S2+ Triple build issues: help troubleshooting! [Unsolved - Damaged driver :( ]

Hi BLF,
Need some help here to perceive what may be wrong in my build!

I’m building a S2+ triple with these:
LED: XP-G2 S4 3D (pre-soldered wires by MTN)
DRIVER: Bistro HD OSTM (from Lexel + Biscotti driver spring)
PILL: Normal S2+ pill + soldered Spacer (from kiriba-ru)
RETAINING RING: Normal S2+ ring, “dremeled” on the inside to accommodate the 7135 chips
REVERSE SWITCH: Lighted switch (from Convoy store)

This is the aspect of things on the front (Click on the images to enlarge)

The thing is, after putting the pill on the head of the flashlight (no thermal paste and no lenses, yet, as I want to see if everything is “right”), after putting the battery on the tube, when I go to screw the tail on the rest of the body, what happens is: the lighted switch momentarily turns ON, and after that, screwing it till the end, it doesn’t work anymore.

I tried with another non-lighted switch and it doesn’t work either.

So my main question is: what am I doing wrong here?

Can it be some short or lack of contact in any part of the flashlight (Drive, pill, MCPCB)?
Can it be something inside the pill that doesn’t work properly (despite I tried another on from kiriba-ru and it didn’t work as well)?
Can it be some driver issue?

Please, help me on this as I don’t know what is going on…

Thanks in advance!

Are you sure that your driver can work with lightened switch “from the box”?

Hum, I’m sure kiriba-ru!
I have another flashlight with a lighted switch and the “same” driver (with single LED) and it works fine!
Also, I’ve tried a non-lighted switch and it still doesn’t work :frowning:

I couldnt get from your message that flashlight dont work. I read that lighted switch dont work anymore.

Do you have a DMM? You need to check leds (put wires to the + and - pcb pads in diode test mod).

Oh, sorry! Maybe I’ve explained myself wrongly! :person_facepalming:
The lighted switch still works fine, on another flashlights, but on this one, it doesn’t work because it seems the current isn’t “flowing”.
The LEDs never lighted up, only the tail switch, just for a moment. Then it stopped.

I’ve unsoldered the driver again from the emitters, and then soldered again, and it happened the same thing: with the head (with pill) and the battery tube (with battery) mounted, I started to screw in the tail. The lighted switch lighted up (OFF position) but the I started screwing the tail until the end and it no longer worked (even turning it ON) and the LEDs never emitted any light :person_facepalming:

I really don’t know what is going on… :frowning:

I would also test (better dissasemble) the tail.

Did you use washer under switch pcb?

I don’t have :frowning:
I don’t have any instrument to check current, voltage, etc… Maybe I’ll need to get that to check what’s happening…

Unscrew your tail and use any metall part you can find on your table to contact battery minus to the tube edge.

On all the tailcaps of my S2+ I have: brass retaining ring (stock), switch (lighted or not), plastic or metal washer (on the lighted ones I have transparent or opaque plastic washer), rubber tailcap.

I’ve tried it with different assembled tailcaps of S2+ flashlights (reverse lighted and non lighted, forward clicky, with plastic or metal washer). It never works.

It seems that the first time (after soldering) there is a “burst” of power and then it stops working…

Just tried it, also doesn’t work :frowning: :person_facepalming:

My guess starts to focus on the driver or the connections on the pill, as the tailcaps work on all the lights I have…

It would be hard to make more diagnostics without DMM.

Lots of solder there!
If you are using a protected cell I guess there is a short in the driver. When the tube makes full contact and/or presses onto the driver the protection of the cell might have tripped. Don’t try a unprotected cell, might give lots of smoke or even more hazard.

It’s a bad idea to modify lights without a DMM at hand. Always check for shorts at battery side and LED connections before you insert a cell.

Hum, I’ve just tried one thing and the light worked for some seconds on MAX output!!

I took the pill out of the “head”, put the spring in contact with the battery, and used a metal tweezer to touch the non anodized part of the battery tube and the negative wire on the MCPCB! It lighted up!

When I put the tweezer tip on the positive wire it sparkled, as if it was a short-circuit!

So, what can be this? If this way the light worked, what can be wrong?

Mike is right. Spring is too big and shorts one or several negative amc legs.

it can be a short, best id to use 2 component epoxy to insulate those AMC legs after soldering the spring

If you havent used optics, you could probably screw the pill inside not as deep as it had to be. And with cell installed, all was fine till you screwed the tail down. Cell compressed the sping (which could also bend to the side when compressed) what causes a short.

Last thing I want to mension. Probabily of this short could be times less if youve used right (conical) spring.

Hum, does this mean that it is better to take the spring out and re-do the bypass? Saying, put less solder?
I’ve pressed the spring till the end and it doesn’t make contact with the chips legs! And I’ve screwed in “more” and “less” to check that and it never worked, since the first time.
But even with that it may be causing short due to the compression?

Lexel, I will try using the spring you sent! I opted for a Biscotti one as the MCPCB already had wires, so I just had to solder them and make the bypass!

What I posted on post #14 may mean all that you are saying, that there is a short?

Thanks for the advices every one :wink: I will re-do that and let you know if it worked :wink:
Thanks so much once again!! :+1: :slight_smile:

So, I’ve re-done the spring bypass, with a shorter spring (from Lexel)!

And what happened? The same exact situation! The lighted switch lighted up for a moment, and then it no longer worked!
Neither the switch, nor the emitters! The emitters only work when I retried what I’ve described on post #14, and they lighted when touching the negative wire…

Is there still too much solder?

:person_facepalming: :frowning: :disappointed: :rage: