Here is how to mod the ThruNite TN-31 flashlight...

Yes that's them.

Yes that is exactly the one, you just solder another smd resistor over it and the current will increase, BTW while you are soldering an extra resistor you can also upgrade the base of that spring with more solder.

awesome! can’t wait to do the mod! so it boosts all levels, right?

oh btw don’t use Flitz on any thermal interface. it gets into the pores of the metal and inhibits thermal transfer. instead use thermal grease to polish the surfaces. doing this impregnates the metal with conductive particles

i learned that the hard way when i was working on a watercooled 172-Watt thermoelectric cooler

The resistor mod does not alter the other levels as far as I can tell, only the highest level is what gets boosted.

The digikey part number for the 1206 0.082 ohm SMD resistor I used is P.082AVCT-ND,

Thanks for the tip OC, I did clean both parts with alcohol before using AS5, and I know the results are better than what came from the manufacturer, I can tell right away the led module heating up fast when in use, so the thermal transfer must be working as planned.

great! moonlight mode is retained!

that’s the problem with metal polish, once it gets into the pores it’s very hard to get out even with alcohol

Have you tried recovering the SD card? How did the photos become corrupt?

Try recuva to recover them.

When inserting on card reader it does not recognize it or even confirm something was plugged in, phone does not read it either.

The link you posted goes to a webpage not found

Yikes, that sucks. Sorry, fixed the link.

Have you tried your camera’s card reader? Does it recognize it at all?

Thanks for the link will give it a try tomorrow

Alex,this is a great tutorial thanks for sharing.I will eventually do this mod when I have time.Can a 20mm sinkpad be used instead of the factory board?I assume it's smaller than the factory board but would it be a disadvantage to do so?

The stock PCB Is thicker so led height might be an issue

I have done these mods to my supbeam but now it has problems.
It only lights up on mode 1 & 2, all levels past just stay at m2.
even the strobe. standby turns the light off. But wen it is all together the
Tailswitch does nothing. The light just stays on. I hope this makes sense
And that someone knows how to fix this prob.

two more apps to try

Pics on the cracked open TN31 and the tools I used:

http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/TomE2012/slideshow/TN31

Tom E, those are some real nice looking strap wrenches. How do you like them?

Can you tell me what brand they are and where you got them? Link if possible please?

Im getting tired of destroying a set of harborfreight strap wrenches every few months… take em back and swap them for more rubbish. :wink:

Thanks.

Actually manxbuggy1 did the research and found these with an aluminum frame - real nice, solid. Here for about $18 each:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011E4QU4/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

I wasn't worried at all of damaging the light because the thick rubber strap lies between the flashlight body and the aluminum frame of the wrench.

Update: I was desperate to crack open the 7G9 a while back, and went to HD or Lowes and bought a nylon strap wrench for about $30, it's solid too but the wrench itself did some damage, and was difficult to secure the nylon strap with a one hand operation. I find these aluminum/rubber ones much easier - really had not much of a problem opening the TN31, didn't need to use hot water or a heat gun either, and it seemed to have just as much caked up LockTite as the 7G9 did.

Thanks for the great recommendation Tom E. I just ordered a pair of Boa’s. I wonder if they would be enough to crack open the large bezel of a TK70? :bigsmile:

I also have a nylon strap wrench. It looks more like a cast iron pipe wrench handle with a strap at the end. Its great for holding rough metal but not so good with delicate aluminum.

Think that's the exact one I have, but in orange! Gotta pic of it in my 7G9 thread: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/14618.

I did the resistor mod and got a nice bump in lumens and throw, and am now finally getting around to the LED mod. I found the same kapton tape on the bottom of the star, as Alex described. here's a pic showing it after I partially tore it off:

Also, I did a continuity test after removing the U2 LED, and found that there is a direct thermal path to the bottom of the star. It even looks like it's direct path by how the tracing shows through as the raised portion on the top of the star in this pic:

I don't know, I could be wrong, but I don't think there's a reason to dremel off a layer, or use a SinkPAD, at least on this one (mine). Maybe this changed? This copper star is 2mm thick compared to the 1.5mm of the SinkPAD, so if it could be kept as is, it would be an advantage, specially since you can screw it down and have more clearance for the wires. The wire clearance is even more important since I'm upgrading from 26 gauge to 22 gauge.

Here's a view of the machined pattern on the top of the pill, along with the piece of kapton I tore off. Also, that copper on the bottom of the star had a lot of ridge lines on it too. All this will be sanded to 2500 grit paper.

Here's a pic of the new silicone 22 gauge wire (from Hank at IOS), and the original 26 gauge wire laying in front:

Got an XM-L2 U2 1A (supposedly) soaking now in gas for the de-doming Smile. I'm thinking/hoping of getting 320+ kcd out of this.