Got it apart, inspected and everything looks good physically. Even did a factory reset but it is still not working correctly, turns itself on sometimes too
Almost has to be the reflector touching the negative lead OR a split in the negative leads insulation allowing it to ground out. (Look for this where the lead comes through the emitter shelf and bends to reach the pad.)
As an aside, operational instability can easily come from excess pressure by the switch boot on an e-switch.
Yay, got mine today! Well, delivered this past Friday but just got it and am playing with it today.
Quick question, though. The beam…
Is it supposed to be nicely focused, well-defined hotspot and faint but uniform spill? Or is it supposed to have 4 faint “petals” and pretty bright and “leaky” corona?
Based on the hotspot, it seems well-focused, bright circle, faint bluish dot in the center, but the corona seems awfully bright. Even my silly cheap-ass C8 clones have a sharp hotspot and uniform faint spill. Same with my P30 (reflector size more comparable).
Love the color, so ain’t complaining about that, just not sure about the focus, whether a little shaving this or shimming that might help.
The "faint bluish dot in the middle" doesn't sound good. I've only seem that on a bad XPL HI (damage). Some pics, but auto white balance, etc. - tints don't actually look that extreme.
Yeah, the bottom pic is kinda what mine looks like, a “leaky” corona vs a crisp well-defined hotspot vs spill.
I’ve seen the bluish center dot on quite a few lights, no damage, just the light-profile of the emitter vs shape of the reflector, I imagine. Very faint/subtle, really need to move the beam around vs staring at it to catch it. But that’s always been telltale of a well-focused beam.
Just seemed odd about this beam. Maybe it’s the size of the chip vs size of the reflector, dunno.
I’ve not been able to read the thread just yet but I do have a question concerning Sanyo 14500 batteries, which I’ve searched for but can’t find.
Does the GT Micro have issues with unprotected cells? I get flickering with my Sanyo 14500 battery :S Also, if I knock it lightly it seems to lose contact and switch off.
I didn't notice a problem with my flat top SANYO 14500's but considering there's no driver spring, it's not surprising. Button top, or at least a decent protruding top is what I'd suggest. Maybe cleaning the brass button up with isop. alcohol may help as well.
Hmmm… I just looked at mine & there is plenty of extra room in the battery tube for longer cells.
So if you have a short 14500 there could well be a temporary disconnect if the light is jarred or flickering if the springs are making poor contact.
I just jarred mine on purpose & it “disconnected”.
Hope this helps.
Got it open. Took some poking but the glue seal broke fairly easy. Messed up the LED+ wire so need to replace it.
It's a 2 board design with the FET and 7135 on the lower/contact board. Parts are only on one side of each board.
Can't see much here but that's the 7135 to the right on the lower board. Had some trouble getting it out til I figured it was 2 boards and had to come straight out, more or less, and not tilted.
The good thing is the MCU is on top, easy to reprogram.
The MCPCB is about 14.15 mm in diameter. Looks painted white, possibly over red, and appears to have a gold plating on the bottom. A white paste was used under the MCPCB - nice amount.
Ahh, mysteries solved I guess. Can't magnify those. R3 and R5 are for the FET? What value resistor for the switch LED? I see it's on the backside there - nice!
I think the wires are 22 AWG but not sure - would you guys know? Yea, I gotta replace the LED+ there but the driver itself is undamaged. The pill threads are little marked up but still work fine, and scratches should not show. I ended up using that heavy needle to poke thru the wire holes to knock out the driver.
Question, I ordered mine on March 1st and received email from Neal when I emailed him that it was shipped on the 17 yet when I check the tracking, it still says label not yet created. Should I email Neal?
So, I re-assembled the light, reflowed a black flat on the stock MCPCB. Didn't check amps but with fumbling around with getting it centered, I was able to hit 112 kcd measured at 5 meters. It still has a black spot in the middle at closer than 4 feet from the wall, but looks pretty good outdoors. I'm using a decent performing Imren 700 BT cell. It gets pretty hot quick so the amps are probably up there. It's got a fairly large corona, but this is the first black flat (or white flat) mod I've done.
I used kapton tape around the LED (no centering piece), and believe it or not, silicone wire inside around the base, and between the glass and reflector to center it and get more downward pressure.
112kCd is a sweet number ! Mine does 105, but at only 3,2A…
I ordered some Enercig 14500 on nkon.eu, they should be able to sustain 4 or 5 amperes, throw might be interesting then !
Could you check the current drain on yours ?