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…