ThorFire C8s UK need review! 20 people needed![UK Only]

Mine turned up and I’m quite impressed. The machining is good, the reflector perfect and the finish is flawless. The switch is quite recessed maybe excessively so, but it will stand on the tail end. I like the way that the modes are organised, you simply cycle through the different levels and there is no SOS mode. There is a strobe mode which isn’t in the normal sequence but you can get to it from any of the modes (once you’ve read the manual)!

The only thing I can critique (so far) is over zealous lubrication of the threads meant some grease escaped and got onto the anodizing and I had to wipe it off!

In the daylight it looks bright but I need some darkness so I can test it more thoroughly :slight_smile:

[Edit]

I’ve tried it in the dark and it is bright, brighter in fact than my BLF D80 (my BLF D80 was running on a unprotected LiFePO4 cell and 3.0V isn’t enough volts, it’ll be brighter when the unprotected cells I have on order turn up). The beam is as you’d expect, hotspot and flood with no nasty rings.

Are you sure the bezel holding the glass and reflector in place is fully screwed down, it only has to be undone half a turn and they will rattle.

I agree that the switch is is a bit deep. Could do with a slot for your thumb.

Do these take flat top or button top 18650’s

Paul

It takes both

I think it is the same. The round plastic part that is normally on the board has come away, and is attached to the reflector instead. I think in your case it is attached to the board, but is the same as mine.

It looks like they have you covered. C8s upgraded version

Latest upgraded C8s will be released soon. The difference is “U” tail cap, and the inside is upgraded too.

I see you removed the pictures from Amazon. Probably a good thing considering it said not yet available.
Can you explain a little about the changes inside. I think you have a winner with the new tailcap.

Will do giveaway when it’s available, people do a great review have better chance to win.

I absolutely adore this flashlight. I ended up doing quite a lengthy written review on Amazon UK. I plan on doing a video review when I receive my new laptop in a couple weeks.

I think Thorfire/Doeracil are being naughty. I received this email from Doeracil:

“VG15 Waterproof Flashlight Free sample link here:”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013DZTG4E”
“Could you plz make a nice review with video?”

So I replied saying I’d be happy to write a review if they sent a sample code, but it’d have pictures not video. They then sent this:

“Could you plz make a pictures review with 5stars?”
“Can you send me your review link of VG15 afer you finish it?”

I replied saying I’d do an honest review if they sent a code. I have not received a code. It sounds like they wanted me to first agree to writing a 5star review. I can’t see how this is a language issue.

My message to them is that they should not do this. I wrote a C8s review and gave it 5 stars because it deserved 5 stars, it was an honest review, and I’d have given it 1 star if I thought it deserved 1 star. :slight_smile: Has anyone else had this experience? It does damage confidence in other reviews, sadly.

I received the same email about the VG15. I do not have the time to do a video review so I declined.
That is naughty if they are expecting 5 star reviews as a matter of course.

Edit: I didn’t notice my C8 is a different model then is being offered as was pointed out to me, my apologies, carry on.

I have got one of the previous models of the Thorfire C8 and I see all of the tailcap readings you guys are getting with this new version seems to be a little on the low side?

Are most of you or all of you using the stock leads on your multimeters? Do any of you have heavier gauge (12awg or even 10awg a maximum of 12 inches long)?

I think you should be getting a minimum of 2.5 at the tail, (provided they haven’t changed something on the driver), this is just my opinion though. I got 2.78 with a protected Panasonic 2900mAh and would be even higher with a unprotected or high drain battery. I have modded mine now so any readings now would not reflect the stock driver.

Link to my video review if any of you are interested……….

Teardown starts at 4:11 Beamshots at 5:54 and shining around outside starts at 6:48

Your review is of the “C8” 3/5 mode. The “C8s” 4 mode model has a completely different driver. Nice review btw.

Ah ok I didn’t notice it was s different model , my bad.

And thanks for the complement on review.

This model seems to have a different driver, the modes are different and it has a hidden strobe, plus the reflector is aluminium now.

Ok, I just got back home yesterday and picked up the C8s and the bike light from the post office, so this is a quick first look.

First impression: Very nice quality. Great fit. The matte anodising looks a little dry and easy to scuff, but this is deceptive. With a little handling it smooths and becomes a very nice finish. I suppose if you like things shinier you could use e.g. a hard car wax on it. It passes my “scratch” test, it is definitely hard.

After successfully checking it out with a battery for a few minutes, I had to take it apart.

Which was very easy, nothing over tightened, no thread lock used.

The business end:

Faultless. Perfectly clean. Perfect reflector surface. Perfect LED centering ring (white) which sits flush with the LED die, no masking. Big hole should accommodate almost any size LED.

The bezel:


O-ring to seal against glass, and another one for the thread. Scalloped for safety, not an “attack” bezel, no worries about e.g. airport security. Now if it was made of stainless steel for durability, it would be perfect, but not so “stealth”.

The glass:

Plain (no AR), ground edge, no chips, 2mm thick. Optically clear, no visible tint (e.g. greenness).

The LED assembly:

Looks like an aluminium star, secured with screws, Can’t quite see the thermal paste, but I’m sure it is under there. Not familiar enough with DTP construction to guess whether this is or not. 20mm diameter, but room for something bigger. Pill is a separate piece inserted in the head. Looks like it could unscrew backwards, but I bottled out after firm hand pressure didn’t shift it. I’ll try again once I’ve made a tool to engage the screw holes. It may however be pressed in. Neat soldering.

The reflector:


Flawless. No hint of waviness to the surface. Big hole to accommodate larger LEDs.

The driver:


Securing ring unscrewed easily, standard thread. 17mm diameter. Beefy inductor. Plenty of room inside the cavity. Neat soldering, good shiny appearance, clean, gold plated. Concerned about proximity of red LED wire to edge, potential for short. Spring has three turns of 0.6mm wire. Lightly attracts a magnet, definitely not steel (good). Same spring used at tail.

The tube:


Beautiful square threads, lightly greased. Anodised at tail for lockout and durability. OAL 70.6 mm ID 19.1mm. Battery fit: well the tube is 70.6mm long, but the springs bind up slightly before then. The longest I have tried is 69.3 mm long, and it fitted just fine. Well fitting O rings, two spares also provided.

The tailcap:




Lovely internal thread, anodised. Locks out. Just enough tolerance to avoid jamming if some grit etc. gets in. Tube contacts tailcap metal, securing ring not touched. Securing ring has left hand thread (good) and was firmly but not over tightened. Switch PCB nicely done, plenty of vias to transfer current. Decent soldering. Un-named switch, nice lead design allowing heat sink clamp to avoid damage when de/re soldering. Big rubber boot with moulded pip to reinforce switch area. 16.5 mm dia. Aluminium washer to ensure solid clamping to avoid leaks. Looks like a good candidate for illumination. Excellent tactile feel. I like the shrouded design, I’ve had trouble with e.g. my BLF A6 going on in my pocket.

The lanyard is a bit rubbish. This is the one thing I would like to see improved. And a belt pouch would be nice.

Now to performance:

First impressions very very good. Excellent cool white tint. My BLF D80SE is in bits at the moment, so I can’t do a direct comparison. But I suspect it will look even more like the dog’s breakfast that it turned out to be,

No visible PWM, and I have tried hard to see any. Nor does my camera see any. Nor does the T-coil on my hearing aids pick up any EMI.

Nicely spaced modes, and lowest is very usable. Not “moonlight”, its similar to the second level of the BLF A6SE. Mode memory works well, time constant is about five seconds. I’ll put it in the freezer later to see how stable this is. Mode changes have a slight but noticeable delay.

Quick and dirty tailcap measurement (standard DMM leads, 18AWG, 2m total length)

Efest purple 2500 mAh 35A

lowest 9.4 mA
low 84.5 mA
medium 660 mA
high 2.50 Amps.

So far so good.

BUT this light is specced to run from 2xCR123 i.e. 6 volts.

So being adventurous I tried it with 2x18350, which fit nicely. And nothing has blown up (yet).

Sibeile 18350 700mAh 10A.

lowest 15.6 mA
low 145 mA
medium 650 mA
high 1.27 Amps.

Now consider that these currents are at double the voltage, you can see that all the lower modes are much brighter, but full power is almost unchanged. Which I find interesting.

Summary: this is a really good torch, at a great price (remember we have 20% VAT here), Fulfilled by Amazon , with all the confidence that inspires. Perfect for modding, especially if I can figure out how the pill is fitted. It will be getting five stars when I pen my review.

Thank you Mandy, and Doeracil.

Update:

Low voltage protection warning kicked in at 3.35 V when the torch started blinking. But you can then re-cycle back to turbo (or any of the other modes) and run the battery down to 3.24 V before it starts blinking again. And you can eke it out for a while longer by using lower power modes to reduce battery droop. Nicely done.

Better leads on the cheap multimeter. 20cm total of fat loudspeaker cable, chunky gold plated banana plugs. 2.66A with 42 mV drop across the multimeter i.e. the multimeter shunt resistance is 16 milliohms. This is probably as good as it gets.

Run on turbo, fresh cell, tailstanding, maximum temperature at the finned part of the body stabilised at 25C over ambient. IR thermometer. This is a very cool running torch.

Update2:

The mode memory is interesting. If you enter the (hidden) strobe, with a double-tap, it remembers it. Turn it off, then on again, straight into strobe. Then the next tap jumps you back to the last remembered standard setting. Which could have been e.g. lowest, or turbo, or whatever. How cool is that ?

Update 3:

Curiosity got the better of me. Just a little more force, with long nose pliers against the screws, and the pill unscrewed easily out of the front.

Its very nice, a lot of thermal contact with the head due to the long length of deeply square cut threads.

If spare pills become available (preferably copper :stuck_out_tongue: ) I can see this being THE modder’s C8.

Rather than post my own pics, I refer you to the thread by Flashlion at Thorfire C8s Review(one of the HQ C8 lights)900Lm Max output + New pictures of the pill(Removable), whose pictures are far better than mine :bigsmile:

Yeah the new u shaped tail cap looks good

Perhaps you got an older version ?

On mine the pill is immovable and fitted from behind, so the shelf will always be correctly aligned inside the head.

If you had the old standard C8 pill design, screwing in from the front, then tightening it up could have loosened the reflector fit. If so, you could shim it out. On mine, everything is snug. Not possible to assemble it incorrectly.

If you look at this review, Thorfire C8s review and teardown dated Wed, 07/15/2015 it is a completely different torch to mine.

Almost everything has changed. The reflector (his has two distinct grooves machined into it), the pill (completely different, and the thermal compound shows that it was not exactly flat, nor conducting the heat properly), the head is redesigned for the new rear-fitting pill, the driver PCB is quite different, the driver mode order (it now ramps up, not down), the springs, the tail switch PCB, the switch itself and the spacer for the tailcap rubber. Even the weight (mine is 151 grams).

Every difference from mine suggests attention to detail, and continuous improvement.

That’s why I am so keen to see the next version. I wonder what they could have further improved ?

Update: I was wrong about the pill, it does unscrew out of the front. I’ve updated my original post.