Surefire mini pro DF initial impressions

[WS6]

My surefire turbo mini arrived. It is advertised as 95k LUX with an 18350, and 55,000 with cr123.

My first move was to test this. I measured 100k LUX at 1m with 18350 fully charged, and exactly 55,000 with a new cr123. My modlite plhv2 dual fuel measured 80,000 lux with a new molicel p28a, for comparison.

I next compared spill intensity. The difference between the PLH V2 and Surefire, taken mid spill (roughly outer zone 2 for you NV folks), was 12% in favor of the PLH v2. This isnt visually significant imo. Distance testing was conducted was roughly 10ft for this. It produced 37 LUX. With cr123, it produced 15 lux.

Beam profile comparison, this is the PLH v2 DF and Surefire compared next to and on top of each other.
The Modlite beam is larger.

Upon running the light until moon mode levels, it was found that at 3.18-3.22v open circuit voltage was roughly where this occurred with an 18350. I used an unprotected Keeppower YDL rewrap. This is the only viable 18350 on the market (the YDL). This shows that unprotected cells will cease to provide utility well before they are drained to dangerous or damaging levels. This was a concern of mine, as it is a single cell dual fuel light.

In comparison the Modlite gives a low voltage warning blink at around 3.6v, and drops significantly in output. At this point the Surefire is still producing 60-70 thousand 1m Lux. It is producing 50k lux 1m down to 3.3-3.4v, where it begins to taper more notably.

More to follow.




I generated some interesting data. I tested the Surefire Mini DFT Turbo using my lux meter, and found that it was 100K lux or above at turn-on, and laser measured temp was 78*f. At 1 minute, the temperature measured 100*F and the LUX was unchanged. At 2 minutes, the head measured 100*F, and the LUX had been cut in half to roughly 50K LUX. At 3 minutes, the head was 100*F, and LUX was still hovering low 50K range. At 4 minutes, the head was 100*F, and LUX was still hovering low 50's, at 5 minutes, the head was 99.5*F, and LUX was still low 50's.

I then placed the whole light over my heating vent, and laser measured a temperature of 108-120*f depending on what part was lasered. The light performed at 100K+ LUX.

It seems SF is very strict on their thermal limits, but it's also quite intelligently done.

[hotbiggun42]

Looks like a pretty tight beam?

[El Vaquero]

Good post. Thanks for the write up.

[vicious_cb]

Thanks for the review, been eyeing this since it came out just because it was a duel fuel 1 cell which Modlight doesnt offer, good to see that performance is comparable. Now if SF would just release a non-Pro version so I can use my own mounts instead of their pivoting garbage.

[Wake27]

Thanks for the review, been eyeing this since it came out just because it was a duel fuel 1 cell which Modlight doesnt offer, good to see that performance is comparable. Now if SF would just release a non-Pro version so I can use my own mounts instead of their pivoting garbage.

Have you had issues with the pro mount?


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[1168]

Now if SF would just release a non-Pro version so I can use my own mounts instead of their pivoting garbage.

Of course, this is the day on which I said to myself “haven’t heard anything bad about those pivot mounts yet, time to order a Vamp Pro”……

[WS6]

Thanks for the review, been eyeing this since it came out just because it was a duel fuel 1 cell which Modlight doesnt offer, good to see that performance is comparable. Now if SF would just release a non-Pro version so I can use my own mounts instead of their pivoting garbage.

So buy the Arisaka 18650 or 18350 modlite compatible body and motor on. Yes it is annoying to spend extra, but it gets you exactly what you want, and you can flip the pro body likely.

[titsonritz]

So buy the Arisaka 18650 or 18350 modlite compatible body and motor on. Yes it is annoying to spend extra, but it gets you exactly what you want, and you can flip the pro body likely.

I also like the Reptilia Torch bodies.

[vicious_cb]

Have you had issues with the pro mount?


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Nothing catastrophic but I got one of those AAA Pro-lights for cheap to play around with, even after cranking the bolt down, it eventually went all floppy under recoil. Not cool when your hot spot starts bouncing around during a night shoot. Not a huge deal since you can just crank it down but its just another something you have to baby on your rifle, I could lok-tite it down but then its probably going to seize up in the rain making it pain to remove.

So buy the Arisaka 18650 or 18350 modlite compatible body and motor on. Yes it is annoying to spend extra, but it gets you exactly what you want, and you can flip the pro body likely.

True but Im not exactly dying for a lumens/lux upgrade currently with PLHV2 and OKWs I picked up last Black Friday. I just like redundancy of a duel fuel option, just not willing to go through the hassle.

[Wake27]

Nothing catastrophic but I got one of those AAA Pro-lights for cheap to play around with, even after cranking the bolt down, it eventually went all floppy under recoil. Not cool when your hot spot starts bouncing around during a night shoot. Not a huge deal since you can just crank it down but its just another something you have to baby on your rifle, I could lok-tite it down but then its probably going to seize up in the rain making it pain to remove.



True but Im not exactly dying for a lumens/lux upgrade currently with PLHV2 and OKWs I picked up last Black Friday. I just like redundancy of a duel fuel option, just not willing to go through the hassle.

Interesting, I’ve had at least two DF pros for a few years and never had an issue.


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