X65 MINI-Mission accomplished

I am a bit jealous of you Modders. I wish I had that talent, but I have never been mechanically inclined. HP has given me other gifts.

I just got an X65 MINI yesterday. I like it [I knew that it had a thermal step down] but that step down has to go. I understand why the manufacturers install them but just like every other stock light I have had,it is a bit conservative. Activates between 90 seconds and 2 minutes. The handle is not even close to hot.

I am old school and like to have control. So when the handle gets too hot, then I dial down.

I am HOPING that someone can do this mod. I am sure there are several of you than can do it. It is a matter of getting the proper driver.

I want another driver, maybe a FET[?], or one comparable that can eliminate the step down completely like was done with my NI40 by EasyB which is so pleasurable to use now with the FET driver that was installed.

With your help and my Stimulus money I can do this.

I would Greatly appreciate it.

I Live in USA

Thanks,

BaronVonEissler

Why dont you contact Vinh at Skylumen?

He is too expensive.Especially when you send him a light for a mod.

Are you in USA or Eu ?

^

USA.

I need to put that in OP. Thanks for considering it.

Ok , I don’t know that light really

But is the driver firmware configurable?

Proberly not and this is why maybe you want a new driver for it

No. Modes are set and so is the ITC[Intelligent Temperature Controller] which is their Thermal step down. I believe a new driver is the only solution unless someone knows how to Deactivate/Disable it.

At least it’s not a timed step down. Nice to have those thermal step downs on bigger lights. The point of it is to throttle down the light before it does damage, inside the light. The handle getting warm or not tells you nothing about internal temps. Ever see a emitter jump off it’s pads from getting to hot? Ever see a driver melt it’s components? Ever see a cell get too hot too fast? I’ve seen driver wires desolder themselves from the MCPCB the moment before the emitter jumped its pad. Heat is the one thing that kills our lights quickly.

That step down might save you from another post on here titled, “Can someone fix my fried light?”

Hey, it’s your money and your light so, I hope you find someone who can help you. Though I have the feeling this won’t be able to be done with the existing driver.

Most quality lights use a NTC Thermistor that can be removed from the MCPCB.

I can only go by my experience. I have no experience in modding. However, I do have almost Eight years experience with mostly modded lights and running them full bore until too hot to hold. I am talking thousands of miles of nightly hikes with my buddy. Never once did any of those malfunctions happen to me. Twice LED’S fried. That was basically right out of the box and caused by faulty workmanship. Consensus was lack of thermal paste and/or bad solder joints.

The X65 MINI is set at 50C/140F. Confirmed by Acebeam through email. The Thrunite TN42 is set at 80C/176F! :+1: Never once in Two years did that TN42 ever step down, at least from a visual point of view. Handle got too hot sometimes in the summer and I turned it down. I wish ALL thermal step downs were like theirs. This thread would not exist if that was the case.

Tonight it was about 50F. The first turbo run lasted 1m 45 sec.I turned it off for about 40 seconds. Back on and turbo lasted about 30 seconds. :rage: It is not even hot out yet. To me, that is not enjoyable.

Not every one needs or likes max output like me. I understand that. It is my preference.

So for me, those risks you pointed out are worth it. So far so good.

P.S. I heard a couple modders say that the main reason for the step down is to protect the consumer from getting burned. The electronics can take a hell of a lot more heat than 140F[X65] or the 176F[TN42]. :smiley:

50oC on the handle , might be 100oC on the led mcpcb

Maybe so. My point is 80C/176F is better than the 60C/140F Thermal step down.At least better for my preferences.

Both Thrunite and Acebeam confirmed the temperature was set inside of flashlight driver.

P.S What are you doing up?! 3 or 4 am in Finland?!

From the photo here, the driver seems to be fastened with security Torx screws:

Can you open it and take take a photo? If the temperature is monitored by an NTC as previously mentioned, it can be replaced with a resistor and it’ll report constant temperature regardless of the actual value.

6:00 now , graveyard shift at work

Been a while since I did nights , I don’t like it :slight_smile:

I am not messing with it. That is why I am asking for help.

Certainly looks like a Phillips head screw. It looks much more like a Philips screw than a Torx screw.

Phillips Sheet metal screw below

Torx

.
My light below

Hmm, indeed, your version seems to use the regular screws instead of the security Torx.

Your reply above is questionable

You want another driver, but you don’t want to mess with it or open it, and Vinh is too expensive.

So what exactly are you expecting of us ?

I think :question: he wants someone to contact him off the back of the thread - to carry out the work for him, preferably in the USA and doesn’t charge too much.
The problem is around the driver - he doesn’t want to mess with it at all, not to even look (understandable btw lol) therein is the problem.
People can’t help if he wont take out those screws to let them look - rock and hard place.
The only option is to send it to a modder, there are plenty on here - and let them/pay them to do all the work involved.
I think you are trying to cut out some of the cost by ‘choosing’ parts manually/recommended beforehand and letting someone else do the manual work? - but it doesn’t always work like that. :) what someone else might suggest may not work correctly when chosen modder does the job I believe you had problems like that on the last mod someone did? (if memory serves me correct) then it never worked.
Bottom line is if you want a modded light that has some sort of warranty after it’s been messed with, then you’ll have to pay the going rate, which isn’t cheap as you probably know. :frowning:
I would start by pming some of the known modders in the USA. Tell them what you want, and let them do the parts ordering etc so they know it will all work together properly.
I expect you’ll have to join a queue as most are usually busy and won’t be ‘looking’ for work on here as such.
Good luck, I know it’s frustrating when electronics etc aren’t your forte! (same as me) but I would suggest ‘trying’ on some cheap stuff , maybe?
Get yourself a cheap s2, a driver, the led’s ssts cheap maybe a triple and a lighted switch maybe and just go for it! worst ur gonna do is fry the driver ($5) or the led ($5) but more importantly you’ll gain experience.
Maybe double the parts order in case you mess up! :wink:
Good luck!

I get it. Dude doesn’t want to mod and that’s fine.

I’ve thought real hard about this kind of thing. If I wanted to do modding services. Ignoring the fact that I’m probably not good enough to make any money in the first place</imposter syndrome>, it comes with some problems.

I already ran into it when I was younger and I replaced cell phone screens. Friends come along… hey can you fix my phone for cheap? Well, yes, kind of… But every time you open a phone, there’s a chance you break something else. For a business, that’s easy. You charge extra on everything to offset the cost of the whatever % that you break something (and yes sometimes it’s the entire phone). But as an individual, that sucks! Similar problems with flashlights.

And then there’s warranty. I build someone a light, and something happens. Was it a hot-rod - did they burn something? Did a battery explode? Is it just broken and they want it fixed for free?

So I only do mods/builds for close personal friends. Buddies that “get it” - they know this is a hobby, not a business. And I tell them: look, if something breaks, I can probably fix it. If it’s stuff I have on hand I probably won’t even care, but if I have to order parts I gotta charge you my cost. Labor’s free because honestly it’s my hobby and I enjoy it. But because there’s a trust there, a good friendship outside of the flashlight interaction, I don’t have someone bugging me with deadlines, I don’t have someone being entitled to some certain level of service.

As a result, I’ve also gotten good at recommending lights. Because somebody has a Maglite or a Streamlight or a Coast, and they want “better” or “cheaper but better” or something. So I figure out their needs and outline some options and explain the differences, and they usually end up pretty dang happy. And then I’m also not building a light that I have to then support, that has expectations directly resting on me, etc.

Anyway, I get why modding services are pricey. They should be - there’s a lot going on there. Vinh/Skylumen has built a pretty cool business out of it, and he has my respect for it. He’s out of my price range, but I don’t think he’s wrong to be. I don’t think it’s fair to point to any of his lights and say it’s just an emitter swap or a driver swap, that’s $15 of parts and he’s charging $XX(X) for that, that’s unfair. The dude provides warranties, and customer service, and a website and a business that have operating expenses, and he may even be at the point where that business is how he eats every day.

Anyway, to Baron:
I could probably do the mod. I could even do it cheap (meaning basically free labor). But it would probably take me months, assuming I can find a suitable driver (probably from Lexel). And I wouldn’t be able to provide a warranty.
Worth noting: X65 Mini is XHP35 Hi (all of which are 12V). 2S2P carrier > boost driver, and I’m sure a max current set to not damage the 35 HIs. As I recall, they’re prone to frying, you probably don’t want them pushed past somewhere in the 2 to 2.5A range (just going from memory). So FETs are completely out. Also, on-board charging with indicator, which there’s no way I’d be able to keep if I modded it. So yeah, best hope is that there’s a NTC that can be replaced with a resistor. That would be a super easy mod!

Hmm, I’m rambling too much this morning. Must need more coffee…

Perfectly expressed !

It is simple not questionable.

An experienced modder can open it up, analyze and figure out what driver it is an fix it. I don’t have the knowledge.

It appears that skylumen may be the way to go. A little pricey, but experienced with a warranty