Sofirn SP36, impressions of a sample

Ahh, ok, then I definitely will try the W6 5000K in more mods. I bought qty 10 from Mouser a while back, still got 9 left.

Yep - ok, Ledil CUTE-3, does sure cleanup the beam. thanx Dale!

Hhmm, think I still got some marked XPL W2's but not from Cutter, so probably not real. There were some bad ones around.

The Samsung LH351D are cheaper at Arrow and free next day shipping. I could drive to Mouser in a couple of hours, far easier to get the better deal at Arrow. :wink:

(when I was about to assemble the 458 Ham’r Arrow was out of the W2 5000K, expected them in a week so they should have them now… if I could have gotten them then I probably would have put 16 LH351D W6 5000K 70 CRI in the Ham’r)

Oops, was Digikey back in July, $29.47 shipped for the qty 10. I always do check Arrow first, sometimes though the searching is a mess.

Arrow shows no stock: SPHWHTL3DA0CF4RTW6, 6400 qty increments - ugh...

Wow, that W2 XPL sure is weird look'n for an XPL with it's round dome.

Ohhh - Digikey goes down to $1.67/piece for qty 25 - wow! Also can get shipping pretty cheap, but they charge NY state tax... Qty 10 price is cheaper now than it was in July at $2.25 now, $2.34 then.

Still, marginally, maybe cheaper in higher qtys than from Richard, but Richard's prices are very fare for these.

Arrow doesn’t show to have any in stock, saying 6 weeks lead time. Looking like they don’t plan to re-stock, they show a T6 in stock but in increments of 800. Always something.

I was looking for this part descriptor… SPHWHTL3DA0CF4RTW6

Digikey says they have over 2500 of em, at $2.55 each. LH351D W6 5000K

(down to $1.67 each at a qty of 25)

Edit: Well I’ll be doggone! Going in to DigiKey to order some of these I found my order for 25 of each back in August. Guess I didn’t get them at Arrow after all… dang memory…

Ooops, sorry - been updating/editing my posts... Richard still is a good deal - all depends on shipping, qty, etc.

I’ve got an idea. How about I add this LED to my spring GB+high CRI LED GB? It would allow us to get even lower price.

Man I’ve always wanted this LED, by my high CRI tendencies prevented me from it.

I normally charge cells in a charger which stops a bit early. However, on the SP36 I generally charge cells inside the light, with the light on in battcheck mode, and then just unplug it when it gets to 4.0V or 4.1V. And if I forget and let the charge cycle finish, mine stops right at 4.20V so it’s not too bad.

I like that the SP36 can charge all three cells in parallel, while a voltage readout mode is running, and I can stop it at any time. So if it gets down to 3.5V, I can charge it up to 3.9V and stop. Or whatever charge I need at the time.

But if I take them out of the light and use a separate charger, I don’t have a way to keep the charge balanced unless I let the charger complete its cycle. I could put them in a battery carrier and wire that up to a charger, but that’s kind of a pain. So it’s easier to do partial charges while they’re inside the light.

Wait, wut?

It actually has a charging voltage reading? Woah, that’s amazing.

The S43S seems to do this too - It appears to be charging but the blinked out voltage seems to be varying between 3.7V and 4.2V, weird....

The charge port and the main LED functions are independent of each other. The light can be on while charging, and that includes battcheck mode.

The button won’t blink while charging though, like it normally would during battcheck. The button LEDs seem to get overridden by the charge function.

okay . i think im gonna get this flashlight. but here are my questions …

  1. does it fit protected cells?
  2. whats the limit of discharge on protected 18650? like will 3 cells of 4A protected cells work just fine?
  3. whats the total current on 6000lumens?

i hope someone who has this flashlight can answer my questions. i really want to buy this light but i need to know which kind of batteries i need to get. thanks guys

1) Yes, Sofirn even recommends to use protected cells. However, you will probably get better results with unprotected button top cells.

2) 3 cells with max. 4A should work fine but the flashlight will be driven far below its capabilities.

3) I do not know but the Q8 draws about 16amps out of 4 cells, so rule of thumb might be comparable here.

Just adding some further comments.

2) 4A for a protected cell is a very low rating. There are protected cells with well over a 10A rating. If the cell performs well (has a low resistance) and trips the protection circuit at 4A, you run the risk of tripping the protection circuit and not sure if that's recoverable or not, depending on the battery protection circuit design.

3) Yes, the SP36 will get about the same output as a Q8 so that means it draws more amps per cell, since the SP36 has 3 cells not 4. The XP-L2's in the SP36 have a lower voltage than the XPL's in the Q8, so it's easier to get higher amps in the SP36 than a Q8.

I personally would not recommend a 4A protected cell. My cell of choice for this light would be the Samsung 35E, but with a button top. A button top SANYO GA would also work well. You don't need the lower resistance 30Q or VTC6, but they will get a little more output. Again like the Q8, you need button top cells or solder blob the tops of flat cells. Some use the flat top GA because of it's protruding top.

ive tested my battery. its tripping at about 6-7 amps. not 4A . so 4A is just a rating. it should be fine ye? anyways. how do i know if the batteries are limiting the turbo? like how can i tell? this is the first flashlight for me with a more than normal firmware. so im still kinda confused. btw the batteries are NCR18650B . its protected pin top rated at 4A . but ive tested one of em and it trips at about 6-7 amps. so 3 of em should be able to get to 20amps no problem. do you think its gonna be fine ? thanks

i see. so the batteries are tripping at about 6-7amps. so in parallel it should be able to withstand about 20A. it should be fine right? anyways how do i know if im limited and cant go to turbo? thanks eh

also ive asked Sofirn on aliexpress PM . they said it takes about 11Amps. im confused haha which one is right haha. sorry for being a noob at this haha

The NCR18650B will work with the SP36 but higher drain batteries will get you more output. I don’t know what current you will get with them, my guess would be around 5A per battery.

I see. But I’d still be able to get to turbo yeah? Just not as bright as I can get with high drain batteries? . Anyways. How do I know if I’m on turbo mode if say my batts can’t handle turbo and the flashlight has restricted me to a lower level? Thanks. Anyways I’m still kinda confused on how to operate it. I’ll try it when its here but the firmware looks rich of features hahaha. Thanks eh

Turbo is not a distinct setting, it is just the top of the ramp where the leds run direct drive on the batteries. So the current is determined by the type of led and the current/voltage characteristics of the batteries.

I think you should stop worrying, just get the SP36 and find out how it works with your batteries (just checked again:protected cells fit fine).