Okay - tried a rubber jar top opener - big mistake, scratched up the end because the pliers apparently went right through it. Then (stupid me) I searched for a leather glove and using that, got it open without further damage. Soon as I took off the top, noticed a rattle - the pill was loose in there, not tight at all. So, I cleaned up threads, jammed in some heavy duty aluminum foil in gaps by the aluminum block around the reflector, wrapped the battery in same heavy aluminum foil (battery was a little loose), used Nyogel 760G on all the threads including the pill, tightened up everything real well -- now the light is working well. I can feel the heat going down the body now where previously it stayed more at the head.
It still gets really warm though quickly on high. Just tried it for 3 mins and it's hotter than my cheap Sipik 73 (18650 zoom, good brightness) and compared to the Tank E09 running a 10440, it's about the same in heat, same time.
Need to get my hands on some copper foil and beef this up more - looks like more room for improvements.
After applying quite some force without any other success than adding some small scratches to the bezel, I peeled out the o-ring with some very fine tweezers and heated the head with a lighter, the glue softened and with little force the bezel came off.
I added an 8th AMC7135 and reprogrammed the driver with my custom firmware. I’m just too pampered by my firmwares to go with a normal one
After 10 min on high, tailstanding in 25°C ambient temperature, the case temp was 68°C (bad for the batteries!) and the LED temp was 117°C (according to an IR camera).
I used it at work today…Over all I’m still impressed… It may replace my Quark…
Longest duration I used it was on medium for 10 min and it does get warm. Its what I expect for the size… On high you can feel its warmth at the head after 5 seconds. I noticed it often today……my Xeno warms up similarly.
I would not use this as a bike light, but for my specific day to day work use it was really nice. I honestly enjoyed it and experienced a bit of that ‘wow’ factor.
It fits. 20mm TIR lens that is with room to spare. I don't have anything to measure right now but I'd say its the same size as the stock reflector. The inside lip of the bezel helps center the TIR lens with the stock glass lens removed.
Memory on these drivers should settle about 2 sec after you chose the desired mode. No memory.. yeah, if you build it yourself (empty host from CNQG, any emitter and a KD V2 driver).
I just switched the driver to a KD v2, 3.05A driver. Low - Med - High with memory. I'm using the 2.5A driver that came with it to power another light. It was very easy and quick 10min job. I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me but it looks considerably brighter. Might be that it was dark outside...