I tried the mod and it improves things slightly but the ui is still erratic.
I removed the brass ring with needle point pliers used anti- clockwise. The switch body then drops out with a tap to encourage it. Then the rubber cap can be pushed out. I turned the cap inside out and rubbed about a millimetre off with a sanding block. Reassembly is easy just reverse the above ensuring that the switch assembly is seated correctly. I can now get turbo with a double click but not every time.
Same results here . It doesn’t matter whether the nippple was there ( h dimension) or not. It’s about how the actual switch work ( or doesn’t work) The intended purpose of cutting it down was not to push in the button as deep so it doesn’t make the full click maybe. I sometimes am able to get into turbo by pressing the rubber half way ( twice quickly) before it makes the click. Once I click( double click) I never get the turbo, but your hands have to be so fine tuned, it’s impossible to retain the same amount of force every time. The switch itself is faulty or the design of it is.
And meals site always answered thru the chat while the lights were in transit but not any more, not responding to the chat in the last 12 hrs
Comparison of ni40 with SBT90 gen 2 vs astrolux ft03 with hp50.2 4300 lumens
1. Size: NI40 head is smaller and it’s a bit shorter so 1 points in favor of Ni40
2. Weight :NI 40 is a bit lighter , about the same, or at least the weight is more concentrated in the hand, so 1 point for NI 40
3. FT03 has better UI, ramping , voltage meter, other functions so 1 point for FT03. Plus I don’t like tail bottoms but that’s petsonal. Anyway 1 point for astrolux
4. On turbo ( if you can switch to it) NI40 is slightly throwier than ft03 so 1 point. For NI40. The difference is not that obvious though , I believe the photos may have beeen a bit misleading
5. The faulty switch issue for NI 40to turn on turbo for a number of people is a big minus, so 1 in favor of FT03
6. Price of NI40 is about twice the price of ft03 so 1 point for ft03
7 lumen output about the same, but need to remeasure. I don’t think it reaches 5,000 lumens. It’s a tie for now. Both eat thru the battery pretty fast, output reduces when voltage drops and of course there is some battery sag on both.
8 slightly bigger hot spot for NI but bigger corona for ft03. Corona colors a bit yellowish for ft03 so.lets say it’s a tie
Stilll need to get power consumption.
9. In general brighter spill for ft03 , useful when riding or in general, making this a great combination light with a more balanced ratio between spill and flood- a p0int for ft03
10 on turbo at least NI heats up faster so a point for astrolux
So far:
5 points for FT03
3 points for Ni40
FT03 can reach 5300 Lumens or more. I have a Astrolux EC01 with 3V XHP50.2. And the Lumen rised from 4300 to 5300 at startup with bypassing the springs.
I am waiting for my FT03, but sadly its not shipped yet.
But thanks for this personal comparation.
You got 5300 lumens at start uponEc01after shunting the springs? Which battery did you use? Howw fast was the battery sag? How long was It in turbo before it crashed to the sustainable level and what was that level, if you don’t my my asking so many questions? Thanks
After Dedoming I only got 4900 Lumen.
I use Liitokala Lii40.
After one minute I have around 3000 Lumen.
Stepdown configurated at around 65°C
After Minutes it stays at 500 Lumen.
That is a shame. It sounds like most of us can Expect this switch defect. Now they do not respond to chat.Not surprising considering I Never got a response.
I am not mechanically inclined like a lot of you. I can do simple repairs but can not mod the light, solder ect. Nor should I have to unless I want to. This defect is discouraging and Neal does not appear to have the decency to respond[ more than a month for me now] or resolve these issues.
If mine is defective like others, I believe we are stuck with it. He does not even respond, why would he pay for shipping back to China?!
I will wait before my final judgement, but I do not expect anything to change.
EDIT: This is M4D M4X group buy. Hopefully he takes some initiative to resolve these apparent and ongoing issues. 
Not me! You know how to repair and mod these lights. 
I do not and should not have to repair a defective light. In the States, it is no big deal because everyone I have dealt with has a good reputation and will fix or replace the light. Sorry to say when you deal with China, it is unlikely to be resolved at their expense.
In my opinion there is a defect in the switch design whether you trim the rubber or not. I pressed the switch button without the rubber and same affect. The switch needs to be replaced or maybe the driver.
That makes sense to me. Mine should be here in a week or two. Just shipped 3 days ago.I wish I ordered a week later I would have cancelled it!
I want to know if any of the people who have this light have a switch/light that works as it should. I have not heard of any reports that they do not have this problem. It appears, if indeed a defect, that all the lights will have this issue. I hope not, if that is the case it will be interesting to see how this is handled.
do you have the problem only with the sbt90 or with the other versions too?
Neal can be reached most time by Facebook
Just so I understand, this light has a clicky switch and not an e-switch, so am I correct in assuming that turbo should be a double half press and not a double press? Is that what everyone is doing and still getting inconsistent results?
Anyone know what switch it is? If it is a common Omten 1288, the over 20 amps from the SBT90 may be a challenge for it. The bigger Omten or a Kan88 should handle it well.
It does click if pressed all the way. But I get better results toggling between the levels as well as getting turbo by pressing sort of half way or 2/3rds of the way without the audible clicks and most times I done even get that turbo most of the time.
Also turbo never comes on from the off position. The only luck I get is when I turn it on first then do double half press without the actual clicks .
Annoying as hell
Martin - not sure but doubt anyone here has other models - I wouldn't buy any other model, it's the SBT90.2 that makes this light. I feel pretty much all tail power switch lights are obsolete with limited UI capability.
Most likely they upgraded the switch to one that can handle the higher amps of the SBT90.2 and didn't make the proper fine adjustments to handle the size difference.
Does turbo activate Every time when you do Two half presses and when the light is on?
,Thanks
I’ve had my light for two weeks now, and my Golisi arrived last night. I cant tell much difference if any between the GA18650 and the Golisi, but I’ve not been able to run them side by side, only a minute apart after switching batteries…. so it’s really hard to discern with the delay and trying to recall exact brightness. My second light hasn’t shipped yet to my knowledge. Once I get it, I can run both battery configurations side by side to have a better idea of any differences.
I don’t believe my light has a switch issue as you all are discussing… but i kind of glanced / skimmed the comments so maybe I missed something.
The button is like a Nitecore MH20/GT with the half press vs full click. The full click is extremely responsive / audible. In other words, you KNOW when you pressed it. I haven’t looked at the UI to see if mine works as depicted, as far as my experience goes, it has 4 modes and a single half press rotates through them. Low, medium, high, turbo, repeat.
It seems I can go from low to turbo with a double half press, just like the Nitecore MH20. I thought it was supposed to be this way?
Edit: just went on NealsGadgets website and saw that it’s M, L, M, H, with double click to turbo… now I’m second guessing myself hahaha I’ll play with it when I get home tonight, don’t have the light on me for now.
Xenovora
Not every time. And from lowest level seems to activate more often but this I’m not sure of. It’s almost like you need to be a surgeon to know exactly how much force to apply for the half presses from on to get the turbo. No not every time, but I think alsways when the light is on. I will experiment more if I can turn it on from off but I don’t think so. Actually the strobe is also not working so well but it works better than turbo. It’s easier to get stroblenwith the triple click then turbo. And sometimes you think you are gonna get strobe and suddenly turbo comes on. Also touch to figure this all out as sometimes hard to discern turbo from the high mode when you compare to the lowest modes
Try using a thick piece of wire from battery (-) to the flashlight body to go thru the modes, should rule out the switch and isolate the problem, tail cap or driver…
Yes the 4 modes are done by either doing half presses of the buttton or by sound a series of 2 full clicks of the button. They go progressively low - medium 1 a medium 2 ( brighter) - high. So when I’m in the lowest mode and I try to double - half- press to get the turbo It’s hard to tell I am now in turbo or in medium mode because I half presses twice.
Right now I’m trying and can’t get in turbo at all, and the button presses are pretty hard so your fingers get tired of trying.
I might be going crazy or the battery may be going down but I’m beginning to suspect that the high mode is the same as turbo mode, which would be disappointing but more understandable, will replace the batteries and do more testing with the lux meter tonight