My skyray died :(

Hey guys, this is my first post here so I hope I'm doing this right.

My skyray 3800 just died.. I tried to screw the screw in module too hard and now the leds are barely showing any signs of life..

Can I get a new scew in module somewhere? I googled all over but couldn't find any..

Thanks in advance!

You probably shorted out the driver? When you unscrewed the module, only the reflector comes out and not the LEDs right?

Where did you bought it from? Local shop in Beijing?

yagedk how much did you pay for it?

I bought it on taobao (Chinese version of eBay) for around 40 usd.

I'm new to flashlights, but it seems like the reflector is soldered to the module. It was when I tried to screw the module that it sort of touched/hit the leds and I think that made them go really dim.

Hi there yagedk, welcome to BLF! Sorry you had this experience to start off...

These Skyrays sound like a product to avoid altogether.

another skyray ... just crazy

Thanks for the welcome :)

So can I get a new module somewhere or can I replace it with a module that would work in the skyray? Or do I just put it in the trash..

No don't put into the trash. The LEDs are probably ok. Just make sure they are not touching....so they are now toast even though you unscrewed them a bit?

You can bypass the driver and try to operate the LEDs in direct drive with 3 cells. Remember to use 3 good cells, matched. You will get a very bright light. :)

Search for the triple XM-Ls, i have my thread on my Sky Ray 3800 which was toast, and how i DD it. You need to get a 18650 extension though. Do you have other lights like TR-1200? You could use that.

The real problem i see is the lack of cheap and decent drivers available. I think there should be a need for 10 or so specialized drivers to probably keep 99% of the population very happy. In reality there are 40+ cheesy and a few less so solutions around. Most coomon driver size is 17mm and 16,8mm. Plenty of choices just a few decent but all lacking.

I believe there is sufficient market for those for some manufacturers finally decide to bring decent drivers out. I would love the driver which is present in the UF-H3D but it is strangely not available anywhere!

Also decent buck boost drivers are also made of unobtanium apparently. 8,4V hi-med-lo ~3A drivers are also lacking...

The majority is 3 or 5 modes with 1-2 disco modes pathetic regulation (if any) and most often overdrive or heavily underdrive what manufacturers cram onto a new flashlight they just had the urge to rush out.

There is a ton of nice hosts, a bit less can be said for switches, cheap switches variety is nonexistant, a ton of lenses (most lack the required/wanted focal length if aspherics) or wrongly sized, a ton of leds available to cater any taste decently and even cheaply priced. But drivers just plain sux (90%).

Talking about drivers, the one in the Uniquefire, super cheap one....like only $14 shipped + registered in the DD group buy, mustered 1700Hz for the PWM in low mode. (!!!) That is literally invisible even on the fan blades.

The leds are not toast, they are just maybe 1% of the brightness they should be. Since everything is soldered together I'm not sure how to open everything up.. I did order an extension tube a few days ago but I also ordered a couple of trustfire 3t6s just now.. I was actually in the middle of waterproofing my skyray with a bike tube to use it as a dive light when this happened. The waterproofing worked but I screwed too hard and now the leds are bad.. I guess the trustfires have better cooling as well right? My skyray got very very hot after just 10 mins..

I guess you have the rev0 where leds are directly on the head. Here's how to disassemble:

Around the positive spring (the one oposite to tailcap spring) there is a ring with two holes. Unscrew it with two crossed nails. Pull out the driver. Unscrew the screw holding the reflector.

He has the screw-in model (rev 2 on manafont), it's a screwed in drop-in. Seems like it's soldered together.

Yes, there aren't any screws I can unscrew. Everthing seems to be soldered together unfortunately.. :(

you should of spent a little more and got one of these

TR-3T6 2 x 18650

TR-3T6 3 x 18650

there is a thread here https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/3304 one good thing you can buy replacement parts for the TR-3T6 but they seam better made and are better driven so you sould not need parts but its good to know they are there and the TR-1200 host parts will fit also if you damage the light externaly

Already bought three of those… The skyray could run 10 mins on high before it shut down because of overheating, the Trustfires ran 1 hour and 50 mins on high and never overheated… :slight_smile:

they are a good torch, for the life of me i dont know why people bother with the sky rays