Trustfire Mini 01 clones

yours is probably the best in that you wont kill it with a 4.2v li-ion.
anymore i wont even look at anything i cant use a common rechargeable in.
how good is the thermal path from led to body?

Wait… are we saying the TF Mini01 will burn out if run on 16340? I have two on the way, with that intention.

Got one of the Aletos too, runs OK on CR123, and very good for a walking to the car type light.

if it has a boost converter yes.
the resistor type probably relies on low vf led to run cr123 .

Thanks for the heads up. I think frying them might annoy me slightly. How would I know which I have? They both list CR123 and 16340 as options, but both also state working voltage is 0.8 - 3.6v. One from FT, one from Kaidomain. The KD one was $5 dearer.

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1264800

http://www.kaidomain.com/Product/Details.S020250

Are we talking about different lights in this thread? The ones I got were the “Aleto” ones from Ebay, e.g.:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251423101638?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&\_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I got that silver one and a blue one, and they both work fine with 16340 batteries. Modes are L-M-Strobe, and the modes work with 16340 also.

The thermal path of the SS-508 is not as bad as in some cheap lights. It is the hollowest pill I have seen, just a threaded ring notched to fit the star, but it fits the star and the body both snugly so heat can get out. I suspect it would not be over-driven with a 16340 cell. If it were, one could replace the two surface mount resistors.
For unprotected Li ions, it seems important not to have a boost driver. With CR123as, the boost would allow using the battery till it is discharged more, but would decrease the efficiency.

Just received my three SS-508 from banggood. Color is nice, but they all have defects. Scratched and one has even some red dots. It was well packed in bubbles and tape to prevent movement so it’s not from shipping. Probably factory rejects, not ideal to gift/resale.

Very bright with li-ions for XP-E, measured 0,35 A with Lifepo and 0.75 A with Li-ion at 3,7V. One mode, direct Drive, no boost.

What size driver is it? 15mm?

have you seen my 5*7135 15mm SK68 driver?

I have also redesigned Mattaus’ BLF15DD as well
It’s one sided now
Link to the OSHPark thread

I have a few of those mini-01 Trustfire boost drivers (marked TF) in my lights (actually blf-versions of them, but only the firmware is different) and they run fine on li-ions, with the boost circuitry still working after having used li-ions (works ok on NiMh as well btw).

Thanks. I have two TF Minis and the one Aleto

As an aside, the Aleto is not completely traffic proof. It fell out of my sons pocket when skateboarding, was run over god knows how many times breaking keys and the light. Still held its shape, mostly, but cant be opened and will not light. He did not notice it fall out, but when heading home retracing steps looking for them, he found the light and some broken keys.

RIP.

Not many flashlights are supposed to survive that, but in fact the SS mini-01 probably will :-)

BLF boost driver? Please do tell! :slight_smile: (seriously…we really need a BLF 15 or 17mm boost driver for AA)

Ok, not an blf-original, but blf-modified firmware. Once upon a time there was Rey, a I believe Singapore based seller who had connections with the Trustfire company. He arranged a group buy of Trustfire mini-01 lights with neutral emitter and customised firmware: higher pwm (~1000Hz instead of couple of hundred), no disco, 2%low, 25%med, 100%high, always start on low (same as now, it took ages to decide on the modes). I think many are still happy with the light that came out of that GB. Sad enough for me I never received the package. Separately I did buy four of those drivers from Rey, and still find them useful, they boost ok from 1.2V and better from 3V, and go direct drive on li-ions (2+ amps on xml from a 16340 was very good).

It would be awesome to make a blf boost driver from scratch, the challenge will be more than 1 led-amp from a NiMh

My SS-508 does not do as well on a low CR123a as my direct drive XM-L does. Perhaps that is the higher forward voltage of the XP-E.

When I compare the weight of the Aleto to the TF, I would not be surprised if its the light that mutated roaches will fight over after WW3. Im not sure how much the battery helped the light weight Aleto hold shapeish but I assume the sweet smell is the lithium. I was going to use vice grips and a rag to try open it but I dont want to damage the ano :stuck_out_tongue: .

The SMILING SHARK SS-508 was mentioned in the Deal Alert thread for a price higher than what I paid for it. I mention that here in order to conform to the no discussion rule there.
It seems to me that it is not really a deal, not only because I paid less, but because if I had really wanted to use it I would have preferred one of the other aluminum clones.

Yeah, I wasn’t sure if it was a deal or not. The one you linked to is out of stock, and I couldn’t see mention of how much postage costs and it appears they don’t accept paypal. How much was postage?

I haven’t purchased one yet, I thought for $3.39 it might be a good place to start as my first 16340 light, which clone would you recommend at a similar price, from a dealer who accepts paypal?

I do not think there is a price as good as that one. Banggood has THIS one here, but it costs almost double… Still a good price…

I just got in one from TomTop on Ebay, nice little lights and I already filed down an optic to fit it for a triple… It is about 18mm wide. I will have to figure out the distance/spacer and driver I am going to be using. More than likely I will go with the real warm Nichia 219A’s I got in from Fasttech. 2.1A would drive each LED at 700ma, plenty of light, cool enough to handle…

EDIT: Banggood has the smiling shark version for $4… HERE

Or $3.39 with the code 36bgc8 :wink:

Though Smiling Shark is my favorite flashlight brand, I wasn’t impressed by my SS 01 clone. I like my stainless steel TrustFire Mini 01 better.
For my hiking day pack I do need an aluminum CR123a light though.