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

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.


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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.

These springs should be Be/Cu.

How did you remove the inner spring without the outer? Can it be twisted out? I would just remove both then put the big spring back as it easy with a solder iron.

I don't know how to tell a Be/Cu spring from a regular. I thought I explained it in detail. Basically, yes, the inner spring was twisted out - on the driver side, not the tail inner spring.

The spring pad is as wide as the spring so there is no pad space outside the spring to add solder - I always struggle with an iron on this setup. I'd rather just remove the inner spring if not that difficult.

Tom E has been modding lights even longer than I have, when it comes to tricks and tips he knows as good or better than anyone here.

modding is a matter of wanting things done no matter, you think out ways and it works, or it does not work, or you screw it up.

Me too, never understand why they do this. Hard to replace spring with a better one too cause it only fits specific sizes. Tool AA I modded had this but not even all the way around just 3 slots along the circumference

@TomE, use magnet to check if these are BeCu or not.
Sofirn told me they should be using BeCu.
I don’t know which alloy they used, but it should be at least BeCu C17200 22% IACS.
Not the best, but still adequate.

If the magnet actually sticks, then oh boy.
If not, it’s at least a copper alloy.

Before the bypasses:

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

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

After the bypasses:

GOLISI 26650 4300 mAh @4.20V, one cell solder blob'ed: 14.65A

--> Lumens: 9620/8490 - 8740/7710, throw: 221 kcd (940m)

Roughly 10% range boost.

Parasitic drain I measured at 1.83 mA. Think that's a bit high, it includes the switch LED being ON.

Throw is surprisingly decent, in spite of a few things that induced misgivings. Sheer output can do that, a longer distance lux measurement will be interesting.

Tom, have you had an opportunity to run it long enough to get a feel for the thermal properties? The design certainly looks adequate, just wondering if it works in reality as it appears it should.

Wow that impressive wonder can it hit 10K.