Emisar D4 Mods

I just had to ask.
Wish i had a lathe…
Even with only a chuck on an axle i could do so much more…

Although not being able to do some top mods as CRX, and also not having some tritium vials, I decided to add extra “glow” to my D4 :sunglasses:

Cool :+1:

Just noticed that CRX invited other modders to (t)his thread so I proudly add my little RGBW mod:

RGB + white, new 5 channel ramping driver:

Beam with single LEDs:

All in:

Very nice :+1:
Yeah I was hoping people who modified their D4’s would post here too, good to see everyones ideas.

Green Lantern and HAL 9000:

Got the green D4 yesterday and couldn’t wait to tinker with it.
Changed the driver against my new one and added a green SMD-LED to the MCPCB. It serves as a indicator LED, lit continously when light is off and flashing each 4 seconds when the light is locked. Can be deactivated of course with a few clicks. The right one is my previously presented RGBW D4 (with the red LED as indicator LED).

Green Lantern and HAL 9000 :smiley:
Now that’s just cool :+1:

Do you happen to take orders? I have no skills whatsoever to even remotely hope doing those mods, don’t even have the tools, but I would be glad to throw money at you for one of those USB-chargers and magnetic tails. Interested in the LED mod in the picture just above too, but it’s not made by the same person, and anyway it might be more difficult to sell unless the full D4 flashlight is sold.

There is some great work on this thread. Thanks to all of you for posting. This has motivated me to make some mods to my light.

Magnetic Tail - I was able to source my magnet for the tail from K&J Magnetics. This magnet is being used in place of the spring and pcb so it contacts the body. The best size and strength for this in my 18350 body light was 7/8 x 1/16 or 22.2mm x 1.5mm. To remove the tail pcb I used my soldering rework heat gun. I found 350F to be the sweet spot and the board popped right out with the glue staying on the board. Quick cleanup of any remaining residue and I super glued the magnet in. I did have to file the body of the light a bit to fit to the new magnet. This was the most time consuming because I didn't want to overshoot and cause a poor contact between the body and the magnet.

Deep Carry Clip - This was more about finding the right one. I used a clip from the Nitecore Store from their parts page. This one is: "Version B for MH10, MH12, MH20, etc." The only thing left to do was thin the arms of the clip to fit the grooves on the light.

Next mods - Researching the ME4056 board to see about an integrated USB charging solution. Thin the arms of the clip some more for a better fit.

Nice :+1:

So I managed to put 3/4 of a Lexel Aux LEDs board in my D4 during NYE.
I guess the beer/red wine/rhum combo costed me the las 1/4 of it but anyway it works :slight_smile:

:slight_smile:

I like it X3. What driver are you using? I have a Lexel driver with Narsil setting here. Not sure were to put it.

Edit. I need to work on a switch mod that keeps this from coming on in my pocket.

The stock driver and stock firmware are enough for my use so I kept it like that.

OK> How are you driving the aux leds with the stock driver?

Thinking of removing the anodizing from the head of an aluminum D4 and using that with bare titanium body tube, tailcap and bezel. I love the look and feel of the stock titanium-copper D4, but it is a bit heavy for pocket EDC, mostly due to the heavy copper head. Here are some measurements with a Sony VTC6 installed:

Titanium-Copper D4 stock………………………………………………… 173g
D4 aluminum head; titanium bezel, body and tailcap …………… 136g
D4 aluminum head, bezel and tailcap; titanium body tube …… 131g
D4 aluminum stock ………………………………………………………… 116g

I think shiny polished bare aluminum head might look good with bare titanium.

However, not all D4 versions are the same. All of my early D4s do not lego with the titanium body tube. The threads aren’t quite compatible and it won’t screw on.

I have two of the latest version of the D4 (one white and one grey) and these are legoable with the titanium tube. Unfortunately, these more recent models seem to have a different switch. The new switch is more soft-touch without as much click. That’s not a good thing since having a good click is helpful in preventing accidental pocket activation.

I put 2 more thinner wires from the driver to the aux LED board.
One would be enough really, because you can re-use the “+” from the MCPCB

EDIT : glamour shot of the D4 :

Currently EDC’ing an Emisar D4 with the following mods:

  • Bare Titanium tailcap, body tube and bezel Titanium is heavier and thermal properties are much worse. But on the other hand it doesn’t scratch or wear like aluminum. Drop a titanium light and the outside might have a tiny scratch you can polish out. Or it might have not visible damage at all. Drop an aluminum light and the anodizing might chip making the light look much uglier.
  • Grey aluminum head … this saves 36g over using the stock copper head and makes the light 26% lighter than the stock titanium-copper light with battery installed (137g instead of 173g including the weight of a VTC6 battery). The reduced weight is quite noticeable and makes the light much more comfortable for EDC pocket carry.
  • Swapped the switch on my late-model grey D4 with the switch from an early model D1. Technically, they are supposed to be the same switch, but the switch in my later run D4 lights had a lot less click and were a bit too soft-touch.
  • Snipped off the rubber post molded into the underside of the button boot. I love this mod! … with the tiny post trimmed off, the switch now requires 2-3x as much pressure to activate. Also, the “raised button”, becomes a “flush button”. The light will no longer activate by placing the switch face-down on a desk and pressing the light. This mod gives me the confidence to carry my D4 in my pocket on intermediate mode without lockout. Accidental pocket activation is now much, MUCH less likely. However, I’m still not brave enough to turn it off in turbo mode and put it in my pocket though.
  • Emitter swap - now sporting 3x 4000K XPL HI 5D and 1x 5000K XPL HI 3A. Brings the color temp to approximately 4,200K. Quite nice.

I’m considering whether to remove the grey anodizing from the head. The bare titanium might like quite nice with a shined bare aluminum pill.

Doing so would give the light a much more uniform shiny appearance, plus the piece of mind knowing that if I drop it there’s no anodizing to chip. However, in my experience shiny aluminum gets much hotter to the touch faster than dark anodized aluminum. I think the anodization provides a small amount of insulation from heat conduction. Also shiny bare aluminum has lower emissivity than dull dark anodized aluminum. I’m worried that in pursuit of making my D4 look blingy I might make it less functional. The head might get dangerously hot to the touch faster while also offering shorter turbo runtimes since the heat can’t be shed faster.

I’m also a little reluctant to remove the anodizing without possession of a backup head in case I don’t like it. I have several aluminum D4 lights, but only one of them (recent grey) has a head with threads that are fully compatible with the titanium body tube and bezel.

Thanks for the update FF2. I have’t got around to doing this yet. I am waiting on a driver. Might as well tear it all the way down.

How much pocket carry has it gotten ?

Another day and another pocket destroyed by my Emisar D4. Oops! Even with my switch button trim I still had an accidental pocket activation. GRRRR.

To try to protect my remaining pants from the Emisar deep fry, this time I tried something new:

Flip up switch cover for Emisar D4.

  • The cover is made from 0.032” aluminum sheet for the main piece with 0.016” for the hinge.
  • The hinge pin is a piece of copper rod I had laying around bent into the shape of a staple.
  • I drilled 2 holes in the top of the head for the hinge pints. They aren’t very deep. Maybe 3 mm or so.
  • I used Fiberfix optical super glue to hold the whole thing together. I accidentally got some glue on the top of the switch boot. Looks unsightly but has no affect on operation so I’ll probably leave it.
  • The sides of the cover grip the sides of the head keeping the cover securly in position while closed.
  • I removed the anodizing from the aluminum head so it would match the aluminum cover. I also polished the bare aluminum on both the cover and the head.
  • When the cover is closed the switch cannot be depressed. The cover can be flipped up or down with a quick thumb action.

Hopefully this will protect my pants pockets from being burned.