Review: BLF-348 (SingFire SF-348) Nichia Special Edition Flashlight (Runtimes, Output, Etc)

Thanks for the great video. I really wasn’t thinking I needed one of these. I think you helped change my mind.
Oh yeah, that copper tool looks sweet! I’ll Check out that video next. 8)

I'm learning something here. Thanks.

Is the thermal fold-back a self-defense mechanism of the 7135 chip? Is the chip protecting itself from damage? That would be good thing. But how late in the process does the protection kick in? By the time it gets that hot, are other driver or emitter components at risk?

With a stainless steel host, the problem is that once it gets hot it stays hot. It takes a significant amount of time for one to cool down.

I will be reading this thread to learn more. For the time being, however, I will stick with my original decision. The fact of the flicker tells you the BLF 348 runs too hot on Li-ion. It's nice to know that at least the 7135 is trying to protect itself, but that does not make a flickering light any more useful.

As always, the user plays a big part in this. For those in need of brighter output for limited periods of time, there should be no issue with Li-ion. Just remember to turn off your light if you feel it is overheating. For me, that would mean before it starts flickering.

It’s not a flicker. It’s a steady ramping up and down its something you may not notice while you’re using it. Personally, yes the light is kind of small for this sort of heat. I’d use a larger light for prolonged on/off times. But since this is a pocketable EDC light, it’s great for uses ranging a few seconds to a minute or two. I’m more inclined to use an eneloop in the light anyway. I think 40ish lumens in a tiny EDC is more than enough… If I need 170 lumens or more I usually carry a bigger light, with a bigger cell. But this tends to be one of those places that likes to push the limits of what lights should do.

Me, too.

A multi-mode version of this flashlight would be more suited for Li-ion. With lower modes available, you could just change modes when high got too hot.

Yep. But look at the Noctigon Meteor. No light that size can handle 4000-8000 lumens for more than a few minutes. It has thermal regulation built in, because it has to, to protect the light from damaging itself. I don’t know how advanced the 7135 thermal regulation is, but it’s temperature controlled… And I the meteor also gets just as hot to hold too. I also own other lights that get just as hot too handle too. The 348 though is still very holdable even after 10 minutes. But yeah… Less heat equals a longer life to the internal components.

Can you sum up the results for those of us who are text-based?

Here is the basic data KeepingItLight formatted from the video.

BLF-348 – Measurements by MHanlen

Battery

Lumens

Candela

Distance

Runtime

Eneloop AAA

48

193

27

1 hour

Efest IMR10440

176

744

54

27 minutes

Is that what you’re looking for? If you’re curious about anything else just ask.

How so?

Edit: Oops… It is. It should be multiplied by 2. Good catch, I’ll annotate the video. I skipped the final step when doing calculations.

Funny that no one notice its the wrong battery format in the table.

I love this little light! But I’m a little disappointed about the CRI. Not much difference with regular CREE 3D tint, only slightly better but close.
By the way someone know the best place to get the best 10440 battery?

I think the efest 10440 is the best regarded 10440. I think. I don’t know if any international stores carry it. Mountain electronics ships certain things overseas, but I don’t know if Liion cells are included.

Fixed the table. I’ve been viewing this on my phone and never looked close at it. I’m a bonehead.

Too many tables now…deleted my comment above for clarity :slight_smile:

Watched it. Good review :slight_smile: There is a mistake though when you point out using eneloops vs lithium stating that lithiums run brighter and longer (if i heard correctly :P)
Anyways, that is really nitpicking as the runtime test you did shows what to expect of the light. When will the dual emitter BLF UV light review be out? :D!

You did hear correctly. I wrote the script days before I did the testing, and while thats true in some lights- its not true in this one. But the testing and my voice over during the runtime section was accurate. When I watched it before I uploaded it, I didn’t catch that. You’re right, it is contradictory. Oops! I added an annotation to explain that better.

I just have to chime in and say that none of the drivers in BLF-348s that I have taken apart included a 7135. All were a normal boost driver.

Ok then, do you know what chips ARE on the driver? It looks like 7135s to me, from the photos in this thread I can’t make out the numbers on the chips. The wording in that post lead me to believe that it uses 7135s. Then there’s the post #1174 in the BLF-348 thread where I was told 7135s employ thermal regulation…

The main thing is… the light appears to be thermally regulated on a li-ion battery. Do you agree? I was making an educated guess as to what was causing the brightness fluctuation. It LOOKS like thermal regulation. I have run this light several times with a 10440 for 10-30 minutes and it operated just fine.

Ah that could definitely cause some confusion. He was attempting to mod the driver by adding a 7135. But you are correct on all points. I’ll take a look to see if I can find which boost ic the driver uses.

I’ve been curious as to the fluctuations as well, although mine do it on alkalines and eneloops.

edit
Here is a photo of the driver. I haven’t been able to identify the crucial part in the middle that appears to be marked “J2NL” which is the boost converter, presumably similar to the “CFC2S” found on the nanjg 110

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/34918?page=17#comment-853953

Looking at that datasheet, it seems the PAM2803 does have a temperature regulation. So if that’s the chip used then it explains the behavior of the light. So I guess it doesn’t use a 7135 but another similar looking chip with built in thermal regulation. Does that sound like an accurate statement?

I certainly can’t argue haha. Honestly I didn’t take the time to read the data sheet. I got too focused on finding the exact product. Though our part is a 6 pin it does appear to be close in size to a 7135.

I have modded one with some stacked 10k resistors in place of the R50 and while output has dropped to my desired level I’m led to believe I’ve caused it to run out of spec. It will randomly jump to full (unmodified) brightness and stay for periods of time.

Has it improved your runtime?

I think it has. My daughter has been running around with it turned on for 5-15 minutes at a time for the past 3 days on a single eneloop. It’s been over an hour cumulatively and still going.