[quote=Lux-Perpetua]
post #13
Barry, …
Please remove timer-triggered stepdowns from future drivers/flashlights. I do not see any reason to have both thermal and timed stepdowns at the same time.
And Sofirn has the audacity of selling a Scuba Diving light with timed stepdown:
The reason why light has both step down and thermal is because engineers told someday thermal may won’t work after years. A diving light can cancell step down but customers may use it on land.
Well, what can I say. It’s hard to satisfy everyone with one product.
I just tell people they over-engineered the light so it can run for hours at high brightness levels and then decided, “Hey, since we over-engineered it so much, lets see what happens when we REALLY push it.” And turbo was born.
It is really simple.
LED’S produce a lot of heat.
Heat sinking job is to take as much of that heat to the exterior of the light
Hence the Head/Neck and Body will get hot! 
Huh?
Thermal is the only option on a light, be it underwater or air cooled. It’s not a fire issue, the electronics/led would fry if overheated (thermal sensor not working). If the light has an issue of thermal sensing (say after a year of service), then it is a broken light and is not a liability of Sofirn.
The options:
1- Thermal runaway underwater - no issue,
2- Thermal runaway in atmospheric environment - depending on ambient temperature and air movement, worst case scenario the led fries. If the body/head is too hot to handle, the user would naturally find an item to push off the switch. Not really a risk of burning hands - but I’m assuming people have been warned of hot surfaces (it is marked on the head - Sofirn is legally protected),
3- Timed stepdown does not consider the environment and reduces the reliability/usability of the light. I and friends that work in an sub-zero climate, a power light is required and the outside air at –10 to –20ºC cools the light quite well. We wear gloves (naturally) and again the heat (actually the light is frigidly cold at start-up) helps maintain output (ATR light).
Timed is a cheap cut-out to cheap lights. Sofirn is trying to up their marketing, they have to re-think the UX.
They have begun re-writing the Firmware and using TK’s / TomE’s Narsil / Anduril. They have added some of their own steppless options and they added a few emitters to their line-up. It’s unfortunate they are biased to old school presumptions. Keeping a timed stepdown when the light is not hot makes the product stupid. People will be duped once but not twice.
But Barry, I doubt you would be able to convince them (your overlords) of the futility of timed stepdown. Many have voiced their opinion here on this forum, and it sometimes resonates (Q8, SP36, C8F), sometimes partial (SP33), but sometimes falls on deaf ears.
Sofirn, make more lights with Anduril.
An Anduril SP32A V2 would probably sell like crazy to the people here, it’s already an e-switch light, make a better driver with an attiny85 and load Anduril. That way you’ll be using good firmware with real thermal based step down rather than timed, and its guaranteed to be better than anything Sofirns’s guys can come up with.
here is how Eagletac explains it:
” *At maximum output level (100), the active thermal management feature slowly reduce the maximum output level according to the flashlight internal temperature to 50 once flashlight reaches 140°F (60 °C) (higher surrounding temperature may result in higher flashlight temperature). It’s normal for high power flashlight to run hot at MAX level. Reduce the output if the user finds the flashlight too warm to hold.
*Output is same regardless of battery type used. Active cooling (blowing cool air toward the light) or passive cooling (holding the light in your hand) helps preventing excessive heat built at the LED. Turn off the light to allow it to cool down if you find the flashlight too hot to hold. Do not leave the light running unintended with li-ion. ”