OH, i thought you were in on the deal, now i feel better lol
they definitely used way too much glue.
I'll edit the first post in a few minutes, I just took a pic of it in the vice so you can see what I did. The vice is just to hold it in place - if you just hold it in your hand it will probably break at the angle.
It took a considerable amount of force - at least for something this small. I had resigned myself to the possibility of destroying it, and thought I had done so when it came loose...
here's a good product for removing adhesive, not sure if it is sold there. it is not a strong solvent like acetone (won't strip paint).
they make it in the same size w/ pump sprayer - much more convenient.
very fine steel wool, then JB Bore Brite on cotton w/ electric drill (turtle wax automotive polishing compound is a good substitute), then 'mother's aluminum polish, then BBs, then cleaned w/ acetone.
First I wrapped it in tape (to protect threads and from glue), then put a dollop of hot glue on the back and stuck it to the inside bottom of a jar. Pour in BBs, screw on lid and shake hard. If you want more texture put a hole in the lid, hold it with lid down and blast air in the hole from compressor.
I just wanted a light texture on this one, since it is already plenty floody.
Incidentally, this also work hardens the aluminum a little bit, which is nice because it is so soft. I do bigger stuff in my blast cabinet but that's overkill for anything this size...
Thanks for doing this, now I know how to disassemble mine to do something about the spotty beam. I'm probably just going to apply some frosted tape to act as diffusing film.
Yes, thank you from me too dthrckt, very useful stuff. One thread I'll keep bookmarked for a good while. Got the drivers link in soytnly's Sipik thread too
also - on utilitech AA I get 2.2A at the tail!!!! That will wipe that battery so fast lol but that's OK w/ me!
EDIT: it is finally dark, at least inside - this thing makes an AWESOME light clipped to a hat - one more click in the angle would be nice, but it is great anyway. Doing this I discovered something strange - pwm is MUCH more audible (only on low) when clipped to my black hat?
stock, from top of spring to threads I measured 1.4 ohms
pulled the spring, stripped the inside of the tailcap (I think it is paint) with oven cleaner, wrapped copper braid on top of spring then around bottom coil and replaced it.
now it measures 0.4 ohms.
Insignificant increase in lux readings, but I bet AA batteries last longer.
You might not want to do this if you'll use 14500s because it might be direct drive on high (1.5 to 2A, depending on cell I tried).
I love the design of this thing, was eyeing Fenix original at first, but for the money and battery life and lumens that it can push out the front it was waaay too expensive, I found the same clone on ebay little below 9$, search for "angle led flashlight". I think Im gonna buy one myself soonish and then come back for more info about modding its lens for better throw :D
Note that first result, if you use "worldwide" filter will be from ebay uk 2xAA tripple led flashlight, looks tempting but its probably with lots of flood and cold blue light with probably no modes, at least nothing mentioned in description.
you might be surprised by how much it throws stock, but it could be improved w/ lens. I'll try my aspheric lenses again at some point and post lux readings.
I am pretty sure it is. I was doing some maintenance work on a bike today and this was the light I grabbed for no particular reason at all. As always, if a light will take li-ions, that's what I'm going to use. So I attach the light to a steel beam and get to work. I haven't even taken the gas tank off when I notice the beam is turning into a familiar angry blue. Then it starts flickering, goes off and before I can get to it, comes back on. The whole thing was over in less than 30 seconds but I'm sure the phosphorus layer didn't like it too much. When I switched it off, the head was too hot to touch.
The battery (a protected TF 14500 "flame" battery) looks fine and measured exactly 4.0v when I pulled it out. Total runtime before today must have been 15 minutes or less (ie. both the light and the battery were practically new). When I briefly put it back in, the light pulled 2.1A. Well, yeah, not good if you care about durability. Like I said, the battery looks okay but the light has now been relegated to NiMH-only duty.