-Low voltage cut-off. Say at 2,6V, its not like its much juice or light left in batteries then. I think its nice to have the protection. A true flashoholic always carries a spare keychain light anyway. Most have a cell phone too that can be used for emergency lighting.
-Low is nice and low, but is it possible to get it even lower?? :) (talking about the absolute lowest on ramping, not the default 1mode)
-PWM is nice and high, but is it possible to get it even higher? :)
Great write up RaceR86! I love the form factor of the T29 and T11 but my T29 is pretty anemic and I hate the UI. I tested mine tonight on an ET 18650 at 4.12V and it only pulled about 1.6A at the t/c and put out just shy of 400 OTF lumens after 30 seconds. Sounds like this Dr Jones driver is a great fix for both. I have zero modding skills but would be willing to try this. Thanks for the write up.
Im not a threads snob.. :p (if there is such a thing)
Olight I6 have fairly thick nice square threads combined with O-ring that gives it a quite perfect feel. I think the Convoy have square threads, but they are just fairly small? Not sure..On further inspection it looks like my ZY-T11 also have square threads, but they are much thinner than on the ZY-T29. (ZY-T11 on the right side). Or maybe that does not count as square threads?
(Sorry about the grey silicone grease)
Here is the other end of the tube.
They can not be compared with the top notch square stuff in any way, and they might require some grease in order to feel smoother and avoid squeel. Threads are no more than average. They get the job done though. :)
Thank you for doing this mod thread and the K2 mod thread. I already got a second K2 to mod, and ordered one of these to mod as well. Now I need to order a drjones driver. I can't wait.
Billy X, if you are a "thread snob" these lights are nothing special. The lights might also be like various other Chinese lights. Limited consistency in how they are made.
These are 10$ lights, I have no complaints considering the price for the "host". Grease, oil normally makes threads feel better anyway.
As long as they don't break or squeal , feel fairly smooth, and are easy to screw on, then Im happy. :)
Well, I did have that idea, but the number of features I can press into that small memory is limited, and I found other features more interesting.
Well, yes, maybe, depends... The lowest mode is at the edge of PWM resolution and on the edge of AMC7135 activation time. The MCU provides power to them, they take a while (~2µs) to actually awake, and at that time the MCU drops power again already.
The problems with QLITE arise from that (flickering in the lowest mode, or lowest mode not even lights up the LED).
That's why I use a slightly higher, but safer minimum value.
[quote=RaceR86]
-PWM is nice and high, but is it possible to get it even higher? :)
[/quote]
Yes, can go to ~35 kHz, and even higher at the expense of PWM resolution - but why?
I was just curious why the lumodrv have 8kHz PWM, when several of your other drivers have 19. Higher seem to generally decrease the chance of audible and visible PWM.
- it has a plastic reflector even though they advertise it with an aluminium one.
- it comes with no clip which they advertise
it has a lens defect on the glass as shown in image below.
Good news is there are clones the do not have the lens defect, have an aluminium reflector and are cheaper. Aluminium reflector confirmed on Aleto version by ebayer Aletocn , Ultrafire version also has an aluminium reflector as confirmed by BLF user djozz .
The Small Sun ZY-T11 charges protected 18650 fine from an old old 3.5mm ended Nokia charger (5.3V). My Aleto came with a 4.2V+–0.5V @500mA Chinese charger.
Best to avoid any Ultrafire/Trustfire or other Chinese 18650 and grab Japanese Sanyo/Panasonic or Korea Samsung protected cells. They cost a few $$ more but have shown to have far longer runtimes. Not worth getting an inferior product for the critical engine that runs the flashlight. Eg:
Added a $2.83 DX diffuser to my Small Sun ZY-T11 used for night time bike riding. It was added in front of the flat glass with the negative being the head doesn’t screw on fully (out by 0.05mm - not much). Am considering removing the flat glass lens and placing a fatter o-ring between the diffuser and the reflector to to let the head screw on fully. See gallery images below of the result.
The diffuser serves two purposes:
1. spreads the light horizontally where it’s needed and narrows it vertically where it’s not. Works great.
2. gives a side protruding dome so can be seen at right angles. This is rather important as gives a lot more visibility to drivers on the side. Concern being I’d be T-bone from the side due to the default lens configuration having little visibility at such angles.
OK, received a Aleto Small Sun ZY-T11 clone today. It came in a unlabelled white box so have I can only refer to it as the Aleto below. A 4.2V+–0.5V 3.5mm charger @ 500mA was supplied with it. A few observations comparing it to my DX Small Sun ZY-T11:
BUILD
Aleto is better built: has lubed o-rings, no glass defect, a aluminium reflector and a lens that’s properly mounted to the front cap. The tailcap battery spring also look s bit sturdier though real makes no difference.
Winner: Aleto
COSMETICS
They are nearly the same. Only difference is the branding label and the front/tail cap line engravings are slightly closer spaced on the Aleto. NOTE: the lenscaps are not interchangable due to differing thread pitch. However, the tailcaps can be interchanged.
Winner: draw
DRIVER CIRCUIT
The driver circuits are different. The UI is the same (high-med-low-strobe-SOS) and both have instant off via a half tailcap turn. ZY-T11 driver board has no labels on it whereas the Aleto has “Cree XML” stamped on it. Both giving approx equal brightness in all modes.
The important differences being the ZY-T11 has a slightly more distinct cool white emitter. The Aleto too is a cool white but it has a tinge more green it it making it slightly less distinct. In addition the Aleto has a slightly slower strobe/SOS mode though neither’s strobe would pass as being epileptic friendly. For my cycling I can only safely use the SOS flashing mode where the faster ZY-T11 is safer.
Winner: ZY-T11
CONCLUSION
For cycling purposes where visibility is of highest importance, I’d recommend the Small Sun ZY-T11 over the Aleto clone due to the faster SOS mode and the slightly “cooler” white emitter.
As for the Ultrafire version, I can see in an advertising image here that it too has the Cree stamping on the driver board. That along with it having the same tailcap spring and closer spaced engraving lines on the head/tailcap suggests to me it’s may simply the same Aleto internals with a different branding (Ultrafire instead of Aleto).
I had a small sun T11 and if I remember correctly it has visible PWM on all modes, including high (just to verify). I gave it away. Looks like adding that driver goes a long way to making it nicer.
- has “Cree XML” stamped on the LED board like my (now offloaded) Aleto clone. My DX one has no stampings.
- has a cool white LED that’s a fraction warmer, like my Aleto clone
includes a 4.2V@500ma DC charger + universal socket adapter
I find the following to be the same:
- unfortunately still has a plastic rather than aluminium reflector
- same SOS mode flash intervals that are faster (safer) than the Aleto clone
same body/chassis
and still the following negatives compared to the Aleto clone:
- has a plastic rather than aluminium reflector
the lens is not glued down. Undoing the top lens cap sees it tumble from the assembly.
So the only incentive to still get the genuine Small Sun ZY-T11 if using for cycling is for the faster and safer SOS flashing mode. Though if intend to mod in a DrJones driver to get programmable flashing then that’s not relevant. Then it makes more sense to get the better built Aleto clone since it has an aluminium reflector that is a few dollars cheaper too.