GB BLF LuckySun D80-SE Need long tubes? -3/3/16

BLF Special Edition Products
1961

just got my lights today as well. My AW 2600 protected flat tops fit with a 1.5mm magnet on top. they measure 68.5mm with magnet. they are flush with top of tube. this is not including the height of the three bumps on negative end. they do not interfere with spring tip or cap so I did not include them in the height measurement. I also used a digital caliper to measure from the center of the driver to the back edge of tube and come up with 68.26mm so i think 68.5mm battery is max that will fit. cap screwed completely down with that setup

I tried 3 batteries. The AW’s above, a Panasonic NCR18650GA, and some samsung ICR18650-26c pullouts. The Panasonic GA pulled the most current. Max with my meter and long leads was 2.5amp with the GA. Around 2.40amps with the Samsungs and AW’s. Not sure if these numbers are close to being accurate as I am just using an old meter with long skinny leads.

I got both 3c and 1A bins. Both are really nice. I like the 3c most as most of my other lights are around the 1A color. I am supposed to get 3 pcs 5a but may pass on these as I really don’t see going warmer than the 3c which is already very natural looking.

Mike

1962

Thinking about it, I doubt Luckysun changed the tube they used. My guess is the EDC Gear driver in the head sticks out further where the positive battery post touches reducing the room in the tube. The early samples had the different driver correct? different dimensions?

1963

I have to admit, I really didn’t test mine much on anything but max, which seems to eliminate PWM issues in any light. I constantly run this thing on turbo when I’m out there and I really like it. It is not noisy PWM. It is not noticeable on turbo.

I am also sensitive to some PWM myself, and in this light I am not sensitive to it, if it has the same PWM that final version has, no nausea, no whining sounds, it just isn’t bothersome to me. I CAN hear PWM if I place the SS bezel up against my ear, but thats about it, and I’m not going to be earwax mining, so I think its OK unless your hearing is sensitive to this tone.

Original version (pre BLF) did lower the beam for low voltage as I remember (have to test it again soon now to make sure) and I did not test if this feature was kept as I talked about it several times…so what happened to this in the final version, or intermediate version, I’m not sure.

The intermediate version would not allow flat top batteries due to the positive contact point and I HAD to use protected. The next version I forgot to test with protected now that I found it would take flat top high drain cells. There were some changes proposed with the positive contact in the third version that I never got to handle myself.

I’ll really have to wait till I receive one myself to say for certain, but a “bad PWM” was not in any of the versions I received…is this an assumption or is someone actually sensitive to this particular PWM? As per Dale, I used the urination trick: if you don’t want the stream to be somewhat “bead-like”, then this is not the light to shine on a camping trip bathroom break on low…(would someone really keep the light on while doing that?)

1964

Thank you for your answer.
Do you have any suggestion how can I know when is time to charge the battery?
I don’t have many experience with unprotected cells.

Kind regards

1965

I’ve picked one up, since it went public!

1966

I can’t blame anyone but myself for the loss but I hear you. Still, lights that small (for me) have proven to be the perfect solution to those daily events when you just need a little more light. Like when you’re working on a computer and you drop a screw and don’t know which way it bounced or what it may have bounced under. I work in an office environment so having something that can always be in your pocket while being unobtrusive or creating an unsightly bulge in dress pants is ideal. I wouldn’t be interested in a forward click switch for a pocket light unless it always starts in moonlight or low. In this particular circumstance a twisty works quite well.

1967

I have not seen any runtime graphs of the D80. I have not been able to find any information regarding the D80’s driver. So, I don’t know what to expect of the flashlight behavior as the battery is depleted.

My suggestions:

1. As soon as you notice the flashlight beginning to dim, turn it off or replace the battery.

2. Get into the habit of recharging your flashlight periodically, even before it dims.

3. If you have a battery charger with voltage indicator, keep track of the voltage whenever you recharge. After a while, you should get a good idea of your usage pattern and how low the battery is getting with each use. Your goal should be to keep the voltage level above 3.5V. (If you don’t have a battery charger, but have a voltmeter, check the voltage of your batteries using the voltmeter.)

4. On some occasions, you may misjudge and allow the batteries to drop to as low as 3.0V. That is okay, but try to avoid it, if possible.

5. Never let the batteries drop below 2.7V. If that ever happens, be extremely careful when recharging them. The lower the voltage, the greater the risk of internal damage = fire = venting = not a good thing.

Nisem videl nobenih runtime grafov D80. Nisem mogla, da bi našli vse informacije o vozniku D80 je. Torej, ne vem, kaj naj pričakujem obnašanja svetilko, kot je baterija izpraznjena.

Moji predlogi:

1. Takoj ko opazite svetilko začenja dim, ga izklopite ali zamenjajte baterijo.

2. Pojdi v navado polnjenje vaše svetilko občasno, še preden potemni.

3. Če imate polnilec baterije z indikatorjem napetosti, preverite napetost, ko si napolnite baterije. Čez nekaj časa, naj bi dobil dobro idejo, kako nizko je baterija že z vsako uporabo. Vaš cilj mora biti, da bo nad 3.5V. (Če nimate polnilca, vendar imajo voltmeter, preverite napetost baterij s pomočjo voltmetra.)

4. V nekaterih primerih, lahko Podcenjevati nekoga in pustite, da se baterije pade na tako nizko, kot 3.0V. To je v redu, vendar poskusite izogniti, če je to mogoče.

5. Nikoli ne dovolite, da baterije pade pod 2.7V. Če se to zgodi, biti zelo previdni pri polnjenju. Čim nižja je napetost, večja je nevarnost trajne poškodbe akumulatorja = morebitno požarno = zračenja = ni dobra stvar.

1968

PM me for details on the aspheric BLF-D80 pocket thrower versions of these lights. 9 are all that is remaining then they are gone until a new creation. :wink:

~250,000 candela minimum. Includes a custom lens+bezel cover with (your) lettering and also a white conical diffuser.

1969

???

Feel free to tell us more about it here :slight_smile:

1970

I got a few needlenose in various sizes that work well on pretty much all retaining rings (drivers and tails), accept really large diameter lights.

1971

@1dash1,

That’s a nice summary on Li-ion battery usage.

What language is the note written in?

1972

Bosnian? Serbian??

1973

Ohhh - the pics in the OP show that scallop design, I see. If they were square notches, the needlenose would probably be ok with applying outward pressure. I think what I'd do if I couldn't get it tight, is to file a couple of those scallop/scoop shape notch's to square angles, so a needlenose would have something to grab on. Wonder bout the samples sent out - Dale probably took it apart, so maybe he could speak on it.

1974

Sharpie, can you please post pics?

1975

I can tighten mine down as tight as I can by hand. If you can’t, then it looks like you have a defective tailcap. Contact May here on BLF and she will help you out.

1976

Slovenian. Gregor is from Slovenia.

I used Google Translate to translate the text from English to Slovenian, then re-translated it back to English to verify that the translation was not garbled. After several iterations (different choices of words), I managed to get something that sounded okay. Not perfect, but I hope understandable.

1977

On the last sample D80 I got, the retaining ring was in so tight I had to use a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer to get it to move. That is what mangled that ring. I wanted it out, it didn’t want to oblige, so force was required.

I have an older pre group buy light that uses dual 18350’s without a problem. (quad light now) I can measure tubes in the 3 I have and see if there is any length difference, but the wife I wanting to go to town and, well, you know… if mama’s not happy ain’t nobody happy!

Will check when we get back…

1978

My older Lucky Sun D80 is an independent purchase from some time back. The battery tube on it measures 77.7mm and when on the light, there is 70.5mm from the brass post of the driver to the top of the tube (neg end of cell)
The newer BLF Special Edition sample has a 77.7mm tube as well, I’ve put a Quad XHP-50 in it with an FET driver that has a brass post, it’s 69.3mm from the post to the top of the tube, a pair of 18350’s fit’s in it just fine.
But the newest BLF Special Edition that just came a week or so ago has a 75.4mm tube, inside clearance is 68mm even.

So there’s the problem, they made the tube shorter for some unknown reason. Lucky Sun made this group buy take forever with tiny little changes after samples were sent out, it was a nightmare for Krono to keep track of and I was beginning to wonder if they’d ever get a sample out to us that we could release. I missed the tube length change, totally. Sorry.

1979

Certainly not your fault buddy but it is good to know where the difference that’s causing these issues is coming from. I’m still trying to figure out what to do about the two that are supposed to go to people who should be using protected cells. :~

Maybe Kronos can pull a string or two to get Lucky Sun to make the proper length tubes available at a discount for those who need them? I’d pay a few bucks for a tube that would make this light work with a wider range of cells.

1980

I just measured my tube as well. (flashlight tube people…) I get 75.4 mm as well. Why in the hell would they change the length of the tube after samples were sent out? I bought a bunch to give out as gifts. Without low voltage protection/warning built into the light, and now the lack of ability to run protected batteries, this really hurts. Krono, which exact Xtars are you running. The shortest ones are the 2600’s at 68.8mm. So far the best option are the AW’s at 68mm. The other issue as mentioned is the center positive post is a little lower than the surrounding bezel so with a flat top battery, the edge of the case gets pressed down into the retainer. This is why I am using a small magnet on my flat tops.

Easiest fix would be to install a wire clip in tail cap to act as spacer to add extra clearance. In all honsty, Luckysun should provide everyone new tubes at the original 77.7mm as that is what the samples had. Don’t you just love the Chinese? Always doing what ever they want after the fact.

Here is a summary of battertis and their lengths. Only protected cells under 68.5mm are aw’s from what I can tell

http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650Summary%20UK.html