Just got my Liteflux LF-3!

regulator

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I just received my LF-3 and wanted to post first impressions. I have not had a lot of time to play with it so here goes.

My first impression is that it is very well made. It looks both high quality and feels quality too. I like the matt black finish as opposed to the shiny finish on some lights. The threads are perfect and very well machined. The Ha-3 finish is flawless. The battery does not rattle at all whether the light is on or off do to the spring in the battery tube. The switching mechanism looks to be very well thought out. You can tell a lot of thought was put into this design and it is not just one of those screw to make contact with battery lights (take a look at pictures in the reviews forum).

The size is great since it is pretty short and narrow for a Cr123 light and fits the pocket nice (some CR123 lights can get a little wide and make it uncomfortable to carry in the pocket). The body is smaller in diameter than my Fenix P3D. But the reflector is at least as wide if not slightly wider. The beam has a hot spot that "fades" into the spill (it does not have a pronounced hot spot and dim spill) and throws pretty good for a small light.

The "extras" are a nice thought and I like the diffuser cap and 3 color filters. The diffuser can make this into a great tent light with long runtime on low. The extra silicon grease was also a nice extra - I used it on some of my other lights.

I am just now playing with the modes and need to figure them out. I think once you get the hang of it you can set it how you like and be done with it. Its a little hard to operate with one hand.

The beam color of mine is pretty neutral white with maybe a slight tilt towards warm if there is a tint - but pretty white. There are some runtimes posted in the reviews section and they look to be pretty good. So far so good.
 

regulator

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I like the light a lot and it is a great buy. I would highly recomment it. Feels nice and solid in the hand although it requires two hands to operate due to tight tolerance and O-ring). There is no flicker when using the light. I have actually only been messing with the user mode and the preset P1 and P2 levels. It took a while to actually figure out how to ramp up and down the user settable mode and be able to return to standard mode but now it is easy to do. I actually did not think the light worked at first.

I think that it requires a bit to figure out how to work the light due to the switching and is not intuative at first. It is also easy to be in the adjustable mode and not know it since it can adjust very slowly in the brighter settings. This can mislead you to continue switching not knowing you were actually were you where supposed to be. Time will be required to learn how to make the adjustments you want - or you can just use the light in standard mode with P1 and P2 levels.

A very BIG plus is that the LED is easily accessible and can be upgraded if one wants. The head is not glued. I like this.

So - great light that requires some patients to really appreciate the light and get the most out of it. You can easily operate the light with essentialy 3 levels by using P1, P2, and switching to the User mode (which I presently have set to a very low low).
 

Paul6ppca

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I got my LF3 today and I am having trouble figuring out how to tell and program the user modes.Any tips???
 

regulator

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Sure. It is frustrating at first - but once you get the hang of it - it is easy. Explaining it seems complicated as well.

I found you start in P1, then do a P2-P1-P2-P1 (that gets you into the User mode). Now if you go to P2 it should ramp up, it ramps verrrrry slow at the highest settings and may be hard to tell its doing anything - wait till it blinks to tell you its there. Now if you switch to P1, it will remember this setting. If you shut the light off at this point it will come on in the User mode for P1.

Now from P1 - do P2-P1-P2-P1 this switches the ramping to lower output when you now move to P2. The light will SSSSlowely ramp down and at any point you can switch back to P1 for it to remember this brightness. If you shut the light off it will come back on in P1 at the User mode.

What you need to do to get out of user mode and back to standard mode is: from P1 - do a one switch P2-P1 and you will get back to standard mode.

There is a video that shows this and will help - I think it is under the reviews section under onf of the Liteflux reviews.

Aggain, once you get the hang of it, it is easy to do.
 

Paul6ppca

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Thanks for the reply.I still do not see it ramping up or down.:mecry:I am getting closer.ive seen strobe and got it back to factory default.

What I want is low for P1 ,max for P2
 

Paul6ppca

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I really want to see what MAX looks like! Is it really bright?
 

phosphor

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Sure. It is frustrating at first - but once you get the hang of it - it is easy. Explaining it seems complicated as well.

I found you start in P1, then do a P2-P1-P2-P1 (that gets you into the User mode). Now if you go to P2 it should ramp up, it ramps verrrrry slow at the highest settings and may be hard to tell its doing anything - wait till it blinks to tell you its there. Now if you switch to P1, it will remember this setting. If you shut the light off at this point it will come on in the User mode for P1.

Now from P1 - do P2-P1-P2-P1 this switches the ramping to lower output when you now move to P2. The light will SSSSlowely ramp down and at any point you can switch back to P1 for it to remember this brightness. If you shut the light off it will come back on in P1 at the User mode.

What you need to do to get out of user mode and back to standard mode is: from P1 - do a one switch P2-P1 and you will get back to standard mode.

There is a video that shows this and will help - I think it is under the reviews section under onf of the Liteflux reviews.

Again, once you get the hang of it, it is easy to do.
So am I correct in assuming you essentially get three different levels of brightness with this light....two factory pre-set levels in standard mode and then an adjustable "user" mode which allows one to select for a single brightness level ?

How does one select the SOS and Stobe mode....and are these adjustable or pre-set ?

- regards
 
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regulator

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Paul6ppca - thats funy because I had trouble at first as well. It takes a bit of playing to see exactly how it functions. I had a hard time and didn't know what modes I was in either. The funny thing is learning how it operates is tricky - but once you see how the switching works and understand how to get to modes, operating it is pretty easy.
 

Paul6ppca

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So the user mode is only 1 level?
OR
I thought factory default was 15% and 50%,switch to user mode and I would have 2 levels, P1 low, P2 max.
Which way is it,Im so confused!!

I think I get it,user mode is ONE level of your choosing,ex max OR min,not both..Is this right?

Sure. It is frustrating at first - but once you get the hang of it - it is easy. Explaining it seems complicated as well.

I found you start in P1, then do a P2-P1-P2-P1 (that gets you into the User mode). Now if you go to P2 it should ramp up, it ramps verrrrry slow at the highest settings and may be hard to tell its doing anything - wait till it blinks to tell you its there. Now if you switch to P1, it will remember this setting. If you shut the light off at this point it will come on in the User mode for P1.

Now from P1 - do P2-P1-P2-P1 this switches the ramping to lower output when you now move to P2. The light will SSSSlowely ramp down and at any point you can switch back to P1 for it to remember this brightness. If you shut the light off it will come back on in P1 at the User mode.

What you need to do to get out of user mode and back to standard mode is: from P1 - do a one switch P2-P1 and you will get back to standard mode.

There is a video that shows this and will help - I think it is under the reviews section under onf of the Liteflux reviews.

Aggain, once you get the hang of it, it is easy to do.
 
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regulator

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There are 2 positions - P1 and P2.
In standard mode they provide the 2 brightness levels(factory default 15% and 50%).

In User mode (accessed by 2 switches - which would be P1-P2-P1-P2-P1), P1 is the level you programmed and P2 will either ramp up/down to set level of P1. Level P1 has memory so when you shut off or turn on to P1 when in the "user mode" it is whatever level you set it at. (So yes - User mode is 1 brightness to your setting at P1)

The light remembers what "mode" you were in and will return to it even after switching off. To get back to standard mode you need to turn on to P1 then do a P2-P1 (which is a 1 switch). The light will be back to standard mode and P1 and P2 will be two brightness settings.

Hope that helps.
 
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Paul6ppca

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YES,YES <YES!!!I got it! finally,I was reading the lf2 thread.I guess I was not the only one confused by the user adjustable setting,it is easy once I understood that.

THANKS Regulator!
 
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regulator

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No problem - I was having troubles as well and can relate. Its like once you get it - wow.
 

ydna

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Yes, I agree. The UI is a bit difficult to learn. Due to it's a initiative design. But once you get it, you can control your light easily and perform varies functions.
 

LED Cool

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so everything ok now?

my personal recommendation would be to learn how to access the three basic modes first and how to switch between the 2 output level. (P1 & P2)

SWx1 STANDARD.
SWx3 STROBE
SWx4 SOS

then learn how to access the extra functions
SWx5 battery voltage report
SWx7 DEMO function
SWx8 NIMH & Li-Ion over discharge protection. (learn how to enable & disable)
SWx9 no functions or modes allocated for this. i.e. does not do anything.
SWx10 RESET everything settings back to factory default.

once you get the hang of the UI and can easily access the above mentioned modes and functions, that means you now know exactly the location of your P1 & P2 and how to correctly perform a SW.

next to learn is the SWx2 USER ADJUSTABLE mode where you can adjust the output to be higher or lower and then have your light memorize it as you third output level beside the P1 & P2 in STANDARD mode.

once you are fluent in USER ADJUSTABLE mode (i.e. able to adjust up or down and be able to save the settings), the last to learn is

SWx6 PROGRAMMING function

where you can program 6 parameters. i.e.
the P1 & P2 output in STANDARD mode.
the P1 & P2 output and frequency in STROBE mode.
the P1 & P2 output in SOS mode.

the included programming flow chart and instructions manual provides the user an understanding the programming UI.

regards,
khoo
 

LED Cool

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So am I correct in assuming you essentially get three different levels of brightness with this light....two factory pre-set levels in standard mode and then an adjustable "user" mode which allows one to select for a single brightness level ?

How does one select the SOS and Stobe mode....and are these adjustable or pre-set ?

- regards


hello phosphor,

yes! with LF3/LF4/LF5, you will get three different levels of brightness all of which are programmable. the two factory default level P1 & P2 in STANDARD mode is programmable to be higher or much lower. i.e you can have your light turn on low then high or high then low.

the third output level is in the USER ADJUSTABLE mode where you adjust it to your desire and save it.

so essentially this will give you three levels of output. twist a bit for P1, twist slightly further for P2 and twist twice (from P2-P1-P2-P1-P2) for the third level.

in STROBE & SOS mode both brightness and frequency are programmable.

access to STROBE or SOS is direct by performing the relevant switch cycles (SW). there is no requirement to cycle through every modes to get to your desire mode, unlike other twistie lights in the market.

regards,
khoo
 

phosphor

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hello phosphor,

yes! with LF3/LF4/LF5, you will get three different levels of brightness all of which are programmable. the two factory default level P1 & P2 in STANDARD mode is programmable to be higher or much lower. i.e you can have your light turn on low then high or high then low.

the third output level is in the USER ADJUSTABLE mode where you adjust it to your desire and save it.

so essentially this will give you three levels of output. twist a bit for P1, twist slightly further for P2 and twist twice (from P2-P1-P2-P1-P2) for the third level.

in STROBE & SOS mode both brightness and frequency are programmable.

access to STROBE or SOS is direct by performing the relevant switch cycles (SW). there is no requirement to cycle through every modes to get to your desire mode, unlike other twistie lights in the market.

regards,
khoo

Thank you khoo !!!.......I understand it now perfectly, I think. It all seem rather straightforward and ingenious.

- regards
 

regulator

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LED Cool - I totally agree with your recommendation.

This is a really cool light and I like it a lot. And someone made a accurate comment about how great it is that the User mode now has memory. I find the User mode extremely useful and I use it a lot - easy to set and easy to get to.
 

Paul6ppca

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Quote from led cool
[
SWx6 PROGRAMMING function

where you can program 6 parameters. i.e.
the P1 & P2 output in STANDARD mode.
the P1 & P2 output and frequency in STROBE mode.
the P1 & P2 output in SOS mode.

the included programming flow chart and instructions manual provides the user an understanding the programming UI.


So now im getting the hang of it,thanks to all!

This is a really cool ,well built very flexible light,cutom to your needs.Hats off to liteflux for making it so well anf flexible.Programmable,bright anf uses RCR 123.Meets all my requrements!
 
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