New WildTrail (former LuckSun) BLF-D80v2 Sale is open.

Plus the driver is already 20mm on the D80 gives them a few more options they could easily fit in a 22mm driver. I’ve seen some one making 5+ amp 7135 drivers on Aliexpress. That could be an option with a 3v XHP50.2. How about a high powered linear BLF driver?

I am thinking host only may be the way to go. If they try to make this a perfect light for everyone they will fail.

or make it cheap and simple, but mod friendly:
–18650
-efficient emitter
-simple driver with only 1 or two levels with no step-down ever. no blinky modes.

Personally I like tail clicky lights, but I understand the attraction of e-switches. In this case though, fitting an e-switch on the side will alter that nice shape of the D80, it adds a section just below the finned area that is somewhat wider than the battery tube to house the switch.

Upgrading the tube to 21700 is good, it would make you current; even strengthening it with an XHP50 or 70 is fine.
It may also have a USB support, on a separable module, such as the JKK26 (which it resembles); would also be a powerbank and the USB port would be safe from the elements, much better than a rubber cap.

I’m still looking for the holly grail of what I want in a flashlight.

High efficiency LED….I don’t know which of the above is efficient in the 400-500 lumen range.

Single 18650 if you must, 21700

Orange peel reflector…repeat….ORANGE PEEL REFLECTOR

Shallow reflector.

~

The video I saw of the D80 with a very small hot spot and large spill is deader then dead to me.

I know we want our flashlights so powerful so we can look for alien life on another planet, I just want a large and smoothed out beam that I can use for everything (but not alien life search). Best of all if it has full smoothness from center out to with no additional spill.

If this thing comes in for $20 range, put me down for three.

Keeping in mind the letter B (for Budget) , in BLF, I think it should be kept simple as the old D80 was.

*No USB charging.
*Possibly no side e-switch, although I sure prefer them.
*A choice of smooth or orange peel reflector could be nice at times.
*A reflector diameter that is compatible with some of the available multi-led optics would be nice for some of us who like to mod.
*Better heat sinking for the head than the old D80
*I would prefer to keep the tube sized for the 18650 cell as I like the slimness.
*The option to buy as a host would be great so we don’t have to waste a driver or mcpcb when we mod it

An e-switch would be nice if it could be kept off the driver board, probably too hard to do on a light this size. If the switch is on the driver board it makes modding hard.

It sounds like the light has a pretty nice reflector, may as well keep using it.

Could the gap be widened between the cooling fins so air can move through them better?

With the low VF of newer emitters buck and boost drivers will become more popular, it would be nice to get more space for the driver. 22mm with a deep cavity would be nice, maybe bumping up to a 21700 battery tube would make it possible.

Don’t glue anything together and include some 18650 adapters.

Sell it with a basic fet+ driver and an xpl hi led. The good springs and driver parts are too open for counterfeiting, that’ll just end up causing the manufacturer grief.

I bought two of the D80 and love the host feel, deep heat fins for good heat dissipation, and very round perfect hotspot. I would like to see it be able to tail stand with Bistro UI. An Oslon White Flat version with 140kcd would suit this host and reflector very well. A 21700 version with a scaled up head (D1S size) producing 300kcd would allow this to sell like hot cakes.

I personaly like e-switch lights (a lot!!!). But this would require a lot of changes. And it would not be a D80 anymore. Also i do not think that they would go for it.
And i do not think that something like usb charging will be implemented. Lets try to keep it simple, good quality and as cheap as possible.

Improving the thermal capabilities sounds good. But how would you do that?
The head is already 50% finns. I could think of a little thicker ledshelf. But appart from that i am clueless how to improve something here (without going for a bigger head).
Making the head compatible to 4x optics sounds like a good idea (what diameter would be required?) But you would still need a spacer if i am not totally wrong. The reflector is to deep to replace it only with a 4x optic assembly.
Changing the tailcap so the light can Tailstand will be added to the list :+1: (should not require much changing).
If people with knowledge about reflectors could give hints how to improve the D80 please speak up!

If they are willing to give us a really improved D80 version i will try to get a initial GB for us.
If it is for a complete light or a host will have to be discussed. But for now lets see what most people want to see in a new D80 and what LuckySun is willing to do.
But i am happy that there are still enough people interested in this light!

The Blf D80 has been my only disappointment with BLF designs.

As I recall it was commissioned by Dale with high hopes, basically just a minor UI change. But the fundamentals and the important details were unchanged, from the poor original.

So many detailed things wrong. The driver was complete rubbish.

The tubes were too short (corrected later by slightly longer ones, but you had to pay again for them).

Lock rings that came loose, they needed opposite threading on head and tail.

Odd sized driver, dimensions even changed during the run, Non standard diameter.

Poor aluminium MCPCB meaning a change required for any pepping up (I melted the locating ring and the solder on the LED trying)

I don’t think the thermal path is much good.

The reflector has interesting performance for such a shallow thing, but is limited compared to a deeper design. The mix of hotspot and spill doesn’t suit me.

Superficially pleasing, nice surface finish and aesthetics, but as an out-of-the box “BLF special” it was a huge disappointment.

To change this would require a major effort, in fact a completely new torch. But much better ones already exist from several other manufacturers.

Some things are best forgotten.

All considered, that BLFD80 shocked us all with it’s debut. I know it did me.

I mean, with that German M24 Stick Grenade profile and such a Fantastic THROW…whoda thunk it could ever be out-classed with todays lineup…

IMHO, The BLF D80 resides in the Hall Of Flame. : A throw KING for its size, in its very own time. :beer: :beer:

Wow, I bet you got one heck of an interesting beam. Do you have any pictures of it?

To be more positive, the D80 is a pleasing looking handy thing with unique characteristics, and could be brought up to date with a decent FET+n driver, e.g. a BLF/Lexar/Texas Ace, running whatever modern firmware that can still operate with a tail clickie, rather than an e-switch. 7135, or dual bank 7135 for efficiency and steady output at modest levels.

Preferably a straightforward simple intuitive UI that doesn’t require a crib sheet to comprehend. Perhaps a couple of programming options, but no more.

The original driver was very poor, it even had an incorrect value resistor that prevented the very weak FET from turning on fully, restricting tailcap current to 1A or less. DEL discovered this, and showed us how to improve it. However it still suffered from objectionable PWM, inefficiency at the lower levels and poorly spaced modes. It must be binned.

That short reflector and head is rather unique, and the concept should be retained.

Keep the tail clickie, don’t be seduced by side e-switches.

Together with a DTP copper MCPCB and a modern smaller LED (original was XML-2) with higher surface brightness for better throw. As supplied, with non-DTP Al MCPCB it was thermally challenged as soon as you tried to pep it up. Though the basics were there, integral shelf and twin screws to clamp down the MCPCB solidly.

However IIRC some who tried smaller LEDs at the time found that it was difficult to get the reflector/LED focussed satisfactorily and without artefacts in the beam, it is very sensitive to e.g. the thickness of the locating piece, and the large reflector hole, sized for the XML-2 doesn’t seem to work so well with smaller LEDs.

Perhaps the reflector could be re-tooled, just by reducing the size of the hole to suit smaller LEDs. Or it might require re profiling of the flatter part.

The beauty of the D80, to my mind, is the neat compact design, and it feels good in the hand. The workmanship and surface finish was great.

It makes a C8 feel crude and unwieldy.

However for an enthusiast it was no good, basically just a host to spend the same again on as a modding project. Not a well rounded BLF design that could be used as-is.

So, my list of essential changes would include:

1) New driver, in a standard size (e.g. 17mm)

2) DT|P copper MCPCB

3) Updated LED with reflector modified and tuned to it.

4) Body tube length optimised to take flat top, button top and even protected 18650 cells. Sadly this may require changing the stud contact on the driver (which I like very much, much better conductivity than any springs) for a spring.

5) Spring(s) to be good BeCu, e.g. Blue type. The days of faffing about with spring bypasses should be over, at least for BLF designs.

6) Short 18350 tube also to be available, with liner to also take 16340, CR123 etc. Some have cut down the 18650 one to make a very neat and handy package, it would be great to have this option.

7) Forget the latest fad for 21-70 cells, that would bulk it up and lose the neat compact nature of this, and further complicate use with 18650, spring lengths etc. And I’m pretty sure they will continue to be a fad, as well as the dimensions not being well standardised, making tolerancing of the tube and selection of compatible cells a guessing game. Having a 1” OD tube is important for some applications, it is the standard for many mounts. Yes, it might be possible to fit a 21-70 into a 1” tube, but I think you would lose the chunky grippy nubs and stout wall thickness that make the D80 so tactile.

8) Change the thread of the switch retaining ring to LH, so it doesn’t keep coming loose when you change cells. Convoy knew this years ago.

9) Optional FET remote tailswitch assembly for hunters, curly lead and pressure switch, with UI option to lock into turbo-only output. Maybe in a package with some flip on colour filters.

Give me 1-8, at a BLF price and I would buy a couple. But overall that would be a lot of re-tooling to get to the product that it should have been originally.

The actual BLF D80 was around before you where a member so i don’t know what model you got? It had a worked driver doing 4.5amps and a DTP MCPCB its a proper Noctigon board with specialized XML2 tints. The driver is fairly standard its a 20mm driver but you can make a BLF driver fit in with no mods. Maybe you bought the normal D80? Does yours have a Noctigon board?

another vote for tail standing in big bold letters in your list to Lucky Sun

I have been a member here far longer than the existence of the BLF D80, , but ducked out for a little while and re-joined under this new name. Fresh start.

I bought the BLF D80 as soon as it came out, one of the first delivered, and my description of mine is correct. No it did not have a Noctigon. No it did not have “specialised tints”, just a choice of tint with no binning specified.

It should have had a Noctigon, but mine did not, I guess it was a mongrel using a standard D80 part instead of the BLF component. I was unlucky.

The driver, as for many, did not perform properly, due to an incorrect resistor fitted. Even when corrected, the two SOT 23 FETs are weak. Works ok with a full cell at 4.2V, but as the voltage drops the on-resistance becomes the limiting factor.

You could refresh your memory at the original thread. Things started unravelling about 2000 posts in.

I’ve remembered that mine did not have MCPCB securing screws either, that was a mod I did, because I was doubtful that pressure from the reflector was adequate, having suffered thermal issues with my Al mcpcb.

It would be good if they could be included on a new design.

Sorry for any confusion.

DEL discovered that the FET gate drive resistor was far too high a value, meaning that, in combination with the gate pulldown resistor, the FET gate was only being driven with half cell voltage, not enough to turn it on fully particularly at lower cell voltages, i.e real life. Testing torches only with fully charged cells is unrealistic. Though it seems to be the norm, ie. topped off strong cell in perfect condition, straight to turbo, peak lumen/candela/tail current readings for a few seconds, job done. As for real-world performance …

Perhaps that was corrected in later builds. Otherwise fixable with a solder splash, or a much lower value resistor.

But the driver was crude and the two paralleled FETs poor. Poorly spaced modes, objectionable visible PWM in lower modes, no low voltage protection.

First thing to replace. I think we are agreed on that.

I could not get a 17mm FET+1 to fit, except with an adapter PCB, the cavity on mine was more like 21mm. I think that reduced to 20mm later in the run.

I suppose the basic driver being so under-developed and cheaply made helped in hitting the selling price. The firmware tailoring for BLF was half-hearted, PWM could have been made higher frequency, modes could have been better spaced, and somehow the original LVP disappeared. This should have been picked up during prototype evaluation.

All this is fixable for V2.

I am not trying to knock the original, it was what it was, and is history. It could be brought up to date, this time with much more attention to detail, and more rigorous evaluation of prototypes.

When looking to refresh this, it is wise to also understand some of the history of the original, it was far from perfect.

My first one had the short tube could only use unprotected cells in it and none of mine had screws to hold the MCPCB in place but i don’t think the Noctigon boards have space for that.

Post 2410 in that thread shows the resistor mod that DEL did and why he did it;

Mine has the Noctigon, but the shorter tube, which I don’t care about since I don’t use protected batteries anyway. An updated 17mm driver should be easy enough for them to do. Other than that, this seems like a well made host, and very comfortable in the hand.