[Canceled] Sofirn SP70 BLF Edition

FlashPilot · 2021-01-29T01:38:25.000Z

Tom E:

I still got my SP70 in pieces. Really should get it back up and running on Anduril2. The power switch support is decent, but it’s missing supporting full turbo, unless you make the top of ramping max/turbo. It’s a remarkable thrower and the shallow reflector reminds me of the old HD2010’s, but way bigger.

I got the power switch Anduril2 support in a modded Amutorch TC500: FET+1 driver, sliced SST-40. Nice review here on BLF.

There’s nothing spec’d for this light that can’t be done in modding, accept for the SS bezel.

What a great and useful mod! IMO, I think once we’ve used it, Anduril (and similar) has spoiled us to the point that its difficult to accept anything less. Its also hard to beat the sheer performance to capacity ratio of 2 x 26650’s in this well-balanced and easily-carried form factor. Hopefully, we will see the BLF version available with several different emitter options so we dont all have to possess your multiple skill sets to own such a useful light.

JasonWW · 2021-01-31T22:46:19.000Z

FlashPilot:

JasonWW:

FlashPilot:

Id still love to own one. So sad this hasn’t gone anywhere.

It’s not really sad because the current version is a great light. I use it daily for work.

I agree, the current version is a nice light (as are most Sofirn flashlights). But that is not the AWESOME light we have patiently waited for that earns our dollars. As most others here have already stated, we’d like to buy the BLF version if/when it ever comes to fruition. That is more than abundantly clear, isnt it? Please give Sofirn a good hard kick in the pants and ask them to get busy producing what we want so we can support their company. The myriad of videos boasting the new version capabilities and word-of-mouth will sell them like hotcakes!

I’m not good at understanding emotions, sorry.
I will ask them to comment on this thread if the matter is still open to produce it or if they decided not to.

FlashPilot · 2021-01-31T21:04:36.000Z

JasonWW:

FlashPilot:

JasonWW:

FlashPilot:

Id still love to own one. So sad this hasn’t gone anywhere.

It’s not really sad because the current version is a great light. I use it daily for work.

I agree, the current version is a nice light (as are most Sofirn flashlights). But that is not the AWESOME light we have patiently waited for that earns our dollars. As most others here have already stated, we’d like to buy the BLF version if/when it ever comes to fruition. That is more than abundantly clear, isnt it? Please give Sofirn a good hard kick in the pants and ask them to get busy producing what we want so we can support their company. The myriad of videos boasting the new version capabilities and word-of-mouth will sell them like hotcakes!

I’m not going at understanding emotions, sorry.
I will ask them to comment on this thread if the matter is still open to produce it or if they decided not to.

Thanks for asking & fingers crossed they will finally make it happen. :+1:

JasonWW · 2021-01-31T22:47:23.000Z

“Going” should be “good”. Darn auto correct.

JasonWW · 2021-02-01T08:12:37.000Z

I just heard back from a representative from Sofirn. Here is their response:

“Hi, there is no plan to produce the version of SP70 with Anduril.”

Sorry guys. It was June 2019 when they said they we’re going to contact Toykeeper about getting Anduril for the SP70. Things must not have worked out.

FlashPilot · 2021-02-01T20:52:04.000Z

Thanks for asking. I guess the next best thing would be a driver swap and spring bypass.

adam7027 · 2021-02-01T22:02:55.000Z

JasonWW:

I just heard back from a representative from Sofirn. Here is their response:

“Hi, there is no plan to produce the version of SP70 with Anduril.”

Sorry guys. It was June 2019 when they said they we’re going to contact Toykeeper about getting Anduril for the SP70. Things must not have worked out.

Let me say, that this is again something, which was fallen into mediocrity as I cannot see Sofirn really pursuing development, they rather go for the easy coins. (This isn’t meant to be an actual rant however, just a ‘sigh’.)

Sillen · 2021-02-01T23:10:04.000Z

adam7027:

Let me say, that this is again something, which was fallen into mediocrity as I cannot see Sofirn really pursuing development, they rather go for the easy coins. (This isn’t meant to be an actual rant however, just a ‘sigh’.)

Disappointing. Perhaps they didn’t move a lot of units so little hope of recouping cost from further development? Having said that, we gave Sofirn some tips on the SP36 and now they seem to be doing well.

JasonWW · 2021-02-02T00:55:25.000Z

I think most people understand how these decisions are made, but for others I will try go over some basics.

In looking through Sofirns lights with Anduril it seems they are all 3v units, no 6v. When it comes to using a UI such as Anduril a company typically has to pay a small fee to have someone familiar with the UI to design a driver and tweak the software. I know Toykeeper, Lexel and Texas_Ace have done this. It’s quite a bit of time they have to invest so they can’t do it for free.

May theory is Sofirn invested in Toykeeper to build a 3v Anduril driver for them and they then used that in several 3v lights. It makes good financial sense. (make a profit)

They invested again in Toykeeper to make the lantern light driver because they saw really high interest and would recoup the investment. (make a profit)

Sofirn would need to invest again to have a 6v Anduril driver designed. I don’t think they have very many 6v lights. I only see the SP70 and TK70. If they don’t think it will sell enough units to make up for the investment (make a profit) then the higher ups will not invest in the new driver.

Keep in mind Sofirn has their own driver and UI designers in house they are already on salary. It’s hard for them to pay an outsider to do that same work.

Also, it could have simply been that Toykeeper did not have time to do the development. You never know. I’ll ask her. She might have some insight into the SP70.

Unheard · 2021-02-02T06:38:14.000Z

JasonWW:

Sofirn would need to invest again to have a 6v Anduril driver designed. I don’t think they have very many 6v lights. I only see the SP70 and TK70.

There used to be a 6V driver in the SP33, but version 3 unfortunately uses a 3V XHP50.2. I wonder why that is. Plus Barry announced a Q8 Pro, which would be another candidate for a 6V XHP50.2 (and Andúril) if I’m not mistaken.

OTOH, Sofirn has a nice proprietary UI since the C8F. With some minor tweaks and debugging I’d prefer it to more complex UIs.

Anyway, thanks for investigating the situation :-).

JasonWW · 2021-02-02T07:23:19.000Z

The SP33 has always been 3v input (single battery). The Boost driver with 6v output is a completely different driver design and would not be compatible with the SP70/TK70.

The reason they switched from the Boost driver to a 3v FET driver was because Cree came out with the 3v version of the XHP50.2. The 3v FET driver is cheaper to make and has higher output so I could see them making it. (I prefer the Boost driver version myself)

I’m not familiar with the Q8 Pro. Would it use a battery carrier to get 6v? In theory they could make the whole light 3v.

Lux-Perpetua · 2021-02-02T07:54:06.000Z

The only thing in SP33 V2 that caused some confusion to some customers was the UI of the boost driver. The lower the voltage was, the less brightness modes you could trigger.

SP70 however does not boost its voltage from a single battery but simply uses two batteries in series (= 2x 3.7V) to drive the 6V XHP70.2. For those of you who are skilled in driver modifications, you may want to try Convoy's FX-31 (L6) 2S/3S buckdriver in the SP70. You will probably gain more runtime and efficiency but less maximum output. I suggested Sofirn to have a look at Getian's FC40 LED that I discovered on Simon Mao's Convoy thread. They seemed very interested but first attempts to source this special neutralwhite HighCRI version were not successful. Maybe in some time they can also get access to those emitters.

XHP50.2 3V was chosen because - IIRC - it was cheaper to source and more powerful (3,500 over 2,500 lemons). Last time I talked to Barry I heard it was difficult for Sofirn to get any XHP50.2 LEDs and so multiple flashlights suffered significant delays (SD01 Pro, Q8 Pro). Q8 Pro was meant to be using 3V XHP50.2 LEDs, i.e. same driver design they used for Q8.

Unheard · 2021-02-02T07:51:51.000Z

JasonWW:

The SP33 has always been 3v input (single battery).

Yes, I was not clear enough in my post. Thanks for correcting.

Unheard · 2021-02-02T07:58:37.000Z

Lux-Perpetua:

Q8 Pro was meant to be using 3V XHP50.2 LEDs, i.e. same driver design they used for Q8.

Too bad. I find the 3V XHP50.2 LEDs you can actually buy not attractive. A Q8 Pro with 6V LEDs could still do 10k Lumens.

Lux-Perpetua · 2021-02-02T08:07:02.000Z

Agreed. The tint shift is an issue especially with the more neutral tints (< 5.700K), unless you fancy greenish beams. :-D

If they were open to utilizing 6V/12V LEDs, I would like to see a quad array of Luminus SFT70 in their Q8. That should result in both more throw and lumens.

Unheard · 2021-02-02T09:46:44.000Z

My Olight R50 is really green, but everywhere in the beam. Much better than the rainbow pattern. Have not seen the SFT70 yet. If it’s as nice as the 5000K SST-40, I’d be in.

Edit:

It would have been easy and inexpensive for Sofirn to just bring out a Q8 Pro ‘lite’ using 4 SST-40. You know my thread about producing MCPCBs. Besides designing this board, a small modification to the reflector is all that would be needed. It’s beyond me why Sofirn rejected this idea. Little investment to get into the market of significantly more powerful lights. If I’m not mistaken, we’re talking about around 9000 lumens here and few dollars more in the final price. A no-brainer.

PiercingTheDarkness · 2021-02-02T13:22:53.000Z

All Sofirn needed was a better Mosfet and high current springs for the existing SP70 for 8000 lumens. I got this on my modded TK70

Lux-Perpetua · 2021-02-02T15:40:22.000Z

Funtastic:

All Sofirn needed was a better Mosfet and high current springs for the existing SP70 for 8000 lumens. I got this on my modded TK70

Yep, Infineon OptiMOS5 or Vishay SIRA20DP/SIRA60DP would be nice Mosfets in the SP70 or other Sofirn flashlights. OTOH, I doubt it's worth all the efforts for pushing a single XHP70.2 to its very limits. 8000lm equals to probably 20amps which is close to the absolute maximum for this emitter. Maybe Sofirn could try a linear driver with constant current regulation like Noctigon K9.3? It would be nice to have lets say 6-8A regulated which could maybe maintained indefinitely with such a big light, see Convoy L6 with the FX31 buckdriver for comparison.

Tom_E · 2021-02-13T22:50:36.000Z

Just fyi, I'm lik'n what I see about the SiR178DP here in the specs: https://www.vishay.com/docs/77598/sir178dp.pdf

There's also the SiRA20BDP, looks slightly better than the SiRA20DP:

https://www.vishay.com/docs/76212/sira20dp.pdf

https://www.vishay.com/docs/66830/sira20bdp.pdf

Dunno how to get my hands on a couple though.

FlashPilot · 2021-03-27T19:19:20.000Z

Lux-Perpetua:

Driverwise, I was always hoping for something like Convoy‘s FX-31 2S/3S buckdriver that should physically fit into SP70 and that would offer more stable output

Hi Lex, Ive seen you mention the FX-31 driver multiple times but cant seem to find one. All I could find is the FX-30 driver. I have a 3S 26650 light that Id love to mod with the driver you mentioned. Can you please post a link or where I can buy?