Mateminco MT01 (EA01) tear down, SST-40 5000K option

Tom, thank you! I’ve been waiting a while for them to get you your light! Lol Jk.

Thank you so much for the tear down, I still haven’t taken mine apart yet? But will be this weekend. I’m thinking about dropping the CULPM1 I have on 20mm mcpcb in here just to see what happens. I have it in an astrolux c8 right now and it’s pretty impressive considering I’ve changed nothing else about the $18 C8.

The tricky part is the 3 holes in the MCPCB for the optics. To do it right, you'd have to drill the holes precisely enough to fit well and keep the LED centered.

So to change to a 3535 MCPCB, or 4040 MCPCB for the Boost HX, those drilled holes are necessary. If you don't drill, then you could sand/file down the optic legs and hope you get it centered well, but then there's no going back.

So I do some woodworking, and have experience making jigs, etc to make life easier. My thought on drilling the holes precisely (let me know what you think) - take out the stock mcpcb and use a dab of superglue (I have good ones) to attach my new mcpcb to the original mcpcb , back to back (or bare copper to copper. Then with them securely attached, use a drill Bit in the drill press the same exact size as the holes on the original mcpcb, ie the same size as the legs, to go through the existing holes to the new mcpcb with no holes. As long as I glue them up in the exact right orientation I’m assuming all will be well. Then pop them apart with some heat or a flat head, and sand the bare copper smooth to remove the super glue residue. Thoughts? I feel it would work .

Wow, very cool! Love seeing these tear-downs.

Awesome work as always mate.

“Также обратите внимание на глупое вещество типа замазки / глины, закрывающее отверстие переключателя и провода переключателя. Предполагается, что это либо для того, чтобы замаскировать светодиодный свет переключателя, либо удерживать провода на их месте, либо и то, и другое. ”

Более того, это можно считать эксклюзивной деталью каждой лампы, защищенной от подделки личным отпечатком пальца мастера … :smiley:

I think this is good... Thanx

Wow, so the TIR is reflector, optic, and lens all in one?

All makes sense to align the holes, but you will probably be drilling through a LED+ or LED- trace in at least one, maybe all (the stock MCPCB is designed for the holes, so the traces go around them). As long as you don't break the trace, should be fine, but it's possible you could ground out a trace to the ground of the MCPCB at the edge of a drilled hole. Now I have a lot of experience with these things because in quite a few mods, I've had to dremel or file a MCPCB down into the traces. I "think" I encountered this grounding problem and to fix it, I had to file or dremel the edge at about 45 degress so the trace is backed off from the edge. There's only a very thin layer separating the trace from the ground of the MCPCB.

Yes, that's all true, just like triple or quad optics, a single LED optic is the same idea. Other lights like the FireFlies E01 uses a similar optic, but may be a different design type.

However this light has a glass lens separate as shown, but doesn't look AR treated. Of course the glass lens is not necessary for the optics, actually it only reduces output probably just a couple percent, but in general it's considered a good design to use one because the glass protects the plastic of the TIR optics from getting scratched.

Ok, thank you for this info. I didn’t even think of the traces on the mcpcb… mostly, because I don’t even really know what the traces are… are they like slight grooves in the mcpcb under the sticker? Or are they wire? Sorry for the stupid question, I have often wondered how those pathways work on the mcpcb. Also- when you say you Dremel or file the edges at a 45, do you mean the holes for the tir legs? Or are you referring to when you need to redefine the traces’ pathway you file that at a 45 degree angle ?(I don’t know if redefining the traces’ pathway is a thing, or that you even implied that. Sorry I’m trying to keep up. I thought this was simpler lol).

Wish I knew all the tech jargon off the top of my head...

The traces can be seen - look at the MCPCB carefully, usually at an angle you will see them - usually bumped up, connecting the solder pads to the LED + and -. I got some pics that show them well. Some MCPCB's have thin lines, some are a fat area fill type. It's copper fill, covered over, but under that copper is a very thin insulating non-conductive layer, then the copper base is the metal core (MCPCB = Metal Core Printed Circuit Board). If you have an old MCPCB around, you should try sanding them down and you will see the layers exposed as you sand more and more off.

Yes - the holes you drill for the legs. The edges of the holes should be filed/sanded (angled, ~45 degs) only if you have a ground short. Hopefully the holes won't completely cut off a trace -- I assume they won't, so no need to redefine the pathway.

Ok, wow that is useful info, thanks! I defitnely have a couple old beat up mcpcbs I am going to sand and check out. And look for these traces. Will help me better understand what I’m dealing with. Also, it will help me map out how I am going to drill these holes. Because I assume when I have a mcpcb (like many of my convoy mcpcbs I order) that has multiple + and - pads that they all have their own traces. I also assume (a lot of assuming, I know) that as long as I don’t drill through the traces that lead to the pads I’m soldering my leads to, it won’t creat a potential short? Or does breaking the trace on any of the multiple + or - pads pathways interfere with all of the pads? I hope that question makes sense…

Google mcpcb images for some good pictures.

Putty… that’s a new one on me. Never seen that used in a flashlight before.

Kinda reminds me of the Mateminco MT07 (Astrolux MF01 Mini) with a single LED and big optic.

Great Job once again Tom. Thanks.

Nice review Tom… with 1700-2000 OTF, FET-DD, healthy 40T, spring-less B+ contact it’s driving the SST40 pretty hard correct?

How robust is the SST40 in this scenario? Does the driver aggressively step down the current at some point?
Is there any PWM in low modes?

thanks!!

I think so. Therefore, to the detriment of my perfectionism, I bought a medium-current element for this flashlight …

Oh sorry, didn't list the amps. OP updated with measured amps.

On a clamp meter with tailcap removed, measured 9.15 amps. 9 to 9.5 is about the max of an SST-40. Most of my single LED SST-40's are doing in this range on a topped off good cell and haven't had problems. I measured lumens and throw with the tailcap on, so judging by the stock springs (not so good, though doubled up), I'm sure it dropped amps somewhat, maybe down to 8.5 - 8.9 amps or so. I won't hesitate to pull the inner spring and add a 20 AWG bypass.

For the stepdown, depends on what you configure but we are not talking insane amps here, least for today's standards :FACEPALM: . I got smaller triple XHP50.2 lights that pull 30 amps. It's Anduril, so you get the standard Anduril temp regulation. Also the SST-40 is way cooler than the XHP50.2 version.

For PWM, it's Anduril, so PWM's are high frequency through the range (think ~15K), but not sure what TK does at very low, like moon - might be lower PWM, not sure.

It's weird for sure. Found the same stuff in the EA01, just received.

I did some LEGOing with the MF01 Mini in the OP pics. Another single LED TIR light is the FireFlies E01 - I got one, but don't think I ever opened it.