# Fenix LD01 SS XP-G R5, AAA light, includes measurements and outdoor beamshots



## HKJ (Apr 20, 2011)

[SIZE=+3]Fenix LD01 SS XP-G R5[/SIZE]












Fenix has been active from the start of led flashlights and made many good lights, this one here is a stainless steel version of their classic AAA light and it is the second time they make this model, but with updates. The light has 3 levels and no flashing modes. It is turn on when screwed together, it will always start in medium, a quick off/on will change to low, then high. This light is also sold in an aluminium version with nearly the same specifications.









The light is delivered in a small cardboard box with a window and selected specifications printed on the box (The runtime and brightness is not for the same level).






The box contains the light, a split ring, a spare o-ring, the manual (With full specifications) and a warranty card.









The light has a OP (*O*range *P*eel) reflector with the XP-G led at the bottom.






The head has knurling, there is not much "bite" in it.






Moving to the backside of the head there is the battery connection, the center has a bump for connection to the battery plus pole, the ring around the center is used for connection to the battery tube. The light will only turn on when the tube is touching the ring.









The threads are on the battery tube are nicely done and a o-ring makes the light waterproof. Inside the battery tube is the usual spring.







The back end of the battery tube has a hole that can used to mount the split ring and because of the grove the light can still tail stand.






Here is all the part the light can be disassembled in without tools.



This light is a solid and well performing light and because of the stainless steel it can handle just about any key chain use. The first LD01 lights Fenix made did not have a really low level, this has been fixed some generation ago and this light has both a good low level and a good high level. The automatic reduction on high will extend the battery lifetime at the cost of a invisible drop in brightness. 



[SIZE=+2]Technical specification and measurements[/SIZE]






This light is designed for 1.5 volt AAA batteries (Alkaline, NiMH, Lithium).

Measured size and weight:
Length: 76.1 mm
Diameter: 14.4 mm
Weight: 53 gram with eneloop

The light uses a Cree XP-G R5 led.






In the above table I have used 800mAh eneloop batteries for measuring and estimating the runtime. The estimated lumen are based on the specified 77 lumen and then scaled according to measured brightness. High will automatic be reduced after some minutes.
Note: The above table is based on values at 1.2 volt.






I have automated the metode I uses for voltage sweep, this has made it possible to use much higher resolution, add a power curve and do runs at different brightness settings. The light tries to stabilizes the brightness down to 1 volt. The maximum current draw is around 1.8 ampere, but will drop nicely when the battery voltage goes down, this prevents the light from turning off when the battery is nearly empty, instead it will run with low brightness as can be seen on the runtime curve.






The reduced high output works the same way, but stabilizes down to 0.8 volt and has reduced the maximum current drain to 1.25 ampere.






Medium can keep the stabilization down to 0.63 volt.






Low will stabilize down to 0.45 volt.






I have tested multiple LD01 lights and one of the lights showed this curve, where the stabilization is lacking. This is probably due to component tolerances.






The runtime clearly shows that the light reduces brightness after some time and that alkaline has a very short runtime (on high).




The light uses current control and has no flashing modes.




[SIZE=+2]Comparison to other Flashlights[/SIZE]

TITANER ET20 XP-G R5, Fenix LD01 SS XP-G R5, 4Sevens Preon Revo SS XP-G R4 NW











4Sevens Preon Ti XP-G R5, Olight Xmas 2010 XP-G S2, Klarus Mi10 XP-E R2











For the full comparison to other lights with graphs and beamshots see here.


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## jamjam (Apr 20, 2011)

Thank you for another great review!!!


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## nathan225 (Apr 20, 2011)

great review thanks so much


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## Kestrel (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks for the good review, HKJ. I've tried to keep up with the other LD01 threads but this is the first time I've heard about the automatic 'reduced-high' feature. Seems like this wouldn't be a popular feature @ CPF - I know that when _I_ want high, I want HIGH for as long as necessary. :shrug:

Any idea how these constant-current LD01's perform from *2x*AAA input voltages? The older versions really do well on a Streamlight SP 2xAAA body - that configuration is one of my favorite lights (2xEneloop AAA's, ~140 est. lumens for ~45 minutes or so on 'high'). I have no idea if the new driver design permits the same lego options.


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## Norm (Apr 27, 2011)

I've been carrying the original version on my keys for a couple of years and it looks as good as the day I received it.
Great key ring light. 
Thanks for the review. 
I looked at getting the new one when it first came out but I decided I'm perfectly happy with my original version.

Norm


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## HKJ (Apr 28, 2011)

Kestrel said:


> I've tried to keep up with the other LD01 threads but this is the first time I've heard about the automatic 'reduced-high' feature. Seems like this wouldn't be a popular feature @ CPF - I know that when _I_ want high, I want HIGH for as long as necessary. :shrug:



The advantage of automatic reduction is longer battery lifetime and less heat. On a AAA light this can be a good feature.



Kestrel said:


> Any idea how these constant-current LD01's perform from *2x*AAA input voltages? The older versions really do well on a Streamlight SP 2xAAA body - that configuration is one of my favorite lights (2xEneloop AAA's, ~140 est. lumens for ~45 minutes or so on 'high'). I have no idea if the new driver design permits the same lego options.




No, I do not like to risk damage to my lights (But I did burn on LD01 SS due to over voltage:mecry.


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## candle lamp (Apr 28, 2011)

Good job and thanks for your excellent review. HKJ!

In the above table, what is 'High reduced'? 
And what do you mean 'High will automatic be reduced after some minutes.'?


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## HKJ (Apr 28, 2011)

candle lamp said:


> In the above table, what is 'High reduced'?
> And what do you mean 'High will automatic be reduced after some minutes.'?


 
Fenix has copied the ReVO in that the LD01 reduces the brightness of High after a few minutes. It is easy to see in the runtime curve, high drop down to just below 70%, after a few minutes. 
This 70% of high is what i call "high reduced"


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## candle lamp (Apr 29, 2011)

HKJ said:


> Fenix has copied the ReVO in that the LD01 reduces the brightness of High after a few minutes. It is easy to see in the runtime curve, high drop down to just below 70%, after a few minutes.
> This 70% of high is what i call "high reduced"


 
I get it!

Thanks again.

Oh, I'm sorry that you burn LD01 SS.


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## rvsasa (May 6, 2011)

Thanks for the review. Originally I was going to get this one but because of the weight I went for the LD01 R4 aluminum version. I was wondering how the R5 compares to the R4.


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## HKJ (May 7, 2011)

rvsasa said:


> Thanks for the review. Originally I was going to get this one but because of the weight I went for the LD01 R4 aluminum version. I was wondering how the R5 compares to the R4.


 
The beamprofile is the same, but the R5 has about 7% higher brightness, this is an invisible difference.
I wonder why the weight difference is important for you, the 50 gram for the SS version with battery is not much weight.


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## stoli67 (May 7, 2011)

I have an aluminum R4 & SS R5....

The R4 is white and the R5 green tint


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## HKJ (May 7, 2011)

stoli67 said:


> I have an aluminum R4 & SS R5....
> 
> The R4 is white and the R5 green tint


 
Tint differences does not have anything to do with R4 and R5 brightness bin, it is defined with the tint bin.
But the newest led is usual not sold in tight tint bins, i.e. the risk for green/blue/etc. tins are larger when getting the newest brightness bin.
The Cree bin datasheet is here: http://www.cree.com/products/pdf/XLampXP_B&L.pdf


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## stoli67 (May 7, 2011)

I wish I could rip the led out of the aluminium one and change it over....... will they ever release a neutral or warm version I wonder


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## rvsasa (May 18, 2011)

HKJ said:


> The beamprofile is the same, but the R5 has about 7% higher brightness, this is an invisible difference.
> I wonder why the weight difference is important for you, the 50 gram for the SS version with battery is not much weight.



Without battery the AL version is 14g, vs 35g for the SS version. I guess the weight difference is negligible as an EDC on a key chain, but my scope of usage may not be limited to that. For example, I like to travel light and a mini flashlight isn't the only tool I carry, the size/weight adds up if I'm not careful about my selection. For the weight of one SS LD01, I could carry 2+ AL LD01, one of them can be used as a backup, but ideally I'd like to get another lightweight AAA flashlight to complement features LD01 lacks and be there to substitute the LD01 if it fails. I was also going to reverse the pocket clip so I could 'mount' the the LD01 in front of a baseball cap, a lighter LD01 results is less momentum from quick head movement, which makes the mount sturdier and less likely to fall off.


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## ScaryFatKidGT (May 31, 2011)

Do they make the R5 in AL or just SS?


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## HKJ (May 31, 2011)

ScaryFatKidGT said:


> Do they make the R5 in AL or just SS?


 
I believe the aluminium version is up to R4, i.e. about 7% less bright.


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## tickled (Jun 14, 2011)

Kestrel said:


> Thanks for the good review, HKJ. I've tried to keep up with the other LD01 threads but this is the first time I've heard about the automatic 'reduced-high' feature. Seems like this wouldn't be a popular feature @ CPF - I know that when _I_ want high, I want HIGH for as long as necessary. :shrug:
> 
> Any idea how these constant-current LD01's perform from *2x*AAA input voltages? The older versions really do well on a Streamlight SP 2xAAA body - that configuration is one of my favorite lights (2xEneloop AAA's, ~140 est. lumens for ~45 minutes or so on 'high'). I have no idea if the new driver design permits the same lego options.


 
The one I have does get quite warm to the touch after running on high for a couple of minutes. I can sort of understand why they auto dial it back. I don't have an aluminum version to compare it to.


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## tickled (Jun 17, 2011)

Oh I have one question about your graphs. Do they apply to standard 800mAh Eneloops correct? When my Eneloops run down and voltage starts to drop, mode switching gets sluggish. While the light does dim gradually towards the end, it eventually just stops and starts blinking at me. Is this a sign of not enough voltage to get the circuit kick started? I'm not an expert by any means. Other than that, I liked its nice smooth beam. Quite a difference from my other XP-G lights which have smooth reflectors.


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## HKJ (Jun 18, 2011)

tickled said:


> Oh I have one question about your graphs. Do they apply to standard 800mAh Eneloops correct? When my Eneloops run down and voltage starts to drop, mode switching gets sluggish. While the light does dim gradually towards the end, it eventually just stops and starts blinking at me. Is this a sign of not enough voltage to get the circuit kick started? I'm not an expert by any means. Other than that, I liked its nice smooth beam. Quite a difference from my other XP-G lights which have smooth reflectors.



The runtime graphs are done with 800mAh eneloop for NiMH and Duracell Plus for Alkaline. The voltage sweeps are done with a computer controlled power supply, no batteries are involved in that.
The flashing you see is probably due to high resistance in an empty battery, the light starts up and due to the high current consumption the voltage drops below minimum operating voltage and the light goes out again. When the light goes out, the current drain drops to nearly zero and the voltage will raise again, repeating the cycle.


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## shelm (Mar 12, 2012)

@HKJ
How did you do the voltage sweep on the two High levels? The step-down from High ("1") to High-reduced ("2") is easily seen, on Eneloop, after a few minutes. So did you do the voltage sweep on High1 quick quick hush hush before the torch automatically stepped down to High2?, or do you have means to force and maintain a High-level?


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## HKJ (Mar 12, 2012)

shelm said:


> @HKJ
> How did you do the voltage sweep on the two High levels? The step-down from High ("1") to High-reduced ("2") is easily seen, on Eneloop, after a few minutes. So did you do the voltage sweep on High1 quick quick hush hush before the torch automatically stepped down to High2?, or do you have means to force and maintain a High-level?



Typically I do about 120 steps with 1 second between each step, i.e. the sweep takes 2 minutes. To do the reduced high I wait 5 minutes from turn-on until I do the voltage sweep.
The sweep is computer controlled and I can easily adjust these parameters when needed.


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## shelm (Mar 17, 2012)

Do i understand the High, High-reduced graphs correctly.. if my Eneloop cell is almost depleted and i activate the LD01 (which gives e.g. 1.20V under load) and cycle thru to Hi, would the Hi come on in High (max. brightness) anyway and only later on step down to High-reduced? -- so that has nothing to do with the cell voltage (fresh Eneloop vs. depleted Eneloop)? Then that's great news: if, after 5mins, the High-mode has stepped down to High-reduced and i want my max brightness back, then i simply turn off the light, cycle again thru the mode sequence (Med-Lo-Hi) and back is the Hi on High (max. brightness) -- no matter at which voltage my cell is!  (and this way it would be possible to measure the accumulated runtime on High (max. brightness))

Then this behavior is way different from iTP A3, which is brighter on a fresh cell (fresh Alkaline vs. depleted Alkaline).



HKJ said:


> (But I did burn on LD01 SS due to over voltage:mecry.


oh dear, what happened? Sorry to hear :mecry:
which emitter was it (XP-G R5, or older SS edition)?


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## HKJ (Mar 18, 2012)

shelm said:


> Do i understand the High, High-reduced graphs correctly.. if my Eneloop cell is almost depleted and i activate the LD01 (which gives e.g. 1.20V under load) and cycle thru to Hi, would the Hi come on in High (max. brightness) anyway and only later on step down to High-reduced? -- so that has nothing to do with the cell voltage (fresh Eneloop vs. depleted Eneloop)? Then that's great news: if, after 5mins, the High-mode has stepped down to High-reduced and i want my max brightness back, then i simply turn off the light, cycle again thru the mode sequence (Med-Lo-Hi) and back is the Hi on High (max. brightness) -- no matter at which voltage my cell is!  (and this way it would be possible to measure the accumulated runtime on High (max. brightness))
> 
> Then this behavior is way different from iTP A3, which is brighter on a fresh cell (fresh Alkaline vs. depleted Alkaline).



You are correct, the LD01 is stabilized on high and will keep constant brightness as long as the battery can supply the power (A half depleted alkaline would not be able to do this). To get a decent runtime (and limit heat) Fenix has implemented a step down function, that will reduce brightness after a few minutes.




shelm said:


> oh dear, what happened? Sorry to hear :mecry:
> which emitter was it (XP-G R5, or older SS edition)?



I did turn a knob to much on my power supply (With a 0-60 volt range, this is very easy to do). It was the XP-G R5 SS!


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## parnass (Jul 12, 2016)

My LD01 SS required too much torque for comfortable single handed operation due to the size of its O-ring. I replaced the stock O-ring with a spare O-ring from a Lumintop Worm and the LD01 head is now much easier to twist.

I don't know if the LD01 is still waterproof when fitted with the replacement O-ring.


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## Msf (Jul 21, 2016)

parnass said:


> My LD01 SS required too much torque for comfortable single handed operation due to the size of its O-ring. I replaced the stock O-ring with a spare O-ring from a Lumintop Worm and the LD01 head is now much easier to twist.
> 
> I don't know if the LD01 is still waterproof when fitted with the replacement O-ring.



I replaced the O-ring on my first LD01 with a smaller one to make it easier to turn and had to buy another (no longer water tight). I put grip tape on the second LD01 instead of replacing the O-ring. It works great and I use it on most of my twisties now. Not the most aesthetic fix, but very effective.


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## kreisl (Oct 10, 2020)

HKJ said:


> Moving to the backside of the head there is the battery connection, the center has a bump for connection to the battery plus pole, the ring around the center is used for connection to the battery tube. The light will only turn on when the tube is touching the ring.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have cherry-picked units of LD01 and LD01 SS, the latest production versions before they were discontinued. In either manual it says identically "Patented physical structure avoids circuit damaging from reverse connection of battery". So basically the manual claims that the light has reverse polarity protection (RPP), which is important.

And it specifies that the RPP is physical/structural. Why that's interesting! :thinking:

I checked all my LD01's, yes the driver disc has a raised (+)pole on the driver disc. But how on earth should this protect the circuit physically/mechanically from reverse polarity connection? If i inserted an AAA battery reversely, the battery's (-)pole would touch that (+)pole (_because _it is raised), and screwing head and body tightly down would close the circuit!

For a mechanical RPP to work, the "ring" has to be in raised position, sitting higher than the center solder point, as seen on my S1A & modded SC52, Smini Ti & H1 Nova, HM61R, Ultratac K18, and many others. I am not saying that the LD01 is not reverse polarity protected (feel free to test! haha :nana, the RPP might be electronic/electrical. I am just wondering how the RPP could be physical/structural, please enlighten me.

What am i missing here? :shrug:


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## Swedpat (Oct 16, 2020)

I have been using several keychain lights and I use Fenix LD01 SS again. The tint is way to cool and bluish for my taste, but this light seems to last a lifetime. The "Fenix LD01" label has been worn out and is hardly visible anymore but the light is really reliable.


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## kreisl (Oct 24, 2020)

kreisl said:


> What am i missing here? :shrug:


From what i can tell, Fenis dropped the ball here. Afaik in earlier LD01 manuals it never said so but in my original documentation it explicitly mentions "physical structure" reverse polarity protection (RPP), hope you can spot it:





My LD01 driver discs have *just *a 0.5mm raised metal(+)contact, so isn't there a standard *pair of raised bars* missing eh? To me ymmv, that's no effective mechanical/physical RPP.  Hence i decided to install a plastic insulating donut spacer ring, with the help of some *weak *adhesive tape (like the harmless residue-free/residue-less ASLAN book protection foil) since a friction press fit isn't feasible lol. If in future the ASLAN adhesive deteriorates and eventually fails due to heat, aging, chemical degradation, then no harm done; i could always exchange the tape for some more aggressive stuff like carpet tape. We can remember well the commercial examples (Cletus, Thrunait, SevenFours, MoonPathWoman, etc) where a little *foam donut* was taped to the driver disc of the AAA keychain light, and due to long-term pocket carry body heat, high temperature power LED, and aging, the foam donut came off after 6 months and we wouldn't know how to replace the delicate double-sided adhesive tape on the foam. It just shows that structural RPP has always been somewhat of a challenge for AAA keychain light manufacturers!

The raised metal(+)contact in my two LD01's has the dimensions of roughly Ø4.3×0.5mm , so i had to cut out a spacer with at least 0.60mm thickness:





In theory i wouldn't mind installing the spacer _permanently _but ask the Ch*nese AAA flashlight manufacturers who couldn't find a perma-install solution themselves: how/technically would you attach a plastic ring permanently to a PCB? Certain liquid glues exist, but managing liquid glue on such a tiny electrical contact area can get really messy very fast during assembly attempts. So no, liquid glue is out of the question. From my experience with the SC52w L2 mod i found the double-sided adhesive tape (Verlofix carpet tape) to be too aggressive/n*sty, so i added ASLAN book foil tape as the final interfacing layer; just an idea, and only future will tell if my interfacing choice was a good one:





It was easy/fast to cut out the spacers. Here the LD01 heads before the mod:





And after the mod:





And another photo after the mod. Hopefully you can see the 3-dimensionality of the installation better:





The difference of 3-dimensionality between the Eneloop AAA nub (1.5mm height) and the 0.4mm clearance after the installation. It means that any AAA battery with a protruding nub of 0.41mm or more will work in this modded LD01:






I tested it: I reverse-installed Eneloop AAA's and, of course, now my modded LD01 units have effective structural RPP, the bottom of the Eneloop AAA wouldn't close the driver circuit, the protection works, nice! The raised metal(+)contact does help the plastic ring to stay in place and not let it shift around (when the ASLAN adhesive starts to fail in future); this "centering aid" is helpful for our purpose, thanks. :kiss:

Basically, instead of a foam donut, i have a red plastic ring as structural RPP. How about my other AAA keychain lights?

I noticed that my cherry-picked collection pieces of Lumintop Worm SS, Thrunite TiS, Tank007 ES12, Maratac AAA SS, Maratac AAA Ti do *not *have a foam donut or plastic ring. And their manuals don't claim that these lights have any kind of RPP. So i'll leave it like that and will assume that they do *not *have RPP. In theory i could have made similar red plastic spacers for them too but in practice we still have the adhesive tape challenge and doht know if the ASLAN is suitable for this application: i _should _use the modded LD01 for a year, carrying it in my pants pockets 24/365, and after that test period uninstall the red ring to learn if 1) the ring was _still _held nicely in place and 2) the ring did _not _leave an adhesive residue mess on the driver disc. As we know, all tape adhesives degrade in some way!

Ah i have a _better _idea. I am gonna make a similar spacer for my Ultratrac K18 SS, which _is _my 10440 EDC keychain light hence gets carried and used often, and test the ASLAN adhesive situation after 1 year there. (EDIT: Done.)


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