As per our offline discussions which you affirmed, I will wait only for a max of 40 days after my payment was placed. If I don’t have my order by that date, I will file for PP dispute already.
I bought quite a few of these in two shipments. The second shipment has arrived. In it there were two different drivers. Some had no mode memory, always starting on high after being off for about five or six seconds with tailcap measurements of 2, 1.45 and .75 amps. The other had next mode memory with tailcap measurements of 2, .75 and .3 amps. The pencil trick worked to get this light to always start on high after about 5 seconds.
Did the ones with the different drivers also have different labelling? Wasn’t the original one for this GB a “SkyFire” or something, and then they switched to “Ultrafire” (now)? Maybe that was the reason for the driver differences in yours?
is the driver ring reverse threaded? I cannot for the life of me get mine to come loose
Got it…not reverse threaded…took alot of elbow grease and some very choice words and threatening to get the big hammer
Fixed that supid next mode memory…upgrading soon, going to put a XM-L2 on sinkpad, not sure if I want to put a nanjg in, or resistor mod this driver, solder braid upgrade, thicker wires (the basic upgrades) to see how well it does, 1.7~A high stock…bleh
ON the driver there is a capacitor right next to the MCU (controller chip), you take a #2 pencil and scrub it across the top from one side to the next, the graphite creates a high resistance shunt across the resistor, when you turn off the light, it drains the capacitor down resetting the MCU back to default (hi mode) next time it comes on, this way when you turn off the light, wait a few seconds, turn it back on, it always comes on hi, you can actually go hi>mid>lo>off back to hi>mid>lo without ever going to the epileptic seizure flash modes, but the modes are still there if you need them.
otherwise with next mode memory it goes hi>off>mid>off>lo>off>strobe(epileptic seizure)>off>sos(epileptic seizure)>off back to hi
Received my 2 in the mail today. Both worked fine, thought there was something wrong with the lens but it was plastic stick on protection. When I removed the body and tailcap they threaded right onto my 3c DST which was a nice surprise. Was wanting to do that conversion for awhile, was a nice bonus.
I received my 2 today and as yours was, mine also have different drivers.
The one with next mode memory was the hotter of the 2 measuring 2.2 on high, after moving the + wire to the other output tap and performing spring braid mods, it now pulls 3.40 on high! and output drops quick (Need a sinkpad:), 1.75 on medium and .45 which is a nice low.
This light has a warmer tint than the lower output one. Did the pencil mod on the Cap and it resets real quick now. Love that Mod!
The one with the quick mode reset pulled exactly 2.0, 1.0, and .50. Talk about some spot on regulation.
After same mods as the above one, it increased to 2.82, 1.45, and .70
Output does not tank as quick as it’s hotter brother and pulls some comparable ceiling bounce numbers.
With the slightly whiter tint, it is very close to the other light in appearance of beam. Hot spot on these lights is fairly tight.
To sum up, these are very nice flashlights, the threading is much better than I was expecting and the lens are nice and clear, reflector is very nice with no flaws. Each light had the protective cover on the glass, nice touch.
Now, after a simple Noctigon upgrade, I will have 2 very nice budget lights.
Big Thanks to Old Lumens for putting this together and Gearbest for delivering the goods, even if it was aboard the slower boat from China
Thanks,
Keith
I use a pair of snap ring pliers from Harbor Freight, but yes they were flexing a bit before the ring let loose.
If you do not have these or some strong tweezers you could try tapping a sharp punch tip with a small hammer on one of the dimples. The vibration of the tapping may loosen it easier.