I just received one I ordered (before the LED change) as a gift. I can’t get it to charge. It’s just a solid red light. I have messaged the Sofirn Ali store but it hasn’t been any help yet. The light works and the battery is nearly charged (4.1V is how it arrived), but I am giving this to someone who is not set up for external charging so I needed to test the onboard function. I’ve tried multiple cables (including the one it came with) and other cells as well. It’s just a solid red every time. Does anyone have any ideas? The gift is for someone I will see Friday so I need to figure it out or get something else by then.
Wear down the battery and try charging. It may not start charging when the cell is at a certain level. An example is the Astrolux FT03. It won’t start charging if battery voltage is above 4.0.
Thanks, I tried putting in a cell that I was using in another light that was at 3.8V, and it won’t charge that cell either, same solid red light.
Try flicking the tailswitch?
I’ve had lights which had tailswitches and charging, and they have to be turned to on (as in lit) for the connection to be made and the charging to be possible. Once plugged in and connected to power, the main light would go off and it’d go into charging mode instead.
I felt dumb “charging” a light forever at work, never went green, but then had that “duuuuh” moment and flicked it on, and viola!, it started charging.
To be clear, I don’t recall the SP35T’s specifics, so it may not apply, but I’m just tossing it out there.
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense, but did not change anything in this case.
I actually have an update. The cell is charging. I just tested it at 4.12V, but this worries me because while looking for info on this, I found a post on Reddit where someone had an SP36 that was solid red while charging and overcharged the batteries to 4.6V+. So I’m keeping an eye on it and I’ll see if it terminates charging at an appropriate level in which case I suppose maybe it’s safe to give?
I left it plugged in with the solid red and it turned green, and stopped charging. The final voltage was 4.21. The thing is that one of my first questions to their support team was whether it was just a misprint in the manual and it should be solid red while charging. They told me no, that it should flash. What do folks think? Safe to gift?
If it didn’t go supernova, I’d say safe.
I had two Sofirn flashlights (well, my SP36 Pro Anduril 2 just arrived the day before yesterday so I now have three, LOL) and their indicator LED shows different behavior during charging.
My SP35 indicator LED blinks red during charging, while my C8L indicator LED shows solid red.
Knowing that the SP35T uses the same UI as the C8L, I won’t be surprised if Sofirn mess up their info a little bit.
They messed up the info about the UI as well. In tactical mode, sideswitch only cycles through medium and turbo.
That at least seems to have been updated in the manual.
Thanks for the info everyone.
Anyone with this light, can you please tell me how easy would be to swap the LED? I really want it but not with this SFN43 LED.
You are better off with the regular SP35 unless you really want the tail switch. The SP35 has the better driver and the SST40 is a better emitter. The T version has a worse driver and emitter. The only plus is the OP reflector but that’s just my own opinion and varies by person.
But to answer your question it’s built like all the other Sofirn lights. The bezel unscrews then you can get at the emitter. There may be a little glue on the threads, but turn the light on turbo for a little bit to get the head hot, then it’ll probably unscrew by hand.
I really want the T. I love this kind of design, UI of dual switches. Plus the instant turbo is awesome! One of my favorite EDCs is the Wurkkos FC12 for the dual switch design and forward switch allowing momentary operation. But I want something along the lines but with a little more kick. Around 3-4k lumens.
There is a Cree version as well. XHP50. Probably better than the SFN43 at least.
Yes I seen people commenting about it. But where can I buy it? Because in their AliExpress store there’s only one option and it’s not clear which one it is. They say 3800lm on the title then 2000lm on the pictures, they mention a XHP50B but the pictures shows the SFN.
It’s a complete mess.
Here’s the link to Sofirn’s official site. The pictures have not been updated yet since the XHP50 model is new, likely as a response to people hating the SFN emitter.
They have the SP35 and SP35T on the same page, so make sure to select the T model and the XHP50 option, as well as the battery if you need it. Make sure to click the 15% off thing to get the discount code too.
I swapped mine out for sft40 - I enjoy it so much more now. Am still pissed they pawned this light off with the sfn43.
If you have basic soldering skills, it should be no problem. Bezel unscrews easily and after popping out the reflector, all you need to do is to desolder the two joints and take out the mcpcb. Reflow the emitter with a new one, then solder the PCB back and replace everything.
It is astounding how much better the light performs, with a simple led swap.
Sft40 gives it better more usable throw while still retaining the spill and beam pattern from the excellent OP reflector. On paper, it gives less lumens than sfn43 - but because it throws well, it doesn’t feel weaker, if that makes sense.
And of course, the heat is much lower. Not to say sft40 is known as a cool running led, but compared to the sfn43 it’s an icecube.
I want that freakin’ OP reflector in the normal SP35 with the good driver. The reason I don’t own an SP35 is an SST40 in a smooth reflector is boring. I imagine anything I swap in would have a crap ringy beam from the SMO reflector.
Thanks for the suggestions guys! I’ll definitely be looking into it! Cheers
I put an xpl Hi in the normal 35 and really like it!