Got the Sofirn Q8 Plus in. Takes three 21700 cells. On new 40T cells I measured a start up output of 17,700 lumens. Bypassed the tail springs with 18ga wires and got 19,890 lumens. The 5000K emitters look decent, 6 of the XHP-50.2.
Was thinking I’d swap every other emitter for SFT40’s but not sure it’d be worth it as the reflectors are textured which wouldn’t allow the 40 to throw and the light would likely lose several thousand lumens.
What to do…. Have some SFQ60 emitters on the way but that too might prove not worth the effort.
Guess that means the Q8 Plus is pretty darn close to optimized!
The build quality is Sofirn, but the components and style are not Q8.
It has three channels providing twin 22 ga leads to each pair of emitters. Thinking a higher quality FET and 18 ga leads would get it up into the 20,000’s, possibly 25? May do that.
I know that many would indicate pushing more power would be futile as it already has trouble dealing with the heat.
I modify to ascertain what a light is capable of and how it acts at max levels. And, well, because I like frankensteining flashlights. It is what it is.
I will be modifying this one further. Will try to remember to get pics along the way and share them.
I want to do this in stages (may not be able to), next up is larger wires to the MCPCB. Reassemble and test output. But it may be difficult to assemble with 6 fat leads so it would be prudent to also replace the MOSFET’s on that first disassembly.
Likewise, while everything is apart, any emitter changes would be pertinent. I am not as young as I was when I would assemble and reassemble a light many times measuring changes along the way. Today’s lights are also more complex than they used to be. Perhaps in part my own fault. Lol
I have modified quite a few Q8 lights. Know them well. The quad reflector is pulled snug to the MCPCB and thus it itself is pulled snug to the emitter shelf with a screw from inside. Angling the driver to get at this deeply embedded screw can be tricky.
The Q8 driver easily powers four emitters of any kind, in fact it easily powers 17 emitters in my Ham’r build. No need for three FET’s or 3 pairs of wires. I have a spare Q8 driver even now. Have used them in BLF GT’s to drive the SBT90.2.
The Q8 plus has a fairly large hole in the center of the emitter shelf for the wires to pass through. There are two holes also providing clearance for the screw heads under the MCPCB that hold the reflector to it. So in this new lights case the reflector for 6 emitters is an assembly with the MCPCB and dropped into the head of the light, pressed into the shelf by the glass lens via the bezel.
Of course, this new driver has a Type C port for built in charging. And also acts as a battery bank, providing outward charge to, say, a phone. And it is an FET + 1 but times three. Three banks to the emitters in 3 pairs. Thus, one FET and it’s accompanying 7135 chip supply two XHP-50.2’s. Easier on the FET obviously and thus a cheaper version can be used. Still, the 22 ga wires are carrying something like 16-18 Amps so for me, insufficient.
The Q8 Pro has dual springs in the tail for current flow to only four XHP-50.2 emitters. (I put 50.2’s in the original Q8 years ago) One wonders why a single spring set up was used in the Q8 Plus under more powerful cells to supply 6 of those power hungry emitters. Potentially 66A of power demanded by these emitters, from 3 small wires? (The 50.2 can do 11A, so times 6…power flow is allowed or denied by the negative wire, essentially) Yeah, ok, ample room for modders to play. Why do you think some call me Dr. Frankendale? Lol
The entire light is built differently, no idea why it’s called a Q8 at all as it’s different in virtually every way.
Didn’t even know they released a q8 plus. Sounds good on paper but I just watched a video comparison between the pro and plus. And there wasn’t much difference in terms of brightness. The plus had better tint tho. I wonder which light go more hot faster?
There IS a big difference in brightness between the 4 XHP-50.2 and 6. Out of the box with three 40T cells my Plus measured 17,700 lumens. A pretty simple addition of wire bypasses to the tail springs has it at 19,890 lumens. The Pro can’t touch that.
Heat is more in Turbo from 6 of course but the Plus has a much heavier build as it’s not the normal Q8 light. In large part the battery tube is made with machined slots for three 21700 cells with a lot of aluminum between the cells, this definitely adds heat sinking to the equation. On the negative side that means heat is pulled down into your hand. Guess ambient temperature is the deciding factor on how good or bad that is. Where I live it can be 96° at midnight in the 3-5 months of summer.
I never noticed there’s only a single spring in the q8 plus. That is odd. Even the sp36 has dual springs. I usually don’t pay much attention to wire gauge when we’re talking about a few centimeters, but 22awg? That’s a little too thin
I’m very surprised to hear electricians input on the wire gauge deal. I am NOT an electrician but I’ve managed extreme output in flashlights for a decade… mostly achieved through eliminating resistance. In every case, a thousand times and more, that has meant larger wires as a first step.
Proof is in the pudding.
I also eliminate excess lead length, typically installing the driver and cutting leads to fit the MCPCB… no extra length. To even look at the driver requires desoldering leads up top first. This is how I do it. And while it does require more effort the numbers have always borne it out.
The factory leads look small but the wire says 20ga. Kinda stiff and the insulation is thin but springy. The FET’s don’t rank all that well best I could tell so… changed to 18ga leads and three Infinion MOSFETS.
it’s a rebranded Astrolux EC06 (dunno who the manufacturer is), the only change I noticed is that the MCU is now a T1616 that Sofirn tends to use now instead of the T85.
I have the Astrolux version of this light (EC06) in 6500k and can attain 27,800lm at turn on with high-drain cells (Samsung 40T). Molicel P42A’s give me about 26,500lm at turn on.
Last year, I owned two EC06’s - one was by far brighter on turn on than the other (tested using the same cells in a controlled environment). I suspect there is a variance in build quality across the production run.
I found this light to be average, even with the “wow factor” of nearly 28k lumens at turn on…
Tiracova, with all due respect… I strongly suspect those numbers aren’t correct. The 50.2 has been tested extensively to reach a maximum 5700 lumens at high amperage. That said, 6 running at peak would not even reach 24,000 lumens.
There’s a wrench in the works somewhere.
Edit: Obviously my math skills need youthful vigor. Geesh! Well, I’ve applied all the shortcuts and swspped to the best FET I’m aware of and 21,300 was what new 40T’s managed. My lightbox is calibrated with Maukka test lights. Maybe it’s my wrench…
