MTN Electronics: LEDs - Batteries - Lights - Chargers - Hosts - Drivers - Components - 1-Stop-US Source

Congrats! We all know that the nursery will be well lit!

:slight_smile:

Congrats!!! :partying_face:

congrats.

Congrats Richard!

Do you know when you expect more qlite 17mm 6135 drivers? I hope you do plan on receiving more… used one in my last S2+ build and it works perfect.

Just placed an order with parts for a new build but still need a driver. Planning a Convoy M1 + 219C 90CRI + qlite. Although I just started reading about the LH351D and I may switch to that emitter instead since it seems to have a bit better output.

Oh, guys, BTW, Richard has put up for sale some high current Beryllium Copper springs on his website:

This means most people won’t have to bypass their driver springs anymore, and go on with their time.

Nice!

Oh, and while I was there, I noticed he also added Flat White LEDs (both bare and mounted) as well as spacers to fit the Flat White (7mm opening: Convoy C8, L2, S2+, etc).

My son and I assembled a 17mm MTN-BST2 Boost Driver Convoy C8+ with Cree XHP70.2 4000K. We added the $2+ extra orange peel reflector which removes almost all of the donut seen with the stock polished reflector. A homebuilt spacer with some widening of the reflector hole was necessary for this 7 mm LED of course. We ordered the full input/full output boost driver current options for this build, and on 100% output, using a Sony VTC we witnessed first hand proof of the need to bypass the spring. After some seconds, the output started to seriously sag at 100% out. When we went to add the bypass, it was obvious the spring had compressed. Richard said we likely got it so hot, it reformed itself. So we replaced the spring and added the bypass almost every post says is necessary. We don’t have a lumen meter setup, but we compared it to an L6 (2 x 26650) with the same Cree LED and a FET+7135 Driver. Against our back fence, the main light pattern is at least 2/3’s the size and at least 2/3’s the brightness of the big L6. We didn’t see any noticeable sag after 30 seconds when we decided that was long enough for us and turned it off. The C8+ does warm a bit, but has quite a heat sink head. We are pretty amateur at this, but this little flashlight sure packs a punch in a very hand friendly package.

Nice job. Good lesson learned with the spring since it’s an easy/cheap fix. If you touch it after you will notice its smokin hot. A high current spring or one that’s bypassed wont get hot at all.

Nice build. You could also try the beryllium copper springs, should be able to get away without needing a bypass according to feedback a few posts above.

Hi Richard, I was wondering if you are planning to carry the 3 volt XHP-50.2 that just came out here

Thanks!

I don’t know if this is appropriate for Mtn’s thread page or not but I was wondering if there was any interest from the group in the SST-20 LED’s (HCRI especially but also the high flux) enough to make it worth Richard’s effort. I foresee buying more of them a good bit myself. Same goes for AlexGT’s inquiry with the 3V XHP-50. Just a little feeler. Peace!

Richard’s last comment in this thread was almost 11 months ago

there was a time early on when Richard spent 4 hours a day replying to e-mails here.

Richard is still around; he was seen 10 hours ago. But I’m sure he’s pretty busy. He has his primary job, plus a young family, plus MtnE, now the light bars… It’s a wonder he has any time to be on BLF! Yet he does.

And also busy with injuries.

You can always email him. I sent him a question and got a thorough reply back within a few days. Love the selection on MTN.

I have got a problem with a 26mm FET+7135 MTN driver. I soldered it myself, with a soldering iron first, then again repassed with hot air. I use it in a zoom flashlight with XHP70.2 and Crescendo. However it makes the led flicker when on. It is not that obvious but there are constantly some variations in brightness, though slower than any PWM. If there are some driver experts around here, could you please help me spotting the problem?

Maybe some intermittent poor connection or partial intermittent ground out. I'd check the usual culprits first - LED wire grounding out with the reflector - so try running it with no reflector and see if it goes away. Another area is grnd connection to the driver - good contact at the tail end of the tube, and upper end of the battery tube - can remove the tailcap use a heavy wire to test. After that, look for driver component contact with the grnd ring - sometimes mounting these drivers in lights not designed for it has clearance issues - can test by removing the driver and air testing.

You may have done all this or the equivalent and didn't mention -- please detail everything you tried already.

Yes, I tried quite many things already. Here is a list:

- bypassed the tailcap with a wire

- used different batteries

- tried only the pill with wires connected

- only the XHP70 running direct drive, NO flickering

- put soldering paste on all components, soldering everything again with hot air

- tried a 10uF condensator on C1, result only constant Turbo, removed again

- changed the Zener diode for another, bigger one

- removed the FET and soldered it again

  • changed the OTC condensator for a different one with same value
    At this point my knowledge about drivers ends. I can not determine if there is a faulty component on the driver or if something else is wrong. I used all the components from MTN electronics. At the same time I soldered another 26mm driver with Bistro and that one works well.

This might be too basic, but I would still like to mention it:
My S2+ flickers in a very similar way when the threads are dirty (either head or tail or both). They may even look clean, but I have to clean them with rubbing alcohol and then the drivers works again.