oooh I want one of these…
I am excited for updates!
Thanks for your comments. I'm not a metallurgical engineer so I can't comment definitively on the subject, but my general understanding is as follows (w.r.t. the treatment of aluminium / aluminum):
- Untreated - raw aluminium is a reactive element, and quickly forms a natural, hard, and inert oxide layer on the surface in a process known as passivation. This layer is hard but quite thin (several nm thick only) and easily scratched off - in those cases, the oxide layer quickly reforms.
- Anodized - Similar to the natural aluminium oxide layer which forms when AL is exposed to air (containing oxygen), but the layer of oxide is grown using an electric current while immersed in some acidic electrolyte such as sulphuric acid. For Type III anodizations, the layer needs to be thicker than 1mil (25um) (+ a few other specs I won't get into). This thicker oxide layer is harder than the raw aluminium and provides slightly improved wear resistance and desirable aesthetic qualities.
- Micro-Arc Oxidation - takes anodization one step further; the process is similar, but a higher voltage is used compared to anodization. This causes an electrical breakdown through the oxide layer, and causing micro discharges / arcs to form. These arcs (which are plasma) increase the temperature locally, causing a change in the way the oxide grows. If done correctly, the oxide is converted morphologically from regular aluminium oxide to corundum (same compound but crystalline), and therefore has a significant increase in hardness, resistance and durability.
Anyway that's my general understanding of the process and I am definitely not the subject matter expert and I can't comment on how well the MAO process is done.
As to how it results in the actual product, I'm not exactly sure just yet (in terms of durability or toughness); all I can say is that it looks really nice in person and has a very pleasant, smooth but matte finish. I also like the colour (a very light grey) very much.
it also feels a bit different than anodized aluminium. Maybe it is just my mind playing tricks on me, but I had the impression it feels slighter thicker, making sharp edges less sharp. Sure, this could also be done mechanically before anodizing, but I attribute this to the treatment for now.
@loneoceans
do you have a rough ETA for the next step in your teardown?
I’m really interested in the charging circuit.
Definitely one of the coolest and most inspiring designs in recent years. Low CRI 70.2s might be the worst part about it. It begs for a good tint + high cri combo. B35AM anybody?
Still super cool 
I’m an absolute tint-snob for lights which are used close up. So EDC and Headlamp must have a nice tint and high CRI.
For very high output or throw I can live with low CRI, because the main task of these lights is to either reach very far or just be ridiculously bright, which requires the most potent emitters.
Well said and totally agree :+1:
Personally, I would have to agree with Pobel and Glenn7. It's true that the specs definitely sells the flashlight so I don't fault Manker for going with the XHP70.2 LED here. That said, I think it would be nice to see this flashlight with a XHP70.2 4000K CRI90 variant.
I updated the post with more details about the charger and powerbank circuitry; enjoy!
Thank you for digging into this more. I appreciated the battery pack and charging implementation information most specifically.
I’m not surprised there’s a premium on the in built pack, based on the tear down.
I passed during the sale because I wanted to fully understand the light. I regret missing the deal now, but not waiting to be informed before purchase.
Now that I have details, it’s on my want list.
4000K CRI90 sounds nniiccee. I’d definitely get one more if they ever launch it.
However given its Manker, not Emisar or Convoy, I doubt they’d ever do that…
Thanks for the review. I was wondering how the battery pack was constructed to see if it would be possible to build a replacement pack without sending it back to manker, and it looks like it can be.
Thank you!
Was there a o-ring/seal between the end cap and the main body? I could not spot it in your pics, but I am sure it was there.
I’m happy to see the charging board seems to look reasonably well done. I also like that they used a water-protected USB-C slot and a additional flap for dust/debris proofing - I honestly expected they just rely on the flap, happy to see I was wrong.
My MK38 died during it’s 4th charge (something must have shorted on the charger circuit) , the light got very hot (from the bottom up) and the smell of magic smoke was present.
As I sent the light back to be replaced under warranty I did not open the back to have a look inside, although I would very much have liked to find out what exactly failed, and especially why it failed. I really hope it just died because one component failed instead of indefinitely charging the cells to oblivion, because that would not have gone well had I not pulled the cable.
I’m also happy to see that they did not just completely pot everything. While this offers the benefit of mechanical protection it makes a future replacement of the cells impossible. I agree that they could have done some mechanical protection for the bigger elements on the PCB though.
We shall see whether they used a BMS for balancing on the cells. I really hope they did. Even if the cells were well matched to begin with, the chance of drift becomes real in high-drain applications. I really would not like them relying on matched cells in the long run.
Overall I’m still happy with what I am seeing so far. I really appreciate your teardown and the pictures a lot!
Manker is afterall trying to sell flashlights. If there are enough people interested, I'm sure Manker would create such a version. I'd have preferred that over my 5000K version too.
It looks like Manker is trying to do the right things here - yes there is a nice oring seal on the back. One improvement they could make would be adding some o-ring grease. So far all other entry points, ports, screw holes etc all have o-ring seals.
I'm sorry to hear that and I'd be curious to find out what was the cause of the problem. Did you use the included USB-C charger? As I suggested in my post, I'd like to have seen an in-line fuse to the charger section, which I plan to implement on my flashlight.
So far from what I see, it looks fairly reparable. Manker offers a 5 year warranty if the product fails within normal operation, so it would be useful to Maker to design the product to be repairable. Again, I'd like to repeat that Manker states: "DO NOT disassemble or modify this product which can cause damage and will void the warranty.", so I wouldn't recommend anyone disassemble their MK38. In addition, due to the cells inside, any mistake during disassembly could also lead to a short and cause a fire and safety hazard. Proceed at your own understanding of the consequences.
Agreed with that line of thinking; I hope there is some sort of BMS too but I'm not holding out for it. Thanks for your comments Pobel. I'm glad they are at least slightly useful.
they are very useful indeed.
Normally I do many repairs myself and I am also absolutely no stranger to making or repairing Lipo/Liion Packs.
But in this case I have warranty, the light is expensive and only days old, so I naturally do use that warranty, although my curiosity couldn’t be satisfied. The urge to bave a peek on what went was huge.
I did not use the included charger, but with USB-C PD any charger should suffice. The charger I used charged this light before without issues and still charges all my other devices nicely.
Excellent theme for a review, and I’m looking forward to your updates.
By the way, if you encounter elements of the disassembly that are not immediately intuitive, it would be beneficial to anyone who may in the future modify this light to document how it comes apart.
Hypothetically, it could be XHP70.3 HI, 90 CRI.
Since this isn’t a thrower, I mention HI more for the typically lower tint shift across the beam than for the smaller effective light emitting surface. On the other hand, the HD has a little bit higher luminous output.
To each their own. I agree, a max lumen low cri option makes a lot of sense on paper and for some S&R, but as an enthusiast without any real need, 20k lumens of 95cri is >> than 40k of cree 67cri
I think I’d rather have the low cri with higher output and better efficiency. Yah, warm fuzzy tint is nice, but in a light like this it’s a bit superfluous. Besides, xhp70.2 even if high cri doesn’t give a good beam anyway.
The 4600 (measured) CCT xhp70.2 Thrunite TN50 looks real nice and still has over 17,000 (measured) lumens and good battery life.
Thanks for the patience everyone; I've added more details and photos of the driver. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Fantastic review.
Question: Running on turbo at a distance of 30cm, how long does it take to melt a quarter-pound stick of room temperature unsalted butter on a standard ceramic butter dish?
Thank you. I'm not sure about that, but it begins smoking any remotely dark-coloured paper held up near the lens on turbo almost immediately. You definitely want to make sure it's on lock-out mode (4 clicks) when transporting. There is no physical lock-out switch though, so I'd set the single click on to the lowest mid-mode (~900 lumens).
Why are lights with multiple individual cells connected in parallel more dangerous than lights with multiple individual cells connected in series?
I am new to this hobby and have several multi-cell lights with 3P and 4P battery configurations and some of those contain built-in charging ports.
I have avoided purchasing multi-cell lights with batteries configured in series since I was under the impression (apparently a false-impression) that series battery configurations were more dangerous since they do not keep all of the batteries at the same voltage.
With my limited understanding, I assumed that an individual cell (even in a matched set) would be more likely to fail over time in a series connected battery configuration (than in a parallel connected battery configuration) because in a series connected battery configuration, an individual cell could be discharged more (potentially even over-discharged) than the other cells while using the light and an individual cell (the same or a different cell) could also be over-charged if charged in series with the other cells if a "Balanced Charging” mechanism was not implemented.
I also wonder, if an individual Li-ion cell failed catastrophically while inside of a multi-cell light, would this cause all of the other adjacent cells to also fail catastrophically (from the intense heat created by the initial failure) whether the cells were connected in a series or parallel configuration.
Thanks again for this interesting thread. I have also enjoyed reading your posts from other threads.