Flashlight arrived today - nice tint but unfortunately only one mode.
I tighten it all the way and it’s not enough to engage the micro switch in the head
I have a CooYoo quantum and the audible click when going to high is something you can’t miss.
I tried to swap heads and bodies but the titanium of the CooYoo won’t match with the stainless of the Astrolux.
They both share loose threads and flickering behavior when turning on - you need to turn quite a bit to get stable output.
You also need to turn back more than “common” to make sure it’s not turning on in the pocket.
I first tried the cree version and it was really hard to select the low mode without flickering. Also the o-ring was really sticky so turning wasn’t easy. After lubing the o-ring the mode selection worked much better.
The nichia version had much rattle because the pill was loose. After tightening it and lubing the o-ring it was still pretty flickery. But this was because the clicky pad wasn’t soldered flat to the pcb. There was some space between.
After fixing this I’m satisfied with both.
As expected the nichia is a bit dimmer. Even tough I’m not a cool white fan, I have to say I like it more than neutral/warm white in 10180 lights.
Edit: I will receive one of each kind again probably tomorrow. Let’s see what I have to fix there
Great, You’ll be happy.
Keep in mind, I’m not trying to knock the Astrolux, but it appears a couple people , including myself, have had to resolder the switch plate.
Also, a few people have also said they had to tighten the pill in the head on their units.
These items lend to the theory of poor quality control.
I have messed around a lot with my Astrolux lights and am still very unhappy with the looseness in the head that is part of the reason for the
way it acts so finicky trying to get into the low mode.
I also believe the switch plate is not as “strong” as the other brand lights and thus has less leeway between modes.
Those that don’t have other 10180 lights to compare too probably don’t notice the difference, but it is definitely there.
I got mine yesterday - whilst it does have a little play in the twist switching it isn’t enough to concern me. Thankfully it won’t need any tinkering to get it working like some people’s have. Because I wouldn’t have a clue….
Anyway, I’m not going to corrode/tarnish it like I did with my copper A01 (though I’ve seen some lovely acid-etching on the knife topic posts over the last few days - hmmm, could look goooood), but I will knock up a little suede and SS bead lanyard for it a bit later. I’ll stick up some pics once I’ve done it.
Thanks for the video. Gotta say I’m rather disappointed to see how basic the LED driving circuitry is… actually no driver at all, just a resistor for each level. I guess this explains how this light sells for so much less than similar lights like CooYoo but certainly not the best from an efficiency point of view.
You’re right! I took apart my Black Water Kite.al again and it does indeed look like on your picture. I just didn’t remenber it like that. I’ll do a runtime comparison…
Well the mailman came through so I am now the proud owner of an Astrolux M01 with a nichia emitter. I am very happy with this light, it is my first 10180 powered light. I don’t find the threads to be loose as some have reported. The only negative I can report is you have to turn the light much further than I am used to with a twisty to turn it all the way off. It is flickery on low if you don’t turn it on far enough, but once you get used to that it works just fine. Charging with the built in charging port works great. As others have commented, the lens may get scratched in my pocket attached to my keys as the bevel is only raised very slightly. My overall impression is that this is a great light I am happy to have on my key chain!
