After clicking three times from on, the ramping returned to smooth up and down. In addition, all four XPL led’s started to work again! Yippee!
But…after five mins of looking at it and trying to make sure they all worked - it has reverted to just the three working - whether I change from smooth to step and back again.
Another thing is that I appear to have the weaker tailcap magnet type. It will not hold the weight of the flashlight on a metal surface (it just slides towards the centre of gravity with increasing velocity).
So, to sum up - malfunctioning led/programming jump without clicks and weak magnet.
Why do I like this light so much then?
I feel like I should order a couple more in the hopes of getting a reliable one. That’s insane!
If only they would increase their QC I would happily pay more for reliability as the form and function have won me over (even with only three leds, it’s still scarily bright on turbo and the low is as low as I can use.
Sending a second email today - will back up with a PM here.
If you haven’t, spend an hour or so reading over the manual several times and going through the motions with the UI. It took me a little while to really grasp what the manual was saying when I was trying to set my ramping stages. But after messing with it for about an hour, I understood it all. It really is a user friendly UI with a ton of options to be programmed just the way you want it. Is there a certain setting that you are struggling with?
Nothing specific, but I think you are absolutely correct - some diligent time perusing the manual will aid me in mastering this U.I…
I do like the flexibility of the options, and it was only my ignorance in both cases of “getting lost” with what section of the menu I was in.
I like having the smooth ramping up and down, also appreciate the battery check, haven’t found a use for the candle mode flickr yet and I finally understand how to switch off the main face auxilliary leds.
Bit of a niggle about the intermittant xpl led (always the same one so far) - but it hasn’t stopped me from ordering up a couple more of these.
How are people finding the batteries? I’ll be scanning the posts for the best ones to get.
Logan5 what battery are you using? Do you have to really crank down on the endcap to get the light to come on? You may benefit from better contact. Just get a bare piece of copper wire (others have used a 1mm thick Cu washer) and put it down in the endcap. It helps make good contact with the body of the light and you don’t have to crank it so hard. Hope this solves the problem with your intermittent emitters.
Just received my Champagne PL47 4000K SST20 in the mail today. it came with the four-mode “stepped” settings from the factory. Just curious, anyone have any run times on the blue 20700 cell that the light comes with? (with that four-modes setting, and double click turbo)
Also what is the standby run time leaving the blue front glow lights & the switch purple lights on continuously. so far mine seems to work on, but haven’t really tried the other modes or used it much yet.
Hi, just the LG 4800mAh 21700 that I ordered with the light, from Fireflies - the tailcap only just covers the o-ring when tightened and does not seem “mashed down” as you say. Although on examining the cell, the button on the top is slightly “pushed in” after a few days of use.
No amount of battery juggling has made the fourth XPL led any more or less intermittant.
Has anyone noticed if Fireflies changed the magnet in their tailcap?
Got another FF PL47 that had a bad tailcap which doesn't make a connection and also the magnet is extremely weak..
(try to do a "2x fast play" of the videos so it plays faster... you probably don't want seeing me unscrewing the tailcap for 10+ seconds..)
FF PL47 with a bad tailcap that doesn't make contact with the battery tube...
www.youtube.com/embed/BJRQ9ne-FI8
plus the "bad" tailcap has a weak magnet:
I also tried weighing both tailcaps -- the good one and the bad one -- and they actually weigh the same (+/- 0.1 grams), so the assumption is they used a different magnet, and some of them probably are not installed properly, causing the tailcap to not make contact..
This light has a linear driver and the LEDs are wired in parallel. If one LED is intermittent it’s likely that the problem is with the LED or the star.
My guess is the intermittent LED doesn’t have sufficient solder underneath connecting it to the star. Either that or the LED wasn’t reflowed properly to the star. To fix it, I would do the following:
Make a note of which LED is the problem one.
Desolder and remove the AUX led board
Desolder and remove the star
Heat up the star hot enough to reflow the LEDs. This can be done by placing the star on some tinfoil in a saucepan. Or by putting it in a wooden clotheslip in a table vise and applying a soldering iron or heatgun to the underside.
When the solder melts remove the problem LED with tweezers.
If needed, use toothpick to apply a bit more solder paste underneath problem LED.
Replace LED with tweezers.
Heat star enough to reflow the solder again.
Reassemble all parts back into the light. Wipe off any stock thermal compound underneath the star and apply fresh thermal compound.
If that doesn’t fix it, the individual LED is probably bad and should be replaced with a fresh one.
I doubt most people can do that, especially on a PL47 with its press-fit bezel. It’s not easy to get into, and not many people are willing and able to reflow LEDs.
The removal of the bezel is the big problem. Vinh is doing it by breaking the glass, which really isn't a bad option, though I'm not sure what to do after the glass is broken, but maybe he's probably using some sort of pry tool under the bezel, using the optic as the base for the leverage.. Here's a pic from him, posted here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/54450/212
Freeme’s site is down and I want this so bad! The price is unbeatable. I can’t find a single nichia offering out there. I found the xpl version on Neal’s blog but the price here is very sexual…very sensual…
Ok, I did the math and with the discount on Neal’s site it actually was really well priced.
Question though: People around the web are saying this is too heavy yo use as a head lamp. I’m worried because I bought it for use as a headlamp. Should I be worried?
It’s not really designed for use as a headlamp. That was kind of an afterthought. It’s more intended to be clipped on to things. Like, clip it between shirt buttons and aim it forward as a torso light. Or clip it to a backpack strap, or in a pocket so the head is sticking out.
But it can also be used as a headlamp, if you get a headband which fits it. It’s just a bit heavy and a bit off-balance.
Ok, so I was bummed I couldn’t use it, practically, as a headlamp. But I have a million other things I thought I could use it for/with.
I got it today and honestly I’m pretty disappointed.
1.) This CANNOT run with an 18650. I tried flat and button top. If I move the light it turns off.
2.) It looks like the reflector (do you still call it a reflector with this type of light?) Has defects. I can see gashes in the cone of the reflector. I can see 6-7 gashes in the cones. Not a single emitter reflector is missing it.
3.) Where it looks like the optics is screwed in to the light, or whatever it is, where the 4 holes make a cross shape at the top, bottom, left and right. 3 of them have a weird Milky color to them. The bottom hole I can see to the bottom. I’m not too familiar with what to call the components so sorry for my lack of proper terminology
4.) The magnet is complete unusable. It can’t be used. Even if I propped up the head of the light the tail would still fall off of a metallic surface. Completely useless.
I might of made the mistake comparing this to my D4S. Which is why I bought this light honestly. A lot of people said good things about it. Im pretty shocked.
If this wasn’t a purchase from Neal’s site I would of tried returning it ASAP.
Not defending Fireflies and they could have done a much better job with this lovely light. My 2 PL47s had some machining problems that I had to work around. They still are 2 of my favorites lights though because of the form factor, output and emitters. They are also very useable as headlamp if you use the right mount. I use a 3d printed one but I heard that zebralight headbands work very well. Here are some suggestions or explanations to your problems that might help.
1) It will run on 18650 but you would need to use a 18650 to 21700 adaptor. Long protected 18650s would fit without the adapter but (depending on the cell) turbo would trip the protection circuit after which you have to unscrew tailcap to reset. Both my PL47s came with the adapter I’m not sure if yours came with it but you can get those adapters for cheap.
2) Nothing can be done with the gashes on the reflector (optics?) except maybe return and ask for a refund or replacement?
3) I think those are not screw holes but legs of the optics that they had to cut off because they don’t match the design of the mcpb and aux led board. Emisar D4 and E07 also have optics with cut legs because of the same reason. Again, if they’re not interfering with the function of the light I can live with it but that’s me.
4) Yep the magnet is completely useless and I replaced mine with N52 magnets. I think they’re 20mm x 2mmm.I glued two of them but one may be enough for sticking to flat metal surfaces.
My aux LED’s stopped working after one outing. I ran it on turbo for a couple minutes, and they died after that. I tried the 7 clicks to cycle modes. Tried a bunch if different clicks. Any way to fix this or should I contact FF’s?
I'm not surprised about the 18650 fit, but I have plenty of 21700's, but guess I believe in putting the best battery in a light - you spent enough on the light to warrant the purchase of the proper battery for it.
The magnets we all knew about - plenty of reports on that here, but my PL47 happens to have a strong one.
Not sure about the gashes on the optics. If you have a D4S then you should have experience with them, but there is a plastic 'defect' under the top surface of all or most of these TIR optics that have no impact on the beam whatsoever. It's basically the snap off point from manufacturing these in panels where they are all interconnected, then cut off individually. But what you describe sounds different, so this could be defects, just not sure if it effects the beam or not.
The broken off leg is also well known, all of the lights come that way and is expected and necessary because of the manufacturing and/or design. It's purely cosmetic - should not make it any less reliable. In fact on the S42/S43's, if you take apart the head, a leg of the optic typically broke off but was perfectly usable in that state on 3 legs instead of 4.
