i bought my X9 from e-bay like many others and today i tested with an ampermeter. It shown 0.8 A :) i tested also 980L (from Manafont) - 2.2A- and tested short 501b host with famous Manafont XML dropin - 2.4 A. I knew Manafont dropin is really 2.8A so, my18350 trustfire flames from manafont maybe not so good. I used 18650 Trustfire flames with 980-L and X9. Charging rate was around 75% something.
Anyway, i decided to change driver of X9 with this one:
Problem is, i don't know anything about soldering and which points will be soldered. i searched this forum and againg i couldn't find an exact explanation having pictures. So, anybody please can help me. I need to know from demounting of X9 pill untill which points will be soldered.
I've ordered a couple of those drivers, one of which will go into my X9 also.
They're already shipped out from KD yesterday.
Won't make any claims yet, but I don't think I'll have a hard time installing it. If you can wait a little, I'll talk you through it or throw a little video onto youtube and post here.
Mine has 1.7A current, and that has been reported by more owners. I don't think it's that bad, the light still performs very well and even at 1.7 Amps, it's one sexy light :)
But who wants 1.7A when you can get 2.8A :)
At 0.8Amps I might feel like a victim, so I see where you're coming from.
For the price I've payed for it, even adding the price of the new driver and the fun (no sarcasm, I really like doing that kind of stuff) of installing it, it's completely worth it.
(and theese are the connection points for the wires to the LED.) The minus soldering pad is connected to the leftmost 7135 pin, so you needn't make all the effort I did to avoid a soldering short there
Sorry, I seem unable to include a photo from my disk
Hiya Vortex, I ordered a couple of these drivers on the 14th Oct and never had a confirmation from KD. Looked at Paypal account and the money has been paid but the description is blank. When did you order yours and would you normally get get confirmation of your order?
I got a shipping notification from KD for my order of these drivers. I can't check any more details atm because i'm not home and writing this on my phone.
I don't know why you should boubt the validity of what I wrote, but I'll copy/paste the email I got from KD when I get home.</>
I blame the small screen on my phone for not exactly getting what you wrote It’s my first order with KD, so it’s very well possible they didn’t do this in the past.
I'd also greatly appreciate a video specifically for the X9, Vortex. Now that I've given this light to my dad I really don't want to screw it up, haha. Because of that, I've been holding off on the driver swap.
riza, my old DMM showed 0.8A while my current DMM now shows ~1.75A, which is right in line with the majority of X9 owners. It could be the leads. I also tested with Flames.
I've uploaded a screencap of the shipping mail here: http://maxpowa.telenet.be/KD_shipped.jpg
Won't post the screencap as it's a bit large and OT.
agedbriar, I also got an order confirmation from KD, maybe you should check your spam folder or something. For me it's subject was 'Order created succes' with sender name kaidomain. Have you been shopping at the same KD as me? ;)
gordy-s, I got the order notification on October 12th and the shipping notification on October 20th, so it took 8 days to process.
That subject wording is quite new to me and I have no spam management set up..
May be some new processing routine on their side. I'll see on my next order. My last one was on the 11th October. (That was the 2.8A driver destined for the X9, but I also need the flux and paste that I ordered from DX, as my first implantation - another flashlight - wasn't something to be proud about. In fact, I was surprised when the light came on. )
I just changed out the driver to the kd 2.8a driver. I am getting 2.7a on high which was a huge gain over the 1a i was getting with the factory driver. However I am now having other issues. The spring on the new kd driver causes the battery to sit much longer and the tailcap won't even get close to screwing all of the way on :S I've clipped the spring on the driver down a little bit but still have a ways to go before I can get it to fit properly. Ordering flat top cells may help a bit but I am looking for other remedies.
Either way, it looks much brighter and I can't wait to test it out tonight!
If you want info on the driver itself see this thread. Page two is where brted helped me and posted a photo of a similar driver so that you can get an idea of where the points are:
It is quite tricky, the points are so small. I had a friend who is an electrician help me and even he had a tough time soldering the tiny details. I would have taken photos of the process had I seen this thread earlier. Sorry!
It’s my first order with KD, so it’s very well possible they didn’t do this in the past.
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