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

I used the light for a couple of days now. Here is my opinion.

The light feels sturdy with nice anodising that seems to hold up well.

Gave it to the kids a few times and its nice to know that it is completely safe. They even took it to bath so water resistance is also ok.

The tint (3200k) is very nice (if you like it also, you should really try the 3000k sst-20 for even nicer tint).

The lumen level is a perfect mix between a moonlight mode and a lowlow, if this makes sense. It can be used well as a bedside light.

What I don’t like is that the twisting action on mine is a little stiff. It takes quite some effort to rotate.

I don’t know if I am going to use it a lot, because I have other lights with equally good tint and color temperature and they have more modes for a lower moonlight mode and a higher mode if needed.

All in all I am very happy with the purchase. Thank all involved for making this possible.

Have you cleaned and lubricated the threads? That often helps, because some little powdery grit can be left in the threads from manufacturing.

Might I ask when you ordered the light?

I placed my order on November 10th
The package with the wrong light arrived on November 28

Yes I cleaned and relubed twice. Threads were dry when the light arrived btw.

I appreciate the threads being a bit stiff in a twisty, makes it less likely for the head to fall out at some point. But too stiff is not nice of course.

Geuzz: thanks for sharing your experience and opinion with us :+1:

Concerning the twisting action: we got what we asked for, as the threads are an exact copy of the Fenix E01 (C01 and E01 can ‘lego’), the twist resistance of the C01 is a deliberate design decision and carry-over from the Fenix E01.

After reading your post I just tested the twisting resistance of my golden and purple Fenix E01. The golden one E01 is even more stiff than all my four Sofirn C01s, while my purple Fenix E01 is slightly less stiff. Strangely enough, the golden E01 is was one of my most used lights (I carried it for over a year on my keychain, untill I received my Sofirn C01s). I can still operate all of them single-handedly, so I do not perceive any stiffness as a problem. Like djozz said, if the twisting action is too smooth, chances are higher to loose the head during everydaycarry. Perhaps also the length of the battery might be a factor in “stiffness” of the twist action.

Funny to read your kids took it to bath; my kids did as well, and they really enjoyed its waterproofness. :partying_face:
I have other lights where my kids did the same, which lead them to observe: “Look dad, there are coming bubbles out this flashlight.” :person_facepalming:

Edit: logical mistake, forgot NOT

The only thing I can add is simply to make sure the lube is on the o-ring, too. That’s actually the most important place to lube.

I think when the FW3A starts shipping, I’m going to order a triple SST-20 board to compare to the stock emitters, and also some spare SST-20’s of both 3000K and 4000K to play with (I’ve got a couple E05’s that are definite candidates). I look forward to comparing them. Currently my only other 3000K flashlight has a 90 CRI XM-L2 in it, which the Yujis are clearly better than.

It makes perfect sense to me. Low enough it can be reasonably used as a bedside light, but bright enough it can also be useful at short distances when your eyes aren’t dark adapted yet.

Yes indeed, make sure the O-ring is lubricated.
And anyone know what’s the O-ring made of, so we can choose a lubricant that won’t make it gummy?
O-rings can be made of lots of stuff: O-Ring Material Chart Rubber Selection Guide Quick Reference

Use SuperLube & your gtg <span class=“go” to “good”> no matter the O-ring composition.
.

Which shipping method did you choose? It’s kind of odd that nobody in the States has seemed to get their C01 yet, but somehow you got a light, albeit the wrong light, in 18 days. Mine’s still in China!

Superlube rates their products “Excellent” or “Good” with everything:

Thank you for that link hank. I have used SuperLube exclusively on all my light threads & O-rings for many, many years & never had a problem. Never a gummy O-ring in all that time either.

BUT, I had never seen that chart you linked to!!
It does seem to cover it all… :+1:

What kind of monster did they create in that PDF file?!

That face is some nightmare fuel for some people.

Ew. I intentionally didn’t link to that uglyface.

So it seems to be compatible with everything EXCEPT silicone rubber. Isn’t that exactly what the o-rings are made out of?

Sho’ nuff, a lot of O-rings are made from that.

I should’ve said almost everything: "O-ring" silicone rubber - Google Search

Wow: Silicone rubber (FMQ, PMQ, MQ, VMFQ, V - Google Search

but O-rings can be made of lots of other stuff: O-Ring Material Chart Rubber Selection Guide Quick Reference

Here’s a caution and recommendation:

Pardon the digression.

:open_mouth: Dang, I missed that when looking at the chart. :person_facepalming:

Silicone rubber (FMQ, PMQ, MQ, VMFQ, VMQ) / NC

But…… Seeing SuperLube is all I ever use, I cannot imagine not having used this on Silicon O-rings at some point. So I will not be changing anything. SuperLube has worked flawlessly for me since my first AA Maglite till now. That is a lot of years & a lot of lights. :wink:

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…… that is my theory. :+1:

BUT, I also am gonna get some O-rings I know for certain are made of ’Silicon’ and see what happen when I use SuperLube on them. :wink:

I’ll report back……. :smiley:

COMPATIBILITY CHART
Super Lube® Silicone O-Ring Grease
…….
Polymer (plastics) Constant Strain Tensile Testing / Rating
Acryonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) / E
Cellulose acetate (CA) / E
Polyamide ¶ (Nylon) / E
Polycarbonate (PC) / E
Polyethylene (PE) / E
*ultra high molecular mass (PE-UHMW) / E
*low density (PE-LD) / E
Polyethylene-/polybutylenetherephthalat (PET / PBT) / E
Polyoxymethylene, Polyacetate (POM) (Delrin) / G
Polypropylene (PP) / E
Polyphenylene oxide (PPO) / E
Polyphenylene suphide (PPS) / G
Polystyrene (PS) / E
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) / E
Polyurethane (PUR) / E
Polyvinylchloride (PVC) / E
Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) / E

Elastomer (rubber) / Rating
Acrylic rubber (ACM) / E
Buna S / E
Butyl (IIR) / E
Polychloroprene rubber (CR) / E
Chlorosulphonated PE-rubber (CSM) / E
Ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) / E
Fluorinated rubber (FKM) / E
Natural rubber (NR) / E
Neoprene / E
Nitrile (NBR) / E
Polyurethane (AU, EU) / E
Propylene-tetrafluorethylene rubber (FPM, FEPM) / E
Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) / E
Silicone rubber (FMQ, PMQ, MQ, VMFQ, VMQ) / NC
Viton (FKM) / E

RATING KEY
E - Compatibility Excellent
G - Compatibility Good
NC - Not Compatible

………….
Sorry, I couldn’t figure out how to post the chart so I had to improvise by ’copy & paste’. :person_facepalming: … Oh well…. :smiley:

I use Super Lube 51010 in a precision oiler, no problems with any of my flashlights.

Does anyone else remove their o-rings and lube under them?