TrustFire X9 - Thoughts and beamshots

I like this host but not so much the issues with low current. Anyone seen it available as a host only? I can put a real U2 bin XM-L in it from lck led and a good SB driver for not much more $.

Also a little update:

all my X9s from ebay with Xtar 18700 on high draws about 1.7-1.8A

Ceiling bounce showed that my Jetbeam BC40 and Trustfire TR-800 are a little brighter than X9...

also waiting some drivers from KD...

Not likely given that the emitter is especially mounted on an aluminum plate and impossible to swap. The only way to change the emitter seems to be to hack the old one off, mount a star on top of the plate and get a thinner lens, instead of the 4mm one, to compensate and provide the room.

Changing the Emitter to U2 bin is barely not noticeble in brightness, best improvement ist to change the driver, I modded mine with a 2,8A 3-mode from SB and an Ultrafire reverse clicky (forward and multimode is a no-go). As the driver protudes a bit higher than the stock driver it is necessary to sand down the brass minus-contact a bit to screw on the tailcap completely. Adding thermal paste to the threads of the pill is also recommended to give more heat to the head with the cooling fins.

what can i say still being a novice here... I bought X9 from ebay and UF 980L from MF. I don't have any digital measuring device. But, what i observed, i love 980L for its optimum size and brightness. X9 is really better thrower without any modding. I always thinking in consideration of optimization, so, although 980L is a bit expensive, if you aren't a professional 980L is have the advantage in front of X9. The size is almost half and brightness almost same. As i said X9 is a better thrower, from my obserwation in fullmoon X9 was throwing 300-400 metres (i have bilateral hipermetrop astighmate- i wont search the exact translation from google so sorry :) ) 980L is very close to it (maybe less than 50 metres). But, what i dont know quality of the inner structure quality of the torchs. I heard from here some guys burned 980L's. So, brightness isn't the most important issue if you are a budget looking customer. Finally, i can say that if you have 980L, no need to have X9 or vice versa....

How would you compare the difference in output with the jump to 2.8A over the average of 1.8A? I imagine the body still handles the heat transfer fairly well. Also, could you provide the link for the Ultrafire reverse clicky? Thanks

"Finally, i can say that if you have 980L, no need to have X9 or vice versa...."

The flashaholic's blasphemy! Yell

I was going to comment on that too but I just could'nt get my head around it.

It's not about "need". Does anyone need tens or hundreds of flashlights?

If you have 980L, you still WANT to have X9 (and a few dozen others)

I got mine today. 1.7 A on xtar 2600 at 4.18 v. Nice looking like but I am feeling underwhelmed. May as well have got a KD C8.

update: Maybe I was a little harsh. I do really like the design. I compared it with my trustfire c8 (not as good as the KD C8) and the hotspot is brighter. I expect it to throw further due to the larger head. I still wish I was getting higher tail readings. I was hoping to get 2.6 A +

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How would you compare the difference in output with the jump to 2.8A over the average of 1.8A? I imagine the body still handles the heat transfer fairly well. Also, could you provide the link for the Ultrafire reverse clicky? Thanks

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The output ist noticable brighter, I cannot compare to some other stock lights as all lights I have are modded :-)

Heat transfer ist good but thermal paste should be used to give more heat to head as the batterty tube ist heating up as well.

Right now I am using a clicky from a C8 but I have some of these on the way:

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/ultrafire-replacemnet-tailcap-switch-component-5pcsset-p-7451

They should fit properly as the C8 switch is a bit too small in diameter and I hope for a more solid feeling.

Voltage OEM driver battery amps (high setting) Battery watts consumed Modified with KD SKU. S009742 driver battery amps (high setting)
3.50 0.70 2.45 2.45
3.60 1.15 4.14 2.7
3.70 1.25 4.625 2.8
3.80 1.55 5.89 2.8
3.90 1.70 6.63 2.8
4.00 2.00 8 2.8
4.10 2.15 8.815 2.8
4.20 2.50 10.5 2.8
5.00 3.00 15

I just bought the KD driver to upgrade my X9, could anybody show a pix of the driver with soldered wires just to give me idea what to do? Anyways, still have 3 weeks waiting for parts bought.

Hi Sparktastic

Thank you for that fine article.

I guess a bunch of us that bought the Ebay X9 flashlights are going to be in the same boat. That is, we have never done a driver mod before, but now we need to learn how.

I have seen the posts and pics on this forum about how to solder the stars to determine modes and how to solder to the + and -, however I have not seen inside the X9 to see how hard the removal and replacement will be.

I hope that someone with experience will do a tutorial that will make it possible for us to do the job.

Ian2381,

Scroll down in this thread to see a pic about how to wire the board:

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/918

Thanks stevetexas for the link.

Changing the driver is no harder than doing it on a p60 pill. The only difference is that the driver is going to need longer wires than what may come already on the replacement. You can just use the ones from the original driver if you want.

Now I'm just curious if its possible (by someone like me) to reflow a different LED on this "star" being so big and heavy. I really would love to have this thing in neutral, I'm just afraid the star will hold too much heat and damage the LED. I may just pull the star and fit a copper slug into the opening and mount a conventional 20mm star. I'll have to measure it, but it might just be easier to go that route.

L2T grip rings fit pretty fine :

I have contacted ITC if it is possible to get the grip rings as spare part, I hope the answer is yes or I have to look for the expensive Surefire ones

(added the link to the picture, I do not quite know how to add it directly, the "how to add"-thread was not helping me much)

This is absolutely true especially if the emitter is really a T6 bin XM-L. That being said, I have experienced an enormous difference in output between a DX purchased "T6" XM-L and a U2 XM-L from lckled despite the U2 being driven at 2.2A and the "T6" at just over 3A (in a bigger host as well).

Either way, I was suggesting the U2 if building the X9 up from a bare host not as an emitter upgrade. Might as well get the highest bin if get to chose.

I have to amend this because I ran into an issue.

With the new NANJG 105C driver I didn't have enough room for protected cells. The tailcap wouldn't screw on fully and the light would come on even when the switch was off (the negative end of cell was contacting the switch retaining ring). This can be solved, but you're going to have to find a washer or two to substitute for the large white spacer in the tailcap.

Also, you'll need to trim the nub off the inside of the boot. The boot is held in by the stainless trim ring, so that needs to be unscrewed. I just used my needlenose pliers in the indents of the ring to break it loose.

Fish

I like your style. Keep up the good work.

Foy