Texas_Ace wrote:

My $25.70 S41S came in today and like the others it is the latest model with updated head and no glue.

It is a great little light, very nice looking and heavy. Only real complaint would be the overly aggressive grip. I am thinking about using some sandpaper to take the edge off, anyone tried that?

Makes a bit over 3000 lumens with a 30Q 18650 and the XP-G3. I plan to swap it out for 219C 90+ CRI LED’s.

VERY happy for the price, glad I grabbed it while I could.

Havnt received mine yet, but great that it is the new version! I asked the seller directly and copied his answer here earlier. He said it was the old version. I don’t think he really knew but it is nice he didn’t guess to his advantage. Hope I didn’t steer anyone away from the deal…

I bought the 219b version of this light because I knew I wouldn’t like the XP-G3 tint. But just as I feared, the 219b’s sagged like crazy, just not the output level I wanted from the light. Don’t get me wrong — I definitely do like 219b’s in certain applications, but it just wasn’t right for this light. So mine got 4000K 219c’s almost immediately, along with an upgrade to a Bistro driver for the temp regulation and better programmability. Its fantastic now, love it. Too bad it wasn’t offered in this configuration from the factory.

Much better now…
Cut the tops off the knurling with a hand file. Only removed the head and went at it. Pretty easy to keep it moving and avoid flat spots. Also easy to see the size of the squares you are making to keep it uniform.

Guess which one.

Texas_Ace wrote:

I didn’t get the 219 version for a few reasons, first it is the 219B. I am not a fan of the 219B, also for a few reasons. First the lumen output is just too low even if it has a good tint, just not worth the sacrifice. Second the die is too large and it makes the beam floody further reducing the beam intensity. Last the 219B can’t handle nearly as much power as modern LED’s nor can it pull as much power due to the higher Vf.

The 219B that comes in these is also said to have a bit of a green tint and it is questionable if it is truly a 90CRI from what some said.

Lastly the XP-G3 version was cheaper and since I planned to swap LED’s anyways why spend more. The 219C 90+ CRI 4000K is a truly amazing LED when it comes to tint, I have it in I would say half of my flashlights now. Not the highest output LED but it is enough to be worth the tradeoff for the better tint and CRI.

Mixing the XP-G3 and 219C could be done but it would not really do anything. Better off with 4× 219C but I will be better armed to answer that after I swap the LED’s in mine. My other S41 has XP-G3 90CRI mixed tint LED’s in it and it is already good and puts out around 3500 lumens but I think the 219C will be better.

Lots of good info there. Thank you. As I haven’t yet modded leds in any of my lights I’m now thinking to hold off on purchase of a quad set up until the 219C factory-installed is available. I have 219A & 219B in a couple lights & appreciate how red hues are brought out. Unfortunately they are not so bright.

vwpieces wrote:

Much better now…
Cut the tops off the knurling with a hand file. Only removed the head and went at it. Pretty easy to keep it moving and avoid flat spots. Also easy to see the size of the squares you are making to keep it uniform.

Guess which one.
!{width:60%}http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/vwpieces/Misc/P_20170114_211140_1...!

Basic double cut half round Nicholson. Good files but nothing special. Used the flat side of course..
Finished it with a finer single cut flat file. Used 400 grit wet on a sanding block to get it uniform finish.

All by hand, not spinning, took about 20min. Rotate the file over the circumference slightly as you go. Knurling is high enough not to hit the other surfaces. Metal is pretty soft, annealed. You will see the squares appear as you go. Look closely and see they are pretty much the same size. Small squares, remove more in that area.

Still very grippy in hand but 10X better.

I’ve got a S41S on the way. The emitter decision was difficult, but I went with 219B in the end because I just can’t stand cooler tints. Really itching to swap in some 219C D320’s* for better efficiency and output. Not sure if I want to try my first reflow or if I just pick up a TPAD+Carclo from MTN. Any definitive results on that combo with the updated head?

*I know these aren’t the High CRI. I’ve tried High CRI, but they just don’t do anything special for my eyes. I’ve been wondering if that’s related to my colorblindness. I’m not very sensitive to reds.

RollerBoySE wrote:

Dr Forinor wrote:

Texas_Ace wrote:

A protected battery will almost assuredly trip the protection circuit everytime you turn it on.

I was afraid of that, fair enough, thank you.

Not all will trip.
I use a KeepPower 18650 3400mAh protected in one of mine (I have several S41:s) and it doesn’t trip on turbo. (According to HKJ:s testing the KeepPower trips at 11.5A)

It most likely delivers less lumens than with an unprotected high drain cell. The difference is however not really noticeable to the naked eye, unless doing A/B testing.

EDIT: Just a warning though, protected 18350 are too long to fit in the 18350 tube.

I have the white/green EagleTac 3400mAh batteries, and I bought a fair few back when I did buy them. HKJ tests them to trip at 6.4A, I assume this is too low?

steve42 wrote:

Lots of good info there. Thank you. As I haven’t yet modded leds in any of my lights I’m now thinking to hold off on purchase of a quad set up until the 219C factory-installed is available. I have 219A & 219B in a couple lights & appreciate how red hues are brought out. Unfortunately they are not so bright.

I kind of doubt that you will see 219C options in these anytime soon but I could be wrong. Far as I know Astrolux doesn’t have any lights using the 219C right now and it would not make a lot of sense to get them just for this light.

Texas_Ace wrote:

I kind of doubt that you will see 219C options in these anytime soon but I could be wrong. Far as I know Astrolux doesn’t have any lights using the 219C right now and it would not make a lot of sense to get them just for this light.

I just checked Mankers site and in the Manker E14 version it is now available with 219C LEDs.

Last I heard Manker and Astrolux are not friends, like at all lol. Still it is possible they will offer them with 219C’s I suppose.

I just finished modding my S41S (well except for sanding the body).

Swapped the LED’s to 219C 4000K 90+ CRI, used a Texas Avenger driver with bleeder resistor and 20AWG wires. “Activated” the lighted tailcap with a pair of 22k ohm resistors and 2x white 0805 LED’s added some arctic silver and put it back together.

It is VERY nice, like really really nice!

The optics mix the tint very well and give a very nice beam. The 219C die is much smaller then, well everything on the market today. So it also have a noticeable hot spot now and a ream beam.

This is also the highest current single cell light I have, with a 30Q it is 20A, HE2 it is 22A and a efest 18350 it still pulls 8.6A. Compare that to my mixed tint XP-G3 version that pulls about 4A less (but makes about the same amount of lumens due to being more efficient).

Speaking of lumens it is not bad there either. With the 30Q it is making around 3300 lumens and with the 18350 it is still a bit over 2000 lumens. Although with the 30Q it is completely impractical in turbo, 10 second and it is hot, 30 seconds and it is scald you hot. Luckily the TA driver has a regulated mid range mode that works well.

The white lighted tailcap also looks quite nice, I considered building one of PD’s tailcaps for it but just didn’t want to take the time, this setup is not as efficient but it works fine.

Overall I am totally happy with the outcome, Just need to sand down that grip

RollerBoySE wrote:

Texas_Ace wrote:

I kind of doubt that you will see 219C options in these anytime soon but I could be wrong. Far as I know Astrolux doesn’t have any lights using the 219C right now and it would not make a lot of sense to get them just for this light.

I just checked Mankers site and in the Manker E14 version it is now available with 219C LEDs.

I asked Manker about it and got these details in a mail:

_219C details:
Tint: 4000K
CRI: 90+
Output: 1800 Lumens_

Just got my s41s from that flash sale a few pages back. It is the newest version, no glue on head.

Interestingly, the knurling on the body is flat without the peaks but the tail cap has the peaks and is very aggressive. I may do something similar to vwpieces so that the knurling matches.

The beam is floody with no defined hotspot, unlike my aluminum s41 which has a defined hotspot. I think the optic to LED distance isn’t spaced correctly.

look sexy

To much inconsistency in these lights to be able to recommend them.

mattjk wrote:

To much inconsistency in these lights to be able to recommend them.

All I know is both of mine work great, both stock and modded. I have a 1st batch S41 and then this latest S41S.

Sure, i have 2 also

Tailcap and tube with different knurling

One tube fits snug to the copper heatsink, the other sits about a half a mm off (same with the tailcap too)

the revised design the optics are to far away from the LED resulting in a strange beam pattern

Other than that it is consistent lol.

freeme wrote:

Naughty Mateminco.

 

https://world.taobao.com/item/542458981097.htm

Quote:

Any similarities to actual persons or places, alive or dead, real or ficticious is merely coincidental and the product of a feverish imagination.

https://shop157261263.world.taobao.com/

g_sintornillos wrote:

freeme wrote:

Naughty Mateminco.

 

Mateminco is mankerlightchina at Taobao.com

https://world.taobao.com/item/542458981097.htm

Quote:

Any similarities to actual persons or places, alive or dead, real or ficticious is merely coincidental and the product of a feverish imagination.

https://shop157261263.world.taobao.com/

The plot thickens

Yeah..

Matemankerlux..?
From Elfeland factory a.k.a. UltraFire…?
Who knows, right?

freeme wrote:

They could have request to rename after separation. #awkward

I got my S41s in the mail today. Same source as those above. Very nice light, however now that I have one I need to familiarize myself with the documented issues. I can only use it in the bottom two modes or it shuts down at 36 sec and won’t start back up until after a little wait

I have the nichia version but the CRI is low and very close to the XM-L2 3D tint… Very far from the A01 Astrolux.

Is XGP2 or XPG3 better as far as brightness / tint go?

Tint = 219
Brightness = XP-G3

The XP-G2 is the lame duck in this race.