Review: Small Sun ZY-T08 2 x 18650 (Parallel)

might need to get one after i get my paypal back, looks like a nice light to have. quick question, does the light contain a low voltage protection function built in?

I wouldn't expect it, but someone else whose used it longer should chime in.

-Garry

thanks. I try to be over critical to give myself every reason not to buy it but it seldom works. The proof is the debit transaction on my Paypal acct

Ordered a day and a half ago, shipped today — as always, with acknowledgement of extra qc.

Hi Guys, i’m new here so please excuse me if i get a little terminology incorrect! Decided to finally register and let people know my opinions…

I received my Small Sun in around 7 working days from Manafont (to England) which is pretty great! I have a few other LED torches including the KD-C8. I wouldn’t place the quality of this one very close to it to be honest; the Anodisation is thin and very slightly chipped (barely visible) on the quite sharp heat-sink machining abeam the pill. The aluminium obviously had some flaws in the casting also, as the head ring has what looks like ‘chips’ which can be removed to expose a darker metal, almost like when chrome plating falls off. Ill have to give this a light sanding.

This is a nice and chunky light and looks great, but having large hands the lanyard holder protrusions get in the way a little!

I haven’t tested the seals, but the main body screw will need well greasing to stop it from giving you the shivers on every turn! I would HIGHLY recommend using a dielectric grease on the pill’s positive surface , as the batteries literally rub against this when you tighten the body. If you use reclaimed 18650’s like me, i’d solder a ‘blob’ on your positive terminals and make it nicely smooth to prevent the pill from wear.

I was rather disappointed in its output however… On high, the spot is only very marginally brighter than my SMO KD-C8 (High - 3A), with the C8 having much more spill. These are my readings using 1x18650 directly against the driver, and 2x18650 by shorting the switch (both were near identical):

High: 1.97A
Med: 0.95A
Low: 0.45A

Memory bleed is good, only 3-4 seconds. Spot is bright and tight but with quite a ringy spill as others said, on a white wall.

I have a question… I need to mod this to give it some more grunt to turn it from a good torch into a great torch. I’ve seen the ‘Viffer’ mod to increase the value of those 3 paralell resistors, however i measured those resistors and got only 0.4-0.5ohm, which was the same value as just the multimeter’s leads on their own! Am i doing something wrong or is my multimeter just not sensitive enough perhaps?

Thanks for reading :slight_smile:

Hi, eddamoo and welcome to BLF! Sounds like yours is underdriven compared to mine, which is at least the equal to my HD2010 if not slightly brighter. Can't help you on your questions, however.

Welcome eddamoo! I don't believe you can measure the resistors value while in the circuit. You'd have to desolder one end to take it out of circuit to measure it correctly. Can't you just go by their value stamped on top?

Also, are you aware of low tailcap current readings with cheap multimeters or even decent meters with cheap thin leads? Can you try using heavier/thicker wire for leads (just shove it in the sockets so long as they make decent contact) and test again. It does sound like you have an underdriven model though comparing to a C8 at 3A. This light should be blindingly bright in it's hotspot even without being modded! I reflected mine off some white aluminum trim on my garage outside and it almost blinded me!

-Garry

Thanks for the welcomes guys, this place certainly seems very friendly! :slight_smile:

My DMM’s Leads are pretty good and like you said, have easily read over 3A before, but will indeed try some thicker wires just in case.

I totally forgot that i took a photo of the driver and there are 3x R150 (0.15 Ohm) resistors. So thats 0.45 Ohm total. I don’t know if the current regulation circuit is linear to the resistance - does anyone know more who could please educate me? I have sat before me some R27 (0.27 Ohm) surface mount.

Hi eddamoo and welcome.

What cells are you using in that T08 ?

Welcome to the BLF family, Eddamoo!!

Hi guys, resistor mod results are in for me, wired in parallel to the 3x R150 resistors…

High power
Original… 1.95A
1x Extra R27 .27 ohm resistor… 2.45A
2x Extra R27 .27 ohm resistors… 3.2A

Perfect! :slight_smile: Have a great weekend all!

Nice! Thanks for posting, will mod mine when it arrives! 8)

Thanks old and all!!

Will this light work with flat top cells? It looks like theres a chance the fatter +B could short against the -B trace…???

kramer:

My new Keeppower 3400 button tops will not work in the ZY-T08. However my Callie's Kustoms 3100 raised flat tops work perfectly:

awesome thanks between…
can you do a favor and measure these two distances? I only use flat-top, unprotected cells so this is a concern for me…. I’d be a little uncomfortable if the +B of the batteries is close to the -B trace on the board.

THANKS!!!

Distance between outsides of the buttons is about 27.5mm
Inside Diameter of the circle on the board is 24mm, so the cells overlap and actually rest on the circle.

Please explain this to me - I'm an electronics dunce and I would be curious why it makes a difference. I've measured length on the KP's and they are identical (68.5mm) to the CK's. So out of curiosity, I tightened the board by about a half turn (didn't notice it being loose before) and inserted the Keeppowers and they now work fine. So I checked the distance on these and it's about 23.5mm. Does the lower surface area of the button tops cause more pressure on the board?

thanks for the great review and info found in this thread!
I hope you guys don’t mind me asking can someone please recommend some decent 18650 batteries from Manafont?
I am asking because i am interested in this bad boy but i need a pair of 18650 and would like to order all my stuff from 1 place and have the shipped at once (i live on the other side of the world ><)
I already have the trustfire TR-001 charger.

Thanks in advance
Mario

am I gonna be the only guy on BLF that doesn’t have one? :open_mouth:

I don't have one yet or the HD2010. :O