The There Are No Stupid Questions Thread

Off-topic Chatter
1478

The beam focus your describing sounds like the reflector is moving up and down in relation to the led. It should not be able to move like that. The centering ring is a fairly hard plastic and it sits solidly on the mcpcb and the reflector should sit solidly on top of it. To change the focus usually involves shimming the reflector higher or sanding the bottom of the centering ring to get the reflector lower.

I would look for anything around the centering ring not making it sit flat. Maybe there is a loose or shorted wire under the reflector. It definitely sounds odd.

I’ve never had bezel tightness effect the beam shape or focus. Unless the bezel is rotating the reflector and that is moving it left or right, off center. Maybe that is whats happening in your case?

1479

That driver looseness can be causing the flicker. It looks like that driver was made using a slightly thinner pcb and now the ring is not squishing it. You can add a thin layer of solder around the edge to add thickness or maybe make a shim about the size of a grain of rice from a soda can. Loosen the retaining ring, slide the shim under and tighten down. If the driver feels snug then you’re done. If it’s still moving around you may need to make a thicker shim by using a larger piece of aluminum from a can and doubling it over for double the thickness.

You can pop the reflector out, no problem. Just cover the lens with your hand and tilt it over and let it fall into your palm. Don’t touch the shiny side. The oil from your finger will be super visible. If you try to wipe it, it will smear and make it worse. So hold it on the outside.

For dust, you can blow it out, just don’t get any spit on it. Do a couple of practice blows to the side to get any moisture drops out of the way, then blow into the reflector. Or leave it as is. Dust doesn’t hurt anything, it just messes with you mentally if you have OCD. Lol.

The factory will try to use an existing centering ring if possible to reduce costs. Some will have a custom ring made for their particular model. Either way, a tiny difference in thickness can have a noticeable effect. The factory can not take the time to sand or shim each light by hand to get it perfect. So it’s usually “close enough”. Some lights might roll off the assembly line perfectly spaced, while others might be a tiny bit too high or low. Just like with any product.

This is all part of being a flashlight tweaker. Even when the beam looks perfect you might find that shimming the reflector up or sanding it down can further tighten up the beam.

In your case, I would definitely pop the reflector out just to make sure there’s nothing out of place around the centering ring. It’s possible the reflector might be pushing on one of the wires underneath it, or there might be a little piece of debris under the centering ring. You might also have a bit of flux residue that has gotten underneath the centering ring lifting up one side of it. You’re not going to know unless you take a look. I typically will pop out the reflector, lens and bezel all as one assembly to minimize the amount of dust that gets on the reflector.

To reassemble, you can hold the flashlight upside down and drop it onto that complete reflector/bezel assembly. Then flip it over and make sure that you see the centering ring drop down around the LED and it all looks good before you tighten the bezel backup. It should be a piece of cake.

PS, the lower two videos look private. They don’t show up.

1480

With LEP lights becoming more common, I have to ask; What are the practical uses for a laser flashlight? OK, I can see they might be useful for night coyote hunters on the plains. Other than that?

1481

“I got a LASER flashlight!!”

“Cooooooooool…”

1482

This Vulcan brand says it’s good for up to 9/64 (10 gauge). 1/8=8/64. So it should work, but I don’t have much experience with stick welders, just MIG.

1483

Is the WTS section of BLF reserved for flashlights only? I ask because I have a pair of Sennheiser 6XX’s I’ve worn maybe 3 times. Cragslist seems dangerous, Facebook hides non-boosted listings, and Ebay wants too big a cut.

If it’s flashlights-only that’s fine, just checking.

1484

You can try to sell anything that is legal in WTS.

1485

Cool thanks! :partying_face:

1486

I have two Sofirn 21700s (rewrapped Lishen LR2170SD) and one of them smells. I’m assuming that I should probably dispose of it? There is no visible leakage but one definitely smells.

Both cells are almost new and so far they seem to be depleting at the same rate under normal usage. When I go to charge them there is maybe a 1% disparity between them in terms of charge.

Thoughts?

1487

If you can I would put them both aside for a week and measure to see if there’s any difference in the self-discharge rate. Measure after one day and then a week later. Start with them both at roughly the same voltage but not entirely fully charged. If one is an obvious problem then you’re done. At some point you should have new wrappers ready for all size batteries that you have. I would then pull the wrapper and fully inspect. If no obvious sign of corrosion then carefully clean with a slightly damp paper towel or rag and rewrap.

1488

Thanks for the response. Why shouldn’t they be fully charged for this test?

1489

Silly question: What does it smell like? Most of my stuff that I handle smells like broccoli tofu oatmeal casserole.

1490

Smells… how? Of elderberries?

Could be anything, depending on what’s the cause.

1491

Umm, it’s a nasty chemical smell. I don’t know how else to describe it. I got the feeling it was not good to inhale.

1492

I need information from BLF experts.

I have found Nitecore NL2150 HPi battery quite interesting/perplexing. Nitecore says it has a patented dual output with positive and negative polarities at both ends of the high-density battery cell. But it costs over US$40 apiece!

It is that good? If such a design is so good, are there other battery brands with a similar dual output design in the market?

1493

It’s a proprietary design. They are basically charging you whatever they want in order for you to use the chargers built into their lights. These type of proprietary cells are quite frowned upon around here. Even protected cells are frowned upon as they add extra cost and length to the cell. There are plenty of good 5000mah 21700 cells on the market for $5 USD.

Be cautious buying a light that uses a proprietary cell. Some can also fit a regular cell and only loose the built in charging, that’s not so bad. Other proprietary lights won’t even function with a traditional cell. So if the cell were to go bad, you can’t use the light at all until you pay your big amount and receive your new cell in a week or two.

I personally don’t buy lights that use proprietary cells. Also keep in mind that these cells cannot be used in a more traditional flashlight.

I do sometimes buy protected cells, but that’s for low powered lights (less than 3A draw) I give away to friends and family. They might accidentally leave a light on and the low voltage cutoff can prevent ruining the cell.

1494

Thanks Jason WW for your information.

Good to know about this special battery. It is used in Nitecore P30i, which I am looking at with great interest. Your information seems to confirm my suspicion that this light needs the special and every expensive battery; but other ordinary cell will not make it work.

Apart from Nitecore, Olight seems also to use a special battery for its “special” flashlight.

1495

Yes, it looks like a regular battery will not work in this light. Nitecore and Olight tend to have good warranties and that probably results in their higher prices.

This is definitely a unique light with it’s remote switch capability. If you were mainly interested in it’s long range distance, I’d look at other lights in that category.

The FT03 with the new SFT40 led looks to have even more range at 1300m and is much cheaper. Link. It’s very new and not currently in stock, though. I’m sure there are similar lights that are close in size and distance, though. It is all up to you and what you want. There should be lots of discussion about the P30i in this forum.

1496

Thanks again JasonWW.

I do have a few Astrolux FT03 flashlights and enjoy them, including the newest with the Mateminco MT70 with SFN55.2 LED.

I have been attracted to Nitecore P30i by its remote tail-switch, colour lens, and the special battery, in one (expensive) package.

I agree with you that with only 2,000 lm over a distance of just 1 km (maybe just 500 m in actual use), its power is not that much.

But I did pull the trigger, ordering one from Neals Gadgets when it was on sale with 30% discount.

1497

I have noticed some excitement around 26800 batteries. Where does one find a reliable charger for these beasts?