What did you mod today?

Great work Docc! I like the way you fabricated the background leds. :slight_smile:

Today I had my go on the new Sofirn C8F 21700 version. Tried to stretch it to the max.

I already have a C8F 18650 version with Luxeon V leds that does a bit over 3000 lumen (30Q 30sec).edit: those were not Luxeon V’s but XP-L2 4000K 80 CRI. These are the new honest-BLF-lumens by the way, the djozz-lumen corrected as well as I could to maukka’s calibration.

What do Luxeon V’s do in the 21700 version?
I like the looks of the 21700 C8 much better than the classic C8, the bigger battery tube makes it a bit more mean-looking :slight_smile: And just like the 18650 version the host version comes without any branding :+1: .

I have just one build picture, the rest:
*reflowed the Luxeon V’s (from L4P) on the stock MCPCB and soldered long enough 18AWG wire to be able go through the head and solder to the driver on the other side (7cm?).
*I Kapton-taped the cavities in the reflector for the led-wires. If they ever unsolder themselves they will not easily short against the reflector.

*I did something unethical: Neal had sent me a spare driver for the mini-GT because I had a faulty switch. In the meantime the switch started functioning again so although I should keep the driver in case the switch fails again, I could not resist using it for this mod :person_facepalming:
So I sanded the 22mm mini-GT driver to 21mm, and removed the switch and switch-led from the driver. I filed corners off the 7135 chip and the FET to make them fit inside the driver cavity rim (which is rather wide unfortunately) and taped a strip of Kapton tape around the side of the driver to prevent components to short with that rim. Batt- contact is via the driver retaining ring.
*I soldered a very short spring on the driver with 20 AWG bypass (very well attached!) on the outside to allow it to go as flat as possible (this host is hardly long enough for a 21700 battery)
*the tail spring was also made shorter and was bypassed as well. I like the big 6A rated (but can handle much more) switch that Sofirn has chosen for this light.
*I bought especially for this project an expensive Vapcell 3100mAh 35A-rated 21700 cell (fron Nkon). (Samsung 30T inside)

So now the light looked good but this is about output: 5250 lm at 3 seconds, 4800 lm at 30 seconds (again honest BLF lumens). I measure 23 amps with tail off and clamp meter, so on a full battery the leds are driven pretty close the max.

I adjusted the stepdown temperature to 70degC measured on the outside of the head (so hot that the switch-off was best done with the tail clicky) and it takes 105 seconds for the stepdown to kick in (longer while the battery drains). I think I will go back to 60degC :crown:

Modded a Solarstorm T3 with dust collecting parts from shelf.
Triple XP-L HI with fet+1 driver and Andúril firmware.
Build thread here.



Nice powerpackage djozz. Thats almost the same current my Q8 is reaching. I saw this C8 tripple dtp board a few days ago and wanted to ask you if it could be a candidate for replacing the F3X board. I kow its bigger but if the led spacing is ok i can grind it down (will be a pain in the A… to prevent shorts)

It is more current than the Q8 actually, stock the Q8 draws about 16A, with bypasses it goes over 20A. But in the Q8 the current is divided over 4 leds so the leds are running in a more efficient region so the output is better. And at 23A my 3100mAh battery is drained in 8 minutes. If I have some new money to spend on the hobby (I’m broke atm) I will check a Samsung 40T, it delivers a bit less current produces a bit less heat and more runtime, at almost the same output.

Djozz, you changed the emmiters for Samsung LH351D in Q8, right? I really like the tint of 351D 4000K a lot.

How much does the flashlight draw, did you make a measurement? I am consider this MOD, but i little worry about life of leds considering a low vf. I only use 30Q button top cells in Q8, no more oprikns for me this way.

My Q8 is in stock form, no bypassed springs. I might to solder a longer awg22 wires from driver to the leds as way to lower a current.

What is your experience?

I did not worry about the lifetime of the LH351D (did not measure the current), it can handle a lot of current but if you worry about it you could stick to 16A current, which indeed may imply that no springs are bypassed and perhaps use longer and 20AWG ledwires instead of 18.

I will measure the current when I’m home tonight.

Thanks, it will be intersting to compare the current with stock Q8.

You can get your branding here:

The fablab in Amsterdam has a laser cutter / engraver.

You can label it e.g. djozz-fire :wink:

:laughing: Sofirn should have kept the flat bits on the battery tube for my djozzfire branding, I can use one of my old pictures for a logo:

I have done anything to my Q8 to get the resistance as low as possible. And i get on fresh charged VTC6 in the first seconds ~23-24A. Now i am waiting for a good use of the led4power Q8 board. But it still want to have a good efficiency on the low and mid modes. And warm high cri is prefered!
The new screws arrived today (very fast) but not real cheap (25 cent/pcs). Head is even a bit wider than expected. And grinding down 4 of these tiny things cost me more time than making a copper sheet for a flashlight by hand. Hope the 3 threadcutters arrive tomorrow. The holes in the flashlight are only 3,2mm deep. So to get as deep as possible i will have to grind the tipp off the M1,6 threadcutters.


Careful about grinding those taps, they’re hardened and can be quite brittle and you might find you break them in the light which is very frustrating…

Modded my Skilhunt H03 today with a Texas Avenger driver from Lexel.

Of course the first step was flashing Anduril to the driver. After that it was time to get the H03 apart and replace the board.

Separating the head from the tube was done easy by mounting the head in a vice with plastic soft jaws and grip the tube with a swedish nut lathe

As for soldering, the two thicker wires are for the LED while the smaller ones are for the Switch.

Thick white: LED-
Thick red:LED+
Thin white: GND
Thin red: Switch LED+
Thin black: Switch

The last task was shortening the battery tube by 0.4mm as the stock board measures 1.2mm while Lexel’s is 1.6mm thick. There was no problem and it seemed to be waterproof but that was just something I wanted to do.

Working on this monster a bit more today, sometimes I wonder what the fuck I’m doing.

:person_facepalming: :smiley:
Sometimes me too.

EDITED

language, watch the wording please, family forum and all that… such profanity is not allowed.

@DB Custom
My prefered Tool shop had a promotion. They sell HSS and HSSE 8% for the same price. HSSE is much harder (what i prefer usually) but this tiny cutters are brittle enough in HSS. If they break deep enough (in something like this Aluminium) it is over.
I only used the second and third cutter. The hole was a bit to wide for the first one. But i have taken enough material away. Now i have 4 nice threads :partying_face: . And the screws fit perfect!
Cleaned the holes with a syringe a 25ga needle and IPA. And because practise makes perfect i went for a new TIR backlight. 2x iceblue 2x pink. Grinded down the tube (to compensate for the bigger driver).
Added two 24AWG wire at the spring (noticeable bump in brightness and heat :smiling_imp: )
I played a bit with iso and WB on the pictures. I would say the last two ones are close to the real color. Not 100% but close. But it is more dimm in real. Now the backlight is more even. Especially with this Special TIR survace.





This is with the old Backlight. Not so smooth.

This is the new one. More uniform backlight.



And yesterday i did a little mod to my hadband. I removed the chinese plastic and wrapped the headband with super soft 1mm leather. Much more comfortable and much better if sweat is running down your forehead.

@scianiac
Your light is so absurd bright! :partying_face: :+1: :beer:

Yesterday I modded this >200 year old oak tree as part of Operation Saluting Branches I was one of only two climbers at the Dayton Ohio national cemetery (there were 3 bucket truck crews there working as well) but me, a recreational climber who does a few tree jobs a month as side work got there and got the biggest freaking tree! So awesome!

Half way done in this pic, finished before lunch and took on a whole area of trees needing dead wooded by the monument, inaccessible by machines after lunch.

Nice work CK! Must have been a real trip getting that selection!

I got my 21700 Sofirn C8 host today and built up an Anduril driver for it, installed 3 Samsung LH351D 80 CRI 5000K emitters on the MCPCB then sliced the domes off. :slight_smile: Having some switch issues but it looks like it’s gonna do around 3200 lumens on an iJoy 21700 3750mAh cell and the beam is pretty nice, decent hot spot with a nice tint. Rainy tonight but I haven’t forgotten I own a camera (or two…)

There should not be any difference between HSS and HSS with cobalt below 300 degrees C.

As far as i know the HSSE cutters are harder because of the cobalt (longer use of tool because less wear or you can cut harder materials). But like the cobalt drills they are more brittle. And from using both cutters i would confirm this. But i could be wrong.