New Olight i1R 2 EOS

Comparing i1R 2 to i3E, I think I like the i3E better - it has nicer tint and I much prefer the flexibility awarded by an AAA cell (either alkaline or NiMH). I just wish it had a low mode, like the i1R 2 does.

The i3E came in more than one tint. My older one was on the ugly “angry blue” side while I estimate my desert tan gift light at just below 6000K. Good news is the pill can be easily taken out and the LED can be replaced by a better tinted Luxeon TX. Small footprint, takes some care, but works the same as with MCPCBs (the board can be placed on the heat plate right on the positive teminal button, all components stay in place). You can even do it without soldering iron. Takes very fine tweezers, a pan, and some leaded solder. The ideal emitter swap target for beginners [with good eyes].

Left: Old i3E/4000K, right: Desert tan i3E/approx. 6000K

Now I hope I’ll find a way to open the i1R2. German olightstore.de has the same GAW in a few days :slight_smile: :+1:

Yes, my i3E is the “free” desert tan one. These shots had camera white balance set to 5000K.
i3E on the left, i1R 2 on the right.

Thanks for the pictures! Yes, it needs a transplant. Terrible tint. Olight sells its gradmother for the last few advertized lumens.

I couldn’t figure out how this light went together. Played around with it a few minutes and managed to get the head off the battery tube.
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You’ll have to excuse my teflon grease, I greased it up and was about to reassemble before I decided to share what I found.
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It works by having three different contact points. The center stud, spring, and the tube. Off, Low, and High.
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The driver + led look like they are pressed in and may not be easy to get out. I didn’t try it but hopefully someone else may hate the tint way more than me. :wink:
I found that when the head is screwed all the way out exposing the usb port if you keep rotating the head there is one place in the rotation that allows the head to kick a little sideways and wiggling the head around in that spot the head came right off without a lot of force. It seems its almost a press fit joint where the tolerences are kept pretty tight but fit with enough force. The key for me was that one little spot rotating the head where it allowed the head to become sideways.

I also got the green, seems like they made a lot of green ones.

I got lucky and received a free i1R2 in the color I was hoping for, Red.
Yahoo!!!
It came with the Olight early order I placed on 8-10, for the BALDR mini bundle, that included the OD Green i5T.
I noticed the OD Green i5T has a Neutral tint, as compared to my Copper i5T, and my all Black i5T, which have a CW tint.

An Amazon two star review, regarding the OD Green i5T, mentioned it as having a “warm” tint, and returned it for that reason. Anyone else have the ability to confirm there is a difference in tints?

I actually prefer the Neutral tint, and I wish there was an easy way to swap it into the Copper i5T, without damaging them.

I have both the original and the successor. Charging usually takes about 1 to 1.5 hours from low energy state. There are times when I don’t activate it for over a month. I’m charging like once every 6 months. Because of this infrequent cycle, I’m expecting the battery should have a considerably long life.

As for battery replacement… this light is so cheap, there’s really no point. It’s pretty much “disposable.” But I do appreciate the curiosity… you know, that time when in a pinch where you’re on very limited resources and would find use in replacing the battery.

@xevious Replacing the battery is not just about cost, but also not being wasteful with the rest of a useful device.

Right you are! I was trying to unscrew, but at that fully opened and somewhat sideways position, pulling the head off works. Although, I did not disassemble further than what is shown in your pic. Still not sure how easy it would be to replace the battery, but I don’t feel like killing it to find out.

I still don’t quite understand how the (three?) contacts and modes work though.

Looks like the spring makes permanent contact, next the button, last the battery tube.

In the most simple case, button and body connect to the driver with resistors, so both are parallel. Spring would be plus, the others minus.

FYI for Australian customers, on their website Olight is currently offering the i1R 2 EOS “for free” by sharing via fb or email and logging in/register - Offer Available at 8pm 24th-midnight 28th Aug(AEST). Just have to pay postage :slight_smile:

Hmmm. I currently have a Nitecore tube for my keychain. I’m guessing this will be a nice upgrade, but?

Nitecore weighs 9.6g with battery. Olite 13g. How noticeable will that difference in weight be in the pocket?

s. was alerted of this Olite deal via the OzBargain website… and now I’m on the BudgetLF… hmmm………

@Unheard The spring definitely always makes contact. It looks to me like the threads on both the body and head are unanodized, so I would think they are always in contact too when not completely unscrewed.

High mode is activated before “bottoming out”, i.e. it can still be twisted 2/3 of a turn after turning on High. Since the button does not seem to have any play, the threads of the body and head might indeed be responsible for High, but I don’t get it yet.

@redmars I suspect the smaller dimensions will be more noticeable than the weight difference. It would be impressive to be able to sense a 3.4g difference in the pocket. :smiley:

That’s about the same as what I would guess. I dont think the battery is a cyclinder, probably a small lipo pack formed around the tube. That’s probably what allows the spring to be positive and not the center pin.

I’m using Nitecore Tube on my keychain as well. I like that the Tube is flatter than i1R 2, weight difference aside. The i1R 2 feels bulkier, even though it’s shorter.

The package arrived today. It was also that minty green! I’d bet that not many people wanted that color, so they are overloaded with those in stock.

True, although considering the cost saved by NOT making it user serviceable for battery replacement makes it a good bit cheaper. So inexpensive for them to make that they can periodically offer them for free as an Olight “product marketing” tool.

:+1:

The only thing stopping me is this: (see below link for i1r 2 dissasembly)

So not only can I break it once but then a second time since LED is probably on driver board.

Done it before no problem but then this weird LED is probably one with no thermal pad then I’m screwed. Surely its E21A footprint right? Lol

Someone on r/flashlight disassembled the light down to the emitter/driver board: Reddit - Dive into anything

It looks similar in size to an E21A or E17A, someone more skilled than me needs to try lol

Interesting, wish he showed if there were components on underside of that board and at least measured something.

It is a Luxeon TX, right? That LED has a thermal pad.

Edit: On the original i1R, it looks like you’d need to rip off gasket and polarity protection, then reflow over a candle. Optimal position can be found with a scratch MCPCB and an IR-meter. Was easier with the i3E since it had a button contact. But if that assembly is press fit, all hope is lost for me. I’d need two lights to do such a mod. One to drill out the driver, keeping the shell intact, and one to nibble away the shell, having an intact driver.