Problem with my first build

I built my first light yesterday. I am having trouble with Config mode. I went simple for the sake of learning. I have an L2 host and I put in the MTN 20mm driver with Bistro an XP-l led on a 20mm MCPCB I have it all put together and the light works. It is stuck in Muggle mode. It’s a forward clicky and I have tried momentary on and releasing it a bunch and the only thing I can get it to do is it gets to a point where it stops changing the level I stop there. THe only thing it does is change the level to the next higher after about 5 seconds. then nothing. I don’t know if I am doing anything wrong or maybe my driver is bad. there are no shorts that I can see. To be fair On my first time soldering the leads the solder was a bt high and when I screwed on the end of the flashlight the reflector hit the solder on the positive side. I don’t think it was very long but as you all know that really doesn’t matter. It either fries something or it doesn’t. I did re-solder the leads but still nothing. Thanks for the help guys!

If the reflector hit just the positive side in most cases thats not a problem as long as it is not connected to the tube,
if so it would do a dead short to the battery then your springs melt and switch also gets likely damaged if you run an unprotected cell

There should be no problem with a cell with PCB

but any of this would not harm the driver at all

if you do a bunch of clicks the light should stop cycling through modes, then let it have power and it starts the programm sequence
if you just get another mode you dont enter the programm cycle

Sometimes the drivers get stuck in a mode or config, you can fix this by flashing the driver again

I highly recommens a reverse clicky as its a lot easier to programm the light

if you like classic music watch this video

Thanks for the reply. One of my springs got rather hot but that’s it. The switch seems to be fine. I pulled the spring back out and it is fine. I will replace it when I get a chance. Yes it was when I was putting the bezal on that I had an issue. The first time I fired it up, the light came on and I tightened the bezel just a bit. it went off and when I backed it off again it came back on. It does not do that now.

Yep, it sounds like you momentarily shorted the battery when you tightened the bezel. But I don’t think that would damage the driver.

It can be difficult/confusing using a forward clicky switch with these firmwares. As Lexel said, the behavior you are seeing when you enter configuration mode is not what should happen with Bistro. Is it possible you have not actually entered config mode, or inadvertently do something with the clicking to exit prematurely?

I have wondered that. So what I have seen mentioned on using the forward clickies with Bistro is to half press until momentary comes on and then cycle off and on for 15 or 16 cycles. stopping with the light on momentary. Does that sound correct?

I wish I could say they loved it, but that was not the case. I really think they may have preferred watching Ganghi (If you have not seen it, I think it runs 3.5 hrs) Just not ready yet. One of my boys has a kit using a solar panel to create several different automatons that he loves. We will stick with that I will introduce him to Flashlights at a later date. The other one has a similar kit but it uses batteries to make different projects.

See my version of simple is DD old school no driver. on/off to me thats simple. after on/off things get complicated quickly. :wink:

Is that even possible with a light like this? I wouldn’t mind a full power on off light. I have small lights that I can do moonlight and such with.

Yeah, I am not sweating it. They may never get the bug. They are thrilled with the cheap SK68 clones I got them. I even got some rechargeables for them.

So I could just let my solder blob on the neg side carry over to the retaining screw that holds in the star?

Do you have a reverse clicky switch / board lying around?

Temporarily putting that into the tailcap would let you eliminate the possibility of confusing the driver with the forward clicky. If you’re lucky and that’s the problem, you could program to suit with the reverse clicky, then put the forward clicky back when you’ve got the light the way you want it.

Yes that sounds right. I think the only option on the menu when in muggle mode is to exit muggle mode. You should see a blink then a “stutter”, and you should click while it is stuttering.

If you don’t do anything it will just go back to the mode you were in (or maybe the next higher), which it seems like what is happening to you. Is it possible it is stuttering and you don’t see it? Another possibility is that the blink and stutter uses the 7135 chip, and it was somehow damaged on your driver, preventing it from blinking and stuttering.

That seems very plausible. I am cycling this pretty quick. I think I am going to order a reverse clicky. Then when I get it set the way I want I can swap them back out. I hate having to do that, but the forward clicky is just frustrating the shit out of me. For now, I am going the DD route. I hate it being stuck in muggle mode.

Well learn something every day. Do not put 2 batteries on a DD setup with an XP-L. It may have lasted 1/10th of a second.

Yes Mtn is great. Super fast shipping. That is who I got everything from. I swapped out my LED today and the light is all good. I wish I could figure out the bistro firmware but DD will work for now. So you said I could run one of the 50.2 would a 70 work as well?

Jesus Christ, I will take beam shots tomorrow. This thing is unreal. If I shine it on a wall the beam is extremely ringed. Outside it is just insane how powerful it is. I will go down to the lake this weekend to really see how far I can see with it. I love it.

I put another XP-L in it. The one I got had the top of the dome chipped off and MTN already had one being shipped to me. I doubt the reflector is large enough but that can be fixed.