Needle nose Pliers/sturdy tweezers work great.
Flickering may also be due to long protected batteries and weak springs.
I found a post from CRX for Improvised Pill Tool using nails and a rubber band that I’m gonna try.
I did get it tightened up some using some pliers and the whine noise went away for the most part. Back to playing with my new flashlight, its dark here finally.
I see 6 emitter options. Can somebody provide a run-down on which one is preferred? Thx!
Starting at the top with 1A, this is a cool white (blue/white) tint and the most power available for higher lumens output.
The 1A de-domed is a tighter beam hot spot for more throw at the sacrifice of fairly substantial lumens loss and a lesser tint quality, it should be near white but could be a bit on the green side
Stepping down in these tints get’s warmer and less lumens as you go down, with the lowest being a near tungsten light yellow/orange in appearance for those that still like the color of the lights from yesteryear in a more powerful and more dependable option.
The 3C is near white, a good choice if you’re straddling the fence. 
Perhaps this will be some help. 5000K is near daylight white. A camera flash typically works in the 5700K area.
Click to view larger.
Paid : 08/02
Shipped : 12/02
Waiting with useless tracking number…
Last checked today…
Shipped : 23/02
:weary:
How did they shipped it twice? 
10 days, already here!
I have been ordering quite some C8´s but in overall quality, this is by far the best.
Hardly anything to rant, naturally the LED dome has a tiny blemish, as about 95% of cheap XM-L lights seem to have.
Reflector has a very small scratch, hard to notice.
From outside and inside otherwise flawless in function and form. Has been generously lubed. O-rings good an intact.
Draws amps like it should and beam is nothing less than 5/5.
I had no idea the thread I started would take off like this!
Newestrend ultrafire c8 is also a good choice.
…but thank you for starting it anyway! 8)
Received mine today after 4 weeks. Quite impress with what we can get for $16. There is a small imperfection from machining on the head but the rest is just outstanding. The reflector and lens are very clean without any blemishes at all. I measured the tailcap using freshly charged to 4.15 (and also new) Sanyo UR18650FM and the result is 2.65A. Was that good?
Yes, that is just fine.
After adding a few chips to mine, I was having trouble with the current measured, 2.8 up to 3.5a. It would not read past 3a. I took the pill out and unscrewed the driver to test. 3.48a. Screwed the driver in 3.48~a. Put the pill back in the head 3~a.
I had to clean my threads for it to work properly, the pill threads. I also removed some of the anodizing from the lip,where the head screws on on the inside of the tube. I have no problems with current now.
Great heads up, all I had in C8 category before this were $7-8 cheapy deal C8s, this is twice the price for a 4C tint and more than twice as nice
Thanks!
3.5A must be extra awesome for small amounts of money! How do you added the chips? Isn’t that will make the driver thicker?
You can stack the 7135’s by soldering them on top of each other
It is very inexpensive. It does make the driver thicker and creates some heat but in this particular light there’s lots of room. You must add the chips on the bottom of the driver though which can be tricky since there’s little room. I Desolder the chips that are there, stack them, then put the stacked chips back.
While stacking chips are good for better performance you should also change the LED star into direct copper MCPCB, something like the Sinkpad or Noctigon, otherwise the increased light output will sag very quickly and it may even damage your LED in a long run, depends on the current draw anyway.
How many chips did you add? What battery do you use?
When you add chips to power up the driver, the choice of cell becomes increasingly important. Some cells simply will not deliver the current needed for the increased power of the driver.
Stacking 4 chips usually yields around 4.12A and many cells can do this, the Panasonic NCR18650PF is a great choice here for it’s excellent capacity and resulting runtime. It’s also capable of delivering more, when you get hungry to bump even more power. (which you will)
Stacking 4 more on top of those for a total of 16 chips usually results in around 5.34A (more if your cell can deliver), this does require a good cell like the one above or a Samsung 20R, there are several others that will run a driver with 16 chips but not at it’s maximum potential. When doing this, it’s essential, like above, to have a SinkPAD or Noctigon copper star under your emitter! (mtnelectronics.com here in the States has the Noctigons with emitters mounted, or you can get them at Intl-Outdoor.com)
This can get you to 1000-1100 lumens in the first example, and upwards of 1600 lumens in the second…this is Out The Front (OTF) lumens!!!
Have fun becoming a Flashaholic!
Edit: I would be remiss to leave out that the tail switch is not made to run these currents. Adding 4 chips you can easily give the tailcap some breathing room by doing a spring bypass, which entails soldering a solder wick copper braid or a wire from top to bottom of the spring to carry the current. Springs are made from steel, in most cases, so the copper bypass will have less resistance and the current will follow the path of least resistance. Going to 8 added chips you might need to put a stronger switch in your light, like a McClicky, available at multiple places but Lighthound is a good choice.