Waiting for next batch [AMZ US Available Now] $49.99 Sofirn SP36 Anduril Version

djozz · 2019-02-22T11:07:56.000Z

I like that and I’m interested. I would like to know the tint bin of the used leds.

Extra ideas:
*Stainless steel bezel
*Tripod mount (although I know it does not easily fit in the current design).
*orange or red switch leds instead of green
*and of course a removable driver, i.e. screwed down like the Q8

Di_Joker · 2019-02-22T11:35:29.000Z

I would like to have a choice of 4000K-4500K too. And I hope someday you can make 4*XHP50.

Lux-Perpetua · 2019-02-22T11:41:50.000Z

Good idea Barry! :THUMBS-UP:

My suggestions:

Two options: LH351D 5000K 70CRI W6 Flux Bin for maximum output / LH351D 4.000K 90CRI for HighCRI enthusiasts
Lanyard attachment or - as Djozz suggested - tripod mount
Retaining ring or screws to hold driver in place
NO GLUE, PLEASE!

teacher · 2019-02-22T16:09:37.000Z

I would definitely (not) be interested in a 4* LH351D 5000K 80CRI SP36 Anduril Version. (if it has a yellow tint)

(Based on THIS POST by KawiBoy1428, I would be interested in a SP36 with 4 x LH351D W6 5700k.)

I am also interested in the things mentioned by djozz, quoted below.

djozz:

I would like to know the tint bin of the used leds.

Extra ideas:
*Stainless steel bezel
*Tripod mount (although I know it does not easily fit in the current design).
*orange or red switch leds instead of green
*and of course a removable driver, i.e. screwed down like the Q8

Edited to change opinion. That change is based on THIS POST by KawiBoy1428 …… My “Edit’s” are in ( edits ).

(The way he describes the LH351D W6 5700k sounds as though it would be much more to my liking. :+1: )

sandro · 2019-02-22T12:25:42.000Z

Interested 5000K

KawiBoy1428 · 2019-02-22T13:05:15.000Z

I have tried the 5000k… the 5000k 80CRI I suspect would be more yellow than the 5000k with out doubt, considering all the other HICRI’s I tried were yellow to orange.

Now I’m running only with the LH351D W6 5700k in quads and triples it is spectacular IMHO and from my experience(s).

But I have to admit the combo 2x5000k by 2x5700k quad I built is totally acceptable maybe close to spectacular…

I ask Sofirn as a challenge, to at least give the 5700k a try… if you (Sofirn) don’t like it…I’ll buy it, just PM me and I’ll send the cash

shirnask · 2019-02-22T13:10:06.000Z

Interested, NO GLUE

RobertB · 2019-02-22T13:34:17.000Z

Interested if the tint isn’t green like so many I’ve seen

PBWilson · 2019-02-22T13:39:03.000Z

While I love my SP36 and use it all the time around the house and property, I wouldn’t mind a warmer tint. 5000K sounds great and it’s what I have and enjoy on a bunch of my lights. Warmer wouldn’t be bad either but as you go to extremes, I’d imagine sales would suffer. I love Narsil ramping and basically only use it without going into any of the special modes or features. If Anduril can help a bit with the heat when using turbo, it might be worthwhile.

I can’t say that I will buy another since my own SP36 is so often used and I don’t know if I’d upgrade.

ToyKeeper · 2019-02-22T14:53:22.000Z

This sounds like a really nice upgrade to the SP36. The SP36 is a good light and the LH351D makes a really nice-looking beam.

As Lux-Perpetua mentioned, it may be interesting to use the 5000K version with the most lumens, and also make a 4000K version optimized for high CRI. In both cases though, try to get a tint bin on the pink side of the BBL instead of the green side.

It would also be nice for people around here if the driver was held in by screws or a retaining ring instead of glue.

If Sofirn is interested, it may also be worthwhile to sell a diffuser cap which fits onto the SP36 to turn it into a candle or a lantern. That would allow it to serve more purposes, and it’s a nice thing to have when using Anduril’s candle mode.

ToyKeeper · 2019-02-22T14:35:27.000Z

KawiBoy1428:

at least give the 5700k a try

Perhaps you would be more interested in the original version of the SP36? It already has a cool white emitter, fairly close to what you described. The main difference is that it uses XP-L2 instead of LH351D. However, the beam looks a lot nicer than I expected, and it’s already available today.

The main points of doing this new SP36 are:

Neutral white instead of cool white.
Improve beam consistency.
Anduril firmware.

The original version is still surprisngly nice though. It’s basically a Q8, only smaller and with built-in charging. I didn’t expect to like it because of the cool white emitters, but it actually works really well.

ToyKeeper · 2019-02-22T14:50:46.000Z

PBWilson:

If Anduril can help a bit with the heat when using turbo, it might be worthwhile.

I’ve mostly found that the SP36 handles heat pretty well. From a cold start, I find it usually takes 2 to 3 minutes before it starts ramping down from turbo. Anduril does still regulate the brightness down eventually though, and here’s how that looks. The blue line in these graphs shows how it behaves.

There are no immediate step-downs. Brightness is gradually adjusted as smoothly as the hardware allows, which makes it difficult to actually notice during use. If the light later gets cold, it adjusts smoothly back up. This tends to happen when the battery voltage drops, because it gets more efficient and produces less heat as the battery voltage drops closer to the emitter voltage. The overall pattern is shown in the graphs below:

I’d recommend using a high-capacity cell like the 35E, if possible. It increases runtime at most levels, and also increases the length of time the light can spend on turbo before ramping down. The only downside is that turbo won’t be quite as bright. The difference isn’t very perceptible by eye, but it does make a noticeable difference in terms of how long it takes to get hot.

teacher · 2019-02-22T16:51:05.000Z

shirnask:

Interested, NO GLUE

Agreed….

No Glue anywhere
Use a driver retaining ring

tundraotto · 2019-02-22T18:47:07.000Z

Interested in 2 if no glue, otherwise 1

erlebo · 2019-02-22T20:11:30.000Z

I am interested.

It would be better if it didn’t charge to 4.25V.

New Sofirn SP36 charges to 4.25 volts

Lfatman · 2019-02-22T20:14:57.000Z

Interested in 4000K 90CRI

ToyKeeper · 2019-02-22T20:24:35.000Z

erlebo:

I am interested.

It would be better if it didn’t charge to 4.25V.

New Sofirn SP36 charges to 4.25 volts

True, but normal. Most chargers have a variance of +/- 0.05V in their termination voltage. I’ve seen that on every charger I’ve ever measured. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not at all unusual.

On my SP36, it stopped right at 4.20V. But normally I use chargers which are biased a bit lower than that, stopping at 4.17V or 4.18V. And in the ones I’ve measured, I found anything from 4.11V to 4.25V even from major brands. Stopping right at 4.20V is somewhat uncommon.

In practice though, I find it doesn’t matter because I normally don’t charge cells all the way. The battery lives longer if it’s never completely full or completely empty, because li-ion cells have a longer life span at half charge. So I use a light until the battery gets to 3.3V or maybe 3.4V, and then I charge it to 4.0V or 4.1V. The SP36 actually makes this easier, because I can put it in battcheck mode, plug it in for a couple hours, then unplug it. All three cells get partially charged equally, which is difficult to do in an external charger. And because it’s convenient, I can keep it in an even smaller voltage range if I want, like from 3.5V to 3.9V. I can just plug it in a bit more often for a shorter time.

The battcheck mode isn’t very precise or very accurate, but it does at least work well enough to let me know when it has charged enough to unplug the light. As soon as it blinks 4.0, that’s typically enough to give me more runtime than I’ll ever need in a single night… usually enough to last several months.

Nooner · 2019-02-22T21:25:00.000Z

Maybe the most palatable choice to the BLF community is an unassembled host.

Everything but the LEDs.

Solves the problem of disassembling a glued driver and everyone can have there 1st choice of LED.

If not my choice of LED would be a 3000k 90cri xpl-hi or 3000k sst20. I bet I represent a minority though.

mmalive · 2019-02-22T21:45:35.000Z

I am in. Own all Sofirn lights released.

808Hi · 2019-02-22T22:21:35.000Z

Interested