Well that sounds to me like a good quality plastic reflector - one that's very hard to tell it's plastic.  I don't mind plastic reflectors when their decent quality.

-Garry

No, viffer's one is definitely aluminium. There are two variants here.

What I'm trying to establish is whether DX is selling out aluminium and Manafont using plastic, OR whether it's just lottery luck no matter where you order.

It would help members to choose where they will purchase which variant. I'd go with alu anytime, maybe they're the same reflecting quality but there's a big difference in heatsinking. 

If I remember, I believe viffer got his from Manafont and so did BetweenRides (who has plastic as stated above) and myself (not yet determined plastic or aluminum).

-Garry

Mine came from manafont and is plastic, good quality plastic, but plastic none the less.

I think we’re on the second manufacturing batch as we all seem to be picking up assembly issues that are not apparent in olds review example.

I also wouldn’t worry about heat sinking, that’s covered with the pill size and connection to the head.

garrybunk wrote:

If I remember, I believe viffer got his from Manafont and so did BetweenRides (who has plastic as stated above) and myself (not yet determined plastic or aluminum).

-Garry

Both the Small Sun ZY-T13 and ZY-T16 have aluminium reflector in the desscription but the ZY-T08 description does not state whether it's aluminium or plastic on the Manafont website

DX specifically put "aluminium smooth reflector" in the description. Manafont does not mention the type. 

Hopefully with some more input we can establish the baseline.

So, please help out, who bought from where and got what type reflector?

gords1001 wrote:

I also wouldn't worry about heat sinking, that's covered with the pill size and connection to the head.

Yeah, true, but it's a plus nevertheless. I've got noticeably slower heat sags on my aluminium-reflector lights compared to plastic ones.

I don't remember hearing from anyone who bought it from DX, but I bet there is someone (or a few).

Maybe gords just needs to order another one or two and see what he gets.   He likes to order lots of lights.

-Garry

Quote:

Maybe goords just needs to order another one or two and see what he gets. He likes to order lots of lights.

Cough splutter what? I can hide one zy-t08, three or four might get me a right good kick in the nuts! :*

I see you quoted me before I got your name edited - sorry about that!  I fixed it now.  (It was that darn "multiple posts within 1 minute" issue and I got distracted.)

-Garry

No worries Gary I know who you were stitching up meant. :bigsmile:

BetweenRides wrote:

It’s very hard to tell at first. I scraped a little finish off the lip edge with a knife, colored plastic below.

Something I learned when I was a kid… When its too difficult to distinguish if something is metal or plastic… just lightly tap it against your tooth and you’ll be able to tell. Kind of like how you would check if a pearl is real or plastic. I know it sounds silly, but thats what used to work for me. I’d open up my T08, but I’m happy with the way mine is right now, and I dont want to open it up and do something stupid to ruin it.

I’ve been following this thread, and so close to ordering, but I think I’ll wait until we hear more about aluminum/plastic.

although, I’m thinking about modding this light anyway…so maybe it won’t matter.

could someone measure the diameter of the lens, and the height of the reflector?

also, i’m wondering about the “second version” that Garry and Dr. Jones mentioned – is there a similar light with different head and tail switch? If they’re interchangeable I might have to lego them to use luxdrv

There’s so much space in the pill, you could use the original driver board as a power board, and throw a 17mm driver in there, honestly, its about 30mm across and about 60mm deep with 4mm thick walls! You’d need about 6 ounces of fujik to pot the bugger! Hence my comment on a copper slug with a u2/3 bonded to it.

Mine has also plastic reflector, just checked out. Ordered from Manafont.
Probably for this reason, reflector is not as smooth as aluminum ones in my other lights. Pretty ringy beam around hotspot.
Could it also be one reason for lowish output / throw?

Pill and driver get loose very easily, and can lead to connection failures.

All in all, I think this is far worse in build quality compared to Smallsun ZY-T13.

Got mine from Manafont and it's plastic. Overall, mine is a very well put together light. I just had to tighten the pill, otherwise no blemishes, everything's centered and it performs. Not planning on taking it apart again. For the price, this was a great purchase.

BetweenRides wrote:

Got mine from Manafont and it’s plastic. Overall, mine is a very well put together light. I just had to tighten the pill, otherwise no blemishes, everything’s centered and it performs. Not planning on taking it apart again. For the price, this was a great purchase.

Did you happen to get T13 also?
Price / quality on this is not terribly bad but IMO, T13 does it netter still.

Form factor… not so attractive, have to admit that.

No, don't have the T13. I have to agree on the form - not really that great, a bit bulky and doesn't fit the hand as well as some others. But still glad I bought it.

I quite like the fact it easily fits in a jacket pocket, hell, if I was walking about, it’d slip in the front pocket of my jeans with the head sticking out.

Edit, anyone else noticed how well the zy-t08 cigar grips? It’s real well balanced.

gords1001 wrote:

I quite like the fact it easily fits in a jacket pocket, hell, if I was walking about, it’d slip in the front pocket of my jeans with the head sticking out.

Edit, anyone else noticed how well the zy-t08 cigar grips? It’s real well balanced.

I agree! As I mentioned in an earlier post, the protrusions at the base of the handle help secure a comfortable cigar grip.

Just took the reflector out of mine. It's plastic (& from Manafont), but very nice. Also found my pill was very loose and wobbly. I unscrewed it out to have a look, then tightened it back up. Also cleaned the ground path contact of the body to head. No time to check performance (i.e. whether or not I see "Turbo"). 

Pill is nice as far as being deep with many threads, but definitely hollow inside as it's very very light. 

-Garry

gords1001 wrote:

I quite like the fact it easily fits in a jacket pocket, hell, if I was walking about, it’d slip in the front pocket of my jeans with the head sticking out.

Edit, anyone else noticed how well the zy-t08 cigar grips? It’s real well balanced.

Only mine has alu reflector? That surprises me. :~

viffer750 wrote:

Only mine has alu reflector? That surprises me. :~

You bought yours from Manafont, right?  Seems to early for them to have a "second production run" with different reflectors.  My reflector looks a lot different in shape from your aluminum one (no "step" at the base like yours).

Woke up too early this morning to get a test of mine after I tightened the pill.  The sun was already up. 

-Garry

Got an email from manafont they say that this light has a metal reflector.

so IF I order it from manafont and kindly ask them to make sure that it is in fact aluminium reflector, will they check it? or may I use it as a “proof” for a potential dispute?

janko.hrasko wrote:

so IF I order it from manafont and kindly ask them to make sure that it is in fact aluminium reflector, will they check it? or may I use it as a "proof" for a potential dispute?

Why choose to get a headache?  A lot of members have plastic reflectors (newer batch), that's proof enough. Whoever from MF you were talking to probably didn't know anything much about this, just read whatever's written on the screen and "confirm" to you.

Oh, and they will also "check" carefully because you kindly ask them to. Just ask ILF 

My ZY-T08 arrived today. Ordered on 01 / November from Manafont (strange, came quickly); reflector plastic but a good plastic. I’m happy, that is certainly the money I spent.
I opened it, cleaned and reassembled, I turned on Hi for 30 minutes, no problem. the O-ring on the body is too small, I put two and now it’s better, but I have to find one with the right size.

Pulsar13 wrote:

janko.hrasko wrote:

so IF I order it from manafont and kindly ask them to make sure that it is in fact aluminium reflector, will they check it? or may I use it as a “proof” for a potential dispute?

Why choose to get a headache?  A lot of members have plastic reflectors (newer batch), that’s proof enough. Whoever from MF you were talking to probably didn’t know anything much about this, just read whatever’s written on the screen and “confirm” to you.

Oh, and they will also “check” carefully because you kindly ask them to. Just ask ILF 

No doubt. LOL! The only checking these Chinese sellers will do is check that the light is for sure in the box that they throw in the package that is being sent to you. And by that I don’t think they even open up the box the light comes in rather than they are actually smart enough and so well trained that they actually know the difference between a box that doesn’t have a flashlight in it vs one that does. Now that takes some brains and some good feel when you actually pick up that flashlight box for the first time. These workers are probably so underpaid that they really don’t care much of doing what they are told.