Just an update on the KD 9x T6 driver issue.
BLF member, Dthrckt helped me out on this one and fully encapsulated a brand new KD driver he had on hand in addition to replacing the thin wires with 20g of the good stuff. The encapsulation insured heat wasn’t going to be a problem.
Using my 12g DMM leads and 2 x 26650 Trustfire 5000mAh cells fully charged, I was able to get 5.50a on HIGH mode. My previous KD driver, pushed out 10a+ under the same conditions. So that first KD driver was seriously screwy.
Now I decided to try it with 3 x 26650 Trustfires fully charged. The light came on long enough to get a tail reading of 7a, which I believe was on HIGH mode, I think. Then almost immediately it flashed off, as it did with the other driver and would not turn on. I installed the tail cap and pressing the switch, it would only flash momentarily and turn off, same as the last driver.
So it only appears to be useable with 2 batteries and 3 makes it crap out. Seems to remind me of that issue with the J18, 2 cells great, 3 cells the driver goes screwy. Who knows if this KD driver and the driver for the J18 are similar in some way, or maybe coincidence. Maybe it’s not related at all.
My stock driver on 3 cells pulls 4.24a and produces huge amounts of light. I’m not actually sure if this KD driver on 2 cells pulling 5.50a is brighter. Maybe someone can chime in with the answer to that one, but my eyes may have seen it dimmer.
Anyway, if anyone is considering improving their version of the 9x T6 lights out there, for one thing, stay away from this driver. I’d hate to see anyone in our forum toss money away on something that is very buggy.
In my opinion, the best thing you can do to your light, if you’re bold, upgrade the LED wires under the reflector to 22g or 20g, whichever will allow you to reinstall the reflector properly. I’m sure that’ll really cut down resistance and push more lumens OTF. As it stands, the Skyray 9x T6 stock driver, aside from the blinky modes, is really great even as is.
To Dthrckt, thank you once again for all your help and hard work helping me with the driver. It looked like a work of art