to LED are 24AWG
It has 4 modes with memory and strobe on double click. Modes are nicely spread.

Head has SS bezel. Glass is 27x2mm AR coated and reflector is SMO. AR coating is very light, but it’s there.
There is o-ring between glass nad reflector and reflector has groove for o-ring to sit nicely.
Exactly same bezel and glass is on Sofirn SF36. Reflector is similar but not the same (or just some manufacturing difference.

LED is XP-L2 and is on 17x1,6mm copper board.
There is 1 screw holding board to shelf. Shelf is fixed, so no pill.
There is good amound of thermal paste between board and shelf.

Flashlight is 134mm long, diameter is 26mm at tail and 32,5mm at head.

Comparison picture with Thorefire VG10 and Sofirn SF36

Current measurements:
Cheap dmm, not sure how accurate it is so I made measurements on some other flashlights to compare.
Used ICR18650-26C battery
table(table#posts).
||SF36|VG10S|VG10|S2+ 6*7135|
|Moon|0,03A|0,01A|0,01A||
|Low|0,16A|0,15A|0,09A|0,18A|
|Med|0,98A|0,93A|0,77A|0,92A|
|High|3,20A|3,10A|2,51A|2,13A|

Wow!! VG10S!!
Better heat conduction and higher amp draw but too bad, no tactical ring is a down point for me. I’m not sure how much more lumen compare with xp-l. Will you psot some beam shots?
Thanks. :smiley:

Want mine? :smiley:

On my VG-10, I took off the ring and clip before I even put the battery in. To me, they just get in the way.

I will post beam shots in next few days, when I get some time to do it right.
And when I get some nice camera to do it…

Looks like a nice flashlight, thanks for the review XXX-Man. I wonder why ThorFire only used 1 screw for the LED MCPCB? If I got the flashlight, I would need to add another screw to the other side to help tighten the LED to the shelf.

No idea why only 1 screw.
Also it’s very short.
Best to get 2 little longer screws to make it good.

[quote=On my VG-10, I took off the ring and clip before I even put the battery in. To me, they just get in the way.[/quote]

Get in the way !? That’s a manly part of flashlights for me. :smiley:

I tested my VG-10S and I’m only getting 2.4 amps with a fully charged battery (4.15 v). I’m getting ~2.1 amps on my old VG-10. Both seem pretty bright, but no where near what most reviewers are saying in terms of current.

I’m using these batteries:
https://www.orbtronic.com/3600mah-18650-li-ion-orbtronic-panasonic-recha… (link is external)

Any ideas why the current is so low? I believe I have them both on their highest setting, unless there is a special mode?

Could be bad meter?

I used a Fluke 87V. Also verified with a cheapo meter.

Are you all using unprotected cells?

Then your measuring should be good.

I am using unprotected LG HG2

Have you modified the springs for lower resistance?

Maybe I’ll try an unprotected cell.

Any recommendations between the 3500 mAh cells? Looking for highest capacity, low internal resistance.

Springs are bypassed.

I only have 35E and didn’t test them yet so nothing smart from me to say about it :slight_smile:

How did you bypass the springs? Can you post photos?

A clamp meter is the way to go for more accurate current readings. Are you by chance using the standard leads that came with your meter? If so, they will most certainly be the culprit.

Hmm. Yeah, hadn’t thought about the resistance of the leads being significant, since they are high quality fluke leads. I’ll try some 12GA wire or a sense resistor.