Since I haven’t seen any mention of this light in the forums, I thought I’d take a little time to give it it’s fifteen minutes of fame.
I bought this torch for $16 with a coupon from Wallbuys wondering if my 26650 extension tube from CNQG would fit for an MT-G2 build. The threads matched, but the amount of threads didn’t. Oh well, on to plan B.
The PAISEN U2-Z6 is a well built torch. I can’t believe it is so inexpensive.
Short and compact, it is perfect for a coat pocket. Because of its size, your fingers need to be wrapped partially around the cooling fins, which give you a great grip. The heat management of the head present you with no reason to fear toasty fingers.
If you’re looking for a happy medium in a single celled light, this is it.
Roche F8 - Paisen U2-Z6 - Tangsfire HD2010
It comes stock with an XM-L U2 and options for 1x26650, 1x18650 or 3xAAA. The adapter for 18650 is a little short and will slide up and down inside the tube, but no big deal. Very nice even anodizing and grippy checkering on the body. The aluminum bezel ring gives it a smart look and prevents scratching when placing it head down.
Lots of threads on this torch. Just unscrewing the top of the head can lead to a case of tendonitis.
As soon as I got this light, like most of us, I unscrewed all the parts to have a look before I even put a battery in it. When tightening the head back down on over the reflector, the threads felt kind of “crunchy”. Oh-oh. I forgot to center the reflector over the LED and cracked it. Surprisingly, when I popped in a battery, it still worked with only a slight swirl of shadow on the hot spot. I think that black-grey mark is ground in aluminum from the reflector.
The beam profile is nice and clear with no rings. Since I have been working on larger diameter throwers with high current lately, I felt it needed a little more oomph.
Stock driver.(next mode memory)
1.75A at the emitter.
High - 1.75A
Med - 0.87A
Low - 0.24A
Oh yeah, before I forget. There was no thermal paste under the emitter and the LED was soldered to the star in reverse. No big problem. The fact that the light worked means that it was tested at the factory. I’ve accidentally reversed emitters myself.
Since I already cracked the XM-L U2, I felt this was the perfect time to attempt my very first de-doming. I soaked it in gas over night, rinsed with alcohol, gave it a quick test…success.
Now for a driver. I just received some East-92 drivers, so I decided to try one out.
I jury rigged one up with a rats nest of wires, magnets and alligator clips with an 18650, and got a current reading of 4.08A. I’m pretty sure I’ll get a higher reading with secure wiring and different cells.
The East-92 needs to be connected to a larger contact board. I believe the stock driver was 22mm, but a 21mm board is just fine.
I like to make my driver/contact boards compact and rugged without wires that might disconnect, so this is the system I use for a solid trouble free connection.
You can use stripped wire, but I prefer these copper 22 gauge jewelry pins.
Normally, I use solder and flux, but this time I used newly acquired solder paste instead. With paste, the job only takes minutes, and very little heat.
Place a dab of solder or paste on the ground contact and lay the wire so it will overlap and connect with the ground ring on the smaller diameter driver. Touch the iron tip to the wire until solder melts and snip off at the edge. Repeat this on four points. I did it on all eight points. The solder paste made it so easy it only took minutes.
Also solder a small piece or two of wire in the center to make contact with the Positive battery contact. Then I dabbed a touch of paste to the tops of all the short wires, squeezed the boards together like an Oreo cookie and touched my iron to all the little pins around the edges. These boards are now one, and will not fall apart. Next touch the iron to the battery contact until poisonous vapors are produced ensuring the + is soldered together. Since I had the last little end of the head pin I was snipping left, I had this pushed through the center to assure lots of contact. When that pin was standing solid, I knew the paste had melted in the middle. Then I snipped it off flush.
Add a spring and copper braid…
Here we go. De-domed XM-L U2 on copper with an East-92 Driver in a Paisen U2-Z6.
I was surprised at the amount of throw this compact light can produce. This is my first de-dome, so I don’t really have a point of reference for comparison, but, I love this light. On a white wall, there are some faint halos around the emitter. Not rings…halos. I guess the lower profile of the de-domed emitter is catching the edges of the emitter hole in the reflector. I could sand down the centering disc to lower the reflector, but the halo disappears after the distance is increased a couple of feet, so I won’t bother. Inside on a wall, the de-domed emitter has a hint of green, but as a thrower, that is a moot point.
THIS HOST CAN HANDLE THE HEAT!
The large aluminum pill is threaded into the head with lots of cooling fins all around it. The heat absorption is such that it is spread out and dissipated so it can be run on high continuously and never get past Luke warm. This is a great host for modders that like to push the envelope.
After the light is all together with copper braid added to rear and aft springs I took some extra tailcap current readings on high.
Panasonic NCR18650PD - 4.10A
EFest 18650 IMR - 4.01A
Sony US18650VTC3 - 5.02A
KingKong ICR26650 (unprotected) - 4.58A
FourSevens 26650 (protected) - 4.85A
That’s it. Happy modding.
. I hate 5 mode direct drives -- stacked Nangj, custom programmed is all I do in the 17mm single cell format. Got some from HD2010's and C8's, maybe 1 or 2 other light types. I got quite a few laying around here in my pulled driver pile though... Haven't counted them up.
