Tacklife LFL3A $8.99

A bunch of bad influencers. Take my money! Thanks for all of the precious poster research!

BLF caused another price increase :slight_smile:
Now 10.99 with no 10% coupon.

Good while it lasted at the 8.99

Only Achilles heal that may pop up is if the tail switch goes bad or gets broken.
Tail diameter on outside of threads is rather large and don’t know of an internal threaded tail switch that big that could be substituted.
Also when you go to check amperage with switch unscrewed the modes do not change when pulling connection on and off quickly like most drivers operate, so maybe the switching is done on the switch board if that all makes sense.

I know, who cares at $9 but it’s a nice feeling to rebuild something broken because this is the mighty BLF and it’s what we do.

Also, if you don’t like the stiffness of the button press, try backing off that second tailcap a slight bit.
Because it does not make any electrical connection it doesn’t need to be screwed all the way down.
Makes fast mode changes a little easier this way.

Laatterrrr

Keith

I resisted. Really. Finger was hovering over the mouse button days ago to Add to Cart, then I backed out.

I'm heavily invested in 18650 and 1xAA lights. Been trying to avoid "battery creep".

I tried too, to avoid caliber creep in the past. A firearm chambered in .38 Special causes ammo inventory to grow in that caliber, then another firearm chambered for both .38 Special and .357 Magnum comes home, causing more ammo in .357. Ubiquitous 9mm adds yet another, then .380 which is just an abbreviated 9mm round. And that's just handguns; rifle calibers add to yet more caliber creep. Pretty soon there's some serious investment and questions of storage space.

I resisted. Really. Finger was hovering over the mouse button to look at my shopping list yesterday to make up free shipping, then I backed out.

Don't have any 26650 devices. Didn't want to go down the battery creep rabbit hole. Saw the price had gone up. Well... grumble... Didn't need it and anyway, battery creep & all. Feedback sounds like it's a decent bargain though...

I resisted. Really. Finger had clicked the Add to Cart button & was hovering over over the buy button this morning. Then I backed out. What could I possibly add to make up the difference to qualify for free shipping? Feedback looking really good at a bargain price.

I looked halfheartedly in my shopping list & saw that spool of solder I'd place there months ago & forgot about. Well..., I do have that Tool 2.0 Homemade Kit UV swap I've been thinking about & I want some decent solder to go with it instead of the ancient Radio Shack spool I've been using for decades, so there's that...

I resisted. Really.

Light & solder will be here here next week. Now, to find some 18650 adapters while I wait for some screamin' deals on 26650's. Closeouts or whatever.

I resisted. Really. Cost me two bux & change more in the end.

Then, there's that one 26650 light I read about last week that sounded very interesting, but didn't have any 26650's, 'cause you know... battery creep.

I'm resisting. Really...

It’s ok. Besides, 26650 feels good in the hand. Just like an old D cell MagLite.

Just got mine and my first impressions are not positive. Lots of ugly beam rings and very greenish tint. Switch is way too heavy and holding it down when on high does not work the same way that Muto’s does (“If you hold the button when on high it will go to medium and shut off, do not need to cycle.From off hold for on, keep holding goes off. total time on about 1.5 second”.

Battery came at 3.65v and I’m charging it on my Opus 3100 but I’m also charging an old laptop pull 18650 in the Tacklife to see what it comes off at. My USB meter says that it’s charging at 0.5A so it would take a long time to charge the 26650 in the light.

It does seem pretty solidly built so maybe I’ll put another led in it.

It was less than $10 out the door but if I had to do it over again I’d pass on buying it. Then again at least I got a 26650 with it that’s hopefully halfway decent.

Resistance is futile.

How does your UI work then?
Just got my second one today and it behaves same as first one.
Sorry to hear your’s is different.

Nothing happens when I hold the button down on high and from off holding it down doesn’t cycle it back to off. Not the end of the world of course but it’s strange that the the UI on mine is different from yours. I’m not really liking the light at the moment so I’ll probably throw it into my earthquake supplies since its built in charging is a plus in the event there’s a quake.

Playing around with it more holding the switch down from high will turn the light off after a few seconds about half the times The other half I hear a click when holding it down and the light won’t turn off. It’s almost as if the switch is mechanically resetting itself.

Also the battery I was charging in the light only measured at 4.0v after the charge light turned green. Definitely I don’t need to be concerned about overcharging batteries in the light :person_facepalming:

Here are a few pics for those of you considering this light.
My comments:
I got this hoping it would be a good host. It is sturdy and from what people have said you get a reasonably good 26650 battery. Charging port is in the back hidden under the tail cap. Lights are red when charging green when full. Built in charger stops at 4.05V for me. Easy to disassemble. Pill is Al. MCPCB is 24.5mm. There is a driver cavity in the pill but driver is actually in the back where the charging module is. I didn’t get the board out where the spring is in the pill to see if there is anything there. I did get about 2A tail draw when checking it and you can’t change modes without the charging/driver part in place. So I don’t think there is anything in the “driver” cavity. There is a retaining ring where the driver should be that looks like it will take a sanded down 22mm driver if you want to ditch the driver in the back. The pill threads into the body nicely. Body looks like two parts but I could not get them apart. There is really no need. It’s easy to get the charging module/driver out by unscrewing the clear plastic lid. The switch is mounted directly to the driver board. So if you ditch the driver some modifications will have to be made to put in another tail switch. However there is a retaining ring here holding in the tail button so may not be too bad. As people have noted beam is ringy. I think this is mainly due to the shelf at the bottom of the reflector so some work here may help things out. Oh, yeah, you can check the battery condition if you unscrew the end cap and activate the light. Charging lights glow green when battery is good when the LED turns on. I’ll have to run it down to see where lights turn red.

Just go the hardware store and buy a couple of O rings for your 18650’s

Battery discharge test on my Opus 3100 at 1A was 5068mah so that’s in line with what’s stated on the battery.

Price is now 11.99

I impulse bought one as well. Is there any way to lighten the switch? Takes an insane amount of force to toggle it.

I got mine today as well, and another to give as a gift. The tail button does require a lot of force because of the stiff plastic housing. The actual mechanical switch inside the tail cap is easy to push.

Unscrew the outer cap just a quarter turn, maybe even less and the tension will lessen, will now be easy to press.
The cap covers the oring for a decent amount so unless you are planning on going underwater it should not be an issue with waterproofing.

Or, you could remove the rubber switch button and slightly trim the center nib.
By slight unscrew you can dial in the feel that you like, so that is probably the best option.
HTH

Since most of the tension resides in the tail button, unscrewing the cap a quarter turn or more does not reduce the amount of force needed. In fact you have to press harder to reach the mechanical switch inside. Trimming the center nib also is counterproductive, since it reduces the reach to the switch and doesn’t reduce the tension in the tail button.

Sorry, I see what you are saying now.
Have no idea why they would make it that stiff.
Have lots of replacement switch covers but none this wide.

Wellp, mine are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. but no notice that they were even shipped yet.

I’ll see whenever(!) I get mine, maybe puke out a coupla ideas.

I guess the upside is that accidental activation is unlikely…