[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

defloyd77 · 2018-12-08T10:42:05.000Z

I wonder if there’s a magnet that’s the size of the tritium slot for those of us who want MORE POWER!!!

slowtechstef · 2018-12-08T10:52:16.000Z

For the sake of safety: for anyone with young children (age < 6 years), please be very carefull with these little rare-earth magnets, and carefully store them out of reach in childproof closed containers. If your child swallows more than 1 magnet, this can cause serious tissue damage and possibly even cause death. For example see this.

defloyd77 · 2018-12-08T11:07:47.000Z

slowtechstef:

For the sake of safety: for anyone with young children (age < 6 years), please be very carefull with these little rare-earth magnets, and carefully store them out of reach in childproof closed containers. If your child swallows more than 1 magnet, this can cause serious tissue damage and possibly even cause death. For example see this

Great point. Animals as well.

MascaratumB · 2018-12-08T11:28:15.000Z

My last update was on 28th November, showing it is/was in Guangzhou (International dispatch).
As we’ve been having some strikes in Portugal (customs and stevedore), I am not sure if the delay has to do with that or with the shipping process in China.

My purchase protection will end in 23 days…I hope the flashlights arrive here before that…

djozz · 2018-12-08T13:25:23.000Z

A fix while it ain’t broken.

A possible failure point of the production C01 is that the contact flats on the driver that get twisted against the battery tube actually have very little contact area, less than the prototype because the brass is not extended fully to the very edge of the circuit board. It is one of these things that chinese manufacturers change without notice while unaware of the consequences.

So also because this afternoon I found a little piece of 0.1mm brass foil in my metal goodies drawer, I did this fix:

1) scraped away some more solder mask

2) cut two pieces of brass sheet to size, and tinned both the driver and the brass flakes with solder

3) soldered the brass pieces in place, as flat as possible squeezing excess solder out.

4) sanding away excess solder

5) after 50 or so twisting actions you can see where the contact area is now, it has more than doubled compared to stock, and the .1mm of brass takes very long to wear through.

slowtechstef · 2018-12-08T14:48:30.000Z

Bad news, and good news.

1. I managed to kill a Sofirn C01 by applying a lot of heat with a paint stripper to it.

2. The potting with thermal epoxy fills the complete cavity surrounding the PCB and LED.

When I tried to remove the PCB with a sharp knive from its housing, the PCB got separated from the thermal epoxy. You can also see how the coil broke of. The Yuji LED was killed as well

The driver below is the PCB of a Gerber Infinity Ultra. In the upper left corner you can see Gerber only selectively applied conformal coating to the coil (yellow blob).

Edit 1: perhaps I should offer testing services to flashlight companies to see if their products are ~~FOOLPROOF~~ FULLPROOF. First I managed to break the pocket clips of the C01 prototype, and this time I completely killed a C01…

Edit 2: For anyone wondering about my obsession with stuff that is robust, there might be a relation with this post

hank · 2018-12-08T19:22:38.000Z

brass is not extended fully to the very edge of the circuit board. It is one of these things that chinese manufacturers change without notice while unaware of the consequences.

Thanks for catching that, and documenting how to fix it.

I noticed another corner cut. After half a day in my pocket with keys and change, the black paint is flaking off the pocket clip and the tailcap. There’s visible rust on the metal of the pocket clip where the paint flaked off, looks like it was painted without prepping the metal.

I wonder sometimes how China’s going to survive the next century, if all their civil and military manufacturing is done to the same don’t-give-a-damn carelesness about specification. Things fall apart when they’re built in slapdash fashion. How long does it take to learn that?

“My time in China has taught me the pleasure and value of craftsmanship, simply because it’s so rare. To see somebody doing a job well, not just for its own reward, but for the satisfaction of good work, thrills my heart
…. the prevailing attitude is chabuduo, or ‘close enough’. It’s a phrase you’ll hear with grating regularity, one that speaks to a job 70 per cent done, a plan sketched out but never completed, a gauge unchecked or a socket put in the wrong size. Chabuduo is the corrosive opposite of the impulse towards craftmanship”
What Chinese corner-cutting reveals about modernity | Aeon Essays

As the old saying goes:
Good, cheap, fast — you pick which two.
Or maybe pick which one ….

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-ab&q=chinese+"close+enough"

But I still like the flashlight so far. As U. Utah Phillips says in his story: It’s good though.
Better than I could make myself.

peabody · 2018-12-08T19:28:07.000Z

Tracking just put my package in Chicago.

Kona_G · 2018-12-08T21:30:59.000Z

Hank, and here i thought my light paint peeled off due to our gov irradition of packages from Asia lol. Closer examination does show metal in rusted condition! Clip is in garbage can, light will soon to follow!

Streamer · 2018-12-09T06:00:17.000Z

edit:

I just can’t imagine anybody having to solder on brass foil contacts for inadequate factory ones. Is the C01 turning out to be a ~~POS~~ (less than adequate) before it even debuts

djozz · 2018-12-09T00:53:47.000Z

Streamer:

I just can’t imagine anybody having to solder on brass foil contacts for inadequate factory oness. :smiling_imp: Is the C01 turning out to be a POS before it even debuts :question:

This is a very hard question to answer, with my mod I anticipated on a potential problem in the future. It is by no means sure if this problem will occur and when.
Btw, calling this light a POS because of this would not be my style. But time will tell if this will become a problem.

Streamer · 2018-12-09T01:01:02.000Z

If it ain’t broke…don’t fix it. Let the new released torch cut its teeth without interference. It needs to be seen what it is not what it can be made to be. So far, it’s chasing the ghost of the Fenix E01. I ordered C01’s just like everybody else in thread did. Give it a chance as is from Sofirn.

dealgrabber2002 · 2018-12-09T01:04:23.000Z

Received mine today. Great light but not much people mention that it has a tunnel vision beam, no spills. Like a zoomie profile.

Maybe everyone knows but me. Lol

Streamer · 2018-12-09T05:57:52.000Z

edit:

BTW…I wan’t calling it a ~~POS~~ (less than adequate)…I was asking if it was turning out to be a ~~POS~~ (less than adequate)….all directly from your input djozz.

Let’s hope not so.

Micmania · 2018-12-09T01:26:49.000Z

my two C01’s arrived …

Lim_Wee_Huat · 2018-12-09T01:57:09.000Z

Not even a single speck of worries here… Excluding the 4 submitted in the interest list, so far I’ve ordered another 8 because this specfic model is the perfect startup high CRI light for my loved ones as coming festive gifts… It’s within my budget.Using this to educate and get them started with. Many thanks for those and Sofirn who made this happen… High CRI ftw!

hank · 2018-12-09T02:56:47.000Z

in garbage can, light

no, no, send it to me instead of tossing it, if you’re not kidding.

Like I said, “moose turd pie” is better than what I could make myself. So I like it.

If anything, this should be a learning experience for Sofirn about meeting specs, not changing specs, and checking every piece they get from subcontractors for qa/qc.

And making sure to have a qa/qc program, of course. Those are defined terms and if Sofirn learns to adopt a quality production process they will stand out markedly different from the average manufacturer in industries around them.

I ranted about this in an earlier thread:

Please explain "budget" in regards to chinese brands like Sunwayman and Nitecore LED Flashlights – General Info

What we’ve seen recently with the X6 and the ZeusRay is a pattern I’ve read about in book on Chinese business generally —- The first few built for inspection are excellent, the first small lots are excellent, then *when people start placing larger orders — the product changes. * Somewhere here at BLF a few years ago, someone posted about that as a typical frustrating pattern he found working in China for a European company. I wish i could find that again. It was really cautionary. He said so…

Please explain "budget" in regards to chinese brands like Sunwayman and Nitecore LED Flashlights – General Info

> If you are a person who only has a few lights, I’m talking, say, less than three, I’d save my money and buy from … I’d add to that — if you’re not inclined to and able to replace the emitter and driver (right away if something’s dead, or eventually after blinkie-frustration) — if you’re not relaxed about dealing with Chinese customer service — it can be amusing as a hobby, it’s often a source of amusement and an exercise in patience, and it’s sometimes rewarding, as a human contact and as a…

Personally, I think China needs something the USA had for a while and lost — unions.
They weren’t/aren’t near perfect. But training and competence rested with the workers decades ago. “Union Made” on something you bought said the workers who made the thing likely knew what they were doing.

That’s why I asked who owns Sofirn, a while back. If the workers own it, well, pride’s something that develops.
If outsiders own it, that’s less likely.

pinecone · 2018-12-09T03:44:35.000Z

GreenLights:

I ordered on the 10th as well. Ali, USPS, and ParcelsApp all have the last update on November 24, 2018, 11:05 am:
Processed Through Facility
GUANGZHOU EMS, CHINA

Ordered on the 28th, 10 days later and this update:
December 8, 2018
Processed Through Facility
GUANGZHOU EMS, CHINA

jon_slider · 2018-12-09T03:47:36.000Z

Im a bit lost
was unable to find the photo of the fenix contact area, I know its here somewhere…

found these…
but still dont know what that last pic is, and what the production contacts look like, before being sanded and soldered over…

djozz:

The 3200K C01 sample…

not sure if this is just art:

djozz:

can someone give me a pictorial sequence… Fenix contacts, and Sofirn current production contacts, unmodified?

hank · 2018-12-09T04:59:14.000Z

When I look down the battery tube past the threads, I see a shiny metal shelf — I assume that’s what the contacts on the head are supposed to reach. Maybe a dab of conductive lube would keep the contacts from wearing out.

An interesting parallel — one design problem of the Arc AAA was that the circuit board was held to the head by a metal collar just crimped tight that eventually loosened up or flaked off due to metal fatigue. Arc covered that under warranty for the owner’s lifetime; I’ve had several fixed over the years.

But ya know, there’s an argument in favor of using a threaded retaining ring to hold the bits in place.