Sofirn SP10V3 Defective on First Day

[mcflies]

Same issue here. Purchased 11.11 from Sofirn recieved 12/3.

Never put an alkaline or nihm battery in it until after the issue presented. I did try it first with a 14500 flat top 9A I had until I realized there are little tabs that prevent you using flat tops. I then used a lumintop 14500 protected and protection kicked in on turbo. So I pulled 14500 Sofirn cells from some other lights and those worked fine.

It seemed to work just fine the first few days. Then I picked it up and it was dead. Threw a new battery in and used it again for the day I didn't even notice it was warmer than normal since it's in my pocket just figured it was from body heat. Few hours later it was dead again when I went to use it. It also exhibits the odd burnt smell. I finally tried some nihm batteries just to see if it wouldn't eat those but they didn't work at all.

Contacted Sofirn last week (just now saw this thread) they said they have their engineers looking into it and they promise they'll get it solved though I'm not sure how that helps my current situation and maybe they should pull the light from sales until it gets figured out?

[TIFisher]

@sws01

The positive end of the light, when examined from the tailcap end looks like this: I O I , with the “O” being the protrusion that contacts the button-top and the “I”s being some kind of shoulder that I think I saw somewhere does something about making sure the battery is a button-top and not a flat-top or some other purpose - if anyone knows for sure, I’d like to know……I need to know more about the purpose of the “I”s in the I O I structures, particularly whether they can accept current from the battery just like the “O” can.

What you see on the driver is there to mechanically insure against reverse polarity (if battery is installed upside down). Flat tops aren’t compatible. My guess is your Acebeam battery is under 50mm length and not making good contact, or the charging element wrap on the top of the cell is partially collapsing under the stress, again affecting contact with the anode connection on the driver (O). Get a better unprotected button top cell (Vapcell, or Sofirn) that’s 50-51mm in length.

[sws01]

@TIFisher

What you see on the driver is there to mechanically insure against reverse polarity (if battery is installed upside down). Flat tops aren’t compatible. My guess is your Acebeam battery is under 50mm length and not making good contact, or the charging element wrap on the top of the cell is partially collapsing under the stress, again affecting contact with the anode connection on the driver (O). Get a better unprotected button top cell (Vapcell, or Sofirn) that’s 50-51mm in length.

Thanks for the quick response. Agreed on the reverse polarity protection - I should have thought of that. I just measured the AceBeam and the NiMH and they both measure exactly 50mm, including the button-top. The case may be where the problem is. For the Acebeam, the case measures 49mm, with 1mm for the height of the button-top. The NiMH case measures only 48mm, with a 2mm high button-top. So, perhaps the 14500 case extending to only 1mm short of the button top, combined with the RP protection is preventing solid contact between the 14500 button-top and the positive connector on the light?

Thoughts?

[TIFisher]

The Acebeam cell is the issue, regardless. Save yourself some aggravation and seek out a better cell. Illumn has Vapecell L10 14500 1050 mAh (3A) button tops for like 4 bucks and change a piece, and reasonable USPS shipping options for small orders. (I’m not shilling for Illumn… there are several great retailers out there, but it’s the option I’d use.)

[mikekoz]

I just got one of these from Amazon on Dec. the 11th. I only fiddled with it a bit and put it away while we went out of town. I will use it the rest of this week to see if it has a problem, but I did notice that it did not like some brands of NIMH cells. The problem is the nipple on the positive end of batteries is not all the same, and Sofirn made the connection on that end a bit too small. Kind of an annoying problem, but I can live with that if that is the only thing wrong with mine. If I find mine is bad, I will return it. Does anybody know another single AA light with these specs to get in the Sofirns place?

[Vette45]

Sorry to bump this old thread but I purchased my SP10 V3 on 11/21/21 on Amazon and then didn’t use it too often. Now I’m starting to use this flashlight weekly and it seems to only stay charged for about 15 minutes over the course of occasional use for a week. That is at the second to lowest power setting. It does not get warm or have any odd smells that I’ve noticed. I am using the sofirn 3.7V battery and charger that was included. Is 15 minutes of usage normal for this light or do I have a defect somewhere or maybe a bad battery?

[PiercingTheDarkness]

Depends if you’re blasting turbo every time you use it, otherwise it sound like it’s either the light or the battery. Try it with another 14500 or try with an AA to narrow down the issue.

If you have a DMM you could check for high parasitic drain

[Vette45]

@Funtastic

Depends if you’re blasting turbo every time you use it, otherwise it sound like it’s either the light or the battery. Try it with another 14500 or try with an AA to narrow down the issue.

If you have a DMM you could check for high parasitic drain

I have a multimeter but will have to learn how to use it to check for high parasitic drain.

I’ll use a AA and leave it on to see how long it takes to drain the battery. My 15ish minutes was with no turbo at all and only second to lowest brightness setting while walking my property.