Mode Group 3: Ramping actually works okay, it’s smooth ramping too
Click - High
Hold - Ramping (flashes twice at floor and ceiling, if already at highest it will still flash before ramping down)
Click - Off
2x click - Strobes
While off
Hold - moonlight, release and hold ramps up
Release and hold will reverse direction
Group 3 is not bad at all, I expected worse. Just wish it stored the ramp setting but still nice you can start first at Moon
Group 4
Click - High, Med, Low, Strobe, Sos
Click - Off after a level has been on more than 3 sec, otherwise cycles to the next level
While off
Hold - Moon
Click - Off
Group 5
Click - High
Click - Off
While Off
Hold - Moon
Click - Off
_
If the lens was fixed it would be quite okay
EDIT: Some artifacts while zooming but after playing I actually prefer the frosted lens rather than a square
I like your design changes (LH361D is my preferred emitter - 5000ºK).
Change the frosted lens to an aspheric for focus and this may be a good zoomie.
And look into the USB cover to not get caught when slipping into a pocket.
I just got mine in today after ordering it 15 days ago… that was fast! Looked good BUT one side has a scratch going across 1/2 the light… 3 stars
I didn’t have time to take it outside tonight, but ran a quick test with Sofirn button tops (3000mAh 18650s), and it ran fine for a short bit. I tried my solder topped 30Qs and they were not long enough to make contact to turn the light on. The Sofirn batteries barely did it and shaking it wigged it out as it was too loose still. I grabbed a 21700 and it almost went into the tube, but not quite. As you can imagine there is a lot of rattling too.
The rear spring is a joke that looks like it came out of a ball point pen. Looking down the tube from the rear, what I see is a solid brass looking contact (very wide), so no spring. I’ll probably go digging into the parts box for a better clicky switch for the tail while replacing the rear spring (and bi-passing it while I’m at it).
The zooming is decent but probably not a light for wet weather. Lens looks nice and LED is centered. Focus goes down with a fairly even beam throughout while going from wide to zoomed. With a few small tweaks it will make a cool little zoomer for fair weather outings. More time will tell and I’ll update after the first round on the bench here in a few weeks when I get a rainy day.
Frosted lens is much better than focusing into a small square of the led. I actually prefer the frosted lens since you get a good amount of surround light as well.
So upon looking again… up the tube- I see where a cold solder point probably held a spring. But someone assembled it broken since no spring fell out when I initially open it. The new Sofirn IF25a has a wide, brass contact behind the driver and I was used to seeing this the last few weeks (as I’m playing with both the 5k and 6.5k version lately). But ya - I now realize that is why batteries weren’t long enough and it rattled like hell.
I contacted the seller and might have to send pics, but it’s not right and so I’ll see what they can do for me. Again… thanks Funtastic for the heads up
If Barry can get the proposed changes, and maybe some quality issues resolved, I’d like a zoomie. Never thought of converting one of my cheap 3xAAA zoomie with a frosted lens though. Always used the die projection as a pointer.
Yes… I did get a lemon after Funtastic confirmed a few things here for this el’ cheapo Litwod Z20. But after a bit on the bench, I added a big-ass, thick bronze spring to the rear switch and loaded a pair of Sofirn’s standard issue 18650s (3000mAh in the “button top” model) and also a sleeve of paper (to stop the bad battery rattle) and I now have a working zoomie.
I took it out with a bunch of other lights and it quickly became clear that this thing is a LOW output light- especially when zoomed in tight. My standard C8s and a few other smaller lights easily bested it in brightness at mid-range distances AND a few out-threw it too. But this thing is really bright when zoomed out WIDE… it’s got a pretty even beam with a “ring” of brightness which takes in about a 100 degree field of view.
I dunno’ if I’d use this for anything mission critical, but I could see it as a decent muggle light. Doesn’t get hot, probably a long run time with the two batteries, and usable for camping or basic outdoor night-time use.
One PITA is the Next Mode Memory (NMM) which sucks as you have to cycle through to get back to any setting. It also has a strobe and SOS tacked onto the standard mode setting (I can’t figure any other mode out). So its: low, med, high, strobe, SOS… and repeat. Turn it off when on high, and it comes back on in strobe.
So crappy UI, limited output on highest setting, and a blue 6500k led indicate a $13 light here. But it does seem to be put together decently. And as far as zoom functioning, it zooms well and has a decent beam from wide to narrow (fairly even)… and the wide zoom is pretty bright. Hey… you can certainly do worse!