Moding is fun! (A.K.A. letting the smoke out)

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hi Folks,

I'm fairly new to the whole flashlight moding thing, been a flashaholic for most of my 50 years but just figured that out recently.

So I was building a light yesterday, about the 15th one I've done. Nothing special, a little drilling, a little soldering, no lathe work but more than just a drop in. Almost done, down to a final check using AA alkalines when I find the light flickers. Try the switch again and the same result. Remove the head and...smoke comes out!

I found the short, and I'm lucky the emiter and driver are still fine (also glad I don't test my builds with Li-Ions). I feel I've now taken a step forward from noob status if just a small one. Sloppy build led to a short, process led to no permanent damage, all good. Like I said, moding is fun!

Anyone else been there?

2

Yeah , been there ..

XP-G was a great emitter for shorts , especially after using XR-E which were hard to short with commercially available parts [ made to fit XR-E ]

3

Yes, it was (and still is) an XP-G...

4

cancel this

5

Out of all the lights I modded the most expensive one I did smoked. I upgraded my Nitecore EZAA to a 4B tint XPG and went to test it and immediately smoke came out. Before I could unscrew the top I vented a Duraloop and fried the driver. Oh well it happens.