Review: Zanflare B3 bicycle light - prototype
Let make it clear, I've got sample light from Zanflare directly in order to make unbiased preproduction review. Product is published at their web page:
https://www.zanflare.com/copy-of-vct-slb-056-led-motion-se
They also decided to give it a try at crowdfund site:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/b3-bike-light-your-night-owl-bicycle
I'm not here to decide if this is right business model or not I just want to inform the readers where they can find official product data.
First impressions
The light is nice looking, fins edges are nicely rounded so it feels good in the hands. As can be seen on pictures (currently not mine yet) the wire is 16AWG (overkill) and has SolarStorm type of connector which I don't like, still it fits on tipical battery pack. The mount is GoPro style.
Modes operating. Not tested everything yet. Works more or less as described, except....see below.
Back button turns leds on. Quick press swithes between one, two or three leds. Long press turns leds off and the last stage of leds is remembered even if accidentialy unpluged . There is small flaw. Immediately after turning off you can't switch the light on and you have to wait for about 2 seconds. Don't know the reason, but the feeling is not so good. You might think something went wrong.
Top button switches between Lo, Mid, High modes. It correctly works without Off mode in the cycle. Preset levels are 15%, 50%, 100%. Personaly I would rather see it as 5%, 35%, 100% since eyes are logharitmic not linear "device". Brightness change from 50% to 100% is not that much as one might expect, but this is general problem with any light.
Programing does NOT work as we anticipated. In fact there is no such thing. I was bit seduced by statement in Instruction Manual: "Double press SW2 to exit personalized brightness mode, note that the brightness level you have set will be saved." Zanflare confirmed it is wrong and they will correct the manual.
So there is only "Personalized Brightnes Level Setting" acting as 4th special mode which is valid only until you power off the light or change to other mode. You can set it at any mode if you press top button for 2 seconds. The leds blinks 3 times so you know you have entered into personalized mode. Each click advance to higher level by 10%, so you can choose from 10 levels (similar as with KD2 light). After desired brightness level is choosen you need to double press top switch to exit that mode. Funny enough there is no sign you have exit from this mode. I wish to see some sign of confirmation. It's bit confuzing.
There are other 3 special modes: Strobe, SOS, Beacon. To enter this mode you need to double press top button. With short press you can cycle between all three special modes. To exit that mode you need to double press top switch same as in Personalized mode.
Buttons are little stiff and you need to press hard to switch works. On one side this is good cause it won't happen accidentialy, but anoying as you might change the light position pushing it so hard. I can't imagine how this will work using gloves in winter. I would love to see the swithes are easier to operate.
Leds and beam profile
Leds are Cree XP-L HD (High Density) V5. The tint is not super white but with bit of yellow hue, I would speculate it is around 1D. This is bit better than we have anticipated.
Here is the comparation picture of leds tint. From left to right an old Yinding (about 4C tint), BT21, BT40S, Zanflare B3
![Tint comparation.jpg]()
Reflectors are OP (Orange Peeled) which disperse the light nicely. There is almost no defined hotspot. This is the result of quite small reflectors and pretty big led die (about same size as XM-L2). Diameters of front holes is only 13.8mm which means the reflectors are merely about 16-17mm. So 20mm TIR optics would not fit. Will be measured when the light is dissassembled.
All in all I like the beam. Maybe it is more on wide side so pretty good for bar use. And it is pretty bright too. Will see how it compares with others.
Thermal transfer
The light gets warm even hot very quickly specialy on High modes. This indicates good heat transfer. Of course it has to be proven after internal inspection, but first impression is favorable.
Current Measurments
I've used fully charged standard KD pack with 4 Panasonic NCR18650B cells. Followed same technic as Garry below and got bit higher readings.
#LEDs on Level Amps
3 H 8A+ => shut off or switch to Low mode
3 M 2.40A
3 L 0.72A
2 H 3.80A
2 M 1.46A
2 L 0.46A
1 H 1.56A
1 M 0.63A
1 L 0.20A
It looks like many battery packs will have problem. In reality is little bit different as there is substantial voltage drop over additional connectors and wireing. Leaving out measurment tools light still works on full. Later on we need to determine what are voltages when droped. Representative ZFL mentioned lowest allowed voltage is 6V which is bit high. I would set it to 5.6V to maintain voltage drop and sag at battery side.
Waterproof?
Yes, tested. I've submerged the whole light into water for more than 1 hour. It still works. Did not see any flaws. At first there were air bubbles between fins and even on the lens from outside of course.
![Light Submerged.jpg]()
Using tothstick I managed to release those bubbles so I could see if any new appears. Finaly it has been turned on and runt in the water.
![Light Submerged Works.jpg]()
Teardown
In short;
- everything is sealed (GOOD)
- the reflectors are very small 16.8 x 7.45mm (well 20 x 13mm would be better)
- the leds are mounted on single copper PCB (VERY GOOD). There is also some thermal paste behind
- leds PCB sticks with another Alu backplate which is screwed to the housing (BAD).
- there is quite small area (tiny lips and small part under the screws) for heat transfer to the housing and to surprise no thermal paste on that lips (BAD)
- below central led there is thermistor soldered to the PCB which means temperature is controlled directly near leds (GOOD)
Some most important pictures.
Reflectors:
![Reflectors.JPG]()
Reflectors size:
![Ref Diameter.JPG]()
![Ref height.JPG]()
Thermistor on PCB:
![Thermistor.JPG]()
Driver consists of two PCBs:
![Driver 2.JPG]()
Leds PCB:
![LED PCB.JPG]()
Alu backplate:
![Alu backplate.JPG]()
There is a lot more pictures but would overhelm this review.
Driver
It has three separate parts for each led and one common micro controller for modes. Leds are driven by FR9809 chip and sense resistors are R016 or 0.016 Ohm. Modes are controlled by unknow chip, but it looks pretty powerful and complex if you take into account all those pins it has. Here are some picturs from different sides.
![Driver 4 outer leds.jpg]()
![Driver back side.jpg]()
![Driver Upper Switch.jpg]()
![Driver Cross Conection.jpg]()
Status Led
Additional measurments of voltage tresholds for status led at driver input. Keep in mind that actual voltage at the battery side would be higher than at driver side due to voltage drop. So I read the voltages that driver gets on input since the battery side could be variable ie. different battery packs and cables.
Voltage treshold Status led
6.85V blue to red
6.03V steady red to red blinking
5.65V red blinking to light completly off
You need to disconnect the power to reset the status if the voltage for any reason gets higher. Between 6.03V and 5.65V after reconnecting red status led is blinking even if the light is turned off. It looks this is warning the battery voltage is below 6V. If the voltage is below 5.65V the light won't even turn on.
To be continued....
Some discussions about this light is going on in this thread too: http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night...ts-bike-light-3-independent-leds-1052103.html
edit 20th Jul 2018: corrected tittle as final product is somewhat different
Let make it clear, I've got sample light from Zanflare directly in order to make unbiased preproduction review. Product is published at their web page:
https://www.zanflare.com/copy-of-vct-slb-056-led-motion-se
They also decided to give it a try at crowdfund site:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/b3-bike-light-your-night-owl-bicycle
I'm not here to decide if this is right business model or not I just want to inform the readers where they can find official product data.
First impressions
The light is nice looking, fins edges are nicely rounded so it feels good in the hands. As can be seen on pictures (currently not mine yet) the wire is 16AWG (overkill) and has SolarStorm type of connector which I don't like, still it fits on tipical battery pack. The mount is GoPro style.
Modes operating. Not tested everything yet. Works more or less as described, except....see below.
Back button turns leds on. Quick press swithes between one, two or three leds. Long press turns leds off and the last stage of leds is remembered even if accidentialy unpluged . There is small flaw. Immediately after turning off you can't switch the light on and you have to wait for about 2 seconds. Don't know the reason, but the feeling is not so good. You might think something went wrong.
Top button switches between Lo, Mid, High modes. It correctly works without Off mode in the cycle. Preset levels are 15%, 50%, 100%. Personaly I would rather see it as 5%, 35%, 100% since eyes are logharitmic not linear "device". Brightness change from 50% to 100% is not that much as one might expect, but this is general problem with any light.
Programing does NOT work as we anticipated. In fact there is no such thing. I was bit seduced by statement in Instruction Manual: "Double press SW2 to exit personalized brightness mode, note that the brightness level you have set will be saved." Zanflare confirmed it is wrong and they will correct the manual.
So there is only "Personalized Brightnes Level Setting" acting as 4th special mode which is valid only until you power off the light or change to other mode. You can set it at any mode if you press top button for 2 seconds. The leds blinks 3 times so you know you have entered into personalized mode. Each click advance to higher level by 10%, so you can choose from 10 levels (similar as with KD2 light). After desired brightness level is choosen you need to double press top switch to exit that mode. Funny enough there is no sign you have exit from this mode. I wish to see some sign of confirmation. It's bit confuzing.
There are other 3 special modes: Strobe, SOS, Beacon. To enter this mode you need to double press top button. With short press you can cycle between all three special modes. To exit that mode you need to double press top switch same as in Personalized mode.
Buttons are little stiff and you need to press hard to switch works. On one side this is good cause it won't happen accidentialy, but anoying as you might change the light position pushing it so hard. I can't imagine how this will work using gloves in winter. I would love to see the swithes are easier to operate.
Leds and beam profile
Leds are Cree XP-L HD (High Density) V5. The tint is not super white but with bit of yellow hue, I would speculate it is around 1D. This is bit better than we have anticipated.
Here is the comparation picture of leds tint. From left to right an old Yinding (about 4C tint), BT21, BT40S, Zanflare B3
Reflectors are OP (Orange Peeled) which disperse the light nicely. There is almost no defined hotspot. This is the result of quite small reflectors and pretty big led die (about same size as XM-L2). Diameters of front holes is only 13.8mm which means the reflectors are merely about 16-17mm. So 20mm TIR optics would not fit. Will be measured when the light is dissassembled.
All in all I like the beam. Maybe it is more on wide side so pretty good for bar use. And it is pretty bright too. Will see how it compares with others.
Thermal transfer
The light gets warm even hot very quickly specialy on High modes. This indicates good heat transfer. Of course it has to be proven after internal inspection, but first impression is favorable.
Current Measurments
I've used fully charged standard KD pack with 4 Panasonic NCR18650B cells. Followed same technic as Garry below and got bit higher readings.
#LEDs on Level Amps
3 H 8A+ => shut off or switch to Low mode
3 M 2.40A
3 L 0.72A
2 H 3.80A
2 M 1.46A
2 L 0.46A
1 H 1.56A
1 M 0.63A
1 L 0.20A
It looks like many battery packs will have problem. In reality is little bit different as there is substantial voltage drop over additional connectors and wireing. Leaving out measurment tools light still works on full. Later on we need to determine what are voltages when droped. Representative ZFL mentioned lowest allowed voltage is 6V which is bit high. I would set it to 5.6V to maintain voltage drop and sag at battery side.
Waterproof?
Yes, tested. I've submerged the whole light into water for more than 1 hour. It still works. Did not see any flaws. At first there were air bubbles between fins and even on the lens from outside of course.
Using tothstick I managed to release those bubbles so I could see if any new appears. Finaly it has been turned on and runt in the water.
Teardown
In short;
- everything is sealed (GOOD)
- the reflectors are very small 16.8 x 7.45mm (well 20 x 13mm would be better)
- the leds are mounted on single copper PCB (VERY GOOD). There is also some thermal paste behind
- leds PCB sticks with another Alu backplate which is screwed to the housing (BAD).
- there is quite small area (tiny lips and small part under the screws) for heat transfer to the housing and to surprise no thermal paste on that lips (BAD)
- below central led there is thermistor soldered to the PCB which means temperature is controlled directly near leds (GOOD)
Some most important pictures.
Reflectors:
Reflectors size:
Thermistor on PCB:
Driver consists of two PCBs:
Leds PCB:
Alu backplate:
There is a lot more pictures but would overhelm this review.
Driver
It has three separate parts for each led and one common micro controller for modes. Leds are driven by FR9809 chip and sense resistors are R016 or 0.016 Ohm. Modes are controlled by unknow chip, but it looks pretty powerful and complex if you take into account all those pins it has. Here are some picturs from different sides.
Status Led
Additional measurments of voltage tresholds for status led at driver input. Keep in mind that actual voltage at the battery side would be higher than at driver side due to voltage drop. So I read the voltages that driver gets on input since the battery side could be variable ie. different battery packs and cables.
Voltage treshold Status led
6.85V blue to red
6.03V steady red to red blinking
5.65V red blinking to light completly off
You need to disconnect the power to reset the status if the voltage for any reason gets higher. Between 6.03V and 5.65V after reconnecting red status led is blinking even if the light is turned off. It looks this is warning the battery voltage is below 6V. If the voltage is below 5.65V the light won't even turn on.
To be continued....
Some discussions about this light is going on in this thread too: http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night...ts-bike-light-3-independent-leds-1052103.html
edit 20th Jul 2018: corrected tittle as final product is somewhat different
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