Too late :(…. I was just able to remove the driver - didn’t cut the wires, but got it out of the pill:
I’ve annotated the picture with the chip markings that were visible. I’m assuming that the unmarked chip is the MCU, but that 24C02BN appears to be a EEPROM? Does that mean that this driver is programmable, somehow?
Re. removing the emitter: There’s some “white stuff” that they used to secure the wires to the emitter PCB, and it looks like they put a bunch of that between the emitter PCB and the threads. It that the “Fujik” that I keep hearing about? Is it some kind of glue/adhesive?
If that’s the case, it’s going to be tough to get the emitter PCB out of the pill?
If it has a slightly elastic texture, then it’s probably Fujik. Fujik has relatively low adhesive strength. It’s not easy to remove, but it’s not that hard either.
I would desolder the wires from the emitter first. Then test the LED again to make sure that it is dead. If it is dead, then the good news is that you don’t have to save it and removing it will be a bit easier. If it is dead, you can just use brute force to pry out the pcb. Then scrub off the Fujik residue with a Scotch pad or something similar. If you don’t want to risk damaging the pill, put it in the freezer for like 30 minutes before prying off the LED.
I agree with rojos. You probably know this (and alot of the things I’ve said), but just in case. You can easily unsolder the wires from the led’s pcb. You don’t need solder wick or sucker for that. Just apply the soldering iron to the wire and pull the wire away from the pad when the solder melts. Disconnecting one is enough to isolate the led from the driver.
That looks like a nice driver. Hopefully it survived because it looks more valuable then the led. The faint yellow of the led indicates it is probably a pretty cool tint. If you have to replace the led, it would be a nice opportunity to go with a neutral tint and higher bin. Maybe even an XML2. That is all personal preference though.
No, you’re right in your last paragraph. That (getting a brighter/better emitter at the end of this) was one of the things that I’ve been hoping for.
I have some work to do tonight, so I won’t be able to work on this probably until tomorrow, but I appreciate the info, and will post back once I have tested the LED w/o the driver connected.
That emitter board definitely does NOT want to be removed from the pill.
I unsoldered the - lead from the emitter board, and tested, and got no light, so I started aggressively trying to extract the emitter board, but it just won’t come out. It looks like they put that white stuff over the entire bottom surface and it’s basically glued solid to the pill :(. I’ve even taken a small screwdriver and tried to pry it off of the pill, but it ain’t moving at all :(…
Yeah, I wish they wouldn’t use that stuff. It’s not necessary because the reflector holds the emitter down. The adhesive is not that strong, but the flat surfaces give a lot of surface tension that is difficult to break sometimes. Once that surface tension starts to break at any spot, it will come off easy. Try pry upward with a strong tool like I screw driver that you mentioned. I find holding lighter, continuous pressure does less damage than going full out Arnold.
I find that alcohol works good for cleaning up the residue. Maybe it can help loosen the bond.
I’ve put it in the freezer last night/this morning. Will try more prying later :)…
Edit: Not a good “welcome” to the “modding world” :)!!
Edit 1: Just took it out of freezer and did a bit more prying, and it finally popped out :)!! The edges of the pill are bent a little in various places now. Is that going to be a problem?
Naw, it won’t be. If any of the protrusions get in the way of anything, just file it down. You do need a good flat service for your emitter base for heat transfer. I imagine you probably know a lot of the stuff I write here. So please forgive me if I am saying basic things you already know.
Welcome to the world of modding. It usually isn’t as pretty as most postings you see in the threads.
I wouldn’t get rid of the emitter yet, I’d still bet on the driver being the broken component.
If you want to be sure the LED is broken then you should take a partially discharged li-ion (probably down below 3.7v to be safer) or a lifepo4, primary cr123 etc (anything around 3v) and connect it directly to the LED with a wire on each end of the cell and each LED contact with +ve and -ve matching up.
If it doesn’t light up after that then I take it back and the LED is probably dead
I know that others have suggested that, but I’ve hesitated doing it.
Theoretically, with the emitter/diode in forward-biased, it becomes a short, so, without a series resistor, won’t that put too much current through the emitter (like “infinity”)?
So I wanted to summarize what I had to do so far to disassemble this drop-in, in case anyone has to do this later:
1) The driver is soldered to the pill at the edge at two points, so those 2 solder joints have to be broken or desoldered. In my case, I used a small, sharp pocket knife, and cut through the joint, slowly. If you do this, be careful, because your fingers are going to be close to the blade!
2) The emitter PCB is covered with a black insulation disc. That disc can be removed by prying around the edge. It popped off fairly easily, exposing the actual emitter PCB.
3) The emitter PCB is stuck to the pill using some kind of white substance. What I did per suggestions here was to put the whole pill, etc. into the freezer overnight. Then, the next morning, I used a small, flat-bladed screwdriver the fit between the edge of the emitter PCB and the edge of the pill, and pried, moving the screwdriver around the perimeter and prying at a couple of places. The emitter PCB eventually popped out.
They are my favorite xml insulator/centering bushing. The picture of it is upside down. They snap on the the emitter’s pcb and do a great job of properly positioning most reflectors.
EDIT: Oh, get some thermal paste (not adhesive) if you haven’t already. The paste doesn’t harden. Makes future changes so much more pleasant. You want 16mm led stars and 17mm drivers.
EDIT2: I haven’t shopped for emitters in a while. My last purchase was from Mouser for XML2 T6 NW (I think 3C tint). Man, I love that emitter. Hopefully, someone here can give you some direction.
I imagine the MCU is fried on your driver. You could test like you said. A better test would be to try with another led. That way you could see if it works under load with all the modes.
Direct connecting to a battery won’t hurt your led if you just quickly touch for a second. Believe me, if it’s good, that is all you will need to know. Try not to look directly at the led when you do it. I like to wear sun glasses when I test mine that way.
The XM-Ls forward voltage is around 3.0v rising as current increases, li-ion nominal is 3.7v dropping as current draw rises, so they balance out at a reasonable amount in direct drive. As long as you use a partially discharged cell, it shouldn’t be much more than the 3 amp max rating and is probably less.
The only worry is that you could fry the emitter with heat if it isn’t attached to any heatsink, but you only need to touch the wires in contact for a second to test it so that shouldn’t be an issue really.
