That was the seller I was thinking of. If I do it, I will have to get a charger. I don't know that I will though. There's already about $150 tied up in this build if I consider everything involved, so I'm not really enthusiastic about throwing $50+ more into batteries and a charger.
This light really has turned out to be a one of a kind hopeless case. It looks great and I know it works, but it is a real ornery light when it's time to change batteries. It's just not made right for battery changes and the cut down thing was a mistake. I should have left the bodies 2AA and made a totally different way to hold the tail ends together. This one ends up being just a shelf queen, for if anyone has to change batteries more than once, they will want to leave it on the shelf. They are just not all winners, when it comes to mods. I may have to just tear it down to try and save what I can in the way of components, but I hate to do that.
Actually, I probably need to rework the tail end. The bodies need to have something that surrounds the tail ends and holds them without moving. I probably could figure out something, but I don't know yet.
It looks pretty damn cool to me and I’m sure something could ease the battery changes, maybe a screwdriver slot in each cap with a bit of your file work to dress it up. I have 2 efest 14500’s and could order two more, charge the bunch and ship them. They’d be ok for testing/beamshots but I would be reluctant to use them as a set for run time testing even though the two I already have have only been cycled a few times.
Thanks, but don’t go buy anything. I would feel bad about that. I have to figure out something with the tail end, that’s for sure. If I don’t buy batteries, I will most likely come up with a way to use 12 eneloops for testing and beam shots.
I like the screwdriver slot idea!! The tail caps aren't really that bad, but it's the fact that the bodies can "wiggle" and misalign that is the real problem. I think that the copper plate needs to actually fit around each body, so that it does not move at all. That is what I am going to look at. I will also look at some kind of a slot.
Well, if r-sales can charge them for me, I will get four of their Efest batteries. If not, I will use eneloops somehow. I tore down the light tonight to make changes to the copper end plate. I am making it so the bodies are captured in the plate so they can't shift. Maybe tomorrow or Saturday I will have revision 1 done.
Great job. Another one-of-a-kind O-L specialty! You HAVE to give us more glamor shots of that beauty. So much time and effort put into it, let's see that bad boy (or girl?) from every possible angle.
She must be a female, since she’s fought me every step of the way.
I guess I will have to take a few more shots of her, including beam shots. I am ordering the batteries today, so sometime next week for the beam shots and the glamour (sales thread shots) too.
Old-Lumens, this looks fantastic! Bravo. I’m sure you can work out the kinks.
Hopefully someone can charge those 14500s for you. Heck I’d be more than happy to charge them for you. It might be a good opportunity for you to try out Li-Ion and see what you think, especially since IMR/LMR cells aren’t made from explodium like the more-common LiCo cells
As you know, I’m only a couple of hours away. I can easily send you a charger to use, wish I had 4 cells I could then just bring em over. I have to drive up to Cleburne tomorrow anyway. I only have AAA Efests though. Could you make those work for testing purposes? I’ve got 4 of em that all came together.
The 14500’s should give plenty of amperage to run this bad boy, don’t know if there’s anything else out there that will pull as hard as the small Efest cells. And I’ll buy those off of you Justin when you’re done testing.
Just let me know if you need a charger, I can send you one in a day most likely if you need it.
Yes its me again. Dont shoot me. Just a thought that may gain a little rigidity. On the tailcap end how hard would it be to peen the copper over so it wraps around the battery tube. I’m not sure if you’d gain much, just thinking out aloud.
Sorry, didn’t mean to confuse things, just wanted to prevent a delay from using an inadequate cell. I had read that 8-10C was near the limit for good imr’s and that efest cells were not as good as some others at very high current draws. They do seem very good for the price which is why I use them and my experience was that 3A was too much to ask from the efest 10440. Way better than protected TF 10440 but not as good as AW.
I would trust Mr Lumens skill with a hammer any day. For the work off the devil or an angel. There is no other that has this special talent with hand tools. Well there maybe, but OL is good.