Roche F6 hacking

If the 1001 is the same as a 102 and E2 is the same as 41, then the only difference is that your 1001 and 471 are swapped compared to mine. I’m not sure what effect this would have. Er, and I have two pads bridged where yours aren’t.

Just looking at the driver, it’s going to be very difficult to see the indicator LEDs from the switch side of the body. There’s a big FET and thick wire in the way, blocking line of sight.

A little while ago someone asked me how the size of SMD LEDs compares to Cree LEDs, so I sent them this pic of the Ferrero Rocher driver next to a de-domed XP-G2. Normally, the viewing window is toward the right edge of the driver as pictured, while the switch is to the far left. That FET and wire do a great job blocking the light:

The 1001 and 471 resistor are for the RED and GREEN LED's. According to Halo above, he said the RED should get the higher resistor (the 1K), so that's how I have it. If it's reversed from yours, could be the tweaking comfy did, dunno. They control how bright the LED's would be.

Found the loss of lumens problem! I was taking tailcap readings, so had a huge drop from the tailcap. The totally crappy tailcap spring they use looks like pure steel - no coating at all - impossible to solder to it. My cheap $10 ZY-T11 UltraFire clones have better springs in the tail. For the bypass, I wrapped the wire around the spring on top, then soldered it. On the bottom, just tried to jam it in but didn't stay. So I re-jammed it and the output is now much more respectable - 1,112 lumens @30 secs Smile.

Also, I had some intermittent issues that were solved by a couple of solder blobs on the driver ground ring, so it makes better contact to the brass retaining ring (the stock driver has the same thing -- should have known...). I also added the driver spring bypass. This helped a little, but the lions share of gain was from re-positioning the bypass wire on the tail spring.

That R3 pad, just above the top FET leg in the pic, actually has a trace connecting the 2 pads, so effectively it's jumpered.

No prob - was hoping someone who has would chime in. comfy's threads are almost worthless now without pics - he had some great detail in his pics, specially the ones with all the markups. I read the posts, and without the pics, it's some strange reading... He can be very brief at times Smile.

I really like this F6 - exc. quality, good heat sinking for such a small body, exc. SS trim, lockout feature, etc. The button issue is improving somewhat with usage, I suppose, or I'm getting more used to it (not smooth action, not always getting a click). It's worth putting more time in to. I gotta come up with a better fix for the tail spring, and the loose SS end cap.

The little hole I drilled for the light is really not so bad. I can even see the low setting green "glow" at night coming out the hole. Thinking I can improve on it as follows:

  • increase the hole size, maybe fill in with thin layer of clear silicone
  • tweak up the output of the RED & GREEN LED's by playing with resistor values (lowering)
  • maybe strip the black anodizing from the inside of the pill to get more reflected light - I believe the only way I'm seeing light from the hole now is through reflections

Other issue I need to research is the firmware's battery status check using main LED blinks - alwasy showing 5 blinks (max). Think something is broken there. When I had the driver on the bench, the RED LED did work fine for low voltage, so maybe some compile issue/bug with the on demand blinks. I'll have to re-check things - could be almost anything in the LVP path - hardware, etc.

There’s always the battcheck firmware if you want to get exact values. Especially if you have a bench power supply and DMM, it should be pretty easy to calibrate everything.

To see the status easier from the switch side, it might also help to put something like a glass elbow directly onto the LEDs to curve the light toward the direction you need it.

Hey guys,

is there a firmware similar to ferrero rocher but with mode memory(like baton or others)?

I wrote my own firmware but without the nice ramping and voltage monitoring@long-short klick(ferrero rocher) and also without WDT,
so its actually only usable for Bike Lights…

Thanks a lot! :slight_smile:

If I understand correctly, you could use Baton.c (in the same directory as Ferrero Rocher)… It won’t remember the mode if you remove the battery, but otherwise I think it might do what you described.

Or Ramping_UI_table.c has memory too, but uses a smooth ramp instead of a stepped ramp. Again, it forgets when the battery is removed.

Not that kind. Ferrero rocher did not have a click to off option like baton code, this is what I mean. While in on mode, click or long click to go to off, but save current mode so it can be set by next short click from off mode, as baton does.

That the mode is not saved when battery is turned out is clear, as there is no eeprom saving in baton or Ferrero rocher.

I think I may be a little confused.

Ferrero Rocher by itself does not have click-to-off, but both Baton.c and Ramping_UI_table.c do. A single short click turns them on or off, using the last-used mode.

If you want click-to-off in the Ferrero Rocher interface, you might want to take a look at Tom_E/eswitch.c. It switches short click from “next mode” to “off” after the light has been on for 1.2 seconds.

Is this closer to what you want?

Accept my version doesn't have memory, but you could use the mode switching timeout method from it Smile. With quick access to lowest, and quick access to highest, I never saw the need for mode memory with this e-switch firmware.

ok guys, it seems to be difficult :wink:

So i will try it that way, like toykeepers baton and ferrero rocher:

From off:

- Short press to enter last mode.

  • Very Long press to enter the lowest level.
  • Long-then-short press to display battery status and then shut off.

While on:

- Short press to increase brightness level. Keep holding to step up to
higher levels, and release when the desired level is reached.

  • Long press to shut off(save last mode).

I got my 1st Roche F6 up and running quite well now/ Solved the loose end cap problem and added a light pipe next to the switch. Here's some pics:

The light pipe installed is here: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0/LMC_040_CTP-ND

I'm lefty so preferred having it to the right of the switch because I hold the light switch up in my left hand, usually.

The tailcap was loose, so I jammed in several layers of alum foil (Heavy Duty), and jammed the cap down, trimmed the foil back - might still notice slight fragments of it sticking out of the joints. I don't trust it with the striker screwed in though - might not hold up under heavy twisting or blunt force trauma.

Oh man…that light pipe (acrylic rod) is AWESOME!

What firmware you running on that (disregard, post #211 explains it)…very cool build!

Might try some loctite red (271) on it…let it dry and it acts almost like an adhesive…will take heat to break it loose the next time

Or you could just epoxy it in…but it would be permanent then

FWIW, I’m planning a ramping FET+1 firmware soon. The upside is better low/med modes, but the downside is that there aren’t enough attiny pins to support red+green LEDs, an e-switch, LVP, and a second power channel. It’s one pin short unless you use pin 1 (which would mean no reflashing afterward).

Yes - it's pretty much the stock T_K firmware. The light pipe is a tight snug fit with no adhesive so far - probably should use something though for water resistance, but think it must dry clear. I had to cut it down to fit, using a cut-off wheel on my rotary tool. It somewhat melted the plastic, but no ill effects.

Ohh - dont' think I posted this, but on about July 5th I did the repair of the tailcap - took 2 strips of heavy duty alum foil, folded them over to 4x times, jammed them in to get the SS tail cap to hold. I also re-soldered the tail spring bypass so I good a good connection there. Results were:

On a fresh AWT IMR 2500 mAh cell @4.20v, 5.35A @tail and 1394 lumens @start, 1285 @30 secs on the T5 5D3 XM-L2/Noctigon.

Not bad for this light - the SS bezel is quite deep so I think it blocks a little output

Anyone else see these?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Compatible-tube-adapter-m18650-14500-16340-tube-hard-oxygen/1908125904.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.20.LI5YBO&ws_ab_test=201407_5,201444_5_3_2_1_5_4,201409_5

Looks like they got the 14500 tube - hope it would fit the F6, think it would, not sure. Think'n of ordering one. They also have the screw in accessories, pricey a bit though.

This buckle looks nice too: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Cnc-304-stainless-steel-ultra-hard-series-flashlight/505693_1608581980.html

Why did they make it 16340 instead of 18350? :zipper_mouth_face:

Weird - seems like they list stock on all 3, but you can only order the 14500. Could be the 16340 tube may fit 18350's - length is close, just a matter of the inside width - from the pics it looks like the 14500 tube is made with a thicker tube, dunno bout the 16340 tube.

I just submitted a Q to the seller - I'll find out, but probably they only have the 14500's left. This is basically an old Sunwayman C15A with the AA size tube, C10R with the 16340 tube.

This seller, btw, is the tube manufacturer. Probably got stock with inventory, and tried to sell remaining ones off themselves.

Ordered the 14500 tube on Sep 24th and it arrived yesterday in record time, no special shipping option! It fits the F6 light perfect!!

I mean perfect... Sorry no pics, but with the 14500 tube, the light is the same length as a slim AA zoomie with the head retracted, about 92 mm in length! SmileSmileSmile

Only negative is it has the same uncoated steel spring in the tail, but also has the same quality machining, anodizing and quality stainless steel cap with the accessory threaded hole.

Here it is, $10.46 shipped: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Compatible-tube-adapter-m18650-14500-16340-tube-hard-oxygen/1908125904.html

Thanks for the heads up Tom.