My Olight SR Mini II doesn't like its new 219c's. Help?

Hello experts! Sometimes I feel like I know what I’m doing with a flashlight mod, but this time I’m wrong :bigsmile: So I’m coming to you for help.

The project is a new Olight SR Mini II

I really like the light. The new UI is much improved and its a great little form factor for a soda can light. But the factory tint is way too cool. So all I wanted to do was a simple emitter swap. It should be easy, right?

Here’s what the head looks like with the optic removed:

So I just removed the mcpcb and swapped it with this:

That’s a triple Nichia 219c on a 32mm noctigon. Its a perfect fit, even using the original Olight optic. But it doesn’t work properly. Every normal mode just pulses continually, like they’ve all become strobe modes. Output doesn’t vary either - they’re all the same intensity and pulse speed like its not even swapping modes. The only mode that still works like it originally did is the strobe. I can get it in strobe mode by triple-clicking like normal and it seems to have the same rate as with the original board, which is not the same rate at which the normal modes now blink.

Any ideas? I really didn’t want to swap the factory driver. Actually I haven’t even managed to get to it - the head seems to be very, very, very firmly glued. I even applied some heat but I’m kinda afraid of damaging that switch sitting right in the way. I know the Nichia 219c emitters have very different electrical specs than the XM-L2s that I removed. Is there something about them that would freak out the factory driver? Anybody got any ideas at all? Should I just order a triple XM-L2 neutral white and drop it in or is there some reasonable solution to get my 219c’s working?

It sounds like a ground issue.
Was the original MCPCB grounded to the host?

did you cover the unused copper contacts with an insulator?

Not obviously. The wiring all ran down through the center of the original mcpcb and through a similiarly-sized hole in the shelf underneath, then all the wiring is done down in there where I haven’t been able to access yet. I just drilled a hole in the center of my new noctigon and ran all the wires the same way, reusing the factory wiring and everything. I can check it and see if there’s some resistance in the ground wire though. Thanks for the lead!

No, but the light uses a polycarbonate optic, not a metal reflector. There shouldn’t be anything there to short but I’ll check it again.

There is an S on the stock mcpcb which may indicate the Leds are in series, can you confirm that?

Ummmm…how? There’s no exposed traces or pads to probe except the original connections.

You may be on to something though, my noctigon is set up parallel

While the original MCPCB is emitting light connected to the flashlight, measure the output voltage at the leads, that way you do not have to figure out how the traces go to see if the LEDs are in series or parallel.

You can try to power it up using a current-limited power supply (series resistor and/or low-current battery) and measure the voltage. 3V or 9V?

Sorry for the long delay here, holidays and whatnot.

Yeah, you guys were right. The original emitters were in series. I shoulda thought of that myself. I rearranged my noctigon as series and it now fires right up like you’d expect…except its only two modes now. It seems to be missing the lower modes altogether; it just skips right over them. Any idea what would cause that?

I really need to open this head up and just replace the driver. So secondary question - got a good driver suggestion for this light? E-switch, obviously, good power for 3x 219c’s, its a 3x18650 light but they’re in parallel. I’d like something with a cool UI, maybe a ramping setup? What do you all think?

You could/should use one of the FET drivers from mtn electronics. Are you sure the batteries are in parallel? That just sounds really inefficient for driving the emitters in series.

Yeah, I agree it sounds inefficient, but definitely parallel:

I’ve used MtnElec’s FET drivers plenty of times but always with mechanical switches. I haven’t modded too many e-switch lights, so this is kinda new territory for me. I guess I should spend some time perusing his listings for e-switch drivers. What’s the name of the firmware with ramping?

Look into either lumodrv or luxdrv

so any news with this upgrade? i bought it too and its for the size perfect.but,maybe it can be also brighter:)))

No, no update, but that’s because I really haven’t touched this light lately. Between other mod projects and the holiday season, it just kinda got set aside. I really should get back to it. My current dilemma is accessing that driver. Its not accessible from under the emitter board. I don’t have a pic of it removed, but I posted a pic above that I think clearly shows there’s a solid shelf under there, so no driver access from the top. I also posted a pic down the battery tube that shows how its machined for the cells, so no driver access that way either. So best I can figure it has to unscrew, probably right here:

…but I’ve been unsuccessful so far. I tried heating it with a heat gun. It got hot enough that I had to use oven mitts to try and hold it. No work. Then I ordered a set of Heat resistant gloves: http://amzn.com/B00CHO64NE that didn’t work much better. They definitely work for heat but don’t have great grip. I think what I need is a set of strap wrenches so that’s my next step.

In the meantime, if you manage to get yours open I’d love to hear about it. I’m not even 100% certain I’m going about it the right way.

Taken from Selfbuilt’s review:

Despite how it looks, the three batteries are in series, not parallel. The positive terminals of the cells all go toward the head. However, the circuit connection is made by going through those two raised posts on the body (spring loaded). The tailcap is wired to the two contact points for those posts, connecting the three cells in series when fully tight against the body.

If you’ve lost modes you could try measuring voltage with both boards. Even a small vf difference can add up when its x3

From my experience with Olights, they use a really strong thread lock (Loctie red I think).
The only way to unscrew is to use brute force…
Wrap a bicycle inner tube around the two parts and use some big pliers.
That’s how I succeeded in opening my S30 and S30R

First post so not sure how this works

{width:50}http://i.imgur.com/ZzTbf0z.jpg![](:http://i.imgur.com/ZzTbf0z.jpg)

I’m probably wrong but that silver plate kinda looks like it might be pressed in some way.

Fixed

Lumodrv is a ramping e-switch driver. I like this driver. Mountain Electronics does not sell it though. If you want a driver with this firmware send a PM to DrJones on BLF.

I think Luxdrv is ramping for a mechanical clicky switch driver. It is not an e-switch driver.