@Barry0892 are you able to help us with this mystery, please? It seems we can disable the autolock but we are not sure about all of the circumstances.
Looks like we are not the only people having the problem and IF19 is not the only light - it’s a clicking lottery madness…
https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/14uhgbs/sofirn_sc33_auto_lockout_update/
But I’ll investigate all the leads…
I think I know what I was doing wrong with the, now-famous, 8-coordinated-clicks routine - it’s all about timing. I was trying to press it too fast, without pausing briefly for double blink after the first 4 clicks. Also, it seems to work only when the clicking is done during the first 5 seconds when the battery indicator is on.
Here is the latest recipe to disable the autolock ‘feature’ of the Sofirn IF19 light until the next battery swap.
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Disconnect the battery for 30+ seconds (by e.g. turning the head or the cap half-turn counterclockwise).
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Reconnect the battery - the battery level indicator will lit for 5 seconds - you need to do the ‘clicking’ before it goes off.
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Click 4 times quickly. Pause v. briefly for a double blink confirming that the light is locked, then click another 3 times to unlock the light.
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And now the plot thickens: after the 7 clicks, the light is on, and the battery level indicator is also on. You need to turn the light off before the battery power indicator goes off, or it won’t work!
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The autolock should be thus disabled until the next battery swap.
I tried all kinds of other clicking gymnastics, but the one above is the only one that seems to do what’s needed consistently. Also, once the autolock is disabled, I couldn’t find any clicking sequence to turn it back on (which is not a problem, just curiosity) other than cutting off the power again.
Could somebody check this for sanity (@James_C @ebastler) please?
@Barry0892: Why?
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Correction: once the autolock is disabled, it is apparently possible to reenable it without disconnecting the battery. Don’t know the exact click sequence yet, but it has to do with doing a manual lock out (not sure about the number of reviving clicks and battery indicator timing yet). Why…
I always wanted a cute flashlight, not a riddle, but it appears that one can get rid of the auto-lock by doing other click sequences than 4+3+1 after power interruption and when the battery level indicator is on. 4+2+1 and 4+4+1 also seem to work. All three sequences lock, unlock the flashlight, and then turn it off. I don’t know if there is any difference between them. I also don’t know if they are on some (long) timer or do they disable the auto-lock until it is purposely reenabled by cutting off power or some other magic sequence. Why…
Does 7 clicks not work? It seems to work consistently for me.
Yes, the 7 clicks work (and 6 and 8 work too), just with a brief pause after the first 4 for the double blink. And the last click to turn the light off needs to be done when the battery level indicator is still on.
Here is my final post on this topic (I think, :-)):
To disable the auto-lock:
- After the brief power interruption, and when the 5-second battery level indication is still on, click 4 times, pause briefly for a double blink, and press 2 or 3 or 4 more times. Then press one more time to turn the light off before the battery level indicator turns off.
To manually lock the light:
- From Off, click 4 times.
To unlock the light:
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Click either 2, 3 or 4 times - the memorised light level turns on (and the battery level indicator also lights for 5 seconds).
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If you turn the light off when the battery level indicator is still on the auto-lock stays disabled.
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If you wait to turn the light off for more than 5 seconds (a more natural scenario), the auto-lock is reenabled and needs to be disabled again (see the first section).
It would be great if someone could prove me wrong. It would also be great if the creators of the firmware could either confirm or deny it or reveal an easier way of disabling the auto-lock should there be one. At least it is possible to turn the auto-lock off, however temporarily. The current reversely-engineered method of doing it is just silly and still lacking.
Was the auto-lock still disabled then?
Yes, still disabled the next morning (20 hours unlocked without anyone touching it).
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On top of what I figured out above, there seem to be some more actions that reenable auto-lock, just not sure what they are.
One thought, kind of contrary to the whole topic and as much as don’t want to admit it: perhaps it’s less stressful to just live with the auto-lock as Sofirn apparently intended?
One problem with the auto-lock that I have is having no shortcut to either Turbo or Strobe. With the Turbo that can be almost fixed by: a) switching to the ramp b) setting the ramp to the highest level, which is Turbo. This way double click will turn on Turbo regardless whether the lock is on or off. Not the best solution, but it works.
And here is a bummer I didn’t expect - but maybe someone else can confirm.
So far, with the auto-lock disabled, I was testing if it works or not by turning the light briefly and then turning it off. But, it looks like turning the light on and then waiting (i.e. using it) for a bit (beyond the battery level indicator lifespan of about 5 seconds), returns the auto-lock… Is it true? I hope it’s not, but it looks like it.
@Barry0892 Could we settle it - is it possible to turn off the auto-lock on the IF19 in a meaningful way? Cheers!
Oh no… you’re right. I never tested this stupid thing long enough for the battery indicator to turn off. So I guess it is possible to turn off autolock, but once you use it for a few seconds it will re-enable. Totally worthless feature (or maybe it’s just a bug that it gets disabled in the first place).
Well, ultimately, the autolock is probably something you’d get used to once you’re using the light. Personally, I have lots of lights that don’t annoy me so this one will probably live in a drawer until I get an urge to attempt a driver swap. Or maybe I’ll leave the W2 Green I swapped-in - it is kind of a fun novelty with that emitter. It just won’t be a frequently used light for me.
Condolences accepted 
‘All’ I wanted was as tiny as possible (within reason) semi-thrower that I wouldn’t hesitate to bring with me to the basement. Using a 18350 battery as I want to standardise on it. And simple at that - no Christmas lights etc. And the IF19 more or less is. And it’s cute too.
I wonder if some other lights would fit the bill. There is the Wurkkos TS11S with a narrower beam and looking bigger, with likely too many options, a weird thermal regulation, and a narrower beam (but probably still fine). There are the Speras M4 and Thrunite Catapult Mini but they are significantly more expensive and insist on the Light Sabre narrow beams that look impressive but I’m not sure if they are as useful as the one on IF19.
Are there any other options worth looking into?
I have the IF19, TS11 (Anduril version), and Catapult mini (V1).
I think the IF19 looks and feels the best in hand. TS11 is too long (has a T-shaped driver). Catapult is ok, looks a little “squatty.”
For emitters, I hate the SST40 in the IF19 (I really don’t like green tints). I replaced it with a W2 Green (so green it’s fun). The SFT40 in the TS11 is fine. It’s slightly green and quite cool at 6500K but I don’t mind too much. I may swap it to something more pleasant. The W1 (I believe) in the Catapult looks good but it is a very thin beam. It’s not a powerful emitter and perhaps not even driven very hard, so it’s noticeably less bright than the others. I put a deep red LED in it but the modes don’t work correctly due to the vf so I need to swap it.
For UI, I like Anduril 2 so the TS11 is great. The Catapult is badically the same as the IF19 but without the auto-lock, so perfectly fine.
I was going to say another light is the IF22A. It’s a 21700 light but either Sofirn or Wurkkos, forget which, sell a short tube so in theory you could use an 18350. Unfortunately I just checked and the tube does not fit on that particular light.
I’d like to report that it’s true: I got used to it and it’s a neat light. I devised a ‘defense shortcut’ so to speak: use ramp mode and crank it all the way up before switching the light off. This way a double click always turns the light on Turbo whether the light is locked or not or on in some other mode.
But, yes. It would be nicer if the autolock could be killed somehow.
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I tried all the clicks and battery removal to the point where 2 clicks to knock it into life seems no bother at all 
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