What did you mod today?

Modded Q8 with Luxeon MZ: led4power
And in 2nd step I bridged the springs.
Stock LED: 5200 Lumen
Stock LED Bypass: 6500 Lumen
Luxeon MZ: 7000 Lumen
Luxeon MZ Bypass: 10000 Lumen

I noticed no stepdown but the flashlight was realy hot.

4 donuts? or it’s just too bright to notice? :slight_smile:

Well I reckon I’m gonna have to get an image hosting service so I can post pics of my project. Who says P60 is dead? I started with a 2” diameter 6061 aluminum barstock today and started boring and threading some parts together, using an old infared P60 dropin for the dimensions. The plan is to have a triple emitter P60 built by someone since electronics arent my strong point, and my host is to be heavily finned and slotted for heat dispersion. Its coming along well but I havent decided on a dropin yet. Really it depends on how much the wife lets me spend haha. May have to get a cheaper one from Kaidomain for now and wait on a Sky Lumens or PflexPro for later. Boring the body for 26650 and a sleeve for 18650 option. My first flashlight build but Ive been machining for my entire life.

That's pretty insane! 10K lumens at 90 CRI in a Q8. The spring bypasses made a huge difference. I thought the dual springs were better than that, but I always pull the inside ones and replace with a bypass.

That must be 8+ amps per LED. Did you need anything special for centering, or drilling out the reflector holes?

I have a quad MZ that I measured at 28 amps on a single 18650. You can bet this is pulling at least 8 per

Please provide us more info if you could. Did you measure throw? How's the beam - does it have a significant hole? Are those 10K at startup and calibrated with maukka lights?

@TomE, don’t forget the dual springs are still made of steel.

Steel wire has extremely high resistance compared to copper alloys, even in a dual spring setup.

One advantage they have is that they limit current if the cells get into a short.

A dual BeCu spring setup in a short, if they do not fail due to heat, can actually be dangerous to the user.

Re-modded a Convoy S8 shorty today with a 1mm2 White Flat, BLF-A6 driver with brass post (no tail spring bypass), and a lighted tail with 660nm 0603 leds. I messed a lot with a centerpiece that did not work well, and it appeared that the stock reflector was very poor so after a change to a different one the beam was much better. One centerpiece and one reflector later, and an in the meantime rather battered led I got the focus right and it measures 41 kcd now with a great clean hotspot :sunglasses:

The 660nm leds give a nice almost crimson red but appear not very bright because the human eye can hardly see that wavelength. They should be great in the Fireflies E07 that I’m going to order sometime in the future.

Roof tops are at 50 meter

Sweet :open_mouth:
I didn’t think a “small” SMO reflector would work so good with these leds but it does!!

BTW, is that a short tube for the S2+ Convoys?
I like the shape of the S8!

Yea, I think I know, but of course they are coated steel, and under compression, and depends on the quality. I've modded over a dozen Q8's and can't recall getting that high of a difference from just the springs -- I could be wrong, but a 25% jump is pretty big. I thought our decision to go with standard double springs, though not our first choice, was better performance than single springs. I argued for heavier gauge inner springs though. The current goes through the coating, not much, or not at all through the steel - takes the path of least resistance.

I don't understand the heatsinking tailcap, and dangerous to the cell's life part of that... I'm at a total loss there.

Here's comparisons on a Q8 prototype of dual stock springs vs. bypasses:

Oh yeah I forgot to say “in a short”.

A dual spring array made of a copper alloy may not fail under extremely high current, so the cells may suffer.

Also, I do wonder why they didn’t listen to your recommendations. That would’ve been great.

I shorted a BeCu single spring and it would have failed had I let it. Either way it’s a non-issue because we use bypasses so often something else will just get nuked in its place. See Tom E burning up his switch trace :slight_smile:

Haha. Something else will get burned up. I just don’t want that to be a 100C 18650.

It’s what we learn along the way, make new fuses… :wink:

Another day another Emisar D4 mod. :sunglasses:

This time, I added a simple metal switch button.

The goal was to do as simple a mod as possible, with the idea that other modders might give it a shot. I got the idea for this after doing my last mod with a lighted metal switch button on the D4. Unlike that last one this one is pretty straightforward.

This mod is essentially just a replacement switch boot. The original rubber boot is removed and a new scratchbuilt switchbuilt made from a circle of rubber sheet with a smaller circle of aluminum glued on top goes in its place.

Here’s the detailed writeup:

Tools and parts needed:

  • 1mm thick high-temp silicone sheet. Available at Amazon for $13.
  • Scissors
  • a small hand file
  • tin snips (metal cutting scissors).
  • steel wool
  • super glue - I highly recommend Fiberfix optical super-glue for its ease of use and instant results (it cures instantly when you shine the blue led built into the applicator). Also available at Amazon, but not cheap.
  • Plastic activator pen for super glue - I got this from a package of super glue advertised for plastics. Not sure if it works with other super-glues but certainly doesn’t hurt.
  • a screwdriver, victorinox mini knife or other tool to help in removing the switch boot retaining ring.

How to do the mod:

  • Step 1: Remove the switch retaining ring and remove the stock button boot. On a number of D4s, I can lever the boot off with the screwdriver at the end of the nail file on a Victorinox mini. Bring the file in from the side and dig it into the boot under the retaining ring, then lever it up. However, this didn’t work on every light. On my most recent D4, the ring was stuck and I gave up before seeing if it would break my knife. It’s possible that a twisting action would get a better result but would be more likely to damage the stock boot.
  • Step 2: cut a circle of 1mm thick high temperature silicone sheet with the exact same diameter as the stock button boot.
  • Step 3: cut a circle of aluminum sheet for the button. I used 0.016” aluminum sheet cut with tin snips and then filed with a hand file into a nice circle. File down the circle until it is about 1mm smaller than the retaining ring on all sides. Chamfer the upper edge so there is no sharp edge and then run steel wool over the edge to smooth it out. Rough up the bottom with an etcher so the glue will grip better.
  • Step 4: make a piston on the bottom of the silicone sheet. The barest hint of a piston is all that’s needed. I penned on the plastic activator, waited one minute, then put a single drop of fiberfix super glue right in the middle. I used the light on the glue applicator to instantly cure the glue.
  • Step 5: place the silicone circle into the switch socket of the light, piston down and test for fit.
  • Step 6: place the retaining ring back into the light with the silicone circle as the new switch boot. I found the easiest way to get the ring back on was to place it in position with the head upside down over a small anvil, then press hard with my hands to push the ring back in.
  • Step 7: Glue the Aluminum circle onto the top of the silicone circle. Carefully center the aluminum circle within the switch retaining ring before gluing, then use the plastic activator and fiberfix. When I first did this I noticed the silicone was bowing up into a dome with the boot sitting on top. I removed the new boot and determined the silicone circle was slightly too big so trimmed a bit off at the edges. I then used a toothpick to apply more fiberfix glue all around the edges of the metal button so there was no longer any gap.

Result: A fairly good looking metal switch that looks like it came with the light and sits flush with the stock retaining ring.

This entire project took me just half an hour. It was really quick.

Yes I think it was a S2+ tube, but I have a box of battery tubes (also for the S9, the X2R, the E2L, the BLF-A6) and they are all a bit different, so I’m not entirely sure.

Looks really nice, thanks for sharing :beer:

Thanks for your answer djozz!
Just one more question, does the LED fit on the XPL-HI gaskets or did you have to adapt one to make it fit?

I used a gasket with a square hole for 3535 leds (like XP-L Hi), but that hole is too large for the 3030-size White Flat so with a scalpel I cut little corners out 45 degrees from the original corners so that the 3030 led fit into those. It takes some practising, and you may waste one or two gaskets before you get the hang of it, but it is the only way to create precise centering unless you have the special 3030-gaskets from intl-outdoor.

Thanks for the indications djozz!
I’ve been thinking to mod a light with one of these leds (not sure which one, yet), but I’m seeing what will be needed to make it good. I’ve been reading that some people take a while to get a “perfect” centering and the gasket seems a key factor for that. I have some 3535 gaskets so I may try with modding them .
Thanks again for answering!! :beer: