BLF Kronos X6/X5 GB - Group Buy now closed.

frank there are also some bad divers on some bedrooms hahahaha

I suppose you’re right about that. :bigsmile:

My SS/CU Combo is stated as "The item is pre-advised" since 2016-01-27 (!!) 05:52;
hopefully they repacked the box for safer shipping without dancing flashlights inside!!

Hmm. That’s odd. I’ll have to play with it some more when I get home tonight.

Not for nothing, if I post: “‘Yabba dabba do,’ Fred Flintstone said that,” I’m quoting Fred Flintstone. OTOH if I post: “Consider Shakespeare’s quip in The Merchant of Venice, 1.3.96,” I’m citing a line from a work of William Shakespeare. Either way, I am still trolling a troll who littered the thread with my own litter as an obvious demonstration, but that’s just my opinion. Drive safe, folks!

But it’s not a company. It’s a community. People on BLF have been gradually developing hosts and drivers and firmware and tribal knowledge for years, figuring out better and better ways to move photons, and it’d be rude for one small group to take credit for all that. There are so many contributors that I can’t even remember who they all are.

So the prices are set to have as little margin as possible. Suggestions are solicited and often implemented. The code and circuit designs are open. Participation is encouraged. Nothing is glued shut.

This isn’t about companies and customers. It’s a community. So don’t be just a customer, be a maker — do your own thing and share it.

Hey, that´s is my SN :wink:

My wife just sent me some photos of #153. Box damaged, lights damaged. I could cry ….

Several people is talking about how bad there is if somebody sells their light with profit. But just take a look at the list. Some on the list has up to 9 sets, and do you really think they are keeping 9 sets for them self? What would one person need 9 sets for?
So of course, they are buying them to sell them after the GB, maybe in a store, maybe online, but they are going to sell them.

That’s life, somebody will always try to make a buck or two out of limit sets etc.

Mine also the same date.

Will the led in the tailcap keep draining the battery even if the light itself has shut off due to low voltage? Just drained a 14500 and when I clicked the button, the led at the button switched on.

Yes, the tailcap led doesn’t run through the mcu like the main emitter does, so there’s no low voltage protection for the tailcap led (except its own Vf I suppose, but that probably won’t do much to help you). It would take months for the tailcap led by itself to drain a battery to dangerous levels, but an already depleted cell shouldn’t be left in these lights.

Good to know. The depleted cell showed 2.81V on my DMM, so there isn't much room left.

Actually, because blue leds are chosen for the lighted tailcap, you need well over 2V to get them lighted at all (and thus draw current). I do not know at which exact voltage, but my guess is that with the battery at around 2.5V the leds will not light anymore and further battery drains stops. Perhaps someone can check?, I do not have the lights in yet.

Have the lights here now. The damages are only slightly visible. The photos looked much worse than it looks in real life. There was much black “dirt” from the inside of the box on the lights. Could clean most of it easily. The X6 is in perfect condition. The X5 has some minor scratches on the bezel. I can live with that.

Thanks to the Team!

I think most of the photos we’ve seen of damage would be the same story in real life. Mine isn’t perfect either if I really look for it, but its not a problem for me because the marks are so minor. Mine had black “dirt” too, which comes from the foam in the box being eroded by the lights shifting and bouncing around during shipping. So do most of the tiny marks, I bet. I’m sure the marks on my X5 tailcap came from striking the knurling on the X6 during shipping. Both of those issues, the eroded foam and the minor marks, could be solved by better packaging. The first reports of damage were quickly blamed on Manker, and some of the marks could be from their handling during production, but I’d bet that easily 90% of the marks on my lights came from shipping. We could probably test that theory. I wonder how many of the unboxed sets, SN between 251-400, have the same marked up X5 tailcaps some of the rest of us are reporting?

I hope the team leaders don’t take this post as a complaint. It isn’t meant that way and anybody can read back through my comments of the past few days and see me defending these lights and this team over and over. So I’m not trying to stir something up, but I do think that Banggood could learn a bit about properly protecting and handling items like this and I hope we can help them do it. For instance, they’ve obviously got tons of that white foam sheeting there they use for wrapping boxes. Just a thought, but one piece inside the box could have probably saved a lot of minor issues. This set of lights is awesome and I’ve got no real complaints, but maybe the next lights they sell me can be even more awesome.

I removed the coating pretty easily with metal polish. Now the copper in both lights looks more like that “penny” orange, and is pretty reflective. If people thought they were shiny now, just wait till you give them a nice polish. They look fantastic. The polish I used claimed that it left an “anti-tarnish” coating, so I’ll see how long it takes for the copper to oxidize. I’m skeptical of that claim though.

emarkd, theories proven are no longer theories, is this not correct? A bump is a bump, the X5 loose in the box can indeed bump the X6, but to get a deep knurling impression takes some pressure. If you were to try and duplicate the deep knurling diamond that is embedded in a lot of the cu components, you’d see it takes a fairly good blow to get it set that deep. Sure, in shipment sometimes they really throw things around, I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but it’d be more random.

I have samples, and I have production units. I have these marks in virtually all my copper parts. Even on the end of the bezel, where it could not possibly have contacted the X6 while in the box. :wink:

Hi,

the lights are awesome and i am very happy with them. I was very surprised of its weight.

But i am german and i like precision :wink: There are some little things that could have been made better at the machines. Take a look into the battery tube for example and perhaps you can see it is bored off center. I already heard that from A6 owners. But that is nothing that could reduce my love for both lights.

Regards

Kenjii

Picked my SS/Cu box-sets today and I have to say when the clerk handed me the packages, I thought I had ordered rocks or something…

After getting home and opening the packages, OH MY GOD! :heart_eyes:
Some serious chuncks of metal there! :open_mouth:

Since all the complaints here about the condition of lights received, I decided I will inspect them really-really carefully and here are my results:

Set 102/400 1A
-lights were a bit out of place, when opened
–2 corners of the box slightly dented, small piece of lacquer missing
-X5, very minor dents and couple tiny scratches, otherwise perfect
-X6, some “extra” knurling on the shiny stainless part between copper and bezel-knurling, otherwise in perfect condition

Set 210/400 3B
-lights were as supposed to when opened
–1 lower corner of the box slightly dented, otherwise perfect
-X5, in perfect condition, not really even a scratch!
-X6, 2 very minor dents on the copper part, otherwise perfect

So after a much-much more picky inspection than usual, I have to say I am MORE than HAPPY with the sets I received. Especially considering the price, they are simply AMAZING PIECES!
For those still waiting for their lights, be patient, it is worth it!
And for those not so fortunate ones, I hope you get the issues you have sorted in a way all can live with…

And once more for all parties making this GB happen, THANK YOU! YOU REALLY DID IT!

Ok I got mine after having a fight and a claim at DHL. These babies made it thru China to Budapest in a day and I had to wait another three to get them from inland, what kind of service are they providing here, jesus… Anyways, Nr 55 matching SNs with box. Packaging was ok but due to the softness of the box material it was still not enogh, my box was damaged on two sides and the coating came off also in 1 or 2 mm next to the engraving. But who cares, let’s see inside. The foam inside is cheap and ugly, protects nothing instead it covers the lights with black dust. Ugly.
Flashlights were sitting in their places, no dancing no damage here. Both lights were damn dirty, it took me half an hour to clean the oily stuff but man, I am in love. UI, well only superlatives, easy and intuitive, could not ask for better. Very nice lights, especially love the bicolor X6. The CU part of it or at least the dip has some micro scratches, the SS part is flawless. Real beauty. But the LED is not centered, actually is about 0.5 mm off where is should sit, I am pretty upset as it also affects the beam pattern. Tried to adjust the star but it’s the LED actually that is mounted this way onto the mcpcb, so it’s a shame on Manker.
X5, nice little light indeed, comfortable to hold, good beam, at least this one has perfect centering, some marks on the cap and bezel that are minor. With a 0.001 usd nylon bag BG could have saved some of these 100 USD babies…

As you see mixed feelings, especially because of the off center LED, but overall a nice idea mixed with huge amount of work and stress for the organizers that I respect from the bottom of my heart and huge amounts of thanks to all who participated and made it reality. I think it’s a job well done taking into consideration this is not something regular production where you can improve processes over time but a one shot and this shot really hit me :wink: