When playing around with flashlights I’m very picky about tint, but unlike most tint snobs here I prefer the tint on top of the BBL instead of under it.
The 219B sw45 R9080 is nice but I like a bit less rose and a bit more yellow, I like the sw40 R9080 a bit more. On the other hand the LH351D 4000K 90CRI could use a bit more red in the tint (I do not find it obviously green btw, also not at low levels).
But when using a flashlight outside, the precise tint matters much less to me, it must not be too far from the BBL, but I don’t care if it is above or under it. I do see and appreciate the colour rendering however, and this LH351D has plenty of that!
Because of the new 90+ CRI leds in the SP36 sample, its category (3x18650 compact soda can style, over 4000 lumen, high CRI) is now even closer to the ROT66 219B sw45 R9080. The ROT66 will of course be valued higher because of its highly appreciated tint but one of the trumps of the SP36 will be its better throw.
I just compared the throw of the two lights. I set them at close to the same (arbitrary) output (I corrected the throw values for the last bit of difference) and compared throw at 7 meters. It appears that at the same output, the spot brightness (throw) of this SP36 mod is 2.1 times higher.
The throw difference would increase considerably if XP-L Hi leds would be used in the SP36.
_
I checked the charging speed of the SP36 sample, Barry had informed me that it is set at 2A. With a Blitzwolf charger (2.4A max charging according to specs) and a short Blitzwolf USB->USBC cable, I measured 1.65A charging speed when the batteries were at 3.4 V (so 550mA per battery). So a bit lower than 2A but it could be my equipment lagging the speed. Charging completely empty 30Q’s should take about 6 hours at this speed.
They said they set the charging rate for 2A at the cell level, not at the USB buck converter level.
That means since the USB charger is outputting about 5V at 1,65A(could be 1,75A if you used an even shorter and thicker gauge USB cable), that would mean the charger is outputting 8,25W, and at 4,2V max charging voltage, that is about 2A to the cells.
[quote=djozz]
Because of the new 90+ CRI leds in the SP36 sample, its category (3x18650 compact soda can style, over 4000 lumen, high CRI) is now even closer to the ROT66 219B sw45 R9080. The ROT66 will of course be valued higher because of its highly appreciated tint but one of the trumps of the SP36 will be its better throw.
I just compared the throw of the two lights. I set them at close to the same (arbitrary) output (I corrected the throw values for the last bit of difference) and compared throw at 7 meters. It appears that at the same output, the spot brightness (throw) of this SP36 mod is 2.1 times higher.
The throw difference would increase considerably if XP-L Hi leds would be used in the SP36. :person_facepalming:
Thanks Captain Obvious…
Of course that is obvious, but I mentioned it to remind that the SP36 can be increased in throw (by a factor 2) by swapping the leds, without loosing too much output, while in contrast the ROT66 does not have that option.
+1, maybe they are busy working on other things. I’m ready to buy one of these. I tried to get this light when it had the HXP 50 but was already discontinued.
I think that the specs of the sample that I got are reasonable final. It seems a good working design as it is. I asked for a non-glued driver by using a driver retaining ring instead but they do not want to do that in fear of it coming loose, and I asked several times for a nice neutral led version, no answer yet about that. Sofirn asked Toykeeper to adjust the firmware because they found that the flashlight could become too hot with the standard Q8 software, not sure what the current ststus is of that. For the rest I see no obvious flaws in the design.
So I expect the SP36 to become available soon, I’d say before the end of the year, but that is not based on actual promises by Sofirn. Perhaps Barry has more exact information, hope to hear from him soon.
I’m not entirely sure either. I think an engineer at Sofirn may be trying Anduril to see if it is suitable, but I haven’t gotten confirmation yet. I think Sofirn may be sending me a sample too, but I’m not sure if that’s really necessary or what exactly I would need to do with it. I asked, if a sample is sent, that it not be glued… because I don’t think I can spot-weld a handle onto the driver and crowbar it out as shown earlier in this thread. Glue would likely just interfere with any help I might be able to provide.
Anyway, it has been a week since I heard anything, so I sent a ping to see how things are going.
If I understand correctly, the plan is to release the light right away with NarsilM because it has already completed testing on the hardware, and then possibly consider using Anduril in later batches if it works well.
Hmm… Chances are they use a simple linear charging circuit. You know with that well known 4056 IC.
Sorry, it seems there’s a buck converter on board indeed.
Nice.
Hey, nice light!
To me somehow much more attractive than the Q8, (which i didn’t buy afteral.)
Hope for no glue, but something has to keep the driver in place….
We’ll see.
In most of those hundreds of lights the battery tube does not screw against the driver retaning ring. In the current SP36 design it would. It would require a different smaller driver and a pretty major re-design of the head to do it well. (mind that I would like to see the retaining ring as well, I just give you the considerations)
Well, how about placing some screws to fix the driver in the head? Would that be feasible? If glue is the only option, how about using glue that can be dissolved/broken easily like this hot-glue you can find in every DYI-store?
That is how it is done in the Q8 which is also made by Sofirn. Sofirn made the SP36 as a compact version of the Q8 so they are well aware of that solution, requiring milling the driver cavity in a non-round shape instead of simply turning it with a lathe, with added consequences for the spatial design of the driver circuitry. They decided not to do that, I guess it is a matter of cost.
I assume that they do not aim the SP36 at the modding crowd but at normal people, and perhaps rightly so, with the USB charging this is a very easy flashlight to handle, with still impressive performance. It may just sell well like it is.
