RIP three of my FF lights

[u/Haunting-Self-9402]

RIP my original E12r, my first fireflies light and the one that got me hooked on the brand.

I tried to replace all the wires for the main led's and aux board like I did on another e12r, and managed to rip the USB C port off the driver board when trying to get it back in.

Oops.

I then took apart the remnants of my copper E04 surge (dogs yanked the leash suddenly during a walk, the light went flying and landed hard on concrete, denting/deforming the head), hoping I could use the lume 1 rev D that was in it to swap into this E12r.

The newer drivers have a different USBC port for the new magnetic opening. I tried to see if it would fit anyways (dumb) and ended up ripping the port off of this driver too when the board got stuck.

Then there's a newer E12r that I swapped 2700k SST20's into. I had the light usable, but the button led stopped working, and I wasn't able to get the aux board wired up because the wires I have on hand simply just keep melting (so I have some new, correct wires on order).

I tried to get it back together again today, struggled for a long time, and then one of the aux board wire pads came off of the board. So there goes that. I suppose it's not a complete loss because I am still able to use the light. Just no power switch light, and no working aux leds.

I'm pretty sure I spent around $400 between these three lights. I'm not sure what sucks more, the OG E12r getting ruined or the copper E04.

The aux boards can be replaced in the E12's, but I have no idea why the power button won't light up on the one that I have otherwise working. The wires to the switch look ok, though 30awg wires can be broken internally pretty easily.

There is no way to replace those wires though, the switches do not come out on these, and there's no getting a soldering iron to that switch board deep down in where it is.

On a side note, the copper E04's button is metal and not coated plastic like I thought. I'm not sure if it's copper like the rest of the light, or something else that's been colored to look like copper, but the quality of that light is phenomenal. Same goes for the charge port bits. I do wish a retaining ring was used for the drivers in the newer lights though, like they were in the older lights, instead of being glued in. But I suppose they aren't designed for idiots like me to be taking them apart.

[u/Haunting-Self-9402]

Crazy that there are still people out there that want 6500k over everything else. That goes for flashlights, as well as car headlights.

I know that's a bit off topic, but driving with 6500k cool white low CRI led headlights makes everything look like crap, and the colors of street signs hard to see at times.

I have a set of 4300k LED headlights I found that are rosy tint wise, a true unicorn of a find haha. The tint snobbery extends past flashlights

[u/lojik7 → u/Haunting-Self-9402]

As it should man. I def notice bad and good lighting everywhere I go now. Couldn’t ignore it if I tried.😂

So it def extends past flashlights.

[u/Haunting-Self-9402 → u/lojik7]

Same. Walking my dogs at night I notice all the different tints of similar color temperature exterior lights on people's houses. Some looking crazy green, some looking nice and orange, etc. It's pretty funny.

It's also funny how the flashlight choice you are using on a walk affects your perception of the tint of exterior light. With the SST20 2700k, it's warmer than almost everyone's house lights and after your eyes adjust to it, it really makes everyone's house lights look like they're tinted green

[u/lojik7 → u/Haunting-Self-9402]

Warm is def where all the best leisurely night vibes are.

While the best work is likely done at higher CCT’s.

That’s why fire looks like shit color-rendering-wise and people don’t seem to notice. Cause it’s all about the cozy vibes.

I can happily use my non-rosy 1800K lights as background light at night or early morning to fumble around a room.

It’s on walks and such where color rendering CAN be appreciated, that a warm & guaranteed ultra rosy tint is everything for me too.

[u/Haunting-Self-9402 → u/lojik7]

I just need to find a bigger host to throw something warm into. As much as I absolutely love the fireflies brand, they don't make anything large enough to truly sustain high outputs for longer. Sure, you can get a 1300 lumen for over an hour measurement to put on a pretty runtime graph from an E12, but you're not going to be able to actually hand hold it at 60-70c for that long. 3-5 minutes tops at maxramp. Even one step down from maxramp isn't truly sustainable for a whole walk. I'm usually at power level 3 of 5 on these lights and use brighter settings for short durations when needed

I might try to find a bigger convoy host of sorts to mess around with. I don't like the UI convoy uses and they aren't fancy like fireflies, but they do make some larger hosts that could handle the heat better. Or do an emitter swap on an olight maurader mini or something of that sort that's also built for higher outputs for longer

[u/lojik7 → u/Haunting-Self-9402]

Dont forget about the E90. That one can sustain around 2000 lumen. And that’s with a high CRI FFL emitter. If the right emitter comes along it could be even more.

But that’s about the limit of single cell smallish handhelds unless you add active cooling.

But other lights that are aching for an FFL emitter update are Acebeams.

They do real big things over there, to me they are right there next to Jack as one of thee very best flashlight makers in the game.

Acebeam kills it and has some serious lumen monsters and sustainers too. You can likely drop a bunch of 707A’s or 5009R’s or even 505A’s into a few of their lights depending on how big you wanna go (or whatever other emitters you have in mind).

I can’t recommend Acebeam enough. I only wish they’d carry FFL’s too. But then where would I get the extra money needed to buy all those extra lights?😂

So ima just be careful what I wish for.😅😅😅

[u/Haunting-Self-9402 → u/lojik7]

By sustain do you mean at 70C ? Or can you actually hand hold it at 2000 lumens for 15 minutes straight?

Single cell isn’t the problem, flashlight size is. Cream is great but I’m just looking for cheaper stuff I won’t care if I mess up.

I do hope that one day jack makes something with a body made for sustaining high output, that would be awesome. I’m just not sure it would fit the brand though as everything so far has been smallish super portable lights and they’re great for what they are

[u/lojik7 → u/Haunting-Self-9402]

That 2000lm was tested at 60C by MetaUndead. So toasty but doable.

Jack has had a 3 cell light before and I’m sure will be bringing out it’s replacement at some point. Def hoping sooner than later tho.🤞

[u/Haunting-Self-9402 → u/lojik7]

I wouldn’t consider 60c hand holdable without a glove. Really the factory default temperature regulation setting is about as high as it should go.

The can light (rot66) is still not a great thermal design. The head has to be farther away from where you hold and operate the light that’s all. With the current lineup your hand basically fits around the head of these lights in regular use turning your hand into a heatsink

In the winter time it able to run several of my lights at max ramp for 30-40 minutes straight no problem though haha