Hey all,
I bought this nice little AA / 14500 light, i received it yesterday.
BUT, it doesn’t take protected 14500. :person_facepalming:
This light has to be able to accept protected button top 14500 !
So right after unpacking and damaging the tube with the included POS clip, i had to create some more space in there.
So i removed the tail cap PCB and i made this:
A circle of copper sheet with a 1mm rim on it and the 2 springs soldered together.
Fixed in the tailcap with grey epoxy (AB glue)
Basically, the springs now sit approximately 1mm deeper in the tail cap.
I also removed the brass button from the driver PCB and replaced it with a subtle solder blob, gaining another 0.5 mm of length.
Not yet done in that picture, but i also filed down the other protruding bits on that side of the driver board a little bit.
Anyway, some 1.5 mm length was gained, but that’s not all.
I bent the springs a little (before soldering) so you get this:
The springs have no overlapping coils anymore now.
This means they can be pushed about as flat as their wire thickness.
This gained another 1 mm.
I have some 52mm tall Keeppower 800mAh protected 14500s, and they fit just fine now.
I think it could take 0.5 mm taller batteries too.
Problem solved ! :+1:
(edit)
Someone asked about flattops, and i have none (mine are solder blobbed), so i couldn’t test that.
Have some on their way though, i will test and report.
Possibly there could be a problem with the plus pole contact with flat tops.
(edit2)
Got some flattops in today, works fine too. :+1:
…and then, after having dropped everything on the tile floor here, chipping a piece off the lens and damaging the anodization, on top of the scratches made by the included POS clip…
…i wasn’t happy about the O ring in the head bezel.
Too fat, squishing to the inside.
And that XP-L i didn’t like too much either, and the reflector with its tint shift beam etc…
Although it’s really cool the reflector screws in the head, clamping the LED board between it and the pill shelf, i decided to put in a TIR optic and a Nichia 219C 3500K.
Looks cool:
Works too:
But the light doesn’t look brand new anymore…