So is this an all-clear to autopsy the stinky carcass?
Where should we be looking for the outcome of the engineer’s further testing of this model? Apparently the spec is listed as 5 volts for charging. This is wrong or incomplete. USB C device charging is clearly a complicated situation for all flashlight and or device manufacturers. So listing specs that are wrong or incomplete or misleading or not listing specs all have consequences. I don’t see an easy solution moving forward. I will try to avoid devices with multiple removable batteries.
Jake, if Sofirn doesn’t want the stinky unit, would you be happy to send it off to any volunteering BLFers for a thorough analysis?
It would be great to get to the bottom of this as we all have flashlights that may carry the culprit cause… Just so we can take our measures and perhaps figure out exactly what evaporated in your home?
Many thanks!
One more point, I think anyone using onboard charging should pick up a USB meter to keep check of voltage and current. My Sp36 terminated at 4.23 volts, a little high but not terrible. The current was about 2 amps or a little less and it decreased slowly. That doesn’t mean it can’t self destruct next time but so can any charger for that matter.
As I posted on BLF in the past, my SP36 charged to 4.25 the one and only time I used the internal charger. I didn’t consider it unsafe, just not conducive to long battery life.
I’ve done about all the recreational typing I need to on this subject, but just to close up a loose end: yes, you should be afraid of having a huge box of li-ion cells charging under your bedroom in the garage.
Please ask Sofirn to post here and let us know what they discover.
I suspect Sofirn has limited resources to diagnose failures like this. And, judging from my readings on this forum, I’m quite certain there are many folks on here that are better at diagnosing complex failures than 95% of the flashlight companies.
At this point, I think Sofirn has done more than I would have expected, and Jake should be happy with their offer. It’s extremely unreasonable to expect Sofirn to compensate him for a renovation to his house or whatever he is or isn’t asking for. (Hard to tell exactly what he wants Sofirn to do.)
If Jake does not want to take the light apart to investigate, or send it to Sofirn, I ask that he ship tot me to disassemble to to investigate what happened and show photos (in macro detail).
Jake, I will offer to pay for shipping to me, (Ontario, Canada) to research to what happened to the light, if you don’t want to take it apart yourself to look into it. I can do a neutral video on the findings to why the light overheated and caused the burning smell.
If one was sneaky one could take the double refund from sofirn AND do the amazon return 
What a generous offer Den! :+1: Happy to chip in $5 towards the shipping cost / or a 
/ Den as I’d benefit from the peace of mind that would come from this! (have a SP36 BLF Anduril on the way)
Jake, you’ve had an offer from Sofirn that you rarely see from manufacturers and another offer from Den (DBSAR) who’s a real rocket scientist for flashlights and lanterns - he’s your best shot at getting to the bottom of this!
Jake, please consider taking Den up on his offer to save others from your fate or worse!
:+1: :+1: :+1:
I know this sounds extreme, but if my phone doesn’t improve soon I’m going to replace it. I would have difficulty believing this as well, but just from plugging the charger into it it emits such a strong smell that it makes us nauseous and leave some weird metallic taste in our mouths. Whatever this thing vented is extremely toxic. Washing my phone, putting it in a Ziploc bag full of activated charcoal, putting it in a Ziploc bag full of baking soda nothing is really working.
As it stands now they have refunded me 30 extra dollars rather than twice the price which I guess is an Amazon limitation. Because this is done through Amazon I don’t think there is any possibility of a double return. I would legitimately write a check for a few grand if I could have the option of not going through this and not being exposed to this stuff. If I do have to replace my phone that is a massive hassle for me because of the amount of work I do from my phone. Aside from the fact that it will cost me about $800.
I sent them a second message about my other return. I’ll report back as to what they tell me. When I speak to them I can tell they run a business and they are doing their best to be empathetic about the situation. I understand that that’s really all I can expect in a situation like this with a Chinese manufacturer, and I appreciate them at least communicating with me here. Aside from being hugely more expensive in every other way manufacturing things in a first world country means you have liability. It means thorough testing is important. It means only selling safe products is important.
I think the problem with sofirn getting into bed with thousand postcount keyboard warrior forum members is a lot of these guys get their self worth from being tough on the internet. Even though they are fanboys of this brand they are really not doing sofirn any favors by patronizing me. They also aren’t doing other members here any favors who want to get to the bottom of this. 20 years ago I was involved in coding for some of the original message board software. I’ve been on my share of forums. A lot of these guys with massive post counts who I have met in real life are often introvert weirdo people. Yes I have only posted 39 posts or whatever it is. Yes I have only been here for a single topic and that is my only interest here. Who cares? The 100 most powerful people in the world, the 100 richest people in the world and the 100 most intelligent people in the world all have one thing in common. Their post count is 0. No one gives a s* about your post count and no one ever will - not even fellow thousand count keyboard warriors.
I appreciate everyone who has been genuinely helpful here. I feel like this forum could probably use more aggressive moderating.
It doesn’t. At least try to keep calm. This tone will bring you nowhere.
You’ve had some generous offers from Sofirn and again from other users on this forum. Yet, you react by getting even more hostile. Not really sure what you want. I presume it’s money, based on the fact you keep bringing it up, yet you haven’t made any specific requests to Sofirn as far as we know.
IMO, you’re making yourself paranoid about the smell, and the worry is causing your headaches. By now, there’s not enough toxin in the air to cause any real physical problems, if there ever was. You should chill out, and stop worrying so much. It’s the worry that is causing you problems at this point. Yeah, if Sofirn was a US company, you could sue them for a million bucks, but they’re not. So, the best thing you can do is relax about it. In a few days, the smell on your phone will be gone too.
Sorry Jake, no offence but If I were a moderator this kind of talk would be on the top of my list. And I appreciate the freedom this forum offers, in contrast to other ones where rules kill all the fun.
DBSAR made a genuinely great offer and you haven't responded to it. Instead, a lot of venting seems to ensue. People here have tried to offer solution after solution (albeit some criticism too) but you have not taken up any offers for help.
I get your frustrations but ranting about the very people that are trying to help you isn't the solution.
Also, if Sofirn weren't a Chinese company you probably wouldn't get an apology and refund just because it may be construed as an acceptance of liability. So please take a fresh breath and consider your practical options. Send Den the light for an autopsy, get your refund and try to make the best of a bad situation.
Many people still have sympathy for your plight, please be a little respectful.
Many Thanks!
Ouch! Sucks that your phone needs replacing too. 
Regarding tone on this forum: I completely agree with you Jake. If I were in your shoes I’d be pretty irritated about a light doing this too. And if it were my first purchase from a manufacturer I wouldn’t be too inclined to see them in a favorable light. Some of the posts in this thread do seem hostile or condescending. And that’s not helpful. Fortunately, at least from my reading of this thread, most posts are not like that.
We are a bunch of flashlight enthusiasts and genuinely want to discover what happened. Collectively, the members on these forums have a lot of experience and may be able to shed light on what exactly went wrong in the light. Since Sofirn does not want the light back, I second DBSAR’s request to ship him the light. He’s volunteered to pay for shipping and is excellent at dissecting defective lights and will help to determine the cause of exactly what happened. He’s very reliable. He also said he will produce a video of his results which should satisfy everyone’s curiosity.
I think if he was a regular contributor on this forum, he’d get a bigger break from people. But, he’s a newbie with over 40 posts bashing Sofirn and others, without seeming to accept any resolutions offered to him. I don’t think it’s surprising he’s getting some push-back.
In reading through this thread, I see posts where Jake is seeing the help and advice and coming to a good conclusion. But then he’s hit with an aggressive or condescending post dissecting his posts. Naturally he gets defensive at seeing this. That’s human nature.
Then some others come in and attack Jake not having read back a few posts to realize that he was just defending himself. That’s NOT productive and makes it more likely Jake will miss good posts (like DBSAR offering to postmortem the light) while trying to defend himself against bad.
Jake suffered a very serious flashlight malfunction and has come to the right place to get advice and information on what happened. It shouldn’t be necessary to have 1000+ posts in order to be treated as a friend here. Let’s keep these forums friendly.
I’m in with the suggestion for sending the light to DBSAR.
Now, we shall see Jake’s response to this suggestion which he has never talk about.
Well, taking up the OP’s suggestion to moderate this thread, that sounds like a good idea. I think this thread has served its purpose and everything that needed to be said has been said.