"Flydragon" sst-90 monster with big aspherical lens

Candle Power Flashlight Forum

Help Support CPF:

would anyone be interested in a group buy for the upcoming 2D80? I heard on other sites that there is a pre-order going on with discounts. If enough of us sign up, we can ship to a central location and split the cost of shipping.
 
IMSabbel said:
But: The packaging was ASTROCIOUS.
For the point: I ordered 2 D-cell Li-ions, a charger, and the light plus aspheric head.
I got a strangly un-boxy UPS platic bag.
Inside that bad was a squshed carton (soft, non-sturdy carton, like used for internal packaging. Nothing that would protect anything). Which was cross-glued by customs tape, otherwise it would have fallen apart.

Inside that carton, there was the only protection material, around the flashlight istelf: A thin carton-half shell.

The rest of the stuff was just thrown into that carton, loose. The Aspheric head was just in a zip-lock bag, with was not even closed correctly. The D-cell Li-ions were completely loose. Charger and parts were also merrily flowing around with each movement.
Not a single piece of foam or bubble wrap.
Think about it: They send the aspheric head with those prongs, and loose d-cells without padding with airmail.

To make things even niver, it seems a small zip-lock bag was filled with silicon grease. And squashed flat between the charger and the aspheric head, smearing all those lose parts with grease.

The aspheric lens is completely dusty and has fingerprints on both ends (gladly, this can be cleaned), and there is not a single piece of paper inside the package. Not even a slip "put in batteries that way", not any UI explanation of the flashlight.

The flashlight head itself (non-spheric) was not put together correctly, having one o-ring partially hanging out.

--------
Click to expand...

Now you see why I refuse to purchase anything unless it comes from an American distributer. I hope the flashlight works out really well for you but I don't need that kind of aggravation in my life.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I got it from feilon directly.

And i could shoot myself. I killed the light already. not even 30 minutes in use, its dead, and its my fault.

The selection ring was _really_ tough to turn, so i tried to get it better. Managed to break a wire to the led.

To re-solder it i had to remove the driver. And somewhere along the way i killed it. Output voltage is just floating when on, but it doesnt "drive" anymore.
My guess would be that it was still activated with the broken connection and burned while trying to hold a constant current.

Now the light is build in a way that there is no way to use it without the some driver, thanks to no tailcap switch. And i see no way to repair those PCBs, or get new ones.
I just want to throw up now.
Just buying the light was already wasting money, but for 20 minutes of use...
 
Oh man,

That is really bad i feel sad for you.

I actually tend to think customs may have checked yours and dismantled the lens etc. ??????

mine came from HKequipment and i have photos of unpacking the box everything was packed well and way more packing than needed ? came in a plastic case inside a packed box ???

are you going to contact feilong

-Dan
 
Well, like i said: I do not think that the customs inspection helped with the packaging thing. The dust / Fingerprints on the aspheric could certainly be because of them opening all zip-lock bags.

Now I did some thinking about how i wrecked it. The main point is: The control ring can hit against the LED cables when rotating. For me, those cables were extented, with shrinking tubing around the solder points. For one voltage connection, that point was right were it came into the "control lever chamber", meaning every roation did flex this joint.

Even without any much force, that cable broke right at the solder point when i tried wiggling the pill to get smother operation.

I guess had I stopped at that point I would have still had a point to send the light back for replacement / repair. Hindsight, i guess 🙁.

Now I am really wondering how to reuse the light.

There WOULD be some modding potential, i realized: If one replaces the control switch by a potentiometer, there is place for a normal mag-light size driver package for the below circuit.

With a bit of time, this could be modded to be a infinitely variable output light (same principle like the SF Titan), as Patents dont count if you do if for yourself.

Too bad I really dont have much time right now, otherwise I wouldnt have bought a complete light to begin with and instead played around trying a mod on my own...
 
Hey all,

This is only my 2nd post here. Sorry if I seem like a noob, but I am.. In case anyone is interested, I thought I’d share my somewhat limited (experience wise) opinion of the Flydragon.
First of all, I purchased mine on eBay from hkequipment. I got the grey version with both lenses. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the light in less than 7 days. The light was well packed. I received the main contents in a plastic hard case and the aspherical lens was well packaged in bubble wrap. The whole deal came in a well packed cardboard box with foam peanuts and bubble wrap. There were no signs of any rough treatment during shipping.
First impression: The plastic case the light came in was cheap to say the least, but this was something I expected and was not an issue to me. I was more concerned with the build quality with the light itself. In that aspect, I feel that the light has a generally nice build quality to it, but not for the price.. I’m sorry to say, but for the price of this light it just didn’t live up to my expectations. I don’t want to say exactly what I paid for it out of respect for the seller, but I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed in the quality considering the cost. I also have to admit that I somewhat expected this, all things considered. This was one of those few times that I just decided to roll the dice, and I feel like I lost..
Overall, the light looks really nice and it sure is bright, but I just can’t help but feel like I paid at least 3 times the cost of what this light is actually worth. My collection isn’t nearly as impressive as some I’ve seen here, but I do own some pretty good lights, the main contender for this category being the Olight SR90, and the flydragon is just inferior on so many levels while not coming close to the quality of the SR90. There’s a thing or two I dislike about the Olight as well, but overall it’s very solid so far. If the flydragon was priced at around 100 bucks I’d say go for it, but considering how much the flydragon costs, I can’t help but advise anyone considering this purchase to go for the Olight instead, or just wait for something else..
Some things that intrigued me about this light originally:
1. Looks awesome with the aspherical lens!
2. Many different possible battery configurations, but when I really think about it, a light like this is really meant for the 6x18650 config.. as recDNA said earlier in the thread, “You don't buy a bazooka to shoot ants!” and I have to agree.. There are plenty of other lights out there for lower output applications. This kind of light is for the person who wants the wow factor that the sst-90 is capable of. If you honestly need a super bright light for a serious application, you would most likely have something along the lines of a “insert $$$ brand here” HID. I can’t imagine a real search and rescue team out there with a bunch of Flydragon’s, or even SR90’s for that matter…
3. Aspherical lens. This was my first light to have one.
I really like the “concept” of this light, and if a similar model came out by a more trusted brand, I’d be much more optimistic (especially for the price) but I feel like I just can’t recommend this one.. I love the look but for now I’ll keep my Olight.
 
Is good to read your impresions about the flydragon and SR90 Flaptipulon, thanks for your time.

I would like to know what do you think as having both lights in terms of throw. Flydragon vs SR90 with and without aspherical head for the flydragon.

3 months ago I got my SR90 and am very satisfied with it, but I always wanted to know how to be compared in terms of throw with the flydragon.

Thanks
 
Flaptipulon said:
Hey all,

This is only my 2nd post here. Sorry if I seem like a noob, but I am.. In case anyone is interested, I thought I’d share my somewhat limited (experience wise) opinion of the Flydragon.
First of all, I purchased mine on eBay from hkequipment. I got the grey version with both lenses. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the light in less than 7 days. The light was well packed. I received the main contents in a plastic hard case and the aspherical lens was well packaged in bubble wrap. The whole deal came in a well packed cardboard box with foam peanuts and bubble wrap. There were no signs of any rough treatment during shipping.
First impression: The plastic case the light came in was cheap to say the least, but this was something I expected and was not an issue to me. I was more concerned with the build quality with the light itself. In that aspect, I feel that the light has a generally nice build quality to it, but not for the price.. I’m sorry to say, but for the price of this light it just didn’t live up to my expectations. I don’t want to say exactly what I paid for it out of respect for the seller, but I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed in the quality considering the cost. I also have to admit that I somewhat expected this, all things considered. This was one of those few times that I just decided to roll the dice, and I feel like I lost..
Overall, the light looks really nice and it sure is bright, but I just can’t help but feel like I paid at least 3 times the cost of what this light is actually worth. My collection isn’t nearly as impressive as some I’ve seen here, but I do own some pretty good lights, the main contender for this category being the Olight SR90, and the flydragon is just inferior on so many levels while not coming close to the quality of the SR90. There’s a thing or two I dislike about the Olight as well, but overall it’s very solid so far. If the flydragon was priced at around 100 bucks I’d say go for it, but considering how much the flydragon costs, I can’t help but advise anyone considering this purchase to go for the Olight instead, or just wait for something else..
Some things that intrigued me about this light originally:
1. Looks awesome with the aspherical lens!
2. Many different possible battery configurations, but when I really think about it, a light like this is really meant for the 6x18650 config.. as recDNA said earlier in the thread, “You don't buy a bazooka to shoot ants!” and I have to agree.. There are plenty of other lights out there for lower output applications. This kind of light is for the person who wants the wow factor that the sst-90 is capable of. If you honestly need a super bright light for a serious application, you would most likely have something along the lines of a “insert $$$ brand here” HID. I can’t imagine a real search and rescue team out there with a bunch of Flydragon’s, or even SR90’s for that matter…
3. Aspherical lens. This was my first light to have one.
I really like the “concept” of this light, and if a similar model came out by a more trusted brand, I’d be much more optimistic (especially for the price) but I feel like I just can’t recommend this one.. I love the look but for now I’ll keep my Olight.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your impressions.

Could you be more specific about the aspects of the light you find disappointing?
 
recDNA said:
Thanks for your impressions.

Could you be more specific about the aspects of the light you find disappointing?
Click to expand...

Sure, here are a few examples, including the newest development (problem) for me.

Lack of any good documentation, none at all in fact that came with the light. I found the pdf manual online but it leaves a lot to be desired. (not exactly a deal breaker)

Funky secondary mode feature seems like more of an afterthought to me. The implementation isn’t the greatest in my opinion.

As others have said the control ring is kind of tight. I also feel like it is too narrow as well. I was thinking that if the control ring itself had been designed with a wider surface area to grip, the tightness wouldn’t seem as bad (Just a thought). Additionally the ring has some play in it (moves up and down somewhat even with the lens tightened down fully).

Gets very hot pretty quickly. I realize this is to be expected with such a high power light, but the heat sinking (especially on the regular lens) does not seem adequate. The sr90’s heat sinking seems massive in comparison, and that light gets extremely hot as well, however I have run that light continuously at full power through a full charge and it performed fine. To be honest I’d feel reluctant to run the flydragon for more than a few minutes at a time at full power with the regular lens.

My current biggest complaint: The battery tube.. My 18650’s seemed to go in fairly easy but are now stuck in the tube, and I’m at a loss as to how the heck I’m gonna get them back out. This actually leads me to some questions for you guys, as I’m not sure if this might possibly be my fault due to my lack of experience/knowledge on rechargeable cells. I have Ultrafire 3000mAh protected button top cells. Until now the only other 18650 capable light I had was my olight m30 triton, and these batteries seemed to work just fine in that. They slide right in and back out again. There is even a slight rattle when you shake the light. So am I missing something here? As far as I knew, an 18650 was an 18650 size wise (with the exception of the cells without the button top, which wouldn’t relate to my problem here anyway). Is it possible that the Ultrafire cells are somehow slightly thicker than other brands? I’m honesly at a loss here. I was not expecting this particular type of problem.

For anyone else currently using this light with 18650’s:

What brand are you using?

Are they protected?

If you’ve had experience with multiple brands, have you ever noticed any variances in size between the different brands?

Have any of you had any problems with the cells getting stuck in this light? (and if so any ideas of a good way to get them back out?)

Is there something here I’m completely missing or doing wrong?

Thanks
 
Daylight said:
Is good to read your impresions about the flydragon and SR90 Flaptipulon, thanks for your time.

I would like to know what do you think as having both lights in terms of throw. Flydragon vs SR90 with and without aspherical head for the flydragon.

3 months ago I got my SR90 and am very satisfied with it, but I always wanted to know how to be compared in terms of throw with the flydragon.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Daylight,

I hadn't gotten the opportunity to really do a comparison yet, and with the current situation I've found myself in with the stuck batts, I'm not sure when I will. Hopefully I'll get this all worked out soon, and if so I'll be happy to let you know what I think after I get a chance to take these 2 monsters out to a place where I can really put the throws to the test.
 
Flatipulon,

I am using Panasonic 18650'sunprotected and they are ok.
Different brands have a different tolerance on dimensions.

I totally agree with the control ring issues.

if you run the standard head on full power for about 10-15 mins it will goin to thermal shut down. and protect itself. there is 30/40W being dissipated by a relatively small heatsink. the aspheric will have less issue as is quite gigantic lol

If i am honest the control ring tightness pi$$es me off. so does the play and i could not get either head to operate the control ring per the manual.

the focus on the ashperic is not great.
the focus on the smooth reflector i got when i expected OP is not great.

this light does so many good things but so many niggles also.

Regarding the price i would suggest you add up the parts to make a similar light yourself. the cost will be alot higher. unless you make 100+

I am contemplating putting a different driver circuit in and using this a s a host in the future depends how motivated i get.

the thing i like most is the styling and host with the regular head on it.

it may end up being a project sooner rather than later 🙂

-Dan
 
Well, too many problems for me. Great concept poorly executed. The SR91 is just too expensive. Somebody will find a way to do it well for less money eventually. I'll wait.
 
Flaptipulon said:
Hey all,

My collection isn’t nearly as impressive as some I’ve seen here, but I do own some pretty good lights, the main contender for this category being the Olight SR90,
Click to expand...

If you own an SR90, I don't care if all your other lights are plastic $2.99 Ray-O-Vac's. You have 90% of CPFers beat. 😀
 
Well, I ended up getting my batteries out.. Unfortunately the only good way I could figure out to do it was to remove the head assembly completely so the body was just an open tube. That turned out to be a lot more trouble than I thought, but I got it done. Just pushed em right on through. The 3 towards the head were really stuck in there good. I can understand some slight variances in the diameter of a particular battery type, but this just seems ridiculous. I'm (sorta) pretty sure I can get everything put back together again and working eventually, but there's no way I'm putting those same batteries back in there and since they're are the only 18650's I have right now I think my Flydragon is going to spend some time as a parts pile on a shelf until my patience returns. :shrug:
 
dan1million said:
I am contemplating putting a different driver circuit in and using this a s a host in the future depends how motivated i get.

the thing i like most is the styling and host with the regular head on it.

it may end up being a project sooner rather than later 🙂

-Dan
Click to expand...

Dan,

If you do end up making a project of it I'd be interested to see what you come up with. I do agree about the styling, but for me with the aspherical head on the host. That's what attracted me to this light in the first place. Well, that and an sst-90 of course.
 
Damn. Just as I billed away the money spend on the light as learning expenses, a bill from UPS arrived. 100€ for taxes and import.

All in all, for the money i paid for the light, the batteries, charger and tax, i would have gotten an SR90.

Well, i guess thats a learning experience, too.
 
horizonseeker said:
would anyone be interested in a group buy for the upcoming 2D80? I heard on other sites that there is a pre-order going on with discounts. If enough of us sign up, we can ship to a central location and split the cost of shipping.
Click to expand...

Could we please get a large update post of the current status with upcoming products, such as what you are talking about?

I have dug through this thread, attempting to find information pertaining to upcoming models, like higher amperage that were vaguely hinted throughout the thread. Although there isn't anything there but a few vague comments.

So, if we could please have an update, stating exactly what the current news is with models, and how they differ, I would possibly be quite interested in a group buy.

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top