Higher the resistor lower the current. If you want more current you have to use lower resistor. The goal is reduce the resistance of the sandwich resistors, wich is 80milliohm in my case.
It was stable with 0.56ohm, but my measurment wasn't so accurate, the current very depends on the cells, multimeters, leads etc, and that was the problem in my case only.
not afraid. I would estimate I removed about 20% of the mass from the pill, but it screws into the reflector, which screws into the head, and the threads are fairly tight (lots of contact) so I think it will be fine. I have a U2 emitter on the way, and once that is in there I'll use arctic silver ceramique on the threads in the head.
I also added that copper shim, but I don't think you need to.
It really depends on how you'll use it though. I used it on high for 10 minutes last night and it was so cold outside that the head hardly warmed up at all...
I used a mill bit in my drill press to bore it but a spade bit would work. it is pretty soft (probably not alloyed) aluminum.
OK, I couldn't resist and I used my computer's PSU to do the trick. I short-circuited the SST-50 driver with an ammeter, and the result is: 4.30Amps (standard driver).
Very nice for this flashlight, and for every XM-L with good heatsink.
May be one driver can vary a little bit from another, but I bet they all are near 4.3A.
hmmm, might be valuable to calculate efficiency of both.
still, I'll use the manafont since I've already hacked it up. the SST-50 could be unstacked and resoldered w/ wires, if there was some odd host that required that...
did you check the current on the other modes? I higher mid would be ideal - 3A for long runs or hot weather, etc.
I forgot to specify, I measured it with 12v in (I red somewhere that it works fine with 12v), so with 2xLi batteries it could be 200mA lower; it's still good, but you can recalibrate if you want more current by adding parallel resistors on the bottom side of the top board.
I was going to measure output with 2x18650... and accidentally dropped the driver from less than 1m high (not big deal right?) it hit the FET from the top board, and then it smoked ¬¬ (the PHD45N03LTA chip).
Crap... I have to buy another driver
sorry to hear that. at least the price isn't as bad as the wait.
I don't suppose anyone who bought this light has any beamshots and/or lux readings vs. the HD2010 (single, not triple) or an XML in a Maglite LED reflector at similar drive current?
I replaced the original (non working) driver with Manafont driver like viffer750 did... BUT I don't know why but this driver gives too much current or something, because I burned the original T6 led, plus TWO xml-U2 1C!! crap, this flashlight is expensive for me! xD
When I shortcircuit the driver with an ammeter, it pulls 4.4A or something like that... I don't understand why they keep burning.
Any recommendation? Now I'm waiting for 4x XML U2 1C to burn do some testing
I think viffer modded the original, but I used that driver.
I got 4.3A to the LED w/ old batteries. A few weeks ago I put a couple CGR18650CH in and destroyed an emitter.
So, I took the pill out, unsoldered the leads, unsoldered the emitter from the PCB, hot glued a rod to the PCB, put ~1200 grit lapping compound on the back of the PCB, put it on the pill and spun it w/ a drill. Once it was lapped I took an emitter off a 16mm PCB and reflowed it to the lapped 20mm PCB.
I'm amazed how little contact there is w/ a stock PCB - as evidenced by the lapping marks when I check after the first few turns of lapping. There's maybe 20% contact.
You can lap w/o removing an emitter...but I think it is easier to reflow than risk damaging the dome.
Anyway, it works fine now.
well...I've run it at least 10 minutes. The driver is really too powerful for stable output w/ an aluminum PCB (soldered to copper might be another story entirely!)
But like I've mentioned, I will be using this in my boat, and afaik, you're not supposed to navigate w/ a light on, other than navigation markers (because additional lighting would obscure them), so I want max brightness for a few seconds so I can do quick checks for obstructions and see as far as possible.
oh - easier suggestion - add a resistor
Thanks! I have a lot of serie12 1/4Watt resistors… which value do you recommend?
I guess if you added to either ends of the batteries the driver would still try to regulate the same current...
that makes it a little tougher, since there isn't much room between driver and emitter.
If you were shooting for ~3.5A you'd want to shed 3 watts, so 1 ohm should be about right. Don't know about your locale, but those are cheap and available locally here.
I'm more of a metal worker than electrician though, so hopefully someone else will chime in if I'm steering you the wrong way 
@FX-32 I think your best bet would be to try a different driver that's actually a buck driver. The triple XML driver from Manafont is a boost driver that's meant to pick voltage up, not buck it down. When it's not necessary for that driver to boost the output voltage up so that current drawn from it reaches the target output current, then the output voltage is equal to the input voltage minus the driver's own (nominal) operating voltage (usually 1-2V). If your batteries aren't sagging much and there's not a lot of resistance in the rest of the circuit (contacts, switch, thin leads, etc.), then your LEDs are dying because they're being hit with way too much voltage.
Yes, it has sense, but I though it would work because it worked for some users.
I didn't find any driver that gives more than 3A and fits here... any recommendation?
yeah, that's the problem...availability
but techjunkie's the guy to tell you how to sandwich single cell drivers for this light, and if you've got the time to make one, they'll certainly fit in the pill
mine's been working fine, which makes me think it isn't a voltage issue (or it would die right away?)
I'll take the head off tonight and measure the voltage across the emitter.
Single cell drivers wouldn't work well here, with two cells and one emitter. I actually liked the original DX SST-50 driver sku 50025 (with two round boards) for driving an XM-L. I measured 3.5A to the XM-L on high with that driver, using a Fluke clamp meter around one of the leads from the driver to the LED. If I'd cooked my OEM driver, I'd probably use my dremel and a large engraving bit to cut away enough metal from the pill to fit my last remaining one of that driver. Not everyone would be compelled to go through the trouble though, and I don't know of the newer version with one round and one square board would fit in the same dimensions. (It looks like the square board could be trimmed in height a bit and the round board in diameter a bit, if that would help.)
If you don't care about how the mode memory operates, you could probably very easily fit in the DX 57779 driver (which can also be modded for single mode). It puts out 2.7A on high after settling in for a few seconds, down from 3.0A at power-on and can be modded for single mode by removing the daughter board and installing a pull-up resistor in its place. You can likely add sense resistors to it to increase the output from 2.7A to something higher, if desired. There's also a newer driver there that looks a lot like 57779 only without the daughter board, that I haven't tried yet, sku 128269. Both of those might be too narrow in diameter at only 22mm across.
Slightly larger in diameter but very time proven is the DX 20330 single mode driver which can be upped from 2.5A out to 2.8A out with a single 0.68ohm sense resistor added to its .1 and .4 ohm pair.
That's about the extent of the affordable drivers that I have personal experience with and can recommend trying that fit in this V-in, I-out category. Best of luck.
Thanks!
I will try with DX128269... so one or two more months waiting from DX :(
The original SST-50 driver is too big, it could be installed with the modding you mentioned but it is too much for me, I don't have the tools yet...
I have that driver, and it burned me a triple cute board TWICE! And also, adding SMD resistors there isn’t easy, you have to extract the top board and the coil to have space for working there… I’ll pass this time with 57779 driver, it brings me bad memories.
So I'm decided to try with DX.128269 and see what happens. The flashlight is waiting without LED and without driver for the parts to arrive.
Thanks again!
A month ago I ordered a 57779 driver, and last week I got a 12826. Nice chinese service, as always.
Good news: It works at least. The input current is 1.3-1.4A from 8V . Relativ easy to modify the value of the sense resistor, it is under the coil, but it can be moved from its place easily. No memory function, and the common problem (at least for me), if you switch off and on the light, the driver steps to the next mode. But it can be solved with a resistor.
Viffer, does "can be solved with a resistor" refer to the single mode mod, or have you discovered how to retain the modes but change the mode-changing behavior?