Q8 modding

2 is 1 and 1 is none. Always carry a spare. Even a small twisty can alleviate that lost item issue.

That looks darn good. I think our usual D1 is labeled D3 in the drawing? And the labeled D1 is the main LEDs. PD68 had the D1 labeling on the Schottky, though not sure bout the ThorFire Q8 boards.

Springs bypassed on one of my Q8’s, probably not going to do it on the other one, it’s a hell of alot brighter even to the eye, and you feel the heat, but that amount of light is not very usefull to me, lol.

Ordered 3rd one anyway, going to mod 2 of them and keep one close to original, that will be the most usefull one to me too :wink:

Hi DEL, we are considering adding a big bulk decoupler across C2 to hold up MCU through momentary power outages due to batteries rattling about under impacts, do you foresee any problems with no other alteration ?

Edit: Maybe we are in danger of transiently over-currenting the Schottky, with only 4R7 in series. Do you think it can handle it ?

Given R1 R2 not populated, maybe I could attach e.g. 7135x8 driver (any old thing with MCU removed) to pin 7, and make my own 2-bank 7135 mod, with jiggery pokery in Narsil ? Maybe already coded by someone. Having the resistor pads already there would make this so easy.

PS: thanks very much for the schematic.

+1 - I also was gonna ask DEL about that big capacitor addition.

Having the 7135 bank on pin #7 is not the standard triple setup, like the TA boards. Pretty sure it's all do-able, but requires some minor code change - I walked someone thru this type of mod to the code before in the NarsilM thread.

Of course would be better with a driver board change, but saves time/money, etc.

Sladgestone is not out of the woods :frowning:

can you share a pic or two?

Arrange for new head to be sent with un-mullered fastenings. No-one should have to deal with this unnecessary nausea.

Edit: I’ll post a picture of an olde fashioned mechanical impact driver and a copper/leather Thor hammer to whack it with if you like. Indispensable working on old Jap motorbikes, but a bit brutal on a mere torch head.

With that much of the middle of the screw stripped out, there’s not a lot of the head left… may be able to slot it and remove it. Other than that, drilling it out is probably the way to go. Probably cut the leads and remove the entire assembly, drill it out with a drill press. I’ve had good luck with a larger bolt glued to a rod with JB Weld, don’t know if it’d hold something that small though, might be worth a try. Glue a screwdriver bit into the head of the screw, wait for it to set up, then give a good steady pressure while pressing down on it. Just might work…

Mapp gas in a blowtorch … Get it white hot… Should come out easily (everything else melted away)

But seriously, a bit of heat on the screw (big hot soldering iron etc. ) might just help. Or take a disposable screwdriver, get it red hot, press it hard into the head until it is no longer glowing, then try your best.

After reading the JB weld stories (Dale did it :wink: ) I ordered some from Amazon one time
I grabbed an old hand held plunging blender that did not work anymore because the metal rod driving the blade was stripped from the plastic part that engaged with the part that was rotated by the motor.
I mixed a little JB weld, dabbed some on the rod, placed the plunging knife part back and removed to see if it made contact, yes it did.
I had some mixed stuff left and used it on the inside of the plunging knife part so it would not come apart, you know, before use that check to see if all is clean.
After 24 hours of setting, the darned thing worked
And it kept working, doing the thing my wife broke it with (changing half a kilo of dades and half a kilo of raisins into a mushy heavy drab she uses in her cooking. Every time she makes it the blender has so much trouble getting though, lot of strange noises from the thing, low revs, it really is killing for these kitchen tools, the hand held blender was a good one, the one before it died soon after starting to make it, so we bought a more heavy duty, now using a very good blender, just to say the JB weld really did good!)
I tossed it out, because of course no way to clean inside the plunger part, but it proved the strength of JB weld and was a successful experiment.
I would try Dales idea based on this

Definitely the first thing to try. We don’t have JB Weld in the UK AFAIK, the strongest thing I know is slow-cure Araldite epoxy (not the 5 minute stuff, the 24 hour to final cure variant)

I missed this but why is the reflector being removed?
Also please dont go anywhere near the reflector with penetrating oil lest some get on the reflector surface itself.

I have a situation very close to SledgeStone's, but not completely stripped, but simply don't have the strength to budge it with a big P2 screwdriver that seems to grab well. Between pressing down hard and turning, I can't budge it. I'll try again tonight.

6 of 9 lights have combo head screws, 3 have phillips only - definite different screw in finish and head size. Of course the one stuck is phillips only... I did have another phillips only that was partially stripped, but eventually got out with just a screwdriver.

I am replacing them all with M4x8mm phillips panheads from BoltDepot - sure look like better quality and fit the screwdrivers better.

This stuff is really good too: Amazon.co.uk

You can get JBWeld in the UK, I used it a lot.

These types of bits are good for removing chewed philips screws

They are not that delicate. Just a gentle wash with dilute dish wash detergent gets most grease off (finger tips, straight after a long bath or a session of washing dishes are very soft for delicate rubbing), then for perfection ROR with a microfibre lens cloth brings them up luvverly.

Edit: I have a little ultrasonic cleaner which is even better.

Edit again: final rinse with distilled or DI water important, it should just run off. If there are still drops left, it’s not clean enough.

Well I learned a new thing. Thanks.

The last attempt I tried was to drill a hole in the head of the screw and hammer a torx bit down. But I’m still thinking it might be glued or something. I’ve already destroyed two high end bits on it. I feel that I get a good grip on it, but the bits break before the screw loosens…

I might do one final attempt and this time using superglue before hammering the bit down and then use my impact driver.

Well for starters I wanted to center the LEDs. But ever since the Q8 was announced, I’ve had a plan to swap them out for 4000k 219Cs.