Natfire SF2 LEP $75!

Here’s the shimmer on Low with the front lens removed. It’s not a battery connection issue, must be the driver

I’m tempted, but non removable battery makes it a hard sell. Also no lockout is a big negative too.

Watching with interest.

Yes, no lockout is an issue. It’s not an easy to press switch that sticks out, so not massive problem.

Battery can be replaced if you know what you’re doing. If someone doesn’t have a spot welder, then just carefully solder.

A local Batteries Plus store once graciously spot welded tabs on a nihm cell for me. They were quite kind and offered without my having to beg.

That’s a sticker?! :open_mouth:

I mean, I have the light right here in front of me - would NEVER have thought there was a sticker on the back. Perfectly applied i must say.
THANKS A LOT for taking it apart! Now I know exactly what to do, should I ever need it. :+1:

P.S. Regarding the replacement cells, if you’re EU based, NKON f.e. sells cells with tags already soldered on.

I heated it with my heat gun and it bubbled up over those two hole inserts, so glad it’s not too hard to dismantle.

Also did some candela measurements:

Confirming the readings of Funtastic - peak of my measurement was 534k cd, at 10m distance.

(Wainlight C8+ with Osram W1 clocked in at 107k cd, same setup, so maybe it’s also a little bit on the high side)

Playing with my camera’s exposure, looks wicked lol. Just finished all my footage for my upcoming review

I got my SF2 in a week and half ago. Tested it on Medium and Low and I did get the shimmer you mentioned. It’s not as visible as yours though, and it’s not like PWM, but it is there. It does not do this on High mode. Not sure what it is? I don’t want to take it apart though.

My numbers are similar to yours!

Hmmm, well they’re sending me a replacement so I’ll be able to confirm whether it’s a fault on yours or it’s normal. They offered $5 usd per sale or a replacement once I reached $75, but they then offered one at only $25 in sales, so I grabbed it.

I don’t think there is any PWM, at least not visible with my camera up to 1/2000 shutter speed. My Armytek Wizard C2 Pro Nichia is visible at just 1/100.

Does the UI have last mode memory, and is the strobe constant frequency?

Yes to both.

Click: On
Click: Cycle high, med. low, strobe, sos, off
Hold: Off with memory

Group 2 is high only

Thanks. So a reasonably good UI for people who like strobes!

Thanks for the tear down and details. Did you happen to measure parasitic drain?

I noticed shimmer on low modes on a wall but I couldn’t repeat this.

I think the parasitic drain may be high. I let it sit for a few days and the battery seemed excessively drained. I’m thinking of tearing into it and checking it before posting my review.

For the shimmering it’s not PWM at least ai can’t see it on camera. I’ll run it through the Opple lightmaster PWM detector. I think it’s an issue somewhere in the electronics or current path. This light has an interesting current path.

Make sure you pull out the usb cover before you push out the driver otherwise it’ll cut it off

Tried to measure current with my clamp meter but it wasn’t giving a reading. Not easy to measure parasitic drain from how the cell is connected. How would you do it?

Thanks for the tip on the cover.

You’d need to break thr current path between the battery and driver board, so cut the negative wire from the cells negative and and bridge it with your DMM in the mA/microamp setting for the parasitic drain, and set your DMM to the 10A setting for the current test. This light doesn’t draw much current so you won’t necessarily need a clamp meter, but you can try it between the black negative wire. Put the clamp on that wire and try it.

Yeah, I knew the method with a DMM, I was just hoping for another method without cutting the wire. I didn’t actually think of measuring the parasitic drain when it was dismantled, I was more focused on why it was flickering. This is something I should have checked in my review.

How about I test this so you don’t have to dismantle it? Actually I might ask 1Lumen if they tested this, their review shouldn’t be far away

I’m reviewing it for 1Lumen so I’m the guy :wink: and I haven’t tested the parasitic drain yet. I’m dealing with the fact it only holds High for 10 minutes then steps down like 50%. A bit odd behavior. My review will be done today or tomorrow.

If you can test it that would be helpful, but I may do it just to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe. I’m weary of tearing into lights that aren’t easily reassembled :open_mouth: