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?
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.
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).
The issue is oversensitive battery protection circuits. It doesn’t exist with any of my unprotected cells and I can’t find a protected one knocking about to test. The current draw from memory is about 2A on high which is probably a bit excessive for a non-IMR 16340 so the protection circuit is just doing what it is supposed to.
I just got my Mini-02 last night. I have about 8 Trustfire 16340 protected cells at home purchased at various times. I had forgotten about this whole 3.8v issue and had arrived at my own conclusion that the light does not like protected cells. When fully cranking down to engage the light, high mode flashes briefly then quits out. If I pop in an unprotected Ultrafire 16340 the light works without any issues. Regular CR123A primaries work just fine as well. I have ordered some unprotected TF Flames from DX to use in this light as well as my new S10 Baton which will not work at all with protected cells.
I will do more testing to see if it is an issue with the protection circuit on the cells or an issue with the cell length itself. I did not get my TF Flames from Rey so I don't think it's an issue with the protection circuit being triggered. I've had no issues with those cells in any other light I've used them in including 3A XM-L drop-ins in L2M lights. I'm inclined to believe it's a length and pressure issue against the driver. The spring in the Mini-02 is so long half the cell sticks out of the tube when placed in the rear of the light.
The threads in mine will need to be cleaned, too. It is no where as smooth as my original BLF Minis and I can't turn the head with one hand like I can with the Mini-01 lights. Other than that I prefer the body of the Mini-02. Really grippy and even better looking IMO.
