What did you mod today?

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
8794

Thank you Rdubya18 for the kind words. You are right, I was glad I took my time and did not crush the head tube…

and thank you also NeutralFan

My favorite is the sw45k in the evening (the tint is closer to incandescent), and e21a during the day (the tint is closer to daylight)

because
the sw45k is an easier mod to get a decent beam, and it is not as green as the E21a. Green is relative, another way to say that is the E21a is less pink, hence closer to daylight, which is greener than incandescent.

E21a makes whiter whites, but sw45k makes juicier reds

the E21a mcpcb is NLA, whereas the sw45k is an easy reflow to the stock mcpcb, in these models that were xpg

even in the xpl models, the sw45k is easier to get a good beam, the E21a sits lower, which is not good for the beam… (the LH351d 5000k dogfart is dedomed, which lowered the cct)

output and weight:

the V10a w AA Alkaline weighs 82 grams and makes 65 initial lumens, the same head on a V11r body w 16340 weighs 65 grams and makes 210 lumens at startup

Both of the V10a have firefly lows below 0.01 lumens on my meter
(I can see they are on, but my light meter reads 0.00)

the stock xpg is 10% brighter than the sw45k

form factor:

Im new to AA… it is heavier and longer, easier to hold, though personally, Ive always liked smaller things. For me, the smaller and lighter 16340 body is easier to carry.

UI:

Im very happy to fill an AA niche with a Rotary… the V10a fits that role nicely.

Beamshots:

all things considered… the sw45k is the winner!

8795

Does anyone know where I can get spare cree xhp 50.2 reflector spacers for the convoy c8+

8796

Here is for reflector with 9mm hole
And here for 7mm hole

8797

Thanks, appreciate it!!

8798

Finally received an order for food grade silicon tubing and installed on the Water cooled MT 35 light.
The workshop is portable as we are still renting a small house.
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The tubing wanted to kink so I made something from .005 thick ss shim to keep it round in the sharp corners.

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After several attempts and failures it finally fit correctly. :beer:

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I’m finished for now until I find the correct SBT90.2 and see if Lexel will make a driver for it. :slight_smile:
Wrapped the battery tube with tennis racket tape for a better grip. Also added a simple switch on the pump.

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8799

Put an SBT90.2 in an emisar D1S. It pulled 20.5A from a VTC5A and I measured 184kcd. A high output thrower in the palm of your hand.

8800

My flashlight mods are pretty boring compared to what most of you guys are doing , but I did modify a slab of steel into these :slight_smile:

8801

I sent my Olight Autumn Ti off and had it bead blasted. Here’s the before and after.

8802

Added a few more modded (NovaTac) E-switch tail cap lights to my collection….

. Got’em off evil-bay $30 bucks a piece… dude has 8 more :smiling_imp:

. Running one on the Mini 14….stock 80lm now 500lm nice little CQB light.

8803

congrats
what mods produced that result?
If interested in the option to program those Novatac Spa Defense models (they come set up as 120T, but can be changed to 120P configuration), there is info in this thread.

And if you want a Titanium bezel, they are available from RPM (guessing you can make your own too).

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my latest mod cut the output in half, XP-L to 3000k 219b in a Thrunite T10t (in the middle).
pic is a link to teardown

8804

What are ‘these’?

8805

Fidget Spinners?
Pocket Toys for kids?
Desk Sculptures?

8806

Those are tools for a lathe and milling machine . I am practicing to get good enough to make flashlights , for myself . Can’t seem to get making the small , fine threads I want yet . I’m getting there slowly .

8807

I have found they use 2 different drivers/pills….

This one/style will get you 500+ (580 tested) lumens

The other style just over 200lms using a 16340 or18350….I know the 250 click trick also…

. The stock LED is a real POS…

8808

great info!

some of the reflectors differ also

This model of the reflector has more throw and a tighter hotspot.

This model, has the rings in the reflector, that produces a slightly diffused hotspot, with less throw.

8809

Yep these are Triple Candidates ….with a FW3 driver… :smiley:

8810

Wow Yes!

Looks like you scored a light w black stainless bezel

NovaClips are hard to come by, but I think HDS clips can work if the hole is reamed out a bit

per Henry:
the Novatac clip hole is 0.950”
the HDS clip hole is 0.930”

8811

This is the one I want… :heart_eyes:

8812

Modded an Amutorch AX4 quad to run a FET+1 Anduril driver. Fairly simple mod, stayed with the stock SST-20 4000K's - I thought they look relatively above avg for SST-20 4000K's, smooth tints in the beam, yes - slightly green at low modes, not as much as I've seen from other SST-20's though.

This quad reflector light with SST-20's has a tighter hot spot than triple or quad TIR optics, brighter,maybe wider spill.

AX4 on the right, AX3 on the left, AX2's in the middle. If you didn't know, I'm a fan of the Amutorch lights:

More complete view of my Amutorch collection:

AX4 tear down. Classic driver mounted switch:

Dry style thermal grease - needs to be replaced:

The driver cavity is extremely tight. This quad light is the same length as a FW3A so sacrifices are made. I used the hot air station to removed the ground brass ring off the stock driver. The driver board is CK's design from here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/37376/6600, which turned out to be about perfect fit

Reflowed:

Had to move the switch to the very edge, resulting in the back feet not making contact to the pads. Patched in solder/jumper wire to bridge the gap. tested the switch, then epoxied the switch in place to give it back support, keep from breaking/bending as these switches tend to do:

Didn't end up working reliably. Somewhere between 5-10 clicks, it stops working, the let it cool, get another 5-10 clicks with stopping again. So, got bad solder joint on the patch work, and it's epoxy sealed up now :FACEPALM: (I'm using this moji a lot lately...). Used 36 AWG to patch the patch, taking advantage of the exposed metal tabs near the top of the switch:

All good now! Working well with Anduril, temp calib, voltage calib.

I replaced a low profile driver spring with a brass button, and added a 22 AWG bypass to the tail spring. New 22 AWG LED wires, that are pretty short.

The light does get red hot in a few secs, as expected.

Does about 3000 calibrated lumens at turn on (VTC5D cell), drops quick. I measured 20 kcd throw, taken at 5m. Stock I measured 2500 lumens, 17.5 kcd on the same cell. I'ts not much of a power increase, but getting Anduril on it was the main reason for the mod.

8813

V10r mod to sw45k
pic is a link to teardown