I cut the bolt down just after posting the pics yesterday and im not worried about holding it in place just yet. I want to get that contact the right size first. I will get rid of the anodizing on the tail and cap today too. Should be done today!!
Oh I went on fleabay and did a “make me an offer” on the Xrar D35. I offered him 425 for 2 big sets and he came back with 650 lol
650 for 2 cheap Chinese lights lol. Ah well dont hurt to ask.
Nice job on the bolt and nice try on the offer. Don’t give in.
I agree with you, that is WAY too much money for an internet purchase from a vendor overseas. These vendors need to realize they will never move much volume at those prices given the HUGE risk buyers are taking buying from some anonymous vendor in China. Case in point with our Trustfire TuRD’s.
Trustfire owes you AT LEAST one free light and they probably owe me that plus a royalty gratis for my fixes – LOL.
It looks like you’ve done a good job of getting at least one of your TR-DF003’s back on the road with my mods.
Is your other one really completely shot?
Can you team the rescued one with something reliable like this?
I’ve got one with a lens o-ring system I modded that I would now swear-by to 200 FSW, I LOVE the magnetic switching and amazingly, the HIGH mode feels like an honest 1000lm (not the 1600 claimed). It’s yours with batteries and a charger as modded for $55 if you want it. If you promised not to mess with the lens bezel, I’d even put a 30-day warranty on it and you’d probably have it in four business days. I’ve been seriously impressed with its performance and run-time. For a single 18650 T6, it just keeps running and running and it’s T6 has got a beam from heaven and it is SOOO compact and has plenty of low modes if you want to conserve battery until you’re ready to shoot.
The UK Light Cannon HID still retails at $300 each and during the holidays, I saw the Light Cannon eLED drop to $150 during a whopping sale event. At 800+ lumens, the eLED is nearly twice as bright as the HID and about half as bright as our TR-DF003 (when in HIGH and working.) I just think you can get so much more lumen these days with much smaller lights and I’ve never been a big fan of the eLED’s heat sink poking through the lens like that.
The D35 probably has the same output as the TuRD and the X-BEAM might be slightly brighter from what I’ve read about the U2’s. I prefer the X-BEAM only by design since it uses 26650’s and U2 emitters. But neither is an Underwater Kinetics product with the UK lifetime warranty, neither is made in the USA and neither is sold from a US vendor so I will need to see MUCH lower pricing on those before I’m willing to risk ending up with another TuRD.
UK is great, I’ve owned six of their models over the years and only once did I have a Light Cannon flood. I sent it too them with a letter and they sent it back with all new internals. What’s remarkable about every UK light I’ve owned, is that the batteries are loaded through the head using a SINGLE O-ring seal and when used properly, they very rarely flood. I’ve owned 2 Q40’s, 2 C8’s and 2 Cannon HID’s. People love them and for that reason I’ve been able sell every one of them except my last remaining HID Cannon (which I still Love).
I even considered mounting this triple CREE head from the TuRD into a customized UK C8 Sunlight chassis but I was too concerned about mounting that much heat potential into a plastic light housing because I would have powered it with the UK 12V rechargeable pack; too dangerous for my taste.
Another SAFE option is the TUSA TUL-1000 but at nearly $600, I must admit I’d rather have 2 D35’s or three X-BEAMS. Why? Because if you leave the TUSA TUL-1000 on high, your run-time is pretty short. They claim 60-minutes but it’s not holding full output for that much time. But if you leave it on a low mode until you’re ready to record, then that high setting is FANTASTIC even though it’s only 1000 lumen. But, like UK, I also love the TUSA warranty and support. I just don’t want to spend almost $600 on a 1,000 lumen light.
I have done everything and cant get the light to switch modes while bumping it. 2 rotations back and I get a rattle from the batteries so thats good. I tried putting 2 small pieces of vinyl in the head spring and using less or more. After bumping it the battery contact comes loose from the piece of plastic holding it down… grrrrr lol
Thinking about gluing the battery contact down by gluing the sides….
Sounds like my trial and error stage-LOL
Sorry for your frustration. I also spent quite a lot of time trimming the contact length to power off at precisely two rotations out.
Daniel’s is working because he worked with his contact height and then punched his contact into place to ensure a very tight press against the aluminum in the tail cap for excellent conductivity.
Winmag, I cannot adequately emphasize how important it is to get the exact height right on your contact. And also how important all of this ground contact conduction stuff is. With the currents used in these lights and the fact that you’re asking aluminum to pass current through pressed contact joints, you must keep every move you make very conductive.
I know it’s a long write-up and so it’s asking a lot, but if you really do everything as I lay it out, you will turn this P.O.S. into a good working light. I believe those toilet bolts are just coated steel.
Remember, I used only solid brass and copper components for my battery contact and even those are soldered together as one. And on top of that, I used the copper conductive grease where it meets the aluminum tail cap. You won’t need to do that if you can create a tight enough pressure when fixing your contact to the tail.
Keep on it and you’ll get it right.
No the bolts are brass all the way through.
I can get it to where when I bump it the light goes out for a split second but won’t switch modes.
Why the material in the head spring though?
I got my other light to work by replacing the driver so thats all good there just need to do these mods to it.
I though about putting this head into my UK D8 light but just as you though the plastic is worrisome.
I am going to send that retailer a reply to his $650 quote and explain to him our views lol.
Glad to hear it, that will help. You still have to solder any pieces as one and get good contact with the tail.
It’s either the recent discovery I just posted or your driver may have issues.
With my battery contact sized for two rotations out to cut power, my head spring was too soft and I still got too many accidental bumps. Anything to stiffen the head-spring and/or reduce its compression range will reduce accidental mode changes. It worked well for me.
Glad to hear. That’s how I did it. I perfected the first light and then it was smooth sailing to mod the brand new one as well. I must admit that having two of these working well is a formidable underwater light force.
True dat!
I wouldn’t bother. Once you get the second TuRD back on the road, you’ll be fine. Meanwhile, let the natural market forces drop prices. I promise they’ll fall.
I just got a great question from another member via PM.
Hello DeepDawg,
I am also a fellow diver, from, and in need of a really bright torch to fit in my BCD, preferably something that runs on 18650 batteries.
As it seems you are both experienced with torches and diving, I thought I’d ask for your recommendations.
I saw your modded TF003, and it looks like a beast! Unfortunately I don’t have the time or experience to mod a torch, I’d just like to buy one, throw my 18650’s in it and away I go. Would be happy to spend anywhere up to $100 on a really good torch.
Thanks for your time!
My response:
Hello .
I put a link in post 265 to one of these and mine is now fine.
But you want something ready to go. The problem is I only know of economical CREE T6 lights coming from China and I have had to “FIX” every one of them with better o-rings, sorry.
The safest bet for under $100 that you may not have to mod is one of these.
They’re not pretty but bright as heck! They’re also super cheap without batteries.
It would be best to replace the o-rings but you probably won’t need to immediately. I have 2 and LOVE them. They have no magnetic switching but they shut off just like my modded TR-DF003.
I hope that helps. Best of luck.
Edit: As for fitting in a BC pocket, the first link would be better but having two vs. one 18650 does give the second one a longer run-time.
I started by cutting my bolt down to 1/2, then slowly taking off a 32 of an inch I would test it with material in the head spring and without. I got down to 1/4 and it still would not work…. So I decided to unscrew the LED module to loosen the spring a bit. Guess what?
After 4 complete turns the bump would change modes!!! Unfortunately I can’t leave the head unscrewed like that because mine has no reflectors so it will be loose.
Now getting all excited I grind off another 32 of an inch, put it in the light with the head screwed all the way down and sure enough the bolt is too short, I can hear it sliding around the tail cap. DAMN IT! Off to Homedepot to find something that will fit perfectly in the tailcap.
I got this response:
First link didn’t work, and that second torch is massive! No where close to fitting in a BCD pocket!
I’m currently using this crappy one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Light-Underwater-Diving-Shallow-Flashlight-T…
It’s about the right size I want (16cm, 6 inches), but I need something MUCH brighter that runs on 18650’s.
————————————————————
Okay folks. Here are the CREE minature DIVE lights I have experience with:
1) - I have two of these but, of course, I replaced the o-rings. Please look carefully at which model this is. It takes a single 18650 and has NO SWITCH. You just screw down the head like a UK Q40.
While they are WAY brighter than my UK Light Cannon (no, I am NOT MAKING THAT UP), the single 18650 only gives me about 20 minutes of run-time. Personally, I think given its size and price, it’s a little rock-star.
2) - I also have one of these. It works well as it arrives and it is a CREE but it’s not a T6 so believe it or not, the little yellow lass is brighter. Its strength is its size, price and magnetic switching. It also has one of the narrowest beams I’ve ever seen, like a white lazer beam. Great for cutting seawater but not broad enough for me. Because it has lower output, it’s run-time is longer.
Hope that helps for super bright BC pocket lights.
Dawg
Funny, I had a similar start by over trimming my first contact. So I just soldered a penny to what I had and that worked great. SOLDERED. Maybe you can do the same.
Good luck
I be thinking here. The only mode my lights are going to be on is high mode.
I have ground down all contact points, here is the body and tail cap.
If I turn the tail cap twice it shuts the lights down.
I dont need to have bump modes because anything less then high without reflectors is useless underwater.
But my question is will the light continue to corrode again before my eyes? and will it switch modes on me when I hit the water?
My other option is to unscrew the head 4 times and thread lock it… not the permanent kind though.
What if I tie strap the original tail spring down to lower the pressure…huh…
Thanx for the help Mr. Dawg!
1) The original design for tail contact when the tail is screwed tight works fine so no need for a head-shave mod at the tail.
The tail cap makes contact with the handle on that bare aluminum ring up inside the tail cap so there is no need to remove any anodizing from the tail cap or the handle on the tail end.
2) Just keep those contact ring surfaces clean at the tail and you’ll have a good tail cap connection when it’s screwed tight.
3) You should NOT dive with the head unscrewed at all from the handle or you will
-negate any benefit of the head shave mod
-lose conduction at the head thread
-risk flooding your light.
Your battery contact is still too long. Fix it and you’ll be right.
TWO ROTATIONS OUT of the tail cap to battery rattle but with the head screwed on TIGHT.
That should be about 6 to 9mm total length. Very short.
Once you do my mods, turning it on high and leaving there for the dive will not result in any anode corrosion.
If you unscrew the head AT ALL you will certainly have anode corrosion in seawater.
And forget the tail spring. Just put it in a closet and forget it exists.
Sorry when I said “head” I meant the LED module IN the head. if I unscrew that 4 times it will work. I have a slight tapper inside the tailcap which is preventing the batteries from going all the way down to touch anything smaller then 1/4. I’ve tried it with 3 bolts and bending/shaping 2 different springs from other lights and it will not work unless I unscrew the LED module 4 times. I can get the tail cap unscrewed twice to hear the batteries rattle no problem but I’m thinking of leaving it like that.
Maybe my spring is longer then yours? I don’t know but as long as this puppy don’t corrode and it doesn’t give any other divers a seizure from the strobe I will be fine.
2 more offers of $225 for each D35 have been rejected on fleabayl. Stubborn little buggers lol
It looks like the back of your CREE driver puck might still be too far back (toward handle) compared to a stock light. That is likely the reason why your batteries seem too long.
Here is the picture of yours with blue arrows showing what I’m talking about:
The blue arrows show a gap that seems about half what it was from factory.
LoL good call!!! I went and grabbed my other light and Bam works like a charm!
I gotta figure out how I can thread that module in more.
I’m stupid busy right now but I managed to almost finish them.
Will keep yas posted on how it goes.
Thanx for all your help DeepDawg!
I’ve been looking for 20mins for that post with the link to get new O-rings for this light and I can’t find it!!! Arggg can somebody post the link again please.
I need both sizes big and small for this light.
DeepDawg, your mods and detailed descriptions have been a tremendous help. Thank you for your expertise and direction with this torch.
I replied to your PM. I never saw a link to o-rings but I’ve got a good brick and mortar supplier local. That’s where I bought the bunas I call-out in my mod post. I’m sure they’re all over Ebay in quantity packs.
I played around with sizes and hardness and had best results using that size on both o-ring channel sizes.
Cool Thanx,
Hello,
I had bought this flashlight before I reading this forum 
It looks on paper well, but in reality…
Specific problem of my flashlight is the sealing close to glass lens or completely sealing of the lens.
I unscrewed the first part (with one red rubber o-ring) from head of flashlight (very easy).
I unscrewed the second part - inner circle completely without seal (little bit complicated).
I am very surprised, that there is no special seal between this inner circle and glass lens. This construction cannot be watertight.
The only sealing is between the glass lens and reflector (mirror), but in my case, this rubber seal is damaged and part of it is squeezed between lens and aluminium body.
Is your flashlight the same? Do you have the same sealing?
Thanks for info.
Tomas
