Modding newbie in the process of building my first X6 triple (late to the party I know!) and am looking for a little guidance on a switch bypass a la DB Custom .
Here is a pic of my switch pcb (minus the switch):
My question is where can I safely drill a hole without crippling the lit tailcap leds? I won’t be putting a lit tailcap in this build but it would be nice if the functionality was still available for the future. I’m assuming most of the darker red area outside of the silkscreen is fair game? My initial thought is to go for the top-right corner (to the right of the negative tailcap led pad).
I bypass all my switches the same way, with one exception. Dale’s black wire runs inside/through the spring. My wire goes outside the spring. Just one tiny remark. Solder the switch to the PCB before you drill the hole. Or else you might drill a hole in the switch itself.
The areas that are darker red verses the bright red are safe to drill through, should be nothing more than FR4 Fiberglass.
The brighter red are the actual traces that carry the current through the board itself.
Hope this helps!
The switch itself is the weak part in the currents we deal usually here, the traces wont burn,
Having the bypass inside the spring is the most safe build
Hmm, this doesn’t tie up with my readings on X6 triple mods. IIRC the traces can burn up when pushing 6+ amps. The switch bypass connects directly to the positive end of the switch so shouldn’t touch any traces.
what about the other side of the switch—it’s tied to a trace going to the retaining ring and tail cap —if it’s gonna burn up —the weakest point will go—I have a whole bunch of lights running 10-18 amps using the traces — the only time I’ve burnt up a trace or switch is with a direct short—I’ve never used that board though but plenty of others
Makes sense. I’m only going based off what I’ve read, I have no practical experience. Maybe I’ll try the standard spring bypass first and if I fry it then I’ll move on to a switch bypass.
If you can afford 0.1mm under the switch grab some copper sheet for cheap and glue a rectangular piece under it. I bought a 0.1 × 200 × 500mm piece years ago and still discovering uses for it.
Pretty neat solution, imho.
I was just gonna say, if you just want to short out the switch to skip the internal resistance, just jump a wire along those solder-pads, no? Why any drilling?
Dunno the switch specifix, so can’t say. Looks like the switch would sit on the board, and it’s not through-hole?
So unless the contacts are completely shrouded, it might be possible to just make a ‘U’-shaped wire, touch one end and solder it, then touch the other end and solder it. Or if it could sit in place via pressure, solder in-place at the same time as the switch.
Used to “greenwire” peecee boards that way, right to the legs of the ICs in question. Never had to unsolder anything.
Anyway, youse who have the pieces and can test-fit should be able to come up with something…
The idea is to bypass the switch pcb traces, not to lower resistance but to save pumping loads of amps through them. DB Custom and others have remarked in the past that the traces have a tendency of burning up in high amp builds, i.e. triples/quads.
