Wow that was really helpful, thanks Firelight. I just ordered 4 Osram W2 emitters from digikey, should get in Sunday or Monday, crossing my fingers. Soldering shouldn’t be much of an issue, i’ve had a fair amount of experience with this. When I was looking for a source, I was wondering if the larger 4040 osram emitters would fit under the optic….
Thats a bummer to hear about the usb-c, perhaps I could manually bridge the appropriate leads to get it working properly, we will see if they are present. What sort of water sealing is used for the usb port? I will be using the light for underwater use and want to be sure the light can actually be submerged like it claims, without risking water ingress right at the driver and charging circuits.
I’m a bit concerned by what you said about the output. Turbo output definitely isn’t my priority, but I do want a sustainable high output. Does the sustainable high output for like 10 min compare to that of the D4?
When I need to use a charger that only has USB-C ports to charge a light with a USB-C charging port that requires a USB-A to USB-C cable, I use the following USB-C to USB-A adapter (and anything similar from other manufacturers will probably also work):
Note: To work properly and charge the light, the adapter's USB-C connector needs to be plugged into the USB-C port of the charger and the USB-C connector on the USB-A to USB-C cable needs to be plugged into the light being charged. It will not work the other way around as the light will not charge if the cable connections are reversed.
Larger emitters with flat domes, like the Oslon Boost HX, will have no trouble fitting under the optic. However, those emitters probably won’t fit on the stock 3535 star. You may need to retrofit pieces of an appropriate star in order to get it to work.
The IF25 uses a rubber press-fit port cover. You pop the cover out to expose the socket. The cover dangles from a bit of rubber.
This is how USB-C ports are handled in most rechargeable lights. The IF25’s rubber cover is quite thick and solid and it fits tightly in its socket. It should be waterproof, but I do not know how well it will stand up to underwater use. The IF25 isn’t a dive light.
I haven’t tested it myself. However, I expect the sustainable high on the IF25 is probably higher than a D4 using the same type of emitters (SST-20). This is because the IF25 is larger than the D4, so there is more mass for heatsinking.
The D4 outputs thousands of lumens, but it very rapidly ramps down within a minute. Sustained output is at best 500 lumens even for the XPL HI version.
However, The IF25’s sustainable output will be considerably lower than the similarly sized Zebralight SC700d, which can sustain approximately 900 lumens for 2 hours.
Add’s claiming that a watch is waterproof to 100m don’t make it a dive-watch. It means that you can leave in on when you are under the shower. Same goes for flashlights. The claims of it being waterproof to 2m means that the chance your light will survive after you drop it accidentally in a puddle are quite good.
If you want to use a light under water, buy yourself a dive light. Using means moving around. The pressure on the seals etc from moving around something under water are NOT the same as the pressure on a light when you accidentally drop it in a puddle. As for a rechargeable light with a rubber flap: you can totally forget that!!
If someone gave me a light with such a flap, I would glue that flap permanently to the body. If I wanted to use that light in the rain.
I am aware it is not a dive light. Most lights advertised as being submersible at 2m for 30 minutes are more than capable of being used as shallow swimming swimming lights to about 3m. I would have assumed that a product claiming to be submersible would not have a hole in the unit letting water directly into the circuits, but unfortunately I was wrong. I had a rechargeable armytek elf which was advertised as being waterproof to the same standard, and it’s port was covered AND waterproof, sealed to the head of the flashlight. I will likely epoxy this port in the same way, although that might make it difficult/impossible to take apart.
I don’t need a dive light, I need a versatile edc light with good color that is submersible. I think this light will do the trick after some modification.
If you’re going to be camping a lot, you should look into the Sofirn LT1 lantern. Might be useful. It’s more expensive on Amazon than on Aliexpress of Sofirn’s site, but you could get it fast.
I just got the light! Got to say, I am quite impressed, but I think I will try flashing anduril for more configuration. I also did not expect the optic to be so throwy, so I put in an order for a couple frosted carclo optics from led supply. Almost certainly wont come in in time, but they said they’d ship same day first class, so if it’s coming from a western state maybe it will.
I will say I’m actually quite optimistic about the waterproofness of this light. The port cover is beefy and seems to seal really well, as bout as well as any press fit rubber gasket can. I will stuff the port with cotton and do a submersion test before I try pushing it.
If you are aiming for one channel to be floody and the other throwy, one option is to diffuse half of the TIR. Either by sanding the top of the optic over 2 of the emitters or by applying diffusion film.
Awesome idea firelight. Looks like I will be doing that as LED supply still hasn’t shipped my order. My Osram emitters are set for delivery today along with the flash kit, I’ll post beam pics once everything is set up.
Hi guys, just thought I’d post an update on the flashlight. I soldered Osram W2 in place of the sst20 6000K, and I did a partial frost of the original optic over the sst20 2700K. I also wired the switch light to be always on, inlaid neodymium magnets into the tail cap, and attached a Fenix FD36R clip. Unfortunately the driver is microchip rather than attiny, so i wasnt able to reflash the UI, but my only gripe with the UI is the moonlight mode isn’t low enough. I’m not satisfied with how floody the sst20 channel is, but it will do for now. I might try
cutting/sanding the optic to loosen up the beam a bit, but I’m not sure where I should remove material to end up with a reasonable beam. Really happy with how it turned out overall.
