What did you mod today?

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:

Totally agree! Still a few terms and things I don't understand - are you a machinist or have some background in the industry? It's a shame Hank doesn't seem to believe in lighted switches though.

I think the scale is 1:8, your 1/2 hours is my 4 hours

For the Q8 dual springs, in developing a product, many times it's all about compromise. Believe me I work with this issue every day. It turns into an issue that needs some back and forth, and is it a fight worth fighting, of course they threaten costs and delays, we threaten quality loss of the product, etc... Unfortunately even the discussion is a delay because every response it seems like requires 24 hours working from 2 opposite sides of the planet. I think since then, it seems like newer products have less trouble getting quality springs, just not sure about Sofirn.

Fireflies gives quality and design some edge over costs, compared to Sofirn, but looks like so far, they have more issues with QC.

Sofirn is the mother company of Thorfire, hence they made the original BLF Q8. They have a LOT of practice! Fireflies is a start-up with only 3 lights made to date, not so much practice. They’re getting there fast though!

Just hope FF doesn't cheap things down. Love the SS bezels, different alum alloys, what appears to be better anodizing - like all those attributes, just need some buttoning down of the manu/QC issues. The Q8, SP36, and various other Sofirns don't use quality anodizing - way too easy to ding them to the bare alum. Funny because the The MIller insisted on using lower qual anodizing on the Q8 because he liked the idea of baking them to different colors.

Baking destroys the integrity of the anodization, it can be seen that a glazing of cracks appears in the surface after baking. Why would anyone opt for an inferior surface finish just to be able to destroy it in the oven? Odd…

I dunno - but my Q8 proto was baked and has held up well for about two years now. So if it's destroyed, it's not crumbling away. For a while it was a fad here on BLF, and I'm not sure from direct experience how inferior it is to regular cheaper grade anodizing at this point.

Yeah, well, if you’re like me with your 200+ lights you probably don’t use that one very often. :wink: (Yes I too have over 200, approaching 250. Favorites get the most use of course.)

I have baked a few, including a Type III Eagle Eye X6. The hard ano doesn’t turn colors like a lesser ano does but it too displays the micro fracturing indicating a compromised surface integrity. My Raysoon F13 turned literally the color of new copper, really looks neat… matches the feel of the big chunk of copper inside under the triple set-up. :smiley:

Actually I used my proto copper colored Q8 this morning for bedroom lighting (why do I need a bedside lamp? ), but yes, it get's babied. But really, if the ano is damaged with cracks, etc., I want to know what's the downside, what happens over time of use, etc. Because I can't see the cracks, though can't recall look'n at it carefully. I do know it seems to have brought out a sparkle from the baking, but maybe that sparkle is because of the cracks?

The matte ano on my Convoy M1 looks amazing when I used a gas torch on it. The shiny ano on my Jaxman mini C8 looked like crap including visible microfractures when baked in oven.

First post in this thread.
Modded my old sx5 headlamp to Quad nichia e21a, 22.5mm Yajiamei optics and TA Driver (Flashed Anduril). Really nice beam, tint, CRI and UI. Works with 26650, 18650, 3xaa and 3xaaa. Now its my favorite headlamp again.

More info here

The baking process to change color of Type II ano takes pretty high heat. The surface of the aluminum has been given a harder aluminum oxide surface that is microns thick due to the acid bath process of anodizing. Before sealing the honeycomb pattern of tubes that anodization creates, a dye bath is used to impart the color into these tubes, then a sealing process closes the tops of the tubes to keep the dye in. Baking the light breaks the closed tops and breaks down the dye hence changing it’s color. In this baking process the annealement of the aluminum is also altered due to the high heat and extended time it takes. So the structure of the aluminum itself is changed as well as the depth of the aluminum oxide surface. So in hard use, the light will suffer in aesthetics and is more prone to actually break in extremes.

Now, I’m no engineer and I certainly don’t anneal aluminum into a T6 hardness level, but the above is what I remember reading about it all. Taken with a grain of salt your french fries will taste yummier, I can’t promise anything else due to my forgetful and random memory nature…

Seeing the post below really makes me wish that budget manufacturers used better ano than they do….

I have only 1 light that would semi-survive in my backpack. Lumintop GT Mini. Everything else I put there was full of dings and scratches after 2 weeks.

Quality ano + base metal can’t cost that much, can it?

Now some Details for this mod:

Here you have Pictures: https://www.taschenlampen-forum.de/media/albums/blf-q8.2372/

On My EagleEye X7 with Luxeon MZ, I have 2700 Lumen at startup.

I checked the Lumens with my sphere: Wieselflinks Lumenkugel / Ulbrichtkugel | Taschenlampen Forum
It is not maukka-calibrated. But I hope, it is calibratet nearly correct.

The above Lumen readings were made with Sony VTC6, but I did not recharge them between the different readings.

Today I have made some readings with another stock Q8 (after the group buy, that means #2001+). The above readings was with a Q8 from the group buy #501-2000, but now it has bypassed springs too.
The Luxeon MZ is in a Q8 from the first 500 flashlights.
It seems that they have improved the spring quality after the first 2000 flashlights.

Now VTC6 fresh from the charger for each lumen reading:
Luxeon MZ with stock Q8 springs #2001+: 9000 Lumen and after 30sec: 8000 Lumen
Luxeon MZ with bypass: 1010 Lumen and after 30 sec: 8800 Lumen.
Stock Q8 #2001+: 6500 Lumen and after 30sec: 6150 Lumen
Stock Q8 with bypassed springs: 6800 Lumen and after 30sec: 6450 Lumen

I have off-centered the LEDs like at my Skyray King with XHP50 (Report Pictures), but for the Luxeon MZ I got a circle and center-hotspot, like you can see in the pictures linked above.
Thats why I used dc-fix foil to make it smooth.

Any further questions?

Wow, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone put a FET on an MCPCB like that!

Great mods!