LiteFlux LF2 questions, feedback & suggestions

[Lunal_Tic]

Thanks guys. Too bad about not having that extra level in UAM; always coming on at 50% makes my ideas for using it change a bit. I was hoping at least to have UAM P2 be set to max so that the seldom used but easy to do double tap in P2 would give me a burst of high output when needed. I'm going to have to rethink how I want to set up the levels again since I currently have P1 extra low and P2 is medium low.

I appreciate the help.
-LT

 

[Lunal_Tic]

FlashCrazy,

Are you certain that UAM always comes on at 50%? I've been trying to set SM P1 low, P2 full power with the expectation that a double press from P2 in SM would take me to the 50% in UAM but it appears to be the same intesity. When programing SM P2 I ramp the light up till it blinks then set at that level, full output.

-LT

 

[TCW 60]

FlashCrazy,

Are you certain that UAM always comes on at 50%? I've been trying to set SM P1 low, P2 full power with the expectation that a double press from P2 in SM would take me to the 50% in UAM but it appears to be the same intesity. When programing SM P2 I ramp the light up till it blinks then set at that level, full output.

-LT

Yes, I made the same observation. I was programming the light with a normal batterie. Is that the reason?. Now I'am waiting for the RCR 10440 .

 

[LED Cool]

guys! guys! please!

please read the instructions in the first 2 post of this thread and in the sales thread. until you are familiar with the operation of LF2 using the twisting method, i would recommend users not to the pressing method. otherwise you will confused yourself and think that your LF2 is acting strangely or not working as you think it should.

LT,
flashcrazy is correct. User Adjustable Mode (UAM) always comes on at 50%. it is a factory default setting. no matter what level of output you have adjusted to, once the LF2 is switched off and turn back on again in UAM, the output is always at 50%.

however, if you do not switch off the LF2 but instead change to a different mode such as SM/strobe/SOS and then come back to UAM, the user adjusted output level still remains. lets say you have UAM adjusted to the lowest 0.2% and used it for awhile, then you switched to SM P1, then switched to strobe and then back to UAM. you will find that the 0.2% output is still there. not 50% output.

now lets come to your difficulty in getting 50% output in UAM. i understand you have programmed P1 to low and P2 to 100%. to access a third level output of 50%, try twisting SWx2 from P1. you will see an increase in output to 50%. there is only a slight difference in brightness between 50% and 100%, so it may look like 100% to you.

now lets go back to SM and try SWx2 again but this time from P2. immediately after SWx2 from P2, you will noticed a slight drop in brightness. this indicates your LF2 has reduced the output from 100% to 50%. i.e. the LF2 has enter UAM. BUT (there is a BUT) in UAM, position P2 is used to increase or decrease the output, therefore your LF2 will gradually increase its output to 100% in 8 seconds and flash once when it is done.

if you used the "double tap" method to access UAM, the above mentioned paragraph still applies. and that is why it does not look like 50% because your LF2 is increasing its output to 100% (in 8 seconds) and then flash once. did you notice the flash?

to access UAM 50% by "double tap". please try this.
from P2, press 2 times then twist the white dot to P1. this will give you 50% output.

i hope my explanation above has help some of you gain a better understanding of your LF2.

please do post here if anyone has any questions regarding the operation of LF2. i will try my best to answer them in details.

in the mean time, play with all the modes and features of LF2 by the twisting method and please start the twisting from P1. NOT P2 because P2 also function as a toggle (increase/decrease) switch and may confuse
some users. when you are familiar with most functions and adjustment, then you can start twisting from P2 (which is equivalent to pressing from P2)

thanks.
khoo

 

[LED Cool]

TCW 60,

please remember to switch on the over discharge battery protection when using RCR10440 Li-Ion battery. you will find that your LF2 will be much brighter when running 10440!

khoo

 

[mitchfried]

How about a click sound or detent to let you know where you're at? This is too much for me. I'm giving it to a client as a gift. He works for NASA so he'll love the flow chart. I recently purchased a Peak Baltic S4 for my son. It's a little bigger but a lot easier to use.

 

[45/70]

How about a click sound or detent to let you know where you're at? This is too much for me. I'm giving it to a client as a gift. He works for NASA so he'll love the flow chart. I recently purchased a Peak Baltic S4 for my son. It's a little bigger but a lot easier to use.

A detent would be a nice addition. After using my LF-2 for a while now, I don't really have much problem finding the transition point between P1 and P2. P1 is the first 90 degrees of travel and P2 is approximately 90-180 degrees so, it's not like you have to have much precision as long as your twists include the transition point. Holding the LF-2 with my middle and ring finger and twisting the head with my thumb and index finger, I really don't have a problem with it. If you use two hands to twist it, it would be a lot harder to tell where you're at, without looking. I'm used to it, as I have twenty or so twisties and use all of them with one hand. I can't imagine using two hands. It just seems so awkward, but I know a lot of people do. Different strokes for different folks.

Dave

 

[onthebeam]

Re: 10440s

Forgive me if this has been answered before:

What are some good sources of 10440s? I have seen AW's posting here. Other options?

What about chargers? Will the DSD work? Which are recommended? Again, I've seen the Nano but don't see many sources for it. (love my little nano for the orb raw ns)

All of these are unprotected at 3.6 volts plus, I assume.

Are many users going with 10440s exclusively or is the heat too much of an issue?

 

[45/70]

Re: 10440s

Are many users going with 10440s exclusively or is the heat too much of an issue?

I run mine pretty much only on 10440's. At 100% it gets hot really fast. At 50% it seems fine for a while, maybe it'd be OK indefinitely.

The DSD will work. That's what I use. You HAVE to charge the 10440's in pairs though, or you'll kill the batteries, as with one battery, the DSD charges at something over 1C.

AW is, in my opinion the way to go. His 10440's seem better than the UltraFires I got from DX. He also has the Nano's although, I haven't had much luck with them.

Dave

 

[Skavoovie]

Re: 10440s

Forgive me if this has been answered before:

What are some good sources of 10440s? I have seen AW's posting here. Other options?
...
Are many users going with 10440s exclusively or is the heat too much of an issue?

I've been feeding my SSC LF2 AW's 10440s exclusively in the week I have had the light.

I have the LF2 programmed to:
P1 = 0.2% (lowest low)
P2 = ~15% (the original P1)
Then use user mode for 50%.

Looking at NetKidz mini-review and runtime tests here, 50% with the 10440 is as bright as 100% with NiMH or alkaline.

100% output with the 10440 just isn't worth it, I've found. It is only slightly brighter than 50% while running a risky 1C+ discharge rate and reducing runtime until the Lion protection circuit kicks in to only a few minutes. I played with it a couple times, then stuck with a 50% max for 10440.

As far as heat goes, the first time I ran 50% for roughly 20 minutes, the light became too hot to hold. The second time I attempted it, after an hour, the light became quite warm, but not uncomfortably so. I'm not sure why this happened (pure speculation: "break in" of the thermal compound helped heat transfer more efficiently, keeping the light cooler?).

 

[45/70]

Re: 10440s

The second time I attempted it, after an hour, the light became quite warm, but not uncomfortably so.

What brand of 10440's are you using? I haven't timed mine at 50% but I'm pretty sure it won't run an hour.

As far as running at 100%, you're right. It isn't that much brighter than at 50%. Lumen wise, it's about twice, which is great on a light meter but only seems about half again as bright to your eyes. Still, I set my P1 to about 25% and my P2 to 100%.

Dave

 

[Skavoovie]

Re: 10440s

What brand of 10440's are you using? I haven't timed mine at 50% but I'm pretty sure it won't run an hour.

As far as running at 100%, you're right. It isn't that much brighter than at 50%. Lumen wise, it's about twice, which is great on a light meter but only seems about half again as bright to your eyes. Still, I set my P1 to about 25% and my P2 to 100%.

Dave

I'm using AW's 320mAh 10440 cells: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=166496

"An hour" is likely an over estimation on my part; I didn't time it. It was probably closer to 45 minutes, similar to NetKidz runtime test.

Yeah, I'm not much of a light meter cowboy (I don't own one), so I don't worry maxing it out.

Again I didn't make precise timing, but the LF2 seemed to have maybe 5-10 minutes of runtime at 100% before the protection kicked in and turned off the light. I was playing around with it at different light levels and programming it, might have been quite a bit longer, but it was annoying/scary enough that I backed down to 50%. That's a lot of current/heck of a quick voltage drop out of a little cell.

If I want brighter, my Seoul'ed LionHeart is usually near by.

 

[45/70]

Re: 10440s

Thanks for the comeback Skavoovie. I have 2 of AW's and 4 UltraFires. AW's do seem to run longer. If I only use 100% for 10-15 second bursts, it seems to work out well. 90% of the time I don't need that much light anyway. Hey, it's a pocket light, not a search light!

If I want brighter, my Seoul'ed LionHeart is usually near by.

Is that a Bulk light? Gosh, golly, gee wiz, I wouldn't know anything about them, especially the brass ones. :naughty:

Dave

 

[gunga]

I did some extensive testing earlier at 50% and got about 70 minute (I think) with AW 10440s, I only got aroubd 60 with Ultrafires tho.

You do get what you pay for here.

 

[worldedit]

I have my LF2 with SSC a few month now. I tried it with alkalines and NimH and i was pretty upset. Compared to a Fenix L0D-CE a friend has it was very dimm, had about half the runtime and got extreme hot.
I had no 10440 and didnt want to spend more on this. But once i came home drunk and ordered the 2 cells + nano charger kit here on cpf. I thought this was a bad dicision, but the light works great with this cells. I adjusted P2 mode to a level where the light gets warm but not to hot and its still very bright. Maybe like medium mode on my L2D-CE with about 50min runtime.
Now the light is my edc and im very happy with it. The light should be recommendet to use with lithium cells and alkalines as an emergency.

What i like best about this light is that you dont have to cycle through useless modes. 2 brightness levels accessibly by only one turn, i dont know another light that small that is so easy to handle.

Still there are some things i would change to make this light even better:

1. The user adjustible mode should remember its setting (the newer light already have this i think)
2. In prog mode the light runs through the brightness very quick. Its hard to hit the right spot cause you have to click 4 times. Adjusting it step by step might be better. Make that one SW for 5% up and 2 SW for 5% down maybe.
3. Demo mode(useless mode i think) shows a strobe between high and medium brightness, but i can only programm the light to strobe between on and off.
4. The low voltage shut down needs an override for emergency.
5. A glow mode would be nice. I mean fade the brighness up and down at a medium speed. Nobody needs that but it would look damm cool.
6. Voltage messurement is always lower than the actual battery voltage. I even think it varies when you turn it on from different brightnesses.
7. A locator beacon like the Novatac. I know i could adjust the light to do that but i like having the head tightened when i dont use it.
8. The plastic candle attechment could be little shorter. Only half of it is lit bright.

Sorry if i mention things that have already been discussed.

 

[Stereodude]

I got my light yesterday. I find rotating between P1 and P2 for SW operation very awkward. I find the P2 press operation for SW much easier. Part of the problem with the rotation method is that the documentation is weak on how fast the rotation should occur, do I wait for the light to respond to changes, etc, etc.

Still... I like the light and plan to put it on my keychain.

 

[lupy]

not sure if this has been covered before, long thread. Is default mode with battery protection off or on?

after sw8, light is flashing about 1X sec, how do I tell if I have correctly switched to battery protection mode, or out of it?

Thanks

 

[Thujone]

not sure if this has been covered before, long thread. Is default mode with battery protection off or on?

after sw8, light is flashing about 1X sec, how do I tell if I have correctly switched to battery protection mode, or out of it?

Thanks

Off = 1hz
On = 2hz

Cycle it with a SWx2 once in the SWx8 menu.

 

[Stereodude]

not sure if this has been covered before, long thread. Is default mode with battery protection off or on?

Default is off.

 

[lupy]

thanks!, got it working now. One thing a little disturbing, I got a little dust on the emiter and went to wipe it off gently, it's a jell, soft not solid still seems to work fine, but I don't think I will be taking the head off again to use it as a candle. How do you clean it if it get's dirty? Maybe a damp Q tip? this is the ssc version.