Thank for posting, I was wondering if anyone got one that works correctly. Guess I’m about to find out how good Soonfire’s customer service is for getting a replacement, just in case I ever need to use the charge feature.
I have another Nitenumen one here that charged the battery up to 4.30v. Was going to five it away as it makes a great gift for a non 18650 user, but i feel it is unsafe to do so now.
How do I get a hold of soonfire? www.soonfire.com is no help (what the #%!@ is that?)
I know I can go through amazon for a replacement but I wanted to contact soonfire directly first to hear what they have to say about it (the USB charging problems)
EDIT: I’m going to try contacting them via the email address printed on the box, sale@soonfire.com, hopefully I get a reply …because the website www.soonfire.com has nothing to do with flashlights.
Hahaha that site…
Well when an email address is printed on the box it should be good.
I’ll check my Nitenumen box for you tonight, it seems the same company right.
The good news is that Soonfire responded to my email within 24 hrs.
…ahh but here was there response:
“Hey guys,
About the red light flashing, the reason is the resistance of the circuit was more sensitive, for some when the voltage is not stable Will not affect the normal use of flashlight! Usually, it takes to charge about 4-6 hours. It coule be the problem of voltage. When battery is full charged, the light will turn green. Reminded, after 18650 battery is fully charged, the internal battery in a high temperature state, in order to make the flashlight and batteries have a longer service life, please cool for 5 minutes”
Eh??
But hey, it “Will not affect the normal use” …so I guess we’re all good now 
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As for their site, I’m inquiring about that in my response.
BTW, I’m pretty sure Soonfire is a different company than Nitenumen, same light but I believe Soonfire is an entirely different entity that is selling the light. But of course I could be wrong.
I disconnected my charger when i was changing the LED just in case some one happens to use it.
This time I started charging with a battery that was down to 2.5v
Now the red light is flashing during charging, and it does change to steady blue around 3.9v
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Although far from perfect, the internal charge function is usable for charging “in a pinch” (my intended purpose of it)
At least I can tell now when it’s almost fully charged, or when it’s charged at least enough to be able to use the light (EDIT, see my next post below)
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As for the Soonfire website, I emailed them and got a super quick reply…in less than 1 hour and during the daytime (USA time):
Here was their response:
“At present,Our website is under attack,Technicians are processing,Probably need a week time.”
Tried the USB charger once more, again starting with a cell at <2.5v
This time it stayed flashing red the whole time and never changed to blue, it was 4.18v when I pulled it to check.
Let the battery rest a few hours and when I put it in and charge again now its blue.
Tried again with another battery starting at 3.25v, it began with flashing red then after a few minutes it went to blue at 3.7v
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So there is no real consistency of when it will be flashing red or when it will change to blue. One thing that is consistent is when (or if) it does change to blue the cell is not quite fully charged yet.
Because there is no way to tell when it’s fully charged, (at least on my sample) the USB charge feature is pretty much useless, unless you monitor it closely using a voltmeter.
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I was great that Soonfire responded quickly to my emails, however they are not providing any real solution to this issue. Their only answer was “Will not affect the normal use of flashlight!” I don’t think sending another one is a solution and they know it.
I don’t believe another light would fix the issue, being that the issue is with the original nitenumen, they just purchased and there name.On it. Like there other lights one is crelant 7gc10? I believe I have a couple of their other lights besides this one. I had a issue and received another light right away.
But The answer to this isn’t going to be another light, it would take the manufacturer changing the software I imagine for the charging. Every unit seems to charge differently it’s a known issue. But if they are selling them for $20 daily they are still making a great profit off it and probably arnt going to upgrade it anytime soon. I watch the presale numbers shoot up on gear best Every time. Even with its flaws I’d still purchase it again, but that’s just my experience with it. It’s been one of the best edc lights for my job. But I externally charge unless I’ve used it a lot at work that day and charge it at lunch. I.guess the really only end user solution is, use a protected battery if you are going to use the usb port, externally charge, put in a 4.35 battery, or do as everyday has stated and disable the port if your worried about others using it. You can easily fill it with superglue if you didn’t want to tear into the light. The usb thing I see as emergency only on any light. I only have one usb charged light that actually charges correctly. In my opinion it’s not a bad light for what I need and it has nice tailcap threads that are meant to be used. I’m sorry your disappointed with the light, I can only speak with my experience with soonfire. They gave me no hassle and sent a replacement not this light. But my issue could be solved with it. If everyone’s light is doing this a replacement is going to have the same software algorithms and charge exactly the same.
Nitenumen is the manufacturer of the light. Soonfire is a reseller if you go on nitenumens site they tell you for a minimum order amount they will print your name on the light.
Soonfire actually resell 4-5 different lights from different manufacturers. They just buy thousands of pieces at a time so the parent company will print their name on the lights. The resell crelant lights I know for sure along with nitenumen. The different models can be seen on amazon
That’s exactly what I meant in my post above: “I don’t think sending another one is a solution and they know it”
That’s why they didn’t offer to replace it.
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I agree, except for the Olight “R” series with the magnetic charging base, very convenient and works perfectly.
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Don’t be, because I’m not disappointed with the light one bit, in fact I’m very pleased with it!
I never planned on using the USB charging anyway, sure it would be nice if the charging indicator light worked properly if I needed to use it “in a pinch” but mostly I just wanted to see what Soonfire said about it before I edit my review.
On my Soonfire branded version the USB charging appears to be terminating, the cheap unprotected cell I test charged in it today wouldn’t go any higher than 4.18v (got it up to 4.18v and let it charge for three more hours and it still read 4.18v)
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The Soonfire protected 18650B cell that came with the light got up to 4.25v when I pulled it on my initial charging test, I’m going to try that cell again to see if it goes any higher to confirm it is terminating.
Could it be the quality of the USB cable used?
maybe some have such high resistance the light just gets less power and does not stop in tie, like protection on cells that can not be triggerd if the load is too low. Just thinking out loud here.
Will have to try a good cable sometime in the days to come.
Today I started charging the battery internally and fell asleep. When I woke up, it has stopped charging. I let the battery rest for about an hour and measured the voltage with my DMM.
It read 4.34V.
Good thing I had a 4.35V 18650 cell in there. I wouldn’t use the internal USB charging feature of the Nitenumen NE01 again.