I have a Sunwayman V10R (regular aluminum edition) that I bought at FastTech with their fantastic prices. I’ve always admired this light and I do like it quite a bit. However, I have a problem with mine, and I’m not sure if it’s a defect or just the way all of them are: The lowest mode usually doesn’t go very low. It’s supposed to have a 1 lumen low, but most of the time it seems to be considerably higher than that. At the lowest point of the control ring, it usually outputs at a level that is very uncomfortable to look at with my eyes and leaves me seeing spots. And when I increase the brightness, it quickly reaches the maximum output level and the last 25% or so of the travel doesn’t change the brightness. But after briefly using a Li-Ion battery and then re-installing a NiMH, the brightness will often go extremely low on the lowest setting, so low that I can comfortably look at the emitter for a long period of time. From there it smoothly transitions up to maximum brightness. That’s what I want. I had it working at that level for a few days. But today I turned it on after leaving it sitting for about 24 hours, and the lowest brightness setting was back up to the brighter level. Is this common to all V10R models, or does mine have a defect? Any experiences?
Hi. I also have a V10R that shares the same problem. My standard aluminum one can reach a very comfortable low level, but my V10Rti+ has an abnormally high low which I would venture to guess as being a good 3-5 lumens. Both lights reach high too early, making the last quarter of a turn or so a sort of “dead zone” like you saw. I haven’t tried running either light on a 4.2v li-ion, so I can’t comment on that. From what I understand, you can access the mcr by simply unscrewing the cooling fins from the head, but it takes quite a bit of force on the two lights I own.
Interesting. So if I unscrewed the cooling fins and accessed the control ring, what would I do?
What I can’t figure out is why my low setting is variable, especially this most recent case where it was giving me a nice low, then I turned it off for 24 hours and then turned it back on and the lowest setting was much brighter.
Sb, I can't help but think it's an issue with the driver or grounding. I considered getting a V11R but went with the Jetbeam RRT-01 instead because of the better lumen spread. I couldn't pass up a .005 lumen low compared to only 1 lumen from the SWM. I should have it this coming week and can't wait for it. After reading about issues with the SWM torches I'm glad I went with what I did.
Ah, so you would consider this erratic behavior to be pretty much par for the course for the V10R?
I have no idea how many lumens this V10R produces on the lowest setting when it’s working right, but it’s INCREDIBLY low. It’s so low I can comfortably look at the emitter and see all its details in the dark.
I wouldn’t say it’s par for the course since SWM lights are known for being very good. It’s just that hearing the same issue with yours and DU’s makes me think I went the right course. You can look at 1 lumen in the dark just fine. with the RRT-01 you can turn it down so low that even in pitch black you can barely see the emitter glowing with the light right up to your eye. I haven’t hear of any issues with it either but that doesn’t mean they never have any issues.
I have a v10r on the way and currently have a V11R that I carry with rcr123 as edc. It has a very low low, in fact it is too low for it to be of use for me. Strange behavior on your V10 for sure unless it has something to do with the voltage which if that was the case seems it would be the opposite.
When you say “Nimh”, are you using the V10R with an AA extension tube? What happens if you use it only with the AA Nimh battery, set it to lowest, turn it off for 24+ hours, then turn it on again? In other words, operate throughout this only with the AA Nimh, and no Li-ion.
I have the regular v10r and never had an issue with the moonlight low. The low always has been consistently dim enough that I can comfortably stare at it. Compared with my L3 Illumination L10 Nichia 219 4 modes (running on an Eneloop), the v10R (running on 14500) has a lower moonlight low.
Yes, I’m using the AA extension tube. The condition I described where it got brighter after being off for 24 hours was with an Eneloop inside, and none of the parts moved. Kind of strange isn’t it?
Yes that is weird. The reason for my question was that I thought that maybe it was similar to how some lights lose modes when Li-ion batteries are used, but since you’re purely on Nimh (or eneloops), that wouldn’t be applicable. I wonder if they’re storing the brightness in some kind of volatile memory that’s being powered by something like a capacitor, and then the capacitor loses its charge over some amount of time, then the memory contents are gone. Does this happen at exactly 24 hours, e.g., have you tried turning the light on after 23.5 hours? Or is it some variable (or maybe even random) amount of time?
If I do not remember incorrectly the Ti-version was designed with a higher low output for some reason. That was one of the reasons why I didn’t buy that over the alu. I could be wrong though.
Did the thread creator replace the battery with a fresh one? Maybe it is running low in power.
Definitely. I have a V10R, and everyday when I use it, I congratulate myself on choosing that model (and modding it!).
If you are not super happy with yours, then there is something wrong. Send it back…
(Don’t forget to mention that you are the proprietor of the net’s best flashlight forum, and everyone is watching the outcome…)
I was sort of thinking the same thing about how Li-Ions fry the modes in other flashlights. But yes, this happens without changing the battery or even unscrewing anything. And it arrived with the too-bright low mode from the factory, and the first battery I tried was an Eneloop. Later I tried a Li-Ion and that seemed to fix it, all of a sudden the lowest setting was extremely low. But then sometimes the low setting gets bright again.
I haven’t hear of any issues with it either but that doesn’t mean they never have any issues.