By far the cheapest way to improve this (this is a cheap light) is to make a different driver board with copper extending to the very edge, maybe use one grade thicker copper for infinite lasting contact points.
Do you think they make their own driver boards in their factory?
Or are they subcontracted to whoever’s the low bidder for a “good enough” product?
In the latter case I’d worry that the red and blue lights made later come through with more corner-cutting done. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-ab&q=chinese+good+enough
To me, the collective knowledge, wisdom and expertise on BLF is amazing. Speaking for myself, I am learning a lot here on different levels from different flashlight ‘black belts’ such as djozz. Thanks to all of you, for sharing pictures, jokes, firmware source code, PCB designs, tinkering experiences, products reviews and everything else. Hopefully, flashlight manufacturers will pay attention as well. Most of us even want them to “steal” our ideas, so we can actually buy the types of flashlights we wish would be available to us.
jon_slider: thanks for your close up detail work of djozz’s picture, the issue could not be visually illustrated in a better way.
Hank: thanks for sharing the concept of chabuduo, which seems to be pervasive within Chinese manufacture culture.
When I thought up the idea of a high-CRI version of a Fenix E01, what I hoped for was a “Toyota-style” flashlight: reliable, affordable, and build with pride. Interestingly in Japan craftsmanship, especially within modernized manufacturing, is culturally valued as something important. What I hoped for was a flashlight built with care. The Japanese have a wonderful concept that captures this idea: monozukuri (See Wikipedia or this article). Call me naive, but I truly hope we (as flashlight collective) can instill some monozukuri in Sofirn.
Most people at BLF are critical fans of flashlight technologies, they truly care about portable light, and in this technological domain they are maximizers: they actively explore the boundaries of what is technically possible, and then true to the hacker spirit try to transgress these boundaries. Engineering literally as a form of art.
Most manufacturers, and most consumers as well, are satisfiers: if it works, it works. For most consumers what is most imporant is purchase price, and for most manufacturers what counts is maximizing profit.
To come full circle to the contact areas of the C01: the current design seems to be satisficing. To quote Wikipedia:
Back to stuff that most people here probably think matters more:
Perhaps someone can create an RSS script for watching the Sofirn AliExpress store so we can automatically get a notification when the red or blue C01 comes available? Someone should probably ask this question in the IRC channel ##flashlight on Freenode. The regulars over there seem to have some advanced flashlight news notification tools
And indeed the parcel was available for pickup today.
Unfortunately I only received 1x 5600K when I ordered 1x both. Only one inside and even the CN22 form said “quantity 1”.
Oh well, shit happens. Not a big deal! Sent a message to them. They’ll probably get back to me later “today”, it’s 2AM in Shenzhen right now.
Like I said before, at this moment I could order more C01’s but since I did not get both CCT I don’t know which one I like more. Argh…
The beam on the Fenix is smaller, brighter, throws more and has a more concentrated hotspot.
Fenix has blue tinted hotspot
5600k Sofirn looks white and very floody, almost no hotspot
3200, Sofirn looks slightly orange and very floody, almost no hotspot
it is 10 am by a window on an overcast day. I cannot see the beam of the sofirns on the ceiling, only the blue hotspot of the fenix is visible.
the 5600k sofirn has the most “natural” tint
another view of the beam shapes and hotspots
Test of looking under the bed, during the day, when my brain is White Balanced to Daylight.
The 5600k Yuji is my favorite. The Fenix blue tint and hotspot bothers me. The warm Yuji is too dim and warm, at this time of day.
More tests to follow tonight when I wake for the bathroom… I suspect the warm Yuji will prevail in that application, but will update after real world testing.
I understood it was only the metal clip that was rusted which caused the black paint of the clip to peel off.
The body of the C01 is made of aluminium, which oxidizes, and is not able to “rust”.
A photograph would be nice in this case so anyone can assess the exact nature of the problem.
That said: the anodization of the C01 body and the paint of the clip will wear down over time, especially when worn on a keychain.
The anodization type is nowhere explicitly specified by Sofirn, so it is probably the less robust Type II.
Energizer Ultimate Lithium is a primary (non-rechargeable) cell known for excellent shelf life and tolerance to high and very low temperatures, good discharge characteristics, and little to no leak risk. The downside is they’re a little bit pricey, but have been getting better lately. It’s an excellent option if you’re ok with the price.
Alkalines will work well in this light from a runtime perspective, especially the reduced output that occurs after the first 8-10 hours of operation. However, there is the ever-present leak risk that has to be considered for alkalines. I’ve had good luck cleaning up alkaline leakage with vinegar, so I might still use alkalines in mine. I haven’t decided.
Rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries have very good discharge characteristics, a low potential total cost of ownership due to being rechargeable, and little to no leak risk. However, their lifespan is shortened if over-discharged, and this light is capable of over-discharging them. Recharging when the light gets noticeably dim will probably be reasonable protection against that.