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Any upgrades for d40a???

jjp888

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 31, 2015
Messages
161
Considering the growing competition in 4*aa flashlights, will there be a new d40a??.I personnally still prefer the d40a over other models, but would love to see a more refined d40a which can kick every other one out of the park!!.Really love d40a but would love it more if it would have more flood, inbuilt battery compartment and bigger switches(and if possible a battery level indicator and a locator beacon).
 

chuckhov

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
621
Location
Florida, AKA God's Waiting Room
I LOVE Everything about mine but the UI.

If I start at 220 lm and want 550, first I have to look at 30 then 980.

There are two buttons - How hard could it be to make the Mode Button go Up 'or' Down depending on whether a Press or Click?

I'm actually considering selling mine, just because of the UI:-(

Even L-M-H-L-M-H would be better than this!

Thanks,
-Chuck
 

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
My D40A (neutral white) has a bit of an annoying habit of going into a "super-low" when you turn it off, especially from moonlight or low modes. It's a very very dim mode, but I don't like the extra drain it puts on the batteries. I've heard of this happening with others. If they're designing a new version of the D40A, they should take special care to figure out what in the circuit causes this.

The only way around it, is to cut the power by unscrewing the head slightly.

Other that that, the light UI works well. I think I'd prefer a low-medium-high-turbo cycling, rather than the way it is now, but that's a minor quibble.

Bigger buttons would help. Sometimes it's tricky to find them in the dark, or know which one you're pressing. Maybe they could use that red LED in the center of them as a locator or something?
 

WarRaven

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
2,135
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
My D40A (neutral white) has a bit of an annoying habit of going into a "super-low" when you turn it off, especially from moonlight or low modes. It's a very very dim mode, but I don't like the extra drain it puts on the batteries. I've heard of this happening with others. If they're designing a new version of the D40A, they should take special care to figure out what in the circuit causes this.

The only way around it, is to cut the power by unscrewing the head slightly.

Other that that, the light UI works well. I think I'd prefer a low-medium-high-turbo cycling, rather than the way it is now, but that's a minor quibble.

Bigger buttons would help. Sometimes it's tricky to find them in the dark, or know which one you're pressing. Maybe they could use that red LED in the center of them as a locator or something?
Ugh, so when you turn it off, it doesn't really turn off?
Definition of insanity.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
Ugh, so when you turn it off, it doesn't really turn off?
Definition of insanity.

If you turn it off from moonlight, yes, it never really turns off. Still glows very faintly (you can only see it in darkness). Same happens sometimes when you turn it off from other modes, although it seems random. It uses about 250uA of current when it does this, compared to about 60uA when it doesn't. So the drain is very low, but still annoys me a little. I'm not sure if this counts toward aging of the LED (50,000 hours or whatever), I suspect not, but not sure.

I guess I could return it for warranty repair (it was like that since day 1), but the cost and hassle didn't seem worth it.
 

WarRaven

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
2,135
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
If you turn it off from moonlight, yes, it never really turns off. Still glows very faintly (you can only see it in darkness). Same happens sometimes when you turn it off from other modes, although it seems random. It uses about 250uA of current when it does this, compared to about 60uA when it doesn't. So the drain is very low, but still annoys me a little. I'm not sure if this counts toward aging of the LED (50,000 hours or whatever), I suspect not, but not sure.

I guess I could return it for warranty repair (it was like that since day 1), but the cost and hassle didn't seem worth it.
I see, thanks for the explanation.
+1
 

aginthelaw

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
2,655
Location
NJ, USA
wonder if you can put a 26650 or 32650 in it. that would make it more versatile
 

PapaLumen

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
801
Location
UK
I like mine. I don't have that problem turning off from moonlight mode. I wouldn't mind a little more throw, maybe try an XP-L high intensity in there... despite it's deep reflector it actually doesn't throw well at all, about the same as my Solarforce L2P with smooth reflector and that reflector is tiny.
 
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WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
I like mine. I don't have that problem turning off from moonlight mode.

Do you have the cool white, or neutral white? Mine is the neutral white, they seem to have changed a couple of things since the earlier design of the cool white, so maybe they introduced the "sub-moonlight" problem. But it's probably just a rare problem that I unfortunately got. It's not a big deal, but it is an annoyance.

I suppose I could use it as a "feature", to find the light in total darkness. It's about as bright as a GITD indicator after about an hour in the dark.
 

PapaLumen

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
801
Location
UK
It's the cool white, I won it in the SWM new release giveaway competition on here so one of the first I guess, before they made a neutral version. It's quite neutral looking for a cool though.
Just playing with it now, when i turn off from moonlight, it kind of fades out over about 1 second, but definitely goes out completely, held right up to my eyeball. Does yours still stay lit even when you lock it out (hold both buttons for few seconds)?

Only problem I have had with it is occasionally the red battery indicator led doesn't come on when batts are getting low. It still steps down through the modes as batts run out though, just no red light. This has happened probably 3 or 4 times in the dozens of times I have run through a set of batts.
 
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WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
It's the cool white

I haven't heard of the issue with any cool whites, so just wondering.

It's quite neutral looking for a cool though.

Heh, my neutral is quite cool for a neutral. Coolest neutral I own. Still okay, but I'm a fan of warm white, so I would have preferred it about 500K-1000K warmer.

Just playing with it now, when i turn off from moonlight, it kind of fades out over about 1 second, but definitely goes out completely, held right up to my eyeball.

Yes, that's normal. It takes a few seconds for the LED to cool off and stop emitting any light.

Does yours still stay lit even when you lock it out (hold both buttons for few seconds)?

No, it doesn't. However, that may be a result of the brief turbo flashes the light does before going into lock-out mode. It's a bit like turning it off from turbo, which I almost never get a "sub-moonlight" from.

Only problem I have had with it is occasionally the red battery indicator led doesn't come on when batts are getting low. It still steps down through the modes as batts run out though, just no red light. This has happened probably 3 or 4 times in the dozens of times I have run through a set of batts.

Yes, you won't get a warning unless you have your light on at least medium mode, high is better. The reason is because they set the warning threshold too low for a low-current use. The warnings are set at 3.6v and 3.2v. That's only 0.9v and 0.8v per cell. Eneloops at that resting voltage level are completely dead. So, if your light isn't using much current (it's on low), the batteries will die before the red warning is trigger.

It works better if your light is on high, because then you have voltage sag from the high current. So, the Eneloops will get down to 0.9v or 0.8v under a high load, before they are completely drained. Then you get the warning flashes. I find you don't get much warning, maybe 30 seconds, but you get some.

I think I'd rather they set the voltage threshold a little higher. Perhaps 4.0v (1.0v per cell). It can't be too high, because then you'd get a warning every time you ran the light in turbo.
 

PapaLumen

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
801
Location
UK
I tend to use it on high (turbo?). Switching back to high every 3 mins when it steps down, usually on a local walk that I do through woods for about an hour on eneloop XX's. It has definitely done it when only doing that but its not a biggie, like I said it still steps down so you know it's happening.
 

CelticCross74

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
4,021
Location
Fairfax Va
luckily my CW D40A has performed flawlessly. The CW is indeed very cool but it doesnt bother me as there are no harsh purples and the tint is even. A 2016 edition D40A would be a simple upgrade package. Go XP-L HD or HI, get rid of the very short regulated turbo run time, thermally regulate the light, beef up the electronics just with nice thick strong solder points alone, double the size of the switches. All SWYMN needs to do is look to the TN4A with its amazing output and outstanding thermal regulation.
 
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