SL Sidewinder - unusual modes

Edit added: this applies to an older batch of Sidewinder, manufactured 05/2009.

Still being in this phase of fiddling with this flashlight all the time, I stumbled across a mode that is not documented, and possibly buggy.

1. Select blue or green LED
2. do a double-click, but keep depressed
3. wait for release until the intensity cycle is back to lowest level; try to release past half the time needed to cycle up again (it's easier if you let the LED cycle up and down for a while, to get the feeling of the speed)
4. single click
5. the LED is now in an even lower intensity

Maybe not so healthy for the circuitry, dunno. But it is buggy, as it is not possible to rotate to other colors.

Could it be that the green and blue LED are (wired) differently from the red/white LEDs?

I have more indications that the blue and green LED behave different from the red one: apart from the behaviour above - that does not seem to work for the red or white LED - the green and blue LEDs also seem to initially light up in two stages within a very short timespan, possibly the same stage that was found above.

And finally, but I guess I'm just lucky - the red LED has far less beam artifacts that the green or blue leds.

Or is there something wrong with my flashlight? The intensities seem normal to me.

-alex-

I just got my Sidewinder in the mail today, and I can't get it to do this.

As for the LED artifact-y-ness, from what I've read, all Sidewinders are like that. The first thing I did after taking it out of the package (and after giggling like a little girl, obviously) was stick together a couple layers of "satin finish" Scotch tape and cut it to shape so that it sticks on the lens, covering up the LED's but not overlapping the white LED. 2-3 layers of the Satin Finish has just enough texture so that it softens the beams up without dimming them too much. The red was fine to begin with, and the green and blue are now fluffy enough to read a map, precision work in the field, etc.

(only partially related message, moved here)

Today I got an "upgraded" replacement for my beloved SL with a C4/R/G/B (see here) and first it was by inadvertence, then almost systematically that I found a rather erratic UI mode in this more recent model. :sigh:

1. Select R, G or B.
2. Single click ON
3. Then rapidly double-click
4. Sometimes, after repeating steps about 4 times, all LEDs will light up (R+G+B+W) or even flash and the flashlight won't respond to further clicks. (edit2 added)
5. The flashlight needs to be reset by unscrewing the tail cap

The time between steps 2-3 should be short; the white LED does not seem to suffer from this problem. Edit added: even the white LED can have this issue, although it seems more difficult to trigger it :sigh:.

Sometimes, when unscrewing the tail cap to reset the flashlight, the green LED will light up just before the circuit is broken. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if the MCU got into some infinite loop (but I barely know how those MCU work...). I hope this won't cause a ; it definitely smells more problematic than what I found in the first post...

IMO this is not some "freak" scenario; I can imagine someone being under stressful situation, might very well trigger this sequence - that would probably not be the moment to having to reset the flashlight, or even be without any light.

I couldn't reproduce my observations from post 1.

Edit added: it happened once - just after a routine inspection of the flashlight tailcap - that when screwing the tail cap back in, a LED would light up.

I can't help having the impression that the Sidewinder UI has weak spots. Can some Streamlight specialist clarify these issues? :help:

Edit added 13/04: after hitting this thread's post 5, I was no longer able to reproduce this issue :sigh:

-alex-
Related threads:
SL Sidewinder - unusual modes
Streamlight Sidewinder trouble?

ps to CPF - what's "mpr" (the icon I chose for this post) ?

A few days later, I discover a new issue.

1. select white
2. switch on but keep pressed
3. let the light cycle a few times: in my flashlight the two highest modes are the same intensity (I think 60%).
4. in fact, it is by timing/estimating when the light is in the 100% mode, then release the switch that 100% is achieved.

Then I remember Streamlight asked me to check the battery levels first... Measuring the batteries gives 1.24V each. That could "explain" the strange behaviour in this case. As a side note, I'm surprised about this level drop for the (Energizer Alcaline) batteries that came with the package, they were used for about a few minutes per day during maybe one week (and certainly not for the 5+hours), so I'll have to repeat this with guaranteed fresh batteries. And look out for abnormal current draws while off.

Similar observation with those batteries: when cycling down, then up and release at 60%: when then pressing again to continue to 100%, the light won't go 100% unless you release the button in time. The light can still go to 100%, but not during the cycling?? With fresh batteries, this problem does not manifest itself. Hypothesis: the combination of weaker batteries and an MCU that draws energy makes that the light cannot go 100% any more during cycling; so maybe I'm just in the zone where the batteries can still drive a 100% light, but the MCU is too much asked.

Another related observation I'll refer to as "reduced flare": when pressing ON (from off), the light jumps to a slightly lower than 100% brightness (it's certainly more than 60%); when pressing off from 100%, the light first jumps to a bit below 100% until the switch is released. This also happens with fresh batteries, but gives the (hope false) impression that the switch action draws relatively much current (although I thought an MCU itself can't need much current ).

While I'm doing these tests, I notice that the blue and green LED also have this (cycling as well as reduced flare) issue, while the red LED still works fine. Not surprised, I assume green and blue require much more energy than the red LED.

The recent decision to ramp down from initial 100% is probably also playing here, as the light probably tries to go 100% while the batteries can't deliver. This makes the UI do strange things when attempting to cycle through the various brightness modes: for example, when the battery level is low, when I try to cycle from 100% downwards, the green LED doesn't change brightness at all, yet a lower brightness is available once I release the button; as if while cycling modes, the flashlight is not capable of showing the brightness being cycled into. Again, I think that ramp-up is better than ramp-down, this would avoid all these issues.

When battery levels have dropped to about 1V, pressing (rather than clicking) the button makes the selected LED flash and fade to off (the red LED as from even lower voltages); when the button is released, the LED switches on to some bright level, but paradoxally, it has become very difficult to cycle to a lower mode (because one must time "in the dark" when to release the button), although the energy certainly is available.

A few days later, the batteries have run almost dry (intentionally) without having been used a lot. While last night I still had at least the red LED functioning, this morning there was almost no light (0.917V+0.925V).

In a nutshell: I have to repeat some of these observations with 100% fresh batteries before jumping on Streamlight again. Positive side is that these symptoms (especially the LED behaviour) might help to recognise low (?) battery levels.

Next test: try to measure the parasitic drain. First tests do not look promising (see here for data)... Edit added: there is a definitively troubling issue here. It's so improbable I need to rerun the tests: currently, it looks like my light will die after about a week or so of non-use.

While doing the first parasitic drain measures, I notice that the red LED flashed briefly when I extracted the batteries: this happened the first time, and I thought that was an exception. But for the second extraction it happens again. Let's see if this is systematic. Yes, it seems so... And I also see a flash when inserting the batteries, though I'm not sure if that's also systematic. To see if it can be avoided, before extracting the batteries for sample #5, I rotated the knob away and back to red; there was no flash while extracting the batteries, but when I reinserted them, the LED briefly switched on until I noticed it (maybe a second later) and switched it off. This might almost invalidate the voltage measurements. Edit added: no systematic flash.

Since the moment I owned a Sidewinder I have always had the impression that either:

1. the Sidewinder UI has fundamental issues
2. my lights have a problem (or... in the end... maybe it's just me...)

I still do like the light a lot, but I keep getting hit by the impression that this light cannot be fully combat-ready yet.

I wish Streamlight could answer me on all these issues (look for the other hyperlinked issues in this thread): that some engineer might recognise the symptoms and identify where things are going wrong. When I sent my first Sidewinder for repair, I asked if possible to tell me what had gone wrong, but just got a new flashlight instead. A difficult situation, because I'm supposed to be grateful (I am, of course), but it feels like I should "shut up" now. But I try to dig into this to help SL, to make them clear that they have what I call an iconic flashlight that is worth being continued because it feels like this is a unique flashlight. A die-hard fan, in other words...

But the worst part is: I can't repeat the issues I described in previous post. Not even with fresh batteries, not with used batteries :duh2:. As if - to find an analogy - the internals got rid of some dust or rust, and now are well oiled and function better. This is certainly not going to help that Streamlight engineer...

As a final thought, I guess this all highlights the dark side <sic> of "regulated lights" in general.

-alex-

ChzSoda said:

The first thing I did after taking it out of the package (and after giggling like a little girl, obviously) was stick together a couple layers of "satin finish" Scotch tape and cut it to shape so that it sticks on the lens, covering up the LED's but not overlapping the white LED. 2-3 layers of the Satin Finish has just enough texture so that it softens the beams up without dimming them too much. The red was fine to begin with, and the green and blue are now fluffy enough to read a map, precision work in the field, etc.

Click to expand...

Me too (apart from the giggling - but there must be a boy equivalent :laughing - interestingly you have the same issue as I had with the previous model: the red LED was acceptable, but blue and green LEDs needed taping. (Luckily with my new light they are all much better.)

Finally SL sent me a new Sidewinder - this time the flashlight seems to manage power better.

I'm still disappointed by the choice to move to ramp-down. At night one should be able to choose what level is enough, rather than be blinded initially by too much light.