[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

BLF Special Edition Products
1773

Had a first look at the potting, and it seems like there’s good news for potting fans (and bad news for modders) : I tried poking with a needle at the side of the driver where the compound is exposed, and into the insertion hole in the driver, and on both positions I hit hard solid stuff. So at least the driver/led cavity is fully watertight separated from the battery compartment and at best the whole cavity is one hard brick of potting stuff.

I’m not ready yet to break a C01 open to see which one it is.

1774

I can confirm this as well with my production run C01s. When poking with a needle the white stuff feels hard and solid.
When comparing a Fenix E01 with a Sofirn C01 the potting material looks similarly white.

Did Sofirn ever communicate what material they actually use for potting the driver?
Some kind of epoxy, or some other material?

1775

If it is white, it is usually thermal epoxy.

If it is transparent, it is usually potting compound.

1776

Hopefully Sofirn did the same as Fenix.

Edit: I mean in terms of reliability, not in terms of moddability.

1777

Somebody should nudge Sofirn about communication.
BLF isn’t just a place to harvest potentially profitable design ideas and ignore what people want.

1778

Have they been doing that??

I am under the impression Sofirn has been very responsive & open to what people want.

But maybe it is I who am uninformed?? Are you referring to anything specific??

1779

There is of course a large overlap between harvested ideas and what people want. And communication with the chinese manufacturers will always be difficult, for numerous reasons. I can’t exclude stealing ideas without giving back proportionally as a motivation for contact but as far as I was involved with Thorfire and Sofirn, there’s more going on, not just profit, it is combined with a will to make a good product too.

1780

Received my three samples 3200K today. Very nice, good anodisation, I can see the potting over the side of the driver and trough the hole of the PCB, it seem very robust. I can’t (at the moment) pull out the driver. The clip is very strong, and it is not dificult to remove it.

Very good keychain, very good purchase, it’s a shame it’s not easily modifiable :slight_smile:

1781

When you report you got your package, please tell us the date you made your order.
For those of us wondering how long it takes to arrive.

1782

For what it’s worth, I ordered Nov 10 and tracking shows not even leaving China yet. If tracking is correct, that’s 18 days of sittin….:weary:

Order ID: XXXXXXX View Detail
Order time & date: 09:16 Nov. 10 2018
Store name: Sofirn Official Store
View Store | Contact Seller (0 unread)
Order amount:
$ 7.02

on another note, I’ve been wonderin why icons aren’t showing up in my posts… should be “tired” icon above but no. Guess it’s tired also…heheheh

1783

Yeah, potting that prevents modding is a misfeature.
It’d be a favor if they’d offer hosts or moddable lights.

As noted above,

It’s good though.

1784

I ordered the 2 C01’s when they were announced available in this thread, it was spotted by d_t_a, 10-11 probably.

1785

After the comments by you and djozz I looked closely at the clip on the production C01.
So regarding communication: it seems Sofirn listened to feedback by djozz and improved its design.

However I would still advice to remove it the correct way: at the ring where it attaches to the flashlight, either by using a small screwdriver or by using both thumbs to push it off at the open side of the attachment ring.

And not like I did by using the “tip” of the clip as a lever to push it off (learning moment…) :person_facepalming:

1786

I wish they (or someone) would make inexpensive* addon clips like those made for the 4sevensPrion or the Solarforce lights —attached by dropping a complete ring over the tailcap threads.

*Here’s an expensive, likely bombproof, version: Eiger Titanium Clip – darksucks.com

1787

I like those clips too, but the C01 has no tail cap. An advantage of the current clamping type is that it can be reversed.

1788

> no tailcap
Yeah, those also fit over the head end threads.
But yes, agreed, reversible is nice.

I’ve just snapped too many belt clips by carelessly getting too close to something that grabs, torquing/twisting the flashlight.

1789

I ordered the lights at AliExpress on 2018-11-10, and received them on 2018-11-26 in the Netherlands.

1790

With a clip attached this way to the C01 it would not turn on as the driver board would not make contact with the inner ring inside the battery tube.

Perhaps an Arc AAA clip might fit? That design looks quite bomb proof and reversible (source).

The GIU uses a similar design.

1791

Thanks for pointing this out. I edited the Specifications post accordingly.
Perhaps in the future Sofirn might share with us the potting material of the C01.

1792

production vs prototype tail: shorter trithole, slightly enlarged magnet hole (dent in prototype courtesy of my son)