Wondering if the diameter of the battery tube is anywhere near that of a bicycle handlebar? Or motorcycle throttle grip? There are a lot of those that are skeletonized such that they’d breath the heat out but prevent a direct contact between skin and the light. Just thinking out loud…
I’m not sure how accurate my calipers are, but it says 23.9 mm for the body tube.
Then again, it says my Efest cell is 65.0 mm, and RMM’s site says 65.4 mm… and 23.9 is an unusual size. So, I suspect my calipers might be a little nearsighted. I guess that’s what I get for raiding my dad’s junk drawer instead of buying a good one.
*clackety clack*
Okay, now I have a script to correct for measurement bias, using 65.4 / 65.0 as the correction factor.
Thanks TK for the insight re: output on bat check and the like, just thoughts and I can only imagine what you’d be fully capable of if only you had more room to put your coding into, it was only a thought.
Re: how I did the tube, I use 1” industrial heat shrink tubing, but it takes some work, you have to turn it inside out because of ugly industrial printing and the finish, I already knew how much it will pull back adding to the finished thickness so it went from the 24mm tube bare ano to just under 25mm finished, then use an exacto knife to trim and then use some light gauge sandpaper to scuff the rubber up and then I use some stuff called super lube to rub into the scuffed rubber and that will make it even softer, this stuff will absorb heat like from around hot electrical wires so I had thought about what TK mentioned but really there is zero chance of any of my lights ever getting so hot to cause me any issues again after what I was taught yesterday, so this won’t over heat your light but was something smart to think about,
I thought first about actually doing the head with some stuff I have but just in the grooves on the head, this stuff draws out heat and would keep the ano from touching your skin, probably will see what happens with that but after TK gets the new no screwing around with lights ready for sales.
These lights have become my lets see what happens lights, if you know what I mean..
By the way just adding 1mm of extra thickness to that tube makes it really comfortable holding it, I have bigger hands so I sometimes have done this same thing even doubling it to have some grip to the lights and never have had an issue, there are lots of different ways to do this, shrink foam tubing is good also but never use the shrink with the adhesive inside, that will not make you happy believe me,
Edit: TK your calipers are spot on, I just rounded up but your measurement is exact..
what you’d be fully capable of if only you had more room
Eh, space isn’t a limitation on this light. It’s using less than half the available bytes, and I might be able to get it down to a quarter with enough refactoring. I like this little stuff; it’s kind of my version of playing sudoku. Bigger and more complicated tends to feel more like “work” instead. And I particularly dislike dealing with badarchitecture and badarchitects, which tends to happen a lot with bigger projects.
With more space, people make bigger and weirder abstractions which cause bigger headaches. To see how that can go wrong, look at some of the stories here: The Daily WTF
I love how it is simple which allows the basics to be done right.
It seems to me that any new light designs should highly consider on board charging. If I have a handful of lights to sell to the average joe, the last one chosen is the one without charging no matter how cool the light is. On the other hand, flashlight lovers don’t seem to care as much.
I thought the “raptor claw” 7135 was considered a preferred brand. No? The fet used here must be a good one!
It’s a very big bummer that the light needs to be ramped up every time it is turned on, or is this not the case? If there isn’t mode memory in a light like this, it would be better to have the light turn on at 5-600 lumens area. Then the light is useable in 90% if situation and also prevents danger from mode memory on the higher modes.
I’m interested to see if there will be any revisions. And I’ll be watching as I see a very desirable light!
Nice review TK!
…
It’s a very big bummer that the light needs to be ramped up every time it is turned on, or is this not the case?
…
I’m interested to see if there will be any revisions.
Regarding having a little more grip or knerling. I have found Talon Grips to work awesome. They are textured “grip tape” that can be adhered to the light. They hold up GREAT to heat as well.
I have some on my R50PRO modded by Vinh as well as some on my Wizard Pro.
I use both of these lights for work daily and Talon Grips have held up perfectly.
They come in a rubberized surface or a sandpaper surface. I personally like rubberized.
Many gun enthusiasts use pre-cut Talon Grips on there gun handles for better grip. But, they also sell sheets of them as well for people like us.
Nice review TK!
…
It’s a very big bummer that the light needs to be ramped up every time it is turned on, or is this not the case?
…
I’m interested to see if there will be any revisions.
^^^ I see LightRider only read the first post.
Yes, I thought about giving that disclaimer as part of my post but decided regardless I would give my first impressions even though I knew my thoughts would be redundant… eh, I’ll just be quiet til I find time to read next time.
Yes, I thought about giving that disclaimer as part of my post but decided regardless I would give my first impressions even though I knew my thoughts would be redundant… eh, I’ll just be quiet til I find time to read next time.
Haha, no. You’re good. I just like to tease people.
I’m glad you liked the review. And yes, there’s a revision coming up soon which fixes the issue you mentioned.
Thanks TK for the in depth review.
I can barely believe the numbers… 2k+ lumens on 18350 and 3k+ on 18650 right?
Is the head waterproof enough it can be used to heat up a cup/mug of tea/coffee? lol.
After the S42 snafu this is refreshing… sort of.
I’m hoping for a revised UI too.
As i see it ramping is kinda cool but seems not very practical unless there are shortcuts to some predefined levels.
How about one, two, three click and long press from off to low/mid/high/turbo – similar to some DQG Tiny lights, then press and hold to ramp up/down if need be? One click to turn off. No memory…
How do you really feel about Lennart Poettering? Sometimes we nerdy types find it hard to grasp social subtlety.
I’ve been practicing my Professor Snape impersonation so I can inflect the proper degree of disdain when I trip over something he broke and exclaim, “Poettering!”
As i see it ramping is kinda cool but seems not very practical unless there are shortcuts to some predefined levels.
How about one, two, three click and long press from off to low/mid/high/turbo – similar to some DQG Tiny lights, then press and hold to ramp up/down if need be? One click to turn off. No memory…
Not this time. However, if you get Narsil flashed onto it, you can use its mode-group UI. It works almost exactly like you described.
Be careful about heat though; Narsil doesn’t have the right kind of thermal management for a small hotrod light. That’ll probably happen soon though.
Yes, Narsil is sweet!
Thanks for the heat advisory. I set the stepdown temperature to the minimum by clicking just after the 5 second mark, but it still gets blazing hot while stepping down.
I tried an XP-L HI at 70 C … and nothing exploded.
Compare to the same thing with a limit of 45 C:
(I cut this test short because it wasn’t as interesting)
At 70 C it was certainly painful to touch for more than a few seconds, even with cold fingers. But it didn’t actually damage anything, and it maintained what appears to be about 1500 lm for the duration of the test until LVP activated.
The 45 C test looks like it stabilized at about 800 lm or so.
Oh, and earlier I stuck one in the freezer on top of some ice. After just 2-3 minutes the ice had stuck itself to the aluminum and formed itself into a matching shape… and I didn’t even have the light on. I was just cooling it off to check what the temperature readout mode would say if it was below zero. As expected, it told me the temperature was 252 degrees C. (that’s fixed now; it now treats below-zero as zero)
Edit: Remind me not to trust my phone’s light sensor. I tried the 70 C test in my light box, and it appears to have stabilized at about 2250 lm, not 1500 lm.
Madame, very interesting light your're into. Thumbs up. A GB would have a good success imho....Can we have your avatar engraved in the green version?? ;P
—
Rufusbduck wrote:
Getting discouraged is normal but doesn't finish the job.
What kind of inaccuracy does the phone’s light sensor have? Is it indicating something along the lines of 40% when the output is actually 60%, or were you trying to treat the phone’s “lux” as actual lux?
—
Ceilingbounce – flashlight testing and runtime graphs for Android
What kind of inaccuracy does the phone’s light sensor have? Is it indicating something along the lines of 40% when the output is actually 60%, or were you trying to treat the phone’s “lux” as actual lux?
I think she meant that actual values doenst matter, graphs are made to show how does thermal step-down works, without precision OTF lumens measurement.
Phone sensors can have restricted lux range, they can work well in normal conditions (for example 10-10000 lux) but over this accurancy may be bad.
The consistency of measurements with the ambient light sensor of a phone are helped a great deal by placing a diffuser in front of it, easiest is a sticking a piece of copier paper in front of it. Of course then you need to calibrate the reading (use one of the many ‘luxmeter’ apps), but you need to do that anyway.
(via my sigline you can find some basic testing that I (and others) did on that, it is link3 in the luxmeter tests)
(and someone has made a BLF luxmeter app, when I have time I will try to find the link)
Zak made the ceilingbounce app and it’s been pretty good for me once I got it dialed in. I don’t use it for scientific lumen testing, but it’s great for runtime graphs/ballpark testing and will show differences in brightness consistently with the use of a diffusion shoe box.
I’m guessing that 70c graph is as you have fixed the UI thermal step down now, this isn’t as it was out of the box originally,
I know I had to have answered my own question here just based on personal experience because if that’s not the case then you’ve done the test all wrong TK,
Quote:
At 70 C it was certainly painful to touch for more than a few seconds
Proper way to test this light out of the box would be, simply walk out to your car, truck, motorcycle or horse, double click light, drop into front pocket, climb in said mode of transportation and buckle up for safety of course and then drive, ride or gallop very quickly just one block, Edit: Definitely no further than 600 meters, and then give me the results please, Now that’s testing the poor man way, low tech but extremely effective and unforgettable
Nice work TK, You are the Goddess of BLF, but what happens if you are offered a paying job.? Late nights.?
Also amazing observation with this light is how fast it actually does cool down, unusually quick so I believe..
Edit: Sorry TK forgot where you live so my test idea may not be practical or safe..
I have not seen a “BLF” luxmeter app, but Ceilingbounce is specifically designed for testing flashlights:
It has a calibration factor to convert the raw “lux” read by the sensor to lumens in combination with an integrating sphere/pipe/shoebox, with peak and 30 second readings.
It has a throw testing mode that gives candela and FL1 throw at peak and 30 seconds (plus 10 so you can sweep the light over the sensor and ensure you got the brightest part) given an “effective distance” calibrated with lights of known intensity.
It makes runtime graphs, calibrated to the 30 second output = 100%. It also saves a CSV.
And more features are coming when I have time.
—
Ceilingbounce – flashlight testing and runtime graphs for Android
I’m not sure how accurate my calipers are, but it says 23.9 mm for the body tube.
Then again, it says my Efest cell is 65.0 mm, and RMM’s site says 65.4 mm… and 23.9 is an unusual size. So, I suspect my calipers might be a little nearsighted. I guess that’s what I get for raiding my dad’s junk drawer instead of buying a good one.
*clackety clack*
Okay, now I have a script to correct for measurement bias, using 65.4 / 65.0 as the correction factor.
Thanks TK for the insight re: output on bat check and the like, just thoughts and I can only imagine what you’d be fully capable of if only you had more room to put your coding into, it was only a thought.
Re: how I did the tube, I use 1” industrial heat shrink tubing, but it takes some work, you have to turn it inside out because of ugly industrial printing and the finish, I already knew how much it will pull back adding to the finished thickness so it went from the 24mm tube bare ano to just under 25mm finished, then use an exacto knife to trim and then use some light gauge sandpaper to scuff the rubber up and then I use some stuff called super lube to rub into the scuffed rubber and that will make it even softer, this stuff will absorb heat like from around hot electrical wires so I had thought about what TK mentioned but really there is zero chance of any of my lights ever getting so hot to cause me any issues again after what I was taught yesterday, so this won’t over heat your light but was something smart to think about,
I thought first about actually doing the head with some stuff I have but just in the grooves on the head, this stuff draws out heat and would keep the ano from touching your skin, probably will see what happens with that but after TK gets the new no screwing around with lights ready for sales.
These lights have become my lets see what happens lights, if you know what I mean..
By the way just adding 1mm of extra thickness to that tube makes it really comfortable holding it, I have bigger hands so I sometimes have done this same thing even doubling it to have some grip to the lights and never have had an issue, there are lots of different ways to do this, shrink foam tubing is good also but never use the shrink with the adhesive inside, that will not make you happy believe me,
Edit: TK your calipers are spot on, I just rounded up but your measurement is exact..
Eh, space isn’t a limitation on this light. It’s using less than half the available bytes, and I might be able to get it down to a quarter with enough refactoring. I like this little stuff; it’s kind of my version of playing sudoku. Bigger and more complicated tends to feel more like “work” instead. And I particularly dislike dealing with bad architecture and bad architects, which tends to happen a lot with bigger projects.
With more space, people make bigger and weirder abstractions which cause bigger headaches. To see how that can go wrong, look at some of the stories here: The Daily WTF
Nice review TK!
My thoughts:
I love how it is simple which allows the basics to be done right.
It seems to me that any new light designs should highly consider on board charging. If I have a handful of lights to sell to the average joe, the last one chosen is the one without charging no matter how cool the light is. On the other hand, flashlight lovers don’t seem to care as much.
I thought the “raptor claw” 7135 was considered a preferred brand. No? The fet used here must be a good one!
It’s a very big bummer that the light needs to be ramped up every time it is turned on, or is this not the case? If there isn’t mode memory in a light like this, it would be better to have the light turn on at 5-600 lumens area. Then the light is useable in 90% if situation and also prevents danger from mode memory on the higher modes.
I’m interested to see if there will be any revisions. And I’ll be watching as I see a very desirable light!
^^^ I see LightRider only read the first post.
How do you really feel about Lennart Poettering? Sometimes we nerdy types find it hard to grasp social subtlety.
Ceilingbounce – flashlight testing and runtime graphs for Android
Regarding having a little more grip or knerling. I have found Talon Grips to work awesome. They are textured “grip tape” that can be adhered to the light. They hold up GREAT to heat as well.
I have some on my R50PRO modded by Vinh as well as some on my Wizard Pro.
I use both of these lights for work daily and Talon Grips have held up perfectly.They come in a rubberized surface or a sandpaper surface. I personally like rubberized.
Many gun enthusiasts use pre-cut Talon Grips on there gun handles for better grip. But, they also sell sheets of them as well for people like us.
Just another option. Advertisement done…..
Thier ain’t no bones in a hot dog. F. York
Yes, I thought about giving that disclaimer as part of my post but decided regardless I would give my first impressions even though I knew my thoughts would be redundant… eh, I’ll just be quiet til I find time to read next time.
Haha, no. You’re good. I just like to tease people.
I’m glad you liked the review. And yes, there’s a revision coming up soon which fixes the issue you mentioned.
Well said right there.
Also, when where can we buy this light??
Soon, from Intl-Outdoor and Mtn Electronics.
If it passes final tests, it’ll probably be available pretty quickly.
Disclaimer: i only read the first two pages…
Thanks TK for the in depth review.
I can barely believe the numbers… 2k+ lumens on 18350 and 3k+ on 18650 right?
Is the head waterproof enough it can be used to heat up a cup/mug of tea/coffee? lol.
After the S42 snafu this is refreshing… sort of.
I’m hoping for a revised UI too.
As i see it ramping is kinda cool but seems not very practical unless there are shortcuts to some predefined levels.
How about one, two, three click and long press from off to low/mid/high/turbo – similar to some DQG Tiny lights, then press and hold to ramp up/down if need be? One click to turn off. No memory…
I still want one!
I’ve been practicing my Professor Snape impersonation so I can inflect the proper degree of disdain when I trip over something he broke and exclaim, “Poettering!”
This happens on a fairly regular basis.
Not this time. However, if you get Narsil flashed onto it, you can use its mode-group UI. It works almost exactly like you described.
HAHAHAHA
I actually managed to get Narsil onto my D4!
It took a fair bit of head scratching and about 15 browser tabs, but I got it working on the first try!
TK: Thanks for the detailed review, updates on D4 UI tweaking, and your helpful flashing info.
TomE: Thanks for Narsil. I can practice with the D4 until the Q8 launches!
Narsil is nice, no?
Be careful about heat though; Narsil doesn’t have the right kind of thermal management for a small hotrod light. That’ll probably happen soon though.
Thanks for the heat advisory. I set the stepdown temperature to the minimum by clicking just after the 5 second mark, but it still gets blazing hot while stepping down.
Yeah, Narsil’s thermal algorithm is calibrated for a much larger light. It doesn’t really work on the D4.
I tried an XP-L HI at 70 C … and nothing exploded.
Compare to the same thing with a limit of 45 C:
(I cut this test short because it wasn’t as interesting)
At 70 C it was certainly painful to touch for more than a few seconds, even with cold fingers. But it didn’t actually damage anything, and it maintained what appears to be about 1500 lm for the duration of the test until LVP activated.
The 45 C test looks like it stabilized at about 800 lm or so.
Oh, and earlier I stuck one in the freezer on top of some ice. After just 2-3 minutes the ice had stuck itself to the aluminum and formed itself into a matching shape… and I didn’t even have the light on. I was just cooling it off to check what the temperature readout mode would say if it was below zero. As expected, it told me the temperature was 252 degrees C.
(that’s fixed now; it now treats below-zero as zero)
Edit: Remind me not to trust my phone’s light sensor. I tried the 70 C test in my light box, and it appears to have stabilized at about 2250 lm, not 1500 lm.
Madame, very interesting light your're into. Thumbs up. A GB would have a good success imho....Can we have your avatar engraved in the green version?? ;P
What kind of inaccuracy does the phone’s light sensor have? Is it indicating something along the lines of 40% when the output is actually 60%, or were you trying to treat the phone’s “lux” as actual lux?
Ceilingbounce – flashlight testing and runtime graphs for Android
I think she meant that actual values doenst matter, graphs are made to show how does thermal step-down works, without precision OTF lumens measurement.
Phone sensors can have restricted lux range, they can work well in normal conditions (for example 10-10000 lux) but over this accurancy may be bad.
Low-cost copper pills, spacers, optics, drop-ins.
I’m asking whether there is an inaccuracy affecting the shape of the graph.
Ceilingbounce – flashlight testing and runtime graphs for Android
The consistency of measurements with the ambient light sensor of a phone are helped a great deal by placing a diffuser in front of it, easiest is a sticking a piece of copier paper in front of it. Of course then you need to calibrate the reading (use one of the many ‘luxmeter’ apps), but you need to do that anyway.
(via my sigline you can find some basic testing that I (and others) did on that, it is link3 in the luxmeter tests)
(and someone has made a BLF luxmeter app, when I have time I will try to find the link)
link to djozz tests
Great work TK!
Zak made the ceilingbounce app and it’s been pretty good for me once I got it dialed in. I don’t use it for scientific lumen testing, but it’s great for runtime graphs/ballpark testing and will show differences in brightness consistently with the use of a diffusion shoe box.
I’m guessing that 70c graph is as you have fixed the UI thermal step down now, this isn’t as it was out of the box originally,
I know I had to have answered my own question here just based on personal experience because if that’s not the case then you’ve done the test all wrong TK,
Proper way to test this light out of the box would be, simply walk out to your car, truck, motorcycle or horse, double click light, drop into front pocket, climb in said mode of transportation and buckle up for safety of course and then drive, ride or gallop very quickly just one block, Edit: Definitely no further than 600 meters, and then give me the results please, Now that’s testing the poor man way, low tech but extremely effective and unforgettable
Nice work TK, You are the Goddess of BLF, but what happens if you are offered a paying job.? Late nights.?
Also amazing observation with this light is how fast it actually does cool down, unusually quick so I believe..
Edit: Sorry TK forgot where you live so my test idea may not be practical or safe..
I have not seen a “BLF” luxmeter app, but Ceilingbounce is specifically designed for testing flashlights:
And more features are coming when I have time.
Ceilingbounce – flashlight testing and runtime graphs for Android
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