FIRE-FOXES FF5GT

LED Flashlights – General Info
52

a public service announcement....

Because of using a series of unprotected cells in the FF5GT it is critical for safety and performance to start out with new cells that are always charged and used as a group together.

Having balanced cells is crucial.

Don't mix cells with other lights and periodically check the individual cell voltages after discharge to make sure they are close to each other. The FF5GT plastic battery carrier has a low voltage cutoff circuit in it which shuts the light off.

Also, it is very important to allow a 30-60 sec (or more) cooldown after powering off the light before turning it on again to maintain best longevity. Turning it back on too soon while the gases in the bulb are still hot causes serious wear on the ballast electronics, a condition called "hot restrike" and should be avoided.

The bulb itself is rated for a few thousand hours of operation and is surprisingly rugged. Since there is no fragile filament to break HIDs are the design of choice for military crew serviced heavy weapons; they are impervious to recoil.

A word of warning, the FF5/FF5GT bulb seems not to have a UV shield capsule on it so it's good practice to NEVER shine the beam directly in anyone's eyes or a direct (mirror) reflection.

Just thought I'd share what I learned from using my FF5, which is still humming along after 2 years with no failures.

I really want to hear from the others about their FF5GT experience when they get their lights.

Be safe, have FUN!

53

Sure! So is the Molicel P28a the absolute best cell for the FF5 GT? I need to figure that out and buy 8 of them to replace my 30Qs

54

PhotonMaster,

I strongly recommend the Molicel P28a for the FF5GT. It is a power high current cell, rated to 35A continuous but handles 20-25A like a champ, better than the Sony VTC5 with much more capacity. The 12A continous load of the FF5GT on high mode should be no problem.

Here is its datasheet, look how flat the high current discharge curves are:

https://www.molicel.com/wp-content/uploads/INR18650P28A-V1-80093.pdf

The P28a is what the P42a is to 21700s: the Goldilocks of high current with runtime capacity.

The reviews of the P28a are stellar. Mooch, who does nothing but torture test cells, considers the Molicel "simply the best 18650 there is". He rated the P28a at 75W per cell!

Go for 8 of them. Have fun!

55

Sweet thanks! Wish I had equipment to measure the performance of the light with Molicel vs Samsung 30Q

56

PM,

A simple way to go about it is measure ceiling bounce lux with a smartphone to gauge relative output fairly accurately and a stopwatch to measure runtimes while using the light. I use this excellent Android app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsang.alan.lightmeter

Since you already have some used 30Qs (I have boxes that have served me well, prime choice for years) a simple trial of a set of those versus some new P28a should reveal a significant difference, especially with the high mode (apparently exaggerated 150W spec) drawing 12A continuously. The FF5 only drew 7-8A on its 100W high mode.

When I first got my FF5 I used some 30Qs with some wear on them, not a matched new set until my order arrived. Was measuring runtime while using the light, and when the LVP caused a hard shutoff I compared cell voltages.

With used unmatched (wear/cycle use) 30Q cells that were evenly charged:

Because they are under heavy load in series, there will likely be one cell with significantly less voltage than the other 3 at LVP shutoff. Like one at 2.7V while the others still had some useful capacity at 3.0V. Weakest link in the chain principle at work. The cells were also very warm, guessing about 60 degC.

When I got my new 30Qs I got at least 5 more minutes of total runtime and an even 2.8V from all 4 cells at shutoff after a full run, and the cells were moderately warm.

YYou should invest in an inexpensive digital voltmeter ($15 ebay) to get accurate battery voltage readings, it's practical and gives peace of mind knowing liion condition.

The P28a cells are in a completely different league for high current delivery, I think the best choice given the limits of 18650s.

One thing I have read is the machining quality of the reflector on the FF5GT is greatly improved. It appears nearly perfectly smooth versus some very minor ring shaped irregularities on the FF5.

Keep having fun with your FF5GT :)

57

Looks like Molicel updated their 18650 to P28b 40a. Molicel 18650 2800mah P28B 40A battery

And I went ahead and got the GT. Oh well.

58

I would buy P28b If i could, even P28a, but only the P26a are available in my country...
Can you guys recommend 18650/21700 shop in the EU, that will ship to Poland and the shipping won't cost more then the cells. :D

Ps. Flat top's 18650, right?

59

The P28b cell has severely limited distribution in the US at present, the few sources have a min order quantity of 500 cells. It is available on AliExpress for $10/cell but then you have several weeks shipping time to deal with. It's not listed yet at liionwholesale.com, Molicel 's prime US distributor and my trusted source.

The P28b cell has the same capacity and lower impedance, with current rating increased to 40Amps continuous up from 35Amps for the P28a.

IMHO not justifying the wait and double the price, only $5.75 (Liionwholesale.com) for the P28a which seems ideally matched for use in the FF5GT.

Kokosnh,

The P26a has the same high current rating as the P28a, just 200mAh smaller capacity. It's just as well suited for the FF5GT so I would recommend those if locally available.

An excellent source of lithium ion batteries in the EU is NKON in Holland but they are backordered for the P28a until September 3rd, at a cost of 5.25 euro per cell. Yes, ONLY unprotected FLAT TOP 18650s fit the FF5 battery carrier. I highly recommend getting an accessory carrier for $30 (Nealsgadgets.com) and 8 cells for enjoyable runtime. Here is the web link:

https://eu.nkon.nl/molicel-inr18650-p28a-2800mah-35a.html

pokochasz to światło. powodzenia! baw się dobrze!

60

The P28Bs look awesome but they don’t seem to be for sale anywhere. the P26As are going for about $4.89 a piece

61

PM,

See my above post. $40 for 8 P28a is the hot ticket, go for it. What I'm really excited about is the also yet to see availability of the P45b 21700, the evolution of the stellar P42a.

62

Tested mine multiple time, at multiple distances, and it's not reaching 1Mcd.

And to top it off... mine broke.

Fortunately, I already finished all the testing, so I just have to finish the write up, and publish the review (after the weekend).


The only thing that I can think of that could possibly be the source of this issue is the cleaning of contact with alcohol, on both the carrier and the contact points inside the flashlight.

The battery carrier still shows 16.x Volts.

Short lived fun with the FF5 GT

63

I’m actually considering replacing all my 18650s with those. They’re like 3 or 4 years old at least and have been charged hundreds of times. I got a new Vapecell S4 that can measure capacity but I haven’t tested any of my cells

64

Can’t wait for the review. Will you be doing a version of the user manual? I didn’t receive any English instructions

65

Check the switch on the battery carrier, I suspect that is the weak point.

This is the FF4 reflector curve plotted. The FF5 reflector looks to be the same focal length. At opening in the MF05 reflector it the same diameter at the focal point of this curve.

66

I was a bit perplexed reading the 1lumen review, apart from the numbers, which as a good marketing tradition were not confirmed by the test, what worried me the most was the fragility of the flashlight in its main components or HID filament and battery holders, I think a little more attention to quality for a product that costs like Acebeam X75 is not wrong.

67

Ya that’s a weird review on 1lumen. My FF5 worked flawlessly until I stupidly put the batteries in wrong and tightened it really hard

That was interesting about the diffuser lens though. I bought it but didn’t really know what it was for. I’ll have to try it out

68

Here are some beamshots
with other HIDs

Regards Xandre

69

Hids have an unmatched beam along with good halogen that LED just can’t and imo most likely never will get close to. And yet hids must be so unbelievable unpopular. Leds today only give huge lumens with much of that light right nearfield which imo is distracting and rather ugly. Hids just smash a powerful beam with a small spill that imo is soso much more beautiful, LEDs are stuck with bland low cri and high color temp that I hate. In my strong opinion LEDs are the very imbodiment of that timeless adage in life, it’s not about selling the stake, it’s about selling the sizzle. It seems the only thing people care about these days is just lumens.
But as impressive as as FF5 is, I make no allusions about it’s real world practicalness, to me it’s a toy and doesn’t inspire much confidence in reliability. So much so that I thought about turfing mine as I just don’t want to be left with a broken exotic unfixable light that can’t possible be replaced.

All I can say is I’d fully expect this new light to produce near 15k lumens or else what’s the point? Tbh I know how the ff5 gets really hot and no way do I see 15k lumens for any worthwhile runtime, Neva gonna happen.
Contrary to what someone said, the human eyes actually do pick up on just a few thousand lumens increase easily, it’s called the trained eye, double the lumens usually gives a noticable increase to the average Joe, but I can spot tiny increases and reductions in lights straight away. So adding 5k lumens would be HUGE to me, I’d straight away go, farrrk….

We have been waiting for a genuine 150-200watt hid literally since late 2000s. I have personally seen genuine 130watts at the bulb (overdriven) and it’s already a sight to see over the 75watts norm. 200 would be unreal.

70

Long tube for 8 x 18650 available https://www.nealsgadgets.com/products/firefoxes-ff5-hid-flashlight-accessories?variant=39979059773514 119.95$ there are some promo codes that are working on it. (eq FREEME -17.99$)
If someone buy this, please measure the whole flashlights length, because it probably won't fit my flashlight shelf (but I'm curious if it fits)

Ps. Just got my FF5GT
In package there are missing
-HID bulb
-pouch coffee
On the site all have the same tracking number, so there are just not there?
Do I just contact neal at Nealsgadgets@hotmail.com ?

I heard, that when ordering from neal, I have to expect wrong type of something, or just things missing, but don't expect it to be like 100% true XD.

EDIT: Just got the second passage, that have the same number, and in it
-HID bulb
-pouch coffee
So everything is OK.
And neal did respond and told me there is second package, with the same number (and it's actually the same number, I got the first yesterday, and today I got the second one)



71

I didn’t know the long tube was available. How will this extend the runtime? Is anyone planning on running those numbers? I’d be interested to know