Driver swap for Keygos KE-5

Hey all,

I have seen several comments from people regarding driver swaps for their underdriven KE-5's, but never see any follow ups that they have actually been done. Have any of the people that have mentioned the driver swap been able to see it through? (maybe all the things glued in there made it a pain in the rear). Would love to hear some feedback as I'm weighing the pros and cons of doing it for my underdriven KE-5.

bump cause of the spam attack pushing this back

Well I went ahead and brute forced this. The confusing thing was that it seemed like the driver is glued into a metal holding ring from the underside as you can see a small space between the driver and the ring with some hard white substance. That ring was then secured into the flashlight head. I assumed this too was glued from the underside since I couldn't see any solder holding this ring in. In either case I tried to heat up the outside of this driver and the outer ring and just could not get this thing to dislodge. I even tried using some small pins to push in the hardened thermal glue. In the end I just couldn't get it hot enough to let go and got out my drill. I secured the head onto my vise and proceeded to drill the driver and it didn't even get halfway through and the driver and outer ring came out. The weird thing was that the outer ring didn't seem to have any glue on the underside so it may have been possible to remove the whole apparatus without trying to remove just the driver and then once those two connected items come out one would be able to push the driver out of the ring towards the side where it makes contact with the battery as the driver kind of sits inside of this ring as the under side of the ring has a little ledge that the driver sits in. In either case my driver is toast and I have some KD v2 3040 chips on the way. Hope this helps anyone trying to do a driver replacement for their underdriven KE-5's

Hi. I just got a Keygos KE-5. Under $20. It's my favorite light. I'm not a modder. Over driven, under driven, couldn't tell u what that is really. Mine has 5 modes, one is really bright. And the strobe, oh my goodness! Not sure what replacing the driver would do but hope it helps. Glad this light was recommended to me.

I got TWO Keygos KE-5s, and under $20 each. I am not a modder either, and I am crazy about this light. I have found out, it needs to be feed DECENT CELLS.. I use mine in bicycle applications, and it shines. Cool

I would not relish coming towards you with those (2) light beasts on strobe!

On the way home today, I am merging in with traffic that are doing 50mph+. Not only that, a couple times I was passed within a foot with cars doing 50mph+. In that envioriment, if I had a searchlight, I would still be undergunned. There is no forgivness in getting hit, and to say "oh I didn't see him/her" is just crazy. I am doing everything to not be a stat!! Cool

Erm. Can you take a video next time? I drive a scooter so cars usually give me some space, but wrestling with cars at 50+ mph sounds scary even on a scooter.

Viktor

I got my Keygos KE-5 today. I measured 2.2A on tailcap, high mode, and 0.7A on medium(?) mode.

When measuring, light seems dimmer than with the original tailcap switch. Also it won't stay in low mode, it autoswitches to blinky mode.

I've got some drivers on the way so I'll try swapping the driver and report back.

Viktor

Well I went for a whole hog modification to get this light how I wanted and got some kaidomain 7135 v2 3040ma drivers as well as some extra 380ma chips and a NW T5 3C XML led. I piggybacked one 380ma chip to get 3420ma total current and holy hell this thing is bright. Because of the solidity of the hotspot of this lights beam, the deadness of the original cool white tint I knew would drive me even more crazy at a higher current, so I put in a neutral white. I am finally happy to have my "budget" (with mods) pocket thrower that I always wanted it to be.

Oh just a note on these KD 7135 v2 drivers, on the spec sheet it states the following for lo-mid-high levels:

low 3-5ma

med 35%

high 100%

I actually like that even though I added an extra 380ma chip that it keeps the low at a predefined current and not a percentage of the total current. Very useful as I really really like the level of this moonlight low. Also, I'm very sensitive to PWM and don't notice it on any of the levels.

I get the following current measurements with my leads (12 awg):

lo - .005

mid - 1.08

high - 3.4

I'm a happy camper. Making lemonade out of my chinese lottery lemon and learning alot in the process.

Hey JK3, wow, that light is really putting out. Are you having any overheat issues with it?

To bad you don't have any before and after beam shots. I'm sure it's amazing. Nice job.

Wow that sounds exactly like many of the mod lights I have made. That is a great combination of parts enjoy.

I'm not running it for long until I get some fujik or similar. Yeah, I was so unhappy with my previous output, I never had the desire to take beamshots for reference and while tinkering to get the original driver out I ended up ruining the board and lost all chance for previous beamshots. I mean it was ok at 1.8-2.0 amps just not the pocket thrower I thought it was going to be as was reported by others.