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

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.

I’m thinking of getting one but can Sofirn make other colours available ?

I got too many black flashlights and it’s boring me out :slight_smile:

Something like silver to blue?

Also why did they go with orange peel reflector?

They were supposed to go with a very light OP finish on the reflector because the SMO created some ugly looking artifacts in the beam and Sofirn was worried that customers might complain about it. As to why they seem to have gone to a heavier OP finish, I really don’t know.

Here is the SMO picture they showed earlier.


.

As was mentioned before by others as well, I still can’t imagine that a 70.2 can make a donut hole like that, more likely the led was not focused.

1. I did not have to remove the outer spring. Here's what I did:

  • For the tail side I used my hot air station and tweezers. The hot air, like at 360C, got it softened up enough to remove the inner without effecting the outer. Basically while applying the hot air, I applied steady leverage on pulling up on the inner spring. It came off eventually.
  • For the driver side, I didn't want to risk the hot air, in case SMD's would loosen on the driver component side. I realized it really didn't matter if I damaged the traces under the inner springs, so I bent the inner spring to get it's head out between rings of the outer spring, then worked it further out, bending the inner metal so I could apply enough pressure to pull the inner off the traces. I also used a thin screwdriver type tool to pry the spring off it's soldering to the board trace. There was a little damage to the traces but not much. I've used this technique on many Q8's, but this SP70's inner spring are little more stiff and stubborn, but overall it didn't take very long.

2. Did it for greater current flow and avoiding spring melting, but was hoping it would result in fitting 700 long cells easier

3. Nope - a 20 AWG wire is wayyyy better, much lower resistance than a typical spring. If these were high grade springs (Be/Cu for example), then the wire might not make much difference but probably still better - I don't know the exact #'s, so can only guess.

4. I'm having trouble visualizing what you are saying, but the high resistance of springs is the coils. Connecting the tops or bottoms wont help. If you take a spring, stretch it fully out, it's very long, and usually is coated steel, and since steel is a poor conductor, most of the elctrcial flow is thru the coating which is a thin layer. Under compression, the resistance length is greatly reduced since the coils make contact. This is why long cells seem to do better than shorter cells - I saw and measured this with the 20700's compared to the 26650's.

I got the driver loosened but not removed. My plan was to remove the driver with using the beveled angled iron tip (Hakko BC/C) which can get a lot of heat to the tip, but the wired solder connection to the MCPCB would not budge. I had to wet the tip, and this would soften the original solder but not enough to remove the wire. I gave up for now, since I didn't need to remove the driver to add the bypass to the spring, but when I try again I'll use the bigger size BC/C shaped tip and crank up the iron temp.

I hate the lead free stock solder they use - seems to be high temp stuff, and on this big MCPCB, the heat gets pulled away from the pad quickly. I really don't understand this - some MCPCB are worse than others, like I never have trouble with Noctigons, but L4P MCPCB's are a pain to solder to. Maybe it's the coatings, not sure.

For the FET's, it seems impossible for sourcing the best FET's in China, so the Infineon Lexel (and I) use are probably about the best now, though I like the SIRA20DP as well. We know they' can't source Vishay's,since the SIR800DP's they use all seem to be fakes. Fakes may be over stating it, fakes are almost second sources on the original, like the 7135's are cloned/copied/faked. China makers can't import parts easily - they are penalized for doing that.