Andúril 2 coming to Sofirn - The general Sofirn development thread

PiercingTheDarkness · January 7, 2020, 8:01am

The SF14 is no longer produced

cm64 · January 7, 2020, 9:10am

The Chinese New Year starts on 25 Jan 2020. So there are still a few weeks to go but I think Sofirn are maybe starting early

I ordered directly from Sofirn & got email telling me my order has been sent with a tracking number on 26 Dec 2019 but I cannot track parcel after more than 10 days - unknown tracking number.
No response to my email to Sofirn yesterday so maybe an early start to the New Year.

PiercingTheDarkness · January 7, 2020, 9:12am

Send a message on the Sofirn Deals facebook page. There’s a few that are often active

SKV89 · January 7, 2020, 4:29pm

Usually those tracking numbers cannot be tracked until it arrives at the delivery company in your country. Sometimes tracking numbers don’t work until after I receive the package.

Nachtfeuerzeug · January 8, 2020, 6:56am

Thank you!

SKV89 · January 8, 2020, 7:30am

I see they replaced the SF14 with the SF12. The difference being the SF14 goes from L>M>H where as the SF12 goes from H>M>L :person_facepalming: Please bring back the SF14 Sofirn. The SF14 with the SST-20 2700K would make for good bedside lights.

buck91 · January 9, 2020, 2:52am

Is the sf14v2 still available anywhere?

aswang · January 9, 2020, 3:50am

Just got my if25 and it really is a great light. Very small for a 21700 light, the tint ramping/mixing is very nice and what I’ve been waiting for. The 6500K SST20s are very green in the low modes but that’s expected I guess and that’s only on the upper end of the tint ramp. The middle mix tints are nice because of the mix. I think I’ll replace the leds with CRI90 3000K and 5700K 219Cs. The nitecore 34mm diffuser fits well and the output is very stable and well regulated. This should make a lovely photo/video light.

Lightbringer · January 9, 2020, 5:16am

Yep, and if it’s anything like past years, there’ll be a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ for a whole month or so.

Expect anything stuck in the mail pipeline to finally arrive with a foot-long beard.

hank · January 9, 2020, 5:37am

That would be one I’d be glad to get. Hello?

manithree · January 9, 2020, 3:03pm

I can’t decide if this makes Sofirn my favorite, or most hated manufacturer. It’s awesome, but now I need to buy a bunch of new flashlights with interesting emitters.

YogibearAl · January 13, 2020, 7:45pm

DB Custom:

I got the very neat little D25S headlamp today. The special purchase price offered at Amazon is really amazing, this is an SST-40 light (times two) and has built in USB micro charging that is cleverly concealed under a fast thread sleeve. The switch/driver is behind a threaded plug style end cap and the fast thread sleeve (square threads even!) surrounds the switch. Nicely done!

There are ridges in the back of the tube that correspond to a plastic tooth on the holder such that swiveling the light in the holder is easy and held in place in a wide range of motion. Also quite clever. And the light is easily popped into and out of the holder. Sofirn includes a 2800 mAh protected cell with the light as well. All in all an exceptional deal with a price point that is difficult to best ($20 and change with the coupon code)

The downside is that it doesn’t make the claimed 1200 lumens from the twin SST-40’s. It only draws 2.55A at the tail on a Molicel P26A, so the 850 lumens it does make is understandable and at this level it takes quite a while for it to warm up. The unibody construction means the entire light absorbs the heat, also pretty cool. Even internal fins behind the emitters to help spread heat throughout.

Cool small headlamp, cell supplied and internal charging (cord also supplied) and the head band itself is also decent. Would make great gifts for Christmas….

I was looking at this light and it would be great for a lot that I do, but as with the SP40, no moonlight mode. Aux LED in red would be nice too, but that may raise the price. I think a moonlight mode would get me to order this right away. A good consistent regulated mode is way more useful than a turbo mode that only lasts a few minutes for a headlamp. I read the specs and it says “LOW” mode is 70lm. Too bright. Maybe add a moonlight mode, and make the highest 850 lumens, and just forget about the 1200?

Sari33 · January 14, 2020, 12:00am

SP10S 2700k

IF25 2700k Sand or Blue/Red color!

FlashPilot · January 14, 2020, 12:24am

Great idea. Id be in for 2 and possibly more.

JasonWW · January 14, 2020, 1:32am

YogibearAl:

DB Custom:

I got the very neat little D25S headlamp today. The special purchase price offered at Amazon is really amazing, this is an SST-40 light (times two) and has built in USB micro charging that is cleverly concealed under a fast thread sleeve. The switch/driver is behind a threaded plug style end cap and the fast thread sleeve (square threads even!) surrounds the switch. Nicely done!

There are ridges in the back of the tube that correspond to a plastic tooth on the holder such that swiveling the light in the holder is easy and held in place in a wide range of motion. Also quite clever. And the light is easily popped into and out of the holder. Sofirn includes a 2800 mAh protected cell with the light as well. All in all an exceptional deal with a price point that is difficult to best ($20 and change with the coupon code)

The downside is that it doesn’t make the claimed 1200 lumens from the twin SST-40’s. It only draws 2.55A at the tail on a Molicel P26A, so the 850 lumens it does make is understandable and at this level it takes quite a while for it to warm up. The unibody construction means the entire light absorbs the heat, also pretty cool. Even internal fins behind the emitters to help spread heat throughout.

Cool small headlamp, cell supplied and internal charging (cord also supplied) and the head band itself is also decent. Would make great gifts for Christmas….

I was looking at this light and it would be great for a lot that I do, but as with the SP40, no moonlight mode. Aux LED in red would be nice too, but that may raise the price. I think a moonlight mode would get me to order this right away. A good consistent regulated mode is way more useful than a turbo mode that only lasts a few minutes for a headlamp. I read the specs and it says “LOW” mode is 70lm. Too bright. Maybe add a moonlight mode, and make the highest 850 lumens, and just forget about the 1200?

Some folks are swapping the MCU to run RampingIOS. This is inexpensive. I think there are also replacement drivers to run Anduril as well, but that’s not so inexpensive.

gchart · January 14, 2020, 3:11am

Yup, I’ve shipped out several pre-flashed MCUs with RampingIOS (D4 V2 UI) and they are very inexpensive. Makes a decent cheap headlamp quite a bit better. Been doing the same thing with the Convoy H1 (my preference though admittedly slightly more expensive).

YogibearAl · January 14, 2020, 3:21am

For me to H1 will work but for friends that may not have li-ion chargers then the USB charging of the SP40 works good. So with a preflashed MCU, you just desolder the old one and replace with new MCU. Are there instructions with images on what to replace? I’d love to give it a try. I have a SP40 and H1 on the way.

gchart · January 14, 2020, 4:07am

Unfortunately I gave my SP40 to a co-worker before I had a chance to try swapping MCUs on it. So I just have ones for the D25 (and some D10) and the H1. It’s too bad because the SP40 is a pretty nice headlamp. I’m not a big fan of the button position (on the end) but that’s minor. Oh, and some of the UI. And the driver, which appears to be current-limiting resistor setup where output continuously drops linearly with voltage.

Based on these images (not mine) the MCU also appears to be a 14-pin PIC. So short a complete driver swap, I’m afraid I’ll leave the SP40 right where it’s at

Both the D25 and H1 are pretty easy to swap in a new MCU. And the H1 has a nice linear regulator. The D25 is a current-limiting resistor jobber, but that’s expected at this price point I guess. Apologies for derailing a Sofirn thread, but here’s my info on the H1 (and here’s my review of the SP40 and the D25 (not D25S) for fairness/completeness).

JasonWW · January 14, 2020, 4:11am

I have not actually changed an MCU, but it doesnt look hard. I doubt you can unsolder it. I would use hot air or just cut the legs. Then you can solder the new one on. It is a simple remove and replace.

To remove the original and keep it intact with just a solder iron seems tricky. Maybe if you wick all the old solder out and then heat one leg at a time while lifting it up you can get it removed.

gchart · January 14, 2020, 4:15am

I remove them with a soldering iron and small flat screwdriver. While lightly prying up with the screwdriver, run the iron up and down the legs on one side until the lift up. Then grasp the MCU with tweezers and then run the iron on the other side to lift it up completely. It’s not too bad.