I bought the Sp10v3 on the Sofirn Official Shop on Aliexpress. I opened a dispute and now they replied :
āFirst, check that the insulating sheet placed on the battery needs to be removed to conduct normal conduction. Second, the test battery can be used normally (you can use other brands of batteries). Use a wire to test whether it can light up. If it does, it means that the tail switch canāt conduct electricity. Just send a switch. Fourth, use alcohol to clean the exposed areas on both ends of the barrel, including the exposed areas of the steps inside the tail cover, and then try again. Try to light upā
What should i write them now ? Should i just give them a link to this thread ?
Take a video of it not working with an AA battery and say itās a faulty driver.
You could message the Sofirn member above and they should then be able to get in contact with the AliExpress team, but only if you donāt get anywhere with the video
Just this.
I donāt understand why manufacturers donāt simply refine their products instead of starting from scratch and screwing up from a different direction.
Indeed, i was looking at getting one but now am going to stay away.
I waited too long to upgrade my lights, the 4AA is discontinued, this 1AA is defective
The SF11 4x AA was a bad design since it had a floating shelf. The only thing connecting the shelf to the body was two screws, all around the sides arenāt touching anything
I put thermal grease right around the sides and didnāt heat up anymore than without it, so doesnāt seem to be an issue. It has a 3 minute stepdown to High which would help. I measured 1000 lumens, Sofirnās early models were so accurate on the ratings.
I have an old light with a separate pill that is press fit into place with a lot more contact than two screws, when tested it had a lot of lumen sag becasue of the poor contact. Thermal paste also did not help much. So i find it hard to believe that two screws is good enough and would not be improved by not being a solid one piece setup.
And that is a weird offer from sofirn. You may be the about only one who might take advantage of it since you sell flashlights.
@WL27
I read your post not long after buying this light and was initially relieved at not having the same problem, that is until last night which is exactly one week since getting it in the mail. And you know what? My experience is 100% the same as you described. The light got hot with the 14500 battery while off, so I took it out for the night. This morning, I put the battery back in and left the light off to see if the light would heat up. It did! Then I figured it might be safe to just use the light with alkalines and NiMH batteries, but discovered that they no longer work. The lithium 14500 still works, but I canāt leave it in the light without it draining itself and making the light hot, not to mention making me fearful of it exploding (as lithiums have been known to do sometimes) and burn my house down.
This is my first lithium powered light, and now Iām more leery of them than ever. I guess Iāll have to try returning it to Amazon since I clearly canāt use it anymore. But I have to say that when it worked, it was ridiculously bright in turbo mode! Very impressive that way. At the same time, I have to point out that finding the button in the dark by feeling for it was very frustrating. Itās nearly impossible to find. I even turned the pocket clip to be opposite side of the button so it would be a guide as to where the button is, but it shifts too easily so that it canāt even serve that purpose.
Sofirn makes some excellent lights and sells them at reasonable prices (I got this one with a 40% coupon code). But this is one that fell through the cracks.
I asked for and received the coupon code for the SP10V3 a few days ago. I got busy and never sent the order in. Sure am glad now after reading the sad stories from you folks.
Just in this thread there are four different reports of SP10v3 flashlights failing in exactly the same way on the same part (WL27, Nooner, TIFisher, LEDLove).
It definitely looks like the SP10 v3 has a major defect.
Either Sofirn used a substandard or defective part, or the driver design is faulty.
I wouldnāt be surprised if ALL SP10v3 share this defect. Sofirn should issue a recall ASAP. This is a pretty colossal error on Sofirnās part that is going to be pretty expensive in cost or reputation for them to fix (or ignore).
I was going to buy one of these, but Iāll steer clear.
Well, they gave me a refund and didnāt require me to return it, so thatās really nice. They seem to have a policy of not taking returns of defective lithium-powered devices.
I think Sofirn just donāt care maybe. As a dealer they replace everything without issues, unlike some brands which ask me for a video even as a dealer! Very frustrating
Those are oneās I think Iād like to stay away from.
Seems like any company selling through Amazon is good, as long as Amazon doesnāt start making people send in videos to prove an item doesnāt work.