My mod station will be in basement. Some dryer vent exhaust out a well window…now what to use as exhaust fan???
Hair dryer
Shop vac ???
Are the missing pics from the “other” forum? If so, I noticed that if I search:
You can stiill seem some of the now-gone pics in the Google gallery and if you click ONCE it sometimes gives a larger version of the image.
Yes. I pmed Think2x see if he still had them. Hoping they still in his PC. About 14 rows down looks like what I need. Was few more in op.
I have an old Fluke bench meter, a Harbor Freight handheld, RadioShack handheld and Fluke handheld. The Flukes started out life calibrated, but have not been calibrated more than one more time. The little harbor freight is fairly accurate compared to the others and the Radio Shack seems ok as well and it may be very cheap if your Shack still has their clearance section. They are about to become a complete cell phone and crap store. When I was a kid, they were the hobbiest heaven, but not so any more.
Yep, I remember (42) Radio Shack, ours is a us cellular store now. I have a cheap multi meter that may have to do for now. Drivers, Led swaps. Small stuff. I have a home made light box for comparing loses and gains.
What else would good multi meter do for me ?
True Value was a bust. Did get some skinny needle nose pliers and snap ring pliers.
They had 60/40 in a small diameter. Would that be OK ?
Heat on the Novatac switch got it loose with a little lighter fluid. Had a gunk. The head ring fought me also, but I won. The slug in novatac looks about 7/8th of a inch.
On the A6. De-soldering led will alow me to pull driver out the bottom ??
Yes..just be quick with the heat or push/pull the wire at the same time so you do not dedome the emitter. The XPL dedomes very easily but is really quite decent after so, in my opinion, so if it does happen do not sweat it.
Thanks, I managed to get it out without dedome. might try that anyway for a little more throw. I am up for supper and doing some research on how to get the Novatac slug apart, mine has what looks like clear epoxy around the emitter board.
The switch conversion is gonna be my biggest issue.
I need to file down the LED board (copper) on the A6 to fit into the slug of the Novatac.
Not sure where it is save to remove metal ?
I have the slots at 3 and 9. I need to remove some metal at 12 and 6.
Had to walk Red, thinking about switch.
Maybe drill out Novatac switch board th fit over A6 ??
60/40 is ok. 63/37 is just a bit better with lower melting point. For most things you don’t need this but if you reflow many mcpcb’s or build any drivers from Oshpark boards you’ll want to get some solder paste. I’m passing through middle age so my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be and small stuff(which for some reason I can’t avoid) is hard to see so I bought a 10X magnifying lamp. Exacto knife is also handy. Stranded awg 10 will work for probes but you’ll want some plugs to match your meter.
Busy night, don’t think I will get chance to mess with light. May have time to search for the traces on the A6 led board. Not sure if I am saying any of this correctly. It just looks like a led board.
The mcpcb traces are clearly visible on the A6 in a “plus” pattern with the wire pad traces being a tad longer and the other 2 stopping ~4mm shy of the flat edges.
I gave up on this mod. I decided to put the A6 back together. I did, and it works…….
I will call that a victory…
Ok, Now what to do with the Novatac Special Ops host.
Chadvone, this whole thing gave me such a chuckle because I could relate to so much of it. I am a total noob compared to most on this forum but yes, I have AT LEAST one shoebox full of lights that may or may not work.
And because rather than just buying a new light, we think it makes more sense to buy a temperature-controlled soldering iron, a pair of snap-ring pliers, good flush cut wire nippers, a flux pen, a basic decent multimeter, a set of high quality leads, a set of good small screwdrivers, and a couple of small strap wrenches…
Then for safety an eye-wash bucket, handwashing station, and eye protection; then get a fan and ducting and spend time fabricating an exhaust system…
And when all this is done, to spend an indeterminate time swapping out drivers, tailswitches etc.
My own version of this is I just came across an old Brinkmann Maxfire and rather than toss it in the trash, I am thinking it makes sense to replace its ugly yellow xenon bulb with a p60 drop-in—maybe one that runs on 1X18650…which would require me to buy some 18650 batteries…and a charger…
We are hopeless, I guess. Glad you got your A6 squared away but I bet what to do with that Novatac will be stuck in the back or your mind…
Lol. The blf a6 driver did make it into the Novatac:-)
I think we can all relate to the shoebox in one way or another. I certainly can. I also know that without this forum, my shoebox would have turned into a dresser drawer. Or two…