Sofirn SP70 Alone $50, PM for AMZ US CODE(LIMITED)

Just tried a pair of GOLISI 4300's, solder blob'ed one. Got 14.5 amps, think about 205 kcd, same relative bump in lumens. The LED wires look decent, think about 18 AWG, but the double springs might have some loss's compared to bypasses I would use. Got slightly more amps on a pair of 25S charged to 4.21V - about 15 amps, but they would probably drop fast.

I think overall with these results the light lives up to our expectations of what we wanted. Only thing left is how is the UI overall?

Tom what about the tint of SP70 compare to 1C and 3B of your L6?

This took some time - needed to research thru my notes. My notes say the clear L6 has a XHP70 N4 1C, but it's beam tint is well warmer than the black L6 XHP70.2 P2 3B. The clear L6 is about a 4-5 even in tint, I'd say 4000K-4500K. I seem to recall this - think I got a mis-marked LED back then.

The SP70 is warmer than the S70S (~6500K), but cooler than the XHP70.2 3B, so could be a 1C or 2. This is consistent with how the beam looks and how the LED's look under UV light. The old S70S is a strong CW for sure.

Thanks Tom…my SP70 should take longer to arrive after it was return to Sofirn and re-ship :person_facepalming:

I like what I'm seeing for the most part with the UI. A lot in common with our Narsil and Anduril for the basic operations:

  • From OFF, click ON to last mode
  • From OFF, press&hold to moon mode (can click to OFF or dbl click to turbo)
  • When ON, press&hold to cycle thru 4 well spaced modes (moon and turbo are not included in the cycle)
  • Dbl click from OFF or ON goes to max/turbo, click to return to previous mode, or OFF if initially OFF
  • switch LED is ON when the light is OFF, stays ON for a couple secs when the main LED is turned ON, then turns OFF

Ramping works much the same as our standard ramping:

  • to switch between mode set and ramping, 6 clicks
  • direction toggles like NarsilM and Anduril
  • moon mode is not included in ramping, but turbo is - you can ramp up to full max/turbo
  • the ramping is decent, little too long for my taste but appears to logarithmic, not linear, as other makers are doing incorrectly
  • there's no way to force a ramp up from lowest, like NarsilM does (press&hold from OFF), because press&hold from OFF locks you into moon mode

Notes:

  • they implemented moon mode as an independent state, so you can't ramp down to moon (conflicts with what the manual says)
  • I like you can ramp up to full max/turbo (I'm not a fan of an artificial high limit for ramping)
  • in lock out mode (4 clicks), they blink twice for every click - it's a bright blink, too bright
  • on power ON, the light comes ON automatically at the last level used, or mode, not turbo though if accessed via a dbl click, and also not moon mode

@TomE, how close are the springs to one and another?

Since the light has been made with 26650 and 21700 compatibility in mind, the springs weren’t really designed with dual usage in mind to lower resistance.

Here are Sofirn’s specs, and look the inner spring height and thickness.

tail springs:

inner bottom diameter 10
inner top diameter 5.9
inner height 7.6
spring line diameter 0.7mm,

out bottom diameter 16
out top diameter 8
out height 13
spring line diameter 1.0 mm

I don’t even know what type of BeCu they are using.
Could be using C17530 38% IACS, or C17200 22% IACS.

Still, have you tried it with 21700s?
What’s the weight full of cells?
How is the UI?

The UI sounds real good Tom. A big step up from the S70S and L6 UI.

I don’t think it was made to use both. There is just too big a difference in the lengths. I believe they designed it with 18650 and 26650 in mind. This is also why it comes with 18650 adapters and not 21700 adapters.

Got a couple Shockli 4000 21700's charged and solder blob on one (no solder blobs), will try now...

Update:

GOLISI 26650 4300 mAh @4.20B, one cell solder blob'ed: 14.2A

--> Lumens: 8600/7590 - 7820/6900, throw: 203 kcd (901m)

Shockli 21700 4000 mAh @4.19V, as-is stock, no solder blob: 12.7A (springs not compressed much)

--> Lumens: 8640/7620 - 7960/7020, throw: 208 kcd (912m)

So even though the amps measured lower, the 21700's did better. Probably because the spring compression is better. I don't think there's any issues with these 21700's I used - tailcap wasn't hard to tighten up at all. I'd suspect bypasses on the springs would get more amps.

Weight: 671g no cells, 809g w/21700 cells (Shockli).

Not bad.

Try a bypass.

Is there a possibility they might not be using top binned LEDs?

7000 lumens ANSI isn't all that bad. This is close to the best I've seen or gotten - think I got ~9000 Tom E lumens on a single XHP70.2 at best.

Not sure bout the spring spacing - I think I'd have to dis-assemble them to check that.

With bypasses and a pair of 40T's or 2070C's that I got, it should get a nice bump. Only got one 30T and one P42A.

Yolo mix the p42 and 30T for 30 seconds. :slight_smile:

So this No. from Tom for easy comparison

“ON two blue LK 50A’s at 4.19V:
11.9 amps (tail, clamp meter)
Lumens (Tom E/ANSI, start-30secs): 7850/6930-7240/6390
Throw, measured at 5 meters: 194 kcd (881 meters)

GOLISI 26650 4300 mAh @4.20B, one cell solder blob’ed: 14.2A
—> Lumens: 8600/7590 - 7820/6900, throw: 203 kcd (901m)

Shockli 21700 4000 mAh @4.19V, as-is stock, no solder blob: 12.7A (springs not compressed much)
—> Lumens: 8640/7620 - 7960/7020, throw: 208 kcd (912m)”

Look like it can make> 9k Lumens with spring bypass

OK, did the dirty deed of adding 20 AWG bypasses, and ripping out the small inside springs. For those of you not familiar with the SANYO 2070C cell, it's a 20700 size, 3500 mAh rated capacity, nice protruding top so you don't need to add a button or solder blob. It's the best performing cell in the 20700 size, easily beats the SANYO 20700A, which is quite a good cell itself. Available here:

https://www.imrbatteries.com/sanyo-ncr2070c-3500mah-35a-battery/

Review here: https://www.facebook.com/batterymooch/posts/bench-test-results-sanyo-ncr2070c-20700

So with a pair of these 2070C's at 4.20V with the spring bypasses, this is what I got:

15.6 amps measured at the tail, lumens: 9790/8640 - 8940/7890, throw taken at 5m: 232 kcd (963m)

So for Tom E lumens: 8940 at 30 secs, ANSI lumens: 7890 at 30 secs. The GOLISI's might even do better - will re-test with them.

I'm thinking this is pretty darn good, and with a nice stock UI.

The massive 40 mm MCPCB:

Driver stock setup:

Stock setup in the tail:

Tail bypass. Driver side done the same way:

Got one of mine today. Can’t wait till this evening. May change the springs on the tail switch and driver when I get a chance but I like it so far.

Amazon has a listing, but says 4/27 availability.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q2QSCBC/ref=twister_B07Q2XVV52?\_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Mine will be here soon from ali… Do I need another one?

Hopefully Tracy will help us with a discount code when they become available on amazon.

Does anyone have driver pics yet? I’m really curious what FET they are using. I’ve gotten currents up to 19A on my Lexel made driver with Aspire 4300 cells.

I’m wondering if the FET is what is keeping the amperage down a little. Still, that’s some impressive output on the stock driver. The slightly lower amps is probably going to give you longer Turbo runtime before getting really hot. Besides, I don’t think you’re going to be able to see any difference in output with your eyes between 14 amps and 19 amps. Mostly just a bump in the numbers.

Tom,
thank you for the pictures. Neat job!

  1. How did you remove the internal spring without removing the external spring?
  2. Did you do this to make room for the longer 20700 cells or for greater current flow or both?
  3. I assumed both springs are current paths, in which case removing one spring and adding a bypass wire gives no net gain in current flow?
  4. I wonder if placing a wire connecting both ends of each spring to each other would also do the same thing? This may first require stretching/pulling the end of the internal spring upward to meet the outer spring.
  1. You do have to remove both. Then you put the big one back on.
  2. and 3. You may or may not gain room. It depends on how big the wire is and how it’s positioned. You definitely reduce resistance and gain current because even two springs are still quite long when you straighten them. The bypass wire is pure copper and short.
  3. There is no benefit, see above.