What did you mod today?

Today I finished my Sofirn SP35 quad build. I used SST-20 FA3 leds and Carclo quad narrow optics.

It needed spacer, so I made one from copper bar.

I wanted to use the original buck driver. I measured with clamp meter what current the original driver gives to led. Only 5A, so no wonder that in reviews it hasn’t met the 2000 lumens that Sofirn gives as a output.

It used 2 20mOhm sense resistors. I halved that value to 2 10mOhm ones. Something else in driver must be restricting component, because it only added 50% more output.

Hardest part of the build was removing the driver and the switch. Driver was glued and switch is press fitted. I punched it out from chargers hole Esterafter the driver was removed.



So here it is. Another flashlight for which I need to invent some use case. :smiley:

Great you helped out. And this is not just a repair, but an upgrade.

Thanks for the driver details and good work with the mod. Sounds like the driver is beyond it’s limit. Sounds like an R056 on top of the two stock R020s would be about as much as I’d push it.

Good luck finding a home for it. 21700 tube lights, side switches especially, are a hard sell honestly for me. YMMV.

Yeah, I thought might as well try what it could deliver. Now I know that it’s 7A. I might adjust it to that range someday.

Sillen kindly offered to give me a new black WT3M in exchange for swapping the FWAA emitters and to fix the button LEDs in a clear WT3M. WildTrail provided the black WT3M as a replacement due to the faulty button LED in the clear WT3M.

The button LEDs were ok individually but wires for the 3-pin switch PCB were crushed. Continuity was ok. I didn’t know what the root cause was at that time, so I swapped the newer driver and 5-pin switch PCB into the clear WT3M. It has a red charging LED on the switch PCB instead of hidden away on the driver. It seemed like the safest way to fix it (desolder two wires from the MCPCB and swap). That said, the wires need to be neat to avoid shorting on the reflector.

I then put the prototype driver and switch PCB into the black WT3M after replacing all of the wires. It’s working now too. It’s not exactly a cheap flashlight. Much appreciated! :slight_smile:

I ended up with an Amutorch E4 in a trade, and I love the weird little host but the insides needed some upgrades. I reflowed four sw45ks and replaced the stock driver with a 20 mm 6A Convoy 12-group programmable. Much better.

The only thing is, the Amutorch driver was held in by tiny screws, and there’s no room for drilling matching holes in the Convoy driver. So right now it’s just floating in there, held in by the battery. The prospect of soldering it to the host, essentially a giant brass heatsink, doesn’t appeal to me. Any other ideas for keeping it in place?

Does the body tube clamp down on the perimeter of the driver directly? If so, using a low strength silicone potting compound/epoxy/adhesive could work. I wonder what product the chinese manufacturers use, it’s a light grey/ white and peels off with your fingernail, but is enough to hold the driver in place during a battery swap

Yeah, there’s a ring around the outside of the shelf that the driver sits on, with a small space underneath for wires. Then the body tube holds that in, along with the battery and spring.

Keeping the driver from twisting is enough for me, it’s held in well enough once assembled. I wonder what they use…

Today I “modded” an old bunkerlamp to use on the balcony of our appartment. Not really modding, I cleaned it, polished the aluminium refector, adjusted the rubber glass seal, added new wiring plus a rubber ring to seal the wire entrance hole, drilled a hole in the window frame for the neoprene wire to go into the house (the window is under a broad overhang so the hole will not rot, still I sealed the inside with outdoor paint), and screwed the lamp to the wooden frame that covers one side of the balcony.

The lamp is branded “Industria Rotterdam” which is pretty cool because here in the Netherlands there has never been very much “make-industry”, a lamp like this would typically have been made in France or Germany.

For fun I fitted an old russian E27 neon glow bulb, bought a few years ago on ebay from I think it was an Ukrainian seller, cool stuff and very cosy but not really enough light to illuminate even a small balcony. When spring comes and the balcony gets used again I will use a Philips Warm Glow >90 CRI lamp that dims from 2700K down to 2200K.

It is nice to re-use something that might be tossed out by some folks, especially when it has a local or at least national connection that may not be commonly found.

I have refurbished and re-used things that were tossed by someone else.
Not sure if I should admit to taking someone else’s trash.
When I was a kid many of my toys were hand-me-downs from cousins.

35 years, or so, ago I found a steel American Flyer wagon that was discarded. I rescued it, repainted as it was rusty as could be, installed new wheels, and made a gift of it to our son. That wagon is still in service at another home with another youngster. Toe wagons are still sold today but are no longer made in Chicago.

I love to restore stuff, especially old furniture, it is usually built better and with more detail and attention than modern things. While doing that I am not afraid to insult history a bit by altering a few things here and there to suit my modern taste and needs.

I was tempted to paint the aluminium frame of this bunkerlamp a different colour, it is light grey and the paint is a bit damaged here and there, but decided to keep it original this time.

Super cool djozz. Appreciation for the details and care put into that piece of history! :beer:

[quote=djozz]
Today I “modded” an old bunkerlamp to use on the balcony of our appartment. Not really modding, I cleaned it, polished the aluminium refector, adjusted the rubber glass seal, added new wiring plus a rubber ring to seal the wire entrance hole, drilled a hole in the window frame for the neoprene wire to go into the house (the window is under a broad overhang so the hole will not rot, still I sealed the inside with outdoor paint), and screwed the lamp to the wooden frame that covers one side of the balcony.

The lamp is branded “Industria Rotterdam” which is pretty cool because here in the Netherlands there has never been very much “make-industry”, a lamp like this would typically have been made in France or Germany.

For fun I fitted an old russian E27 neon glow bulb, bought a few years ago on ebay from I think it was an Ukrainian seller, cool stuff and very cosy but not really enough light to illuminate even a small balcony. When spring comes and the balcony gets used again I will use a Philips Warm Glow >90 CRI lamp that dims from 2700K down to 2200K.

Cool! Almost excactly like the cover of the first book in Finnish translation of Hugh Howeys Silo-series. Silo Book 1.

The SST20 in my sofirn C01s died and I replaced it with a Samsung LH351D 3500K. Have no experience with reflow soldering so I bought the version with a 10mm MCPCB. The PCB is thicker than the original though, so I can’t screw the top on fully. Any ideas on how to shorten the reflector so it all fits? Also lost the pocket clip, wondering if there’s a way to make a new one without power tools

You can literally reflow with a tealight candle :slight_smile: (that’s what I do, success rate is quite good : I failed one by overheating in about 10 reflows using that technique)

Were you able to test the emitter with a multimeter or cell or something to be sure it was the problem? Kind of rare for emitters to die in normal use (usually they only die from physical damage or when really pushing the amps up high for testing or in a hotrod light). I wouldn’t try to shorten the reflector, personally, but with some care you could do that by hand with a finer double-cut file, or sandpaper on a flat surface and time. If you have access to some sort of belt or disc sander that would be easiest. The reflective coatings on reflectors are extremely delicate, though, so you want to avoid all grit and dust getting on there if possible. It would be slightly more work but probably better to sand the bottom of the mcpcb instead, or buy one that is the same thickness as the stock one. If you do a search here or look at the stickied threads, there’s some great info on reflowing your own emitters - there’s a learning curve but it’s pretty simple really and can be done for very low or no cost depending on what you might already have at hand.

Also, don’t forget that Sofirn is pretty great about warranty. They’ll send out drivers or whole new lights (usually) if you contact them. Easier to deal with than many other manufacturers. They sell clips, too, and many other sellers do as well. If you had a clip that was the same/close to the same diameter but the ears were too wide, those can be filed down to suit, just want to smooth it all up nicely when the dimensions are where you want them to be so as not to gouge the anodizing on the body.

Thanks for the detailed response! My flashlight wouldn’t light up but it would get hot so I assumed the emitter was the problem. I did initially test the sst20 while it was still soldered on but it wouldn’t light. Weirdly enough after I desoldered it, it lit up on testing with the multimeter. Regardless, it’s working now with the lh351d.
Ah, I didn’t know sofirn would replace a faulty light, will definitely check that out. The original sofirn pocket clip is a little too malleable and not springy enough for my liking so I’ll see if there are any for other AAA lights i can use

Good deal, glad you’re back in action, and you’re welcome! Normal for emitters not to light up with a multimeter while still wired to the driver/host circuit…just not enough juice from most multimeter diode test functions (some can do a good 3v or a little more, but if the circuit is actually complete it will lose enough voltage not to work…but with a bare disconnected emitter all is well even if the meter can only put out 2v for the test). With warranty for Sofirn, they kind of expect you to go through the retailer first (as is the Chinese business custom, opposite of what most of us are used to), and if that can’t be done then Sofirn will usually take care of you. They have different reps for different outlets but messaging them on Aliexpress has worked for me…can also ask to purchase various parts that way and they are super accommodating. Many other companies are not nearly so agreeable or reachable.

Not sure about a good clip for that size. The only small one I have is on an Ultratac K18 AAA and it’s mediocre…plus I think Ultratac may have gone under. If you post a separate thread about that I’ll bet someone here has some good solutions or ideas. If you haven’t already, have a browse on the Kaidomain site to see if they might have anything…or possibly Fasttech.

Nicely done. What voltage is the driver running at? 6V or 12V?

I did some sharpening and color inversion of the image and it kinda looks like it’s a 12V. The traces from the solder pads go to opposing corners of the emitters split pads.