FREEME ✌ ASTROLUX FT03S SFH55 9300lm & FT03 SFT40 2200lm 1300m NarsilM v1.3 USB-C - ALIVE

Commercial Sellers' Spot BLF User Negotiated Deals
1881

Ok,

What I would like to see that no one seems to do is to see what the output for ALL the said cells is after 2 minutes, 3 minutes.

So your saying no matter what battery is used ALL will be equal in output in less than 1 minute w/ FET driver?

If that is the case, the battery makes no difference in terms of output. In less than 1 minute.

I will analyze this until the light is completely rebuilt[maybe] w/ different driver, current boost and de domed! :smiley:

Time for dinner. I will do some more analyzing while I am eating,actually I think I will just enjoy my dinner!

1882

The output fall off will be roughly equal to the voltage drop off that you see in the battery tests. Although the output does not follow the voltage exactly it is close enough for our purposes.

1883

Yes, like TA was saying you could basically take a fully charged cell, run it for 1 min, remove it and throw it in your charger to determine the % capacity it’s at which would be fairly relative to the output you’d be achieving at 1 min. Then repeat the process for 2, 3, 4…

And yes, the cell depletion on turbo is very, very rapid with these high amp lights so it’s actually more like within the first 10-20 seconds the cell has depleted enough to where it would be at or below the specs of a lower amperage cell. Hence why a 30 second solid turbo test easily confirms whether a light can handle a barely higher amperage/output cell

1884

Ok,thanks.

I would like to see how that correlates in lumens[loss] with 21700 cells [30T,40T and P42A] and 26650[PLB-55A] cell as it progresses from Turn on until lets say 15 minutes later. I am a tough customer!

It must have been 5 or 6 years ago the guy tested the light and reported the progression of lumen decline minute by minute. I do not think I have seen it done since then. Too time consuming I guess.

1885

NW finally delivered after 55 days (Feb 15th).
Bezel is unglued, led is centered, no defects. very good. :+1:

1886

I saw my therapist after dinner[pictured below]

He told me to relax and just use the 6 X PLB-55A Re wraps that I have. I believe the ones below fall in that category. Just got them today. Took 45 hours from Atlanta to the suburbs of Philly. :+1:

The Orbtronic have 100 plus more mAh than the Vapcell and the Shockli…no biggie,just an observation by a flashaholic who wants EVERY advantage!

1887

Glad to hear it.

I ordered on 2/14. Mine are still in Cally[after arriving there from China],should be shipped to Philly in the next day or so! I hope to have them by next Thursday or Friday,If they arrive[NW] like yours I will be happy!

On Its Way to USPS
April 9, 2019 at 4:26 pm

Departed Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item

LOS ANGELES, CA 90040

You guys get a break for a few hours! I am hitting the trail w/ the Boss. :wink:

1888

This isn’t difficult if a reviewer has a data logging setup, but many people don’t. It’s a pretty standard test, so someone will do the test you want, eventually, though perhaps not with a range of batteries.

There are tons of great tests being done on lights and batteries, but I don’t think we’ve yet seen a full output log for the FT03 as in-depth reviews are only just becoming available. I’m sure that some reviews are currently in production, but detailed tests take a lot of time.

1889

So none of those cells have any problem fitting in this light? They are not too wide?

1890

Got mine today - NW, no bezel glue, slightly off center LED - I corrected most of it out, but still may work a little more on the centering piece. The centering piece is butt up against the wires, think that's resulting in slight off centering. I sanded the piece down on 2 sides a bit, might need to take more off. Also had notice small black spot on LED, so wiped that off - micro cloth w/isop. alcohol.

Quick test was 8.19 amps on a blue LK at 4.20V, ~2070 @start (ANSI cal #), 2350 in old Tom E #'s

Looks excellent so far, agree with others: wut-a-deal! Nice quality, I like that it seems easy to locate the side switch by feel.

I'll probably be posting comparison pics with the Amutorch JM70 (I have 2), since it's bout the closest light I got in size and style. The JM70 has a thin SS bezel - looks like they optimize the reflector I.D. better, and the reflector looks like a better finish - the FT03 has noticeable machine marks. Still the FT03 has a few advantages and cheaper: better styling, better feel switch, USB-C charging, driver of course, etc.

1891

I tried all my worse case 26650's and they all fit - TF protected, KP protected, EVVA protected, and even a 26700 cell fits.

1892

Thanks Tom.

What about testing w/ 21700’s?,30T/40T and P42A? Also do you have any PLB-55A re wraps?Like the one I have pictured above?

How about lux? Do you have the equipment to measure throw?

1893

My apologies in advance.
I am obviously a new guy around here but I was wondering, without consideration for cost, how does the Orbtronic 5750mAh High Capacity-High Drain cell measure against the others mentioned in this thread, and if it is a good match for this light, would I want a flat or button top? It seems expensive, but I was curious how it would fit dimensionally, and if its specifications are a good fit for this light?

Thanks in advance for helping a new enthusiast with somewhat technical questions (at least for me).

Joe

1894

Hi Joe,

It is a good cell as you can see by my test, However, Orbtronics are out of them. The Vapcell or the Shockli will work fine. Tom E. verified that much bigger cells even fit in the light. Personally, I like the FT much better. I have One Orbtronic BT and I prefer the FT. Any will work fine.

Are you in the USA?

I bought my Vapcell[the ones I just tested ] from 18650 Battery. Delivered in 45 hours. they gave me a coupon code for 10% off. They will do the same for you, just email them or do a Live chat.

https://www.18650batterystore.com/26650-battery-p/vapcell-26650-5500mah.htm

1895

I am in the US. The information you provided is very helpful!

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Joe

1896

Between a U21 and JM70:

Looking at the reflectors, the FT03 almost seems to have a light OP treatment. I also can't notice a tint off the glass - no blue or purple, but I could be missing it somehow:

Some battery measurements:

Blue LK 5000 4.20V 8.19A 2070-1960 (0-30s) lumens, 253 kcd
Shockli 5500 BT 4.19V 7.15A
P42A 4.19V 8.57A
30T 4.21V 9.1A
40T 4.21V 9.07A 2150-1940 (0-30s) lumens, 253 kcd

Regardless of the reflector, the #'s seem real good. I measured 253 kcd taken at 5 meters, which seems above the norm.

The 40T seemed to drop off quick, compared to the old blue LK. I'm not sure how to explain that. My 2 Shockli 5500's never seem to perform well - wonder if it's because of the small BT's these cells have. Dunno, the Shockli's now look nothing like the ones I have. Not sure offhand where/when I got them.

Ohhh - I'm hearing distinctive pop sounds when running it on max, and shortly following. This is clearly the signs for poor thermal grease and/or non-flat MCPCB. Think we just learned this with the E07 issues.

1897

Wow 253kcd in stock form is very impressive. Wasn’t the manufacturer numbers only 190kcd?
What throw numbers you getting for the amutorch jm70?

1898

5m is too close to get a correct measurmant IMHO
190kCd @ 10m with my NW sample

1899

@ Tom E.

Thanks for the testing. :smiley:

My guess about the Shockli you have is that they are old! They could be 2 or 3 years old…older? Just a guess. How many cycles do they have?!! Do not expect you to know that. Not many people keep track of that like me!

The newer Black/White wrappers came out about a year or so ago.

I bet if you got brand new Orbtronic/Shockli or Vapcell[PLB-55A Re-wraps],they would perform pretty well.

oh yeahh…I have One Orbtronic BT and I do not like it. It is a very feeble BT and sometimes its hard to get good contact in my charger. Like you said that may also be a reason,My guess is that they are OLD! :sunglasses:

1900

Stock JM70 I got 188 kcd on #1 (2.55 amps), 218 kcd on #2 (3.57 amps), both XPL HI models.

- #1 does 266 kcd now: resistor bypass, swapped LED to XPL HI V3, bypasses, 20 AWG LED wires, tweaks to centering ring, etc.

- #2 does 327 kcd now: full driver mod running NarsilM, wires, bypasses, etc.

I double checked my throw measurement setup on a SD26 and seemed ok at 36 kcd (fully modded, high amps, XP-L2).

The 253 kcd was after improving the centering of the LED. With the black spot of dirt on the LED out of the box, I didn't want to take chances running on max/turbo. 5 meters would show less throw compared to 10+ meters - this has been proven many times over and over, here on BLF, and as I've seen. The hot spot looks impressive to me on this light - very well defined.

For the Shockli's, agree - the BT's aren't a good setup, and I don't track cycles (with 200+ cells??) but these have very few, if any.

Yea, I made multiple measurements, checked my meter (for low battery), etc., so got fairly high confidence in this, but I'll do more throw testing this evening. I'm even using a meter that I've confirmed is about 2% lower than my previous original meter. I can't quite explain this yet, compared to other posted #'s. Previously I've been always in the neighborhood on throw. I have 2 other meters to sanity check against.

Not 100% confident yet in these #'s til I do all these checks.