BLF style 18650 1s thrower( poor mans Olight M2X)

That usually happens when the reflector shorts out on the positive contact on top of the mcpcb.

Very unlikely for the short to be in the switch itself as it’s only a breaker for the negative contact, it’s not in touch with the positive end of the cell.

I’d be checking the reflector to pill area…

Edit: To be clear, rainbowed and collapsed springs are a result of a direct short to positive, the springs overheated and failed. This is from the top end, the positive end of the cell, not the bottom or negative end. If the pill wasn’t screwed down tight and you tightened the bezel, you may have forced the reflector down onto the positive contact. This is inherent to the HD2010 design, the reflector is made wrong with that wide contact base, it should have been tapered and the pill should utilize an mcpcb with wide enough contacts to clear the reflector.

I'll have to get some calipers I guess, and look around where to get the needed bits and pieces to rebuild. I have a few places that were mentioned bookmarked.

I appreciate the tips and tricks.

Ohh - ok, a full short, ouch! The switch cannot cause a full + to - short as you had there because Batt+ or LED+ don't come down in the tail. I think Dale could have been correct - the reflector grounding out on the LED+ solder joint. -- this could cause a full short.

Now if you stretch out those springs that are blue, chances are they lost a good deal of conductance. Sometimes they work ok, sometimes don't work at all - believe me, I've experienced this and worked on a few lights with this happened. What I would do is wire bypass the springs, but you have to be absolutely sure the original short problem is fixed/addressed, because bypassing the springs means even more power being shorted. Before, the springs basically act as a fuse, a fuse that was blown.

If you have a DMM you can check that the switch works or doesn’t. If the springs collapsed from a direct short there’s a good chance the switch is still good. Replace the springs and correct the short circuit, should be good to go.

Edit: Most of the time, if the switch still clicks freely then it’s ok. If it feels mushy or like it’s hanging up inside, then it may be ruined.

Considering my knowledge, you are likely right. I have some learning to do if I want to be messing around with these lights. Odds are, I may be wiser ordering in multiples when I place any order. LOL

I think I'm about to open a big can of worms!!

Edit: The clicky feels OK. Reflector to pill also looks OK. The resistor was touching before I move it away.

You mean the cap on the right? Hard to tell, but looks dangerously close with some solder hanging off. Might be harmless if that end of the cap is going to ground anyway. What we usually do is locate part end close to the ground ring when they go to ground anyway - less risk.

Tom? Doesn’t that big Toroid look fried? Yikes! Wondering if the driver is any good. Toss it and put an FET in there. :smiley:

Edit: Nice pictures by the way ARsee. :wink:

Oopsie, it looks pretty bad - you're right, looks black and silverish when it should all be copper colored. Don't think I ever had one fail, but if I were to guess, it might look something like this. Suppose that explains that nasty look'n stuff all over the inside of the pill, and also on some of those resistors, like the R130.

I'd have to agree - it's done, take'r out of the oven. Wow, that short did some serious damage.

ARsee? Can you take a photo of the reflector to pill in the open, from the side, to show where the base is in relation to the wires? Simulate how it would be sitting inside the light, most of the time when the bezel is screwed down snug it presses the reflector onto the wire ends, making a short circuit. If you don’t have any Kapton tape, I’d highly recommend getting some. I bought a roll that’s 2” wide and find myself using it all the time. I cut off a square, lay it over the end of the reflector and press it snug onto the ring that seats on the mcpcb, then fold over opposing edges wrapping it to cover the entire end of the reflector. Then I cut the hole out. In this way, the reflector is insulated from touching those wires. It’s important when screwing the bezel down to hold some pressure onto the lens with your fingers to keep the reflector from spinning, sometimes if the reflector turns it can grind the soldered wire joint through the Kapton tape and short it out anyway.

The Toroid is a copper wire wrapped around a magnet. The wire has a thin insulation on it that is usually an orangy or bronze looking film. Looks like the entire Toroid heated up and melted all that coating off, spewing it into the driver bay. Bet it smells horrid! :confounded:

Sorry for the confusion in my previous post. I don't know the correct terminology yet. I mentioned, resistor. What I was referring too, was the magnet wrapped in copper.

Bare with me. I'm trying to pick up on the correct explanations to avoid confusion.

Dale, I "think" this is the photo you are wanting?

Taking pics with my camera, takes time for perfection. Good, but not perfect.

Thank you Mitko for sharing this with us.
Baked swap emitter and driver dedome xml2 u4 od, A6 fet+1 177,250cd 842m @5m
1,376 lumen after 30s no ar len yet, order some yesterday.

Totally not seeing where it could have shorted.

And that beam profile is awesome! :slight_smile:

Nice Tim.

That hot spot is KILLER.

Any chance of some beam shots at night, after you get the new AR lens installed?

I'm anxious to see the end results of your upgrades.

I just disassembled mine. It's in the oven now

Thank ARsee, sure if I have time!

500° for an hour turns out nice.

I baked the pieces standing individually and not assembled. At 30 minutes, I turned them end for end. ( I noticed the difference in color of Tims ).I assume his light was assembled when baked?

I separated my pieces because it allows better heat transfer

Looking good ARsee!

Hm, actualy its the best baking i have seen so far - i will bake the next one definately

Yeah and thats the best host part actualy, i had HD2010s but this reflector is great, the beam profile is even better than M2X one

However , ARsee`s driver by default is different from one that i got, also the driver retaining ring too: lets juts hope they dont “upgrade ” the reflector too

That is nice, both Tim and ARsee!

I added an assembled image above to show the blend of the pieces ;)