I am very excited about your reporting: "...quick at start reading of 18020 lumens, and at about start 737 kcd (1717 meters)..."
I was hoping for 1732 meters, that being George Washingtions' birthyear, and the square root of three times 1,000; which is also twice 1,000 times the arcsine of 60 degrees.
Well, anyway: Such exciting combination of throw and lumen specs from this size and weight light! I am very pleasantly surprised that turn on throw spec is so high. This light is the first light that was announced with such specs that best, by a significant amount, X65 turn-on throw and lumen specs. For me, I hope it will be the second light in my collection to be in such an exclusive and distinguished class.
Thank you for your informative post, and thank you for contributing your time and effort and expertise in making this light happen.
Because this super exciting light hasn’t arrived in my mailbox yet, I decided to slightly increase the odds of me having this light in my hands while I’m still on earth, by simply ordering another one. Maybe if the first one is stuck in Poughkeepsie, or Ulaanbaatar, or Bayonne, or the Serengeti plain forever and ever, maybe the second one will come in.
Impressive numbers TomE. Love to see 30T values, for the hell of it.
I wonder if Simon of Convoy will make the same style flat top adapter for his 3x21700 light as he did with the 4x18A. This would likely work in this light as well.
Been think'n bout those trit slots - 12 of them in the SS bezel... $6 each at Neal's, $72 to populate them... :FACEPALM:Ooops! No, they aren't trit slots - too shallow!!
For modding:
probably remove the inner springs and add bypasses
need to check the LED wires, see if can bump down the AWG - wondering if it's a triple MCPCB or 3 singles
I think from past experience, the solder blobs on the batts do better than typical button tops
check the FET(s), maybe replace with a SIRA20DP(s)
There's some things done real nice:
using brass screws for least resistance (I thought I was the one originating that on Q8 mods? )
counter sunk holes for the screws - a nice touch, no burrs (did this manually on Q8's with an Exacto knife)
the SS bezel is awesome on such a big light!
as I thought, HL doesn't skimp on metal - that head weighs a ton between the SS bezel and probably an over weight reflector cut out of one big chunk of alum. Guess that's why they have dead space at the tail to counter balance the head - never saw a light batt tube extended for no reason
The light does have switch LED control by Anduril - 7 clicks does work!! I now see blue LED's. Turns out they were too low to notice. So 7 clicks can re-configure them, but I don't think 7H does anything. 7 clicks seems to toggle through: low-hi-blink-off
I am going to order another one of these. Because the one that I ordered September 7 and shipped October 8 has a 22 digit tracking number that points to nowhere. Nothing. Maybe my BG FM HK90 will eventually be delivered. I am going to order another one from someone who has experience with Neal. If I order two HK90, maybe that is twice the odds of me being able to see one of them in my hands while I am still on the hostile surface of this planet in this evil age.
I am not in a good mood, because two hours ago, 1638 Cedarwood allowed their oversized power breed to threateningly charge me, from one third of a block away, barking deeply the whole entire three seconds from one third of a block away. I made a conscious decision to just simply not defend myself, and it stopped one-thirtieth of a second away from me and barked up my nose. I told her to stop letting her dog out, and she cussed me out. That's how it is with evil people who hate their neighbor, in violation of Gods' second most important command.
I am wondering if current production is happening. It looks like I am going to be the last person on earth to receive his first HK90, but there is a possibility that I may be the first person on earth to have two HK90. The first one that I ordered on Sept 7 and that was shipped on Oct 14 is at unknown location, so I ordered another one. I was one of the first people on earth to receive the X65 in December 2016, and I was also one of the first people on earth to have two X65, one in each hand, shortly after that. What a glorious beam that was to see. Now, four years later, it is time for me to do the same thing with the HK90, God willing. But if not, then I will have to order another GT94, and see what that beam, one in each hand, looks like.
Anyone else out there still waiting on delivery of this light?
Thanks for doing and posting the teardown, that is like so way happening!
I’ve just tried, all I’ve ended up doing is melting the battery wrap lol. There’s a company in the US called IMR that sell modded 40T/30T. Just hope it isn’t a 3 week wait with a sh*t load of import duty.
Edit: ordered some 8mm x 1mm magnets locally, so hopefully they’ll work.
dab on plenty of flux to the batt top (I use a flux pen)
use a large surface iron tip - I use a large slanted head one with a big flat top
though it sounds scary, get a lot of solder on the tip of the iron, then hold it to the batt top for a few secs as flat as possible. You need to do this in order to heat it up enough to get a good bond. Results may not always be a perfect round blob but for me it's close enough
Usually I'll go with a 2nd tip full of solder to get it bumped up enough - doesn't need time, or as much time for bonding, not always necessary
IMRBatteries, Liionwholesale, and 18650batterystore are the 3 US batt retailers that are pretty good in pricing and quality. Liionwholesale probably has the best support, but haven't used the others, really.
I would caution against magnets in this type of application where there is very high current (they are extremely poor conductors) and a multi cell layout. What can happen is the magnets will shift from shear forces as the head is screwed on, and this could short the cells if they cut through or slide under the insulator ring/wrap.
Better to buy some low temp solder and use TomE’s method if BTs can’t be sourced.
I am glad that you got yours, for two reasons: 1. I want to see your review. 2. It means that mines may arrive later or sooner. I ordered two HK90: One September 7 from this group buy, and another one on October 26.
Back to 1. There are lots of reviews, but only a few reviews where the reviewer posts his throw and lumens measurements. :)
Gonna be a while before my batteries arrive from the US. I’m not gonna try soldering again as any slight lack of smoothness will scratch the hell out of the head contact and the solder could pop off too like a magnet could.
I got a set of 3 40T's and set of 30T's all soldered up - works great! Been doing this for 4+ years, least since the prototype days of the Q8: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/39069/3850
Never had problems or issues with any of those solder topped cells - still have most of them.
Hhhmmm, I should make a vid of it, but I'm not good with videos.
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