Is the driver software redesigned or the same crappy bugs in it?
confirmed on my end… battery works only at 3.8V, or less… :~
thanks to fleibaka for the suggestion/diagnosis
This is a real good question. I sure hope someone cough Rey cough took the time to have Trustfire clean up their code and remove that preflash when going into low. I really hate that in my original BLF Mini.
still there… :(, but intermittent… i am finding the threads a bit rough compared to my other lights… perhaps because its ss? or maybe rear spring is too big (too much pressure)?
Got mine yesterday. Fired right up and looks pretty good. Nice tint, good heat dissipation (toasty!), great size. The threads are a bit rough (you can see the machining issues between the threads) but some Nyogel has it feeling pretty smooth. BUT, I am also having the mode hiccup, at first when the light got hot running the TF “880s” right out of the box (but I found that if I cycled through a few times I could still get to “high”), but with the first TF run down, recharged and hot off the charger, I couldn’t get to “high” mode at all (just a bright flash), so it was a 2-mode light. Once the battery ran down a bit (to about 3.85v) I got all three modes. And when the light is hot and turned off, then on, I only get “low” mode, until it cools down a bit. Doesn’t that last problem sound like a driver problem and not a battery issue? The modes cycle flawlessly with a 3v CR123 but I bought this light for output, and @ 3v it’s not much different that my 1XAA lights.
And one more thing: a 47s-branded CR123 doesn’t fit but a regular Panasonic USA model does (and I thought Panasonic made the 47s 123s…)
Rey: If the problem lies with these batteries can we get them replaced?
givwn the price I paid for the cells, I wont be worrying,I’ll likely just source some others at some point, I intend to build a couple of 16340 lights now anyway and I dont intend to drive them hard.
out of interest, what are people reading on high at 4.1v?
IMR 16340 (Not all that many cycles on it (I think)).
4.06V since I got bored waiting for the charger
40mA low
630mA med
2140mA high
Since that’s about 2.5C on high for an RCR123 I’d seriously consider using IMR cells as anything above 2C is out of my comfort zone for cheap LiCo cells. But it may be that the internal resistance of cheap LiCo cells is enough to limit the current.
Mine is an NW version by the way.
I’ll fully charge the cell and try again at 4.2V. Results in a bit.
I can do the same for my CW Mini-01 if you want.
no thats fine thanks Don, my meter got very very wet and needs calibrating/replacing, its a bit high for my confort on such little cells as well tbh, I’ll probably hunt down some inr’s at some point.
for my builds I was only planning on a max of 1.5a so hopefully the cells will be fine at that.
Take a look on eBay for ex-MoD Fluke 15s. They’ll be out of calibration but it shouldn’t cost all that much to get them recalibrated - and they tend to cost around 20 quid delivered. The MoD has recently (In the last couple of years - last time I looked on the Bay I found hundreds of them) disposed of an awful lot of them.
I got a Fluke 77 Series 3 which cost me about 30 quid to get recalibrated and the fuses replaced - and about 15 quid to buy.
Where I work, they bin the Fluke or Tektronix meters when the calibration certificate expires. I can check when the next lot’s certs expire and arrange that the bin is where I can get to them. (Just occasionally, working for the Man has its uses)
No guarantees when that will be though.
And the first Tektronix is mine!
I use a yezl and a nitecore in my mini 01… No problem so far with the serious current. I also have used the BLF mini driver in another host with an nitecore 14500 for longer run times without problem and one time a trustfire 14500 but the undervoltage protection tripped fast.
@Tolite: The minis need some lube to operate smooth one drop of oil s should be enough, some reported that after one week with battery inside the spring was a bit more compressed so that this made it smoother too…not sure about that.
How are the lights compared, is the 02 much better or about similiar? How is the feel?
I am fine with the original mini01(i have it on my keys and use it every day) as I want to start in high(brighter is better)
The BLF mini01 driver has another issue beside the pre flash, sometimes there is a 4th mode with 0% duty cycle, which means its switched on but no light comes out…I wrote this in the BLF mini 01 thread after finding it out but no one answered…
I searched eBay for the meters but couldn’t find any fluke in budget range. Can you provide a link?
My pet annoyance about the Mini-02 is that it doesn’t “close” properly. Pics to follow. the Mini-01 (Mine has flashy modes) does this better.
keep us informed on the meters don, mines a megger I’ve had a long time, I’m hoping the calibration firm can repair it to be honest, I’ll have a look on the bay as well though.
Meggers are good. Take a look around for folks who can repair it. The population round you (Greater Manchester has more folks than all of Scotland) is around the population of my country!
There’s sure to be someone who can sort if for sensible money.
thats my thought, its usually fine once its dried out but the ranges are shot now (47.6v li ion anyone?). I’ll get it into the calibration place next week, I’m getting away with my clamp meter but I want my dmm back up and running.
This is the PCM of the battery, no 4th mode
fleibaka
Don’t think you mean Pulse Code Modulation.
Please explain.
PCM: Protection Circuit Module 
PCB: Protection Circuit Board
it means the same
fleibaka
Nae faur Ah kimez fae!
(Or in the language mistakenly known as English)
Not from where I come from.
PCM aun PCB ain’t even close.
Battery is defiantly an issue now, unless the driver is the thing giving out at 4.17v’s; Not getting a high mode (flash and then shutoff) on high after charging. This is of course with the 2xTF protected flames.
I’m just going to use it on low/medium now (It gets hot enough on medium) until I can get some new cells (Probably AW IMR’s). My pill came loose too, but It was fairly easy to re-tighten; I did take it out and look and it’s got a nice centering disk, alu pill (Small and light) but I had a scuff or two on the dome. Might have been my fault moving it around with the loose pill.
Threads are kind of rough and cut though some cloth I was using to clean them. They’re better with some lube, but it still isn’t great (Squeaking when first screwing together). I bet they’ll last long enough, it would just be nice if they were already clean (might clean em up someday, but not now). Something that should have been done at the factory, but is pretty common in cheaper lights.
The O rings are pretty grippy as well, and thin; a different/harder more chemical resistant type would have been preferable, even if it isn’t GITD (Not a big deal on the action side of things).
Disassembled a bit
Other side of the head
Ultrafire E05, Trustfire Mini-01 CW, Trustfire Mini-02 NW
Mini-02, 93mm C3 SS, Mini-01
Beams from above. 02 on left, 01 on right.
Tints fairly close to how I see them (In a very brightly-lit office) 02 on left, 01 on right. About 25cm from the off-white wall.
Size comparison
