Q8 modding

I did enjoy that video. Tedious little buggars. Thanks for the tips. Learned a few new tricks.

Thanks djozz for the ‘uncut’ video. Those leds are so small… but you make it look rather easy, not even removing power on the light - but at least you know right away if it works. I didn’t hear any cursing either…

I was expecting that you would ‘try out’ each led on the board to determine which way to solder them, but you seem to know this off hand… How do you know the +/- on the leds before soldering?

There’s usually a marking on the back of the led pointing from + to - . The Q8 switchboard conveniently shows an arrow too (a diode symbol to be precise) too, between the solder pads.

On the front of the leds you can figure it out too, the - is the cup containing the die, the + is the wire going into the cup from above. And if there’s a green dot on the front, it is on the minus side.

Nitpicking, but ballsy to do it powered, to demonstrate.

I think you were shorting out the MCU output to the LEDs a couple of times when removing them (when both went out) ?. Encouraging that it survived a couple of brief shorts to ground. Maybe a “don’t try this at home” warning ?

There’s a resistor in series, so shorting out the led won’t affect anything.

Ah yes. Forgot that. I was also worried about the croc-clip on the stand maybe also potentially shorting stuff when live.

Great skills and knowledge being demonstrated here. I’d never have dared try it myself.

Don’t tell Tom, but I flashed ToyKeeper’s new ‘Andúril’ UI to one of my Q8s. It’s awesome! :heart_eyes: ‘Lightning Mode’ is soooooo fun!

I mentioned my pink 0603s in an earlier post. Here they are compared to the stock green emitters.

They’re rated for 3.0 - 3.2V and are running dimmer than the green ones with the stock resistor, just as I had hoped.

I got the ‘T’ straight but must’ve bumped the PCB. :smiley:

BTW, ToyKeeper is currently working on adding indicator LED support to Andúril, so my green switch is dark for now. This photo is from before the reflash.

Lightning mode sounds awesome!

I have soldering skills, but knowledge not nearly as much, but I do like it to just do stuff without excluding all risks :smiley:

I can give it a shot. I haven't successfully uploaded a video yet.

What sounds more interesting though is paralleling 2 of the slow flashers like djozz paralleled 6 in the lighted tailcap thread. Lexel's post here makes it look like an easy mod. An I just saw Lexel has posted an OSH Park board for 4 independent emitters here.

If you don’t want to use youtube you can use http://imgur.com or https://gfycat.com - It’s a lot easier as long as its under a minute in length.

I almost ordered the board but since I’d be guessing and winging it at best I figured I’d wait and see how other people build it first.

It's ok, no prob. I'll just slowly fade away..... Replaced by a newer, younger, no doubt prettier, and probably smarter programmer.

Ohh - on the 3rd modded Q8, got this: 7,110 @start, 6,510 @30 secs Dang!! All 3 within 200 lumens of each other, and again, not touching the LED's, LED wires, or FET.

Should be possible to hit 1,800 lumens per LED (7,200). Thinking the LED wires to 16 AWG and FET to SIR404DP, maybe improvements under the MCPCB (better grease, sand surfaces to 2000-2500 GRIT.

Tom E Ohh - on the 3rd modded Q8, got this: 7,110 at start, 6,510 @30 secs

I’m going to have to try my first mod, Spring bypass seems easy enough.

Placed an order for the minimum qty (3) and the price was $0.95 with standard USPS shipping. Currently going through the posts to find the switch and resistor related comments.

@Tom E
I can not measure the lumens but the Amps. How much Amps did you get at 7110?
Would be interesting if i am near that result.

[quote=tekwyzrd]

Ordered those boards too, only thing i’m not sure about is the switch. The leds I ordered 0603 and the resistors 0805 (might be too big those?).

This is the right switch (https://www.banggood.com/50pcs-4x4x2_5mm-Waterproof-Copper-Button-SMD-Tactile-Tact-Micro-Push-Switch-4-Pin-p-1024026.html?rmmds=myorder).
They also have one with a shorter nob. But then you will have a loose fit with the silicone cap.

Has someone measured the original SW board thickness?

Don’t you dare! :stuck_out_tongue:

For those unfamiliar, Andúril is ToyKeeper’s new

This listing shows worldwide shipping and seems to be a similar switch.

edit: these are 5x5… arrgh! wish i had checked for new comments. well, it was less than $5 wasted.

Well, I'm not set up to measure amps for those tail MCPCB mods. I could swap tubes with the prototype that does have the clamp meter loop, see how close it performs in lumens, and if close, then can use it to measure amps. Thinking it's in the 20A-22A range though for these kind of numbers, based on my proto measurements.

Thanks for posting this. I just did the same with 22AWG. I didn’t go as far as soldering the traces, but I got a significant bump.