You’ve already tried snap ring pliers?
I grinded needle nose to fit and it works better for me than snap ring pliers.
I finally got the thing open to find I can’t get to the resistor without desoldering the piggyback board and what seems to be the sense resistor isn’t R025, but R020. Not really sure how to proceed.
Driver says LD-2S on it instead of LD-29
I gather you want to mod the driver for more current? If so, you are on the right track.
I wouldn’t try to mod-it in place, though. Desolder the leads. I’d do it at the emitter MCPCB. I think it will be easier to reassemble the light that way when you are done, at least.
Next put the PCBs parallel again, and desolder the pins connecting the driver to the contact/carrier PCB. I was just looking at one of these last night and thought it would probably be easiest to desolder on the driver PCB, rather than the carrier PCB.
It does look like the sense resistor is R020. If that’s lower than expected then either the driver current is higher than expected, or its using a different driver chip with a lower sense voltage. In any case increasing the current works the same way.
If you want to, say, double the max current, you need to halve the sense resistance (in theory). You’d do this either by replacing the sense resistor with a R010 (aka 10mOhm or 10mR), or paralleling another R020 with it. In reality the increase will probably be somewhat less than double for various reasons.
I plan to do a similar mod. I’m not going to try and double the current though. First because doubling the XP-L HI’s current from 3A to 6A looks like it increases output by ~50% while pushing power consumption up by 125% and, increasing the heat generated by an even larger degree. The other reason is that doubling the current is also going to hurt driver efficiency, likely significantly, due to the inductor being undersized.
My plan is to go for a 50% boost in current, to ~4.5A. That will require a sense resistance of ~R013, which I’ll probably have to get by paralleling resistors. If I’m doing the math right, an R040 paralleled with the R020 should get me the equivalent of ~R013 (13.33 mOhm).
Along with that, I’m probably going to jam a thermal cube between the PCBs, to help transfer heat to the carrier PCB and on to the head. I’ll also fit some sort of heat-spreader to the inductor.
Hmmm, is this driver made this way to enable the use of 2 cells? If so, then it can be difficult to guesstimate power bump from the sense resistor and can be very easy to under-do it or over-do it. Start small, see what the result is, then you’ll know how your particular driver is going to behave.
I haven’t gotten one of those drivers before, my last several L2’s were all ordered as hosts…
Edit: eas, yes, stacking an R040 will indeed result in R013. Whether or not it gives your estimated output remains to be seen. Curious, I am…
Hmm… based on someone elses math I was gonna try, “2 x 0.1Ω in parallel = 0.05Ω, put that in parallel to the original 0.025Ω = 0.01666Ω = 4.2A = ±1400 lumens.” If the alteration is the same then the R020 + 2x R100s should give a slightly higher current, but I’m not particularly interested in testing on my own risk if the values aren’t known.
I guess I’ll wait on an xhp 35 and the mtn boost driver.
I want to swap my L2 emitter to XHP70.2 with about 20A to the LED. Any driver recommendations?
You might check with LED4Power, he had some high power drivers coming out that should be at his site by now. We normally use an FET driver to get there…
Which is better? Pros and cons?
A good FET driver, good high drain cells and spring bypasses are the only way you will see close to 20A. Typically 17A-18A is what I see with Liitokala cyan and black batteries.
Same here 18amps with the Liitokala black/gold, unless you super charge them to 4.25
You’ll need the IJOY or Golisi 26650’s with a slight solder blob on one to make contact,18awg. short tight leads.18awg. bypass’s and a SIR800 or (I prefer) the Infeneon FET on your driver. I like filing down a 22mm driver for a tight fit, the L2’s I have had have a bit of a sloppy/over size driver pocket, just my 2cent.
Funny you should mention the Golisi’s Kawi, I just got my first pair of them today… are they about the top 26650?
Yeah they rock buddy I like them… they match the IJOYs 26650’s I have in some of my lights…in a couple other lights they make 200-500lms more……maybe cause they are only 2 weeks old compared to the IJOY’s with about a year of abuse… :innocent:
Do you offer mod services? I dom3’t own a solder nor do I know how to use one.
DB. From a not so smart Electrically.
Talking battery’s.
I have a pr of SOSHINE 26650 4200mAh/15.54Wh in my L2.
and a pr of SOSHINE 26650 5500mAh/20.35Wh, in the L6.
Both standard issue Convoy Blacks from Bangood. L6 with SM Reflector.
Would it be better for outputs with alternate battery’s in them??
I have a coupla older torches I can put some of these in if so.
Just wondering.
That L2 reaches houses on top of opposite hill a GOOD 500mtrs plus away.
Defines the windows and doors.
regards.
Never mix batteries. Different capacities mean different voltages when discharged which meams the other batt could be flat before the other is. I hope you understamd what I’m trying to say…
The L2 is probably drawing less current so your lesser capacity cells are most suited to that light while you use the higher capacity cells in the L6.
In your situation, I’d have the 5500’s in the L6 for the longest possible run time out of the 6V emitter light.
I don’t think you meant to use one of each, if so Wrathbringer is correct, don’t ever mix cells, be sure to use matched cells when using 2 or more in a light when using series cells. If your original set starts getting some separation, use them in single cell lights and get a new pair for your 2 cell light. This is why it’s important to keep an eye on the charging characteristics of the cells as they age, sometimes even though they started as a matched set one might begin showing less capacity and eventually this can lead to a serious problem.
I dont offer services. If you are just swapping drivers on the L2, then you only need to solder the 2 wires by the led. You might ask around local electronic repair shops. They might solder it for you for free since it only takes a couple minutes at most. Have the old driver ready to come out, unsolder the 2 wires by the led, swap out the drivers and put the new wires through the holes, then solder them to the led again.
Or better yet, buy a cheap 50w or better iron and some solder and watch YouTube videos. For $30 in tools you can practice and learn yourself. Then you can do all kinds of mods.
You said you want to swap to a xhp70.2, right? You may need to make sure you have the plastic centering ring and that it fits up to the reflector before you take it to a local shop.
Ask your friends if anyone solders.
I
Thanks Jason. I’ll see what i can do.
I really like my Catapult V6, but not the power button so I ordered a cheap Convoy L2 from sale.
I want it use single 26650 and one click turbo mode.
Being new to modding I’m confused about possibilites, whats outdated info with different leds and drivers etc…
So what led and driver suggestions are nowadays for l2? XHP35 or SST40?
Also suitable driver which have 1 click 100%.
The L2 is rear clicky switch only.
If you want to use one 26650 then you have to use a 3v led. The xhp35 is 12v. Sst40, Xml2, xpl and XPL2 are all good 3v leds.
Do you really want only one level? You don’t even need a driver if you wire it up direct.
If you got a driver from MTN E with Guppydrv, there are many options for modes. One of them is 100% only. But there are other options you can play around with such as 2 levels or 3 levels, memory on, memory off, etc…