I can only go by my experience. I have no experience in modding. However, I do have almost Eight years experience with mostly modded lights and running them full bore until too hot to hold. I am talking thousands of miles of nightly hikes with my buddy. Never once did any of those malfunctions happen to me. Twice LED’S fried. That was basically right out of the box and caused by faulty workmanship. Consensus was lack of thermal paste and/or bad solder joints.
The X65 MINI is set at 50C/140F. Confirmed by Acebeam through email. The Thrunite TN42 is set at 80C/176F! :+1: Never once in Two years did that TN42 ever step down, at least from a visual point of view. Handle got too hot sometimes in the summer and I turned it down. I wish ALL thermal step downs were like theirs. This thread would not exist if that was the case.
Tonight it was about 50F. The first turbo run lasted 1m 45 sec.I turned it off for about 40 seconds. Back on and turbo lasted about 30 seconds. :rage: It is not even hot out yet. To me, that is not enjoyable.
Not every one needs or likes max output like me. I understand that. It is my preference.
So for me, those risks you pointed out are worth it. So far so good.
P.S. I heard a couple modders say that the main reason for the step down is to protect the consumer from getting burned. The electronics can take a hell of a lot more heat than 140F[X65] or the 176F[TN42].
From the photo here, the driver seems to be fastened with security Torx screws:
Can you open it and take take a photo? If the temperature is monitored by an NTC as previously mentioned, it can be replaced with a resistor and it’ll report constant temperature regardless of the actual value.
I think he wants someone to contact him off the back of the thread - to carry out the work for him, preferably in the USA and doesn’t charge too much.
The problem is around the driver - he doesn’t want to mess with it at all, not to even look (understandable btw lol) therein is the problem.
People can’t help if he wont take out those screws to let them look - rock and hard place.
The only option is to send it to a modder, there are plenty on here - and let them/pay them to do all the work involved.
I think you are trying to cut out some of the cost by ‘choosing’ parts manually/recommended beforehand and letting someone else do the manual work? - but it doesn’t always work like that. :) what someone else might suggest may not work correctly when chosen modder does the job I believe you had problems like that on the last mod someone did? (if memory serves me correct) then it never worked.
Bottom line is if you want a modded light that has some sort of warranty after it’s been messed with, then you’ll have to pay the going rate, which isn’t cheap as you probably know.
I would start by pming some of the known modders in the USA. Tell them what you want, and let them do the parts ordering etc so they know it will all work together properly.
I expect you’ll have to join a queue as most are usually busy and won’t be ‘looking’ for work on here as such.
Good luck, I know it’s frustrating when electronics etc aren’t your forte! (same as me) but I would suggest ‘trying’ on some cheap stuff , maybe?
Get yourself a cheap s2, a driver, the led’s ssts cheap maybe a triple and a lighted switch maybe and just go for it! worst ur gonna do is fry the driver ($5) or the led ($5) but more importantly you’ll gain experience.
Maybe double the parts order in case you mess up!
Good luck!
I get it. Dude doesn’t want to mod and that’s fine.
I’ve thought real hard about this kind of thing. If I wanted to do modding services. Ignoring the fact that I’m probably not good enough to make any money in the first place</imposter syndrome>, it comes with some problems.
I already ran into it when I was younger and I replaced cell phone screens. Friends come along… hey can you fix my phone for cheap? Well, yes, kind of… But every time you open a phone, there’s a chance you break something else. For a business, that’s easy. You charge extra on everything to offset the cost of the whatever % that you break something (and yes sometimes it’s the entire phone). But as an individual, that sucks! Similar problems with flashlights.
And then there’s warranty. I build someone a light, and something happens. Was it a hot-rod - did they burn something? Did a battery explode? Is it just broken and they want it fixed for free?
So I only do mods/builds for close personal friends. Buddies that “get it” - they know this is a hobby, not a business. And I tell them: look, if something breaks, I can probably fix it. If it’s stuff I have on hand I probably won’t even care, but if I have to order parts I gotta charge you my cost. Labor’s free because honestly it’s my hobby and I enjoy it. But because there’s a trust there, a good friendship outside of the flashlight interaction, I don’t have someone bugging me with deadlines, I don’t have someone being entitled to some certain level of service.
As a result, I’ve also gotten good at recommending lights. Because somebody has a Maglite or a Streamlight or a Coast, and they want “better” or “cheaper but better” or something. So I figure out their needs and outline some options and explain the differences, and they usually end up pretty dang happy. And then I’m also not building a light that I have to then support, that has expectations directly resting on me, etc.
Anyway, I get why modding services are pricey. They should be - there’s a lot going on there. Vinh/Skylumen has built a pretty cool business out of it, and he has my respect for it. He’s out of my price range, but I don’t think he’s wrong to be. I don’t think it’s fair to point to any of his lights and say it’s just an emitter swap or a driver swap, that’s $15 of parts and he’s charging $XX(X) for that, that’s unfair. The dude provides warranties, and customer service, and a website and a business that have operating expenses, and he may even be at the point where that business is how he eats every day.
Anyway, to Baron:
I could probably do the mod. I could even do it cheap (meaning basically free labor). But it would probably take me months, assuming I can find a suitable driver (probably from Lexel). And I wouldn’t be able to provide a warranty.
Worth noting: X65 Mini is XHP35 Hi (all of which are 12V). 2S2P carrier > boost driver, and I’m sure a max current set to not damage the 35 HIs. As I recall, they’re prone to frying, you probably don’t want them pushed past somewhere in the 2 to 2.5A range (just going from memory). So FETs are completely out. Also, on-board charging with indicator, which there’s no way I’d be able to keep if I modded it. So yeah, best hope is that there’s a NTC that can be replaced with a resistor. That would be a super easy mod!
Hmm, I’m rambling too much this morning. Must need more coffee…
Yeh, waaaaay back, I used to put together bespoke lights for people. Choose the emitter, driver/UI, host, etc., and I’d throw it together. That usually meant (as an example) buying a complete ’501, LED, driver, and cell, gutting the light and swapping in the new LED and driver (plus soldering the “star” for which modes were wanted), putting it all together, testing it extensively, then selling the complete package, literally at-cost for parts, nothing for labor (or tools, or “carrying stock” on LEDs, drivers, etc.).
Even itemising the damned thing, it’s 30-40bux just for the new light and parts. And it can be a nice WW with 10%/100% UI, exactly as asked for. Then a while later, the person “comparison-shops” and sees a base light for maybe 25bux, and starts questioning “Why’d I get charged so much?” as if he’s been cheated. Crappy Angry Blue light with annoying HMLstrobe UI, sure, buy that for 25bux and leemee lone about “a nice light like you got”.
And if course it gets rolled down the driveway, dropped down a toilet, beat to Hell in general, and if the front glass cracks after being dropped the 34th time, “What?, no warranty?”.
Not true. Dale did a great job on my My HT70.The LED can not take high current. I asked him for this light but he has not been online for 2 weeks. I hope he is ok.
Yeah, I reckon Baron. You will end up happier in the long run, even if it costs a little more at first.
I’ll give you an example of when it goes wrong from the ‘modders’ end lol.
I used to regularly flash roms etc on my phone, I always have Samsung’s, tablets too. I know them like the back of my hand. Never had an issue bricking etc. I have even replaced screens, but never again…
Anyway, my mate had a few month old nvidia gaming tablet, he used it for his drone. The software on his tablet updated, but the drones didn’t and he could no longer fly.
After badgering me for some days, despite my very stern warning and against my better judgement I tried…… it bricked.
My friend some how could not believe it could happen, despite me warning him over and over. ‘Surely there’s something you can do he’ says ’ I paid £200 for that’ - like it was my fault.
Imagine how bad I felt, no there is nothing I can do - it is broken. Unbelievably Amazon exchanged it with 1 month left out of 12 without a check!
Now he was a life long friend, still is - but he went quiet after that for some months, I felt blamed for his basically ‘tightness’ - he wouldn’t pay a shop to do it as it was £80, he offered, and gave me nothing,
I say that, he did make me feel really bad for some time.
I am not btw saying you are tight, I am saying though I think you’ve made the better choice of going to an expert - you WILL be happier in the end!
Remember to show us all though won’t you!
Sorry for the crossed wires, I did say ‘believe’ ie, I wasn’t certain - I remember you trying to sell it, and said you’d had it back and it started to smell burnt?
I’m not going to go back through, but I think it was something similar lol!
Didn’t mean to offend or anything.
ive done the exactly thing nokia 8210 leds,screens etc
repaired and installed firmwares onto phones
i rememeber one time i tryied to install a firmware on a samsung galaxy note from a friend, he showed me the firmware from xda devs forum, he said the custom firmware was right and yet had a slightly different bootloader, flashed the firmware, it all booted up and low and behold , the imei serial number got fried andchanged itself to all zeros. so now hes got a bricked phone, and asked me what i did. i explained the firmware wasnt the right one, it was something for a chinese varient of the phone and must of been renamed. even after it booted up and everything looked good, there was no network coverage and no serial number…… in the end i just had to pay 80 euros for the phone to be connected to a server and after 1 hour the guys put the same serial number and original bootloader on the phone.it couldnt be done any other way
i no longer speak to this friend … same boat as you pal
i could do a lot of things, but i rather do them for myself and friends, i wont mod a torch, but ill sella modded torch. my labour costs next to nothing as its a learning curve. but i wont put a new led or driver on a torch for some one , as like you said, drivers get fried, leds get friend, things go wrong, things that go wrong cost !
i hope ou get it done …. fustrating buying a torch and it not being exactly how you want it. but i think your best route would be take out the thermal ressitor, or install a thermal resistor so it thinks its always 39oC… you can always turn it down once it gets to hot
but never leave it unattended!!! it will burn a hole in the sky!
Yep, he’s the one badgering you, won’t take warnings to heart, and then when the worst happens, it’s “your” fault.
Good thing you took no cash for the “service”, else you could’ve very well been on the hook for full freight. It could be seen as creating a “bailment”, where you need to give back the item in at least as good a condition as when you got it, unless…
Having watched enough of those daytime court-shows, I’d strongly suggest you’d write up a contract of sorts, explicitly warning about the dangers, warning against having a “non-professional” like you attempting it, specifically recommending it be taken to a professional instead, and that you’re only attempting (not guaranteeing!!!) to perform the service at the owner’s risk and not yours.
That’s to a friend, to a neighbor, to a cow-orker, to a mother, to a brother. Otherwise, “You broke my tablet! I want a new one!”, and if it ends up in court, you might very well lose. (“I warned him!”, “He did not!”, etc.)
To a “trusted modder” on BLF, ie, more of a stranger, you make sure to make it ironclad. Even something stoopit like the package getting lost in transit… who pays? Who’s expected to chase down the carrier, if insurance is even bought?
Same dealy, you need to get everything in a contract (even if no bux changes hands, just for liability).
Everyone’s happy when things go right, but it’s that 1% or whenever that things go wrong where you can get screwed trying to do someone a favor.
The only time I’d even attempt any “repair” is if the person would outright give me a light, “Hey, it’s garbage, useless, I don’t want it, but if you can fix it, great.”, then I could do anything/everything I wanted trying to fix it, and if successful (or even if not, depending what’s agreed upon), send it back. Wanna pay me for the time/trouble, great, else just pay postage.
It’s waaaaaay too easy for a fragile inductor to crack, or trying to lefty-loosey a retaining ring when it’s lefty-tighty instead, or, well, anything. The last thing you want is to face accusations of “You broke my light!!!”. And the pricier the item, the more imperative that becomes.
he wants someone to contact him off the back of the thread - to carry out the work for him, preferably in the USA and doesn’t charge too much.
