Thanks for all the great information guys.
I had wondered what those contact boards were used for. My soldering skills are not up to making my own driver, but that contact board idea looks doable. Thanks.
I think I’m about to acquire my first 26650 light.
I loaded up on them for $10, but for $9, may have to buy a couple more . These fit the 40mm NiteCore filters well (at fasttech) or this cheap one: fasttech-diffuser, as other common 40mm lights, such as the SupFire L5, SolarStorm/FandyFire K2.
Seems like a decent plan! You’re thinking of installing a 35mm triple? You’ll need a spacer of course. The stock flashlight uses a glass 37mm lens, so you may be forced to butt the triple optic up against the glass lens so it doesn’t fall out. I’ve been thinking about trying a triple with one of these myself. I can’t think of any build threads for F13 triples, but it should be similar to DBCstm’s Eagle Eye X6 triple builds.
Note that these should be the latest version of the F13 (same as the previous group buy on the same units from GearBest), they do not have a separate pill. I don’t necessarily agree with freeme’s conclusions, but the pics and information are all accurate and worth your time: freeme - UltraFire F13 mod issue ~ mini review included
EDIT: I have just measured the lens opening on an Ultrafire F13 from the previous Gear Best group buy. I got 33.8mm; IMO that should be plenty to keep the 35mm optic from falling out without leaving the glass in place.
Awesome, great job! Gotta love the ingenuity of making a stinkpad, if for just making it a DTP (direct thermal path) star vs one with the pcb substrate under the emitter thermal slug
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If this doesn’t fit that AA battery holder, does anybody know of a light that will fit it?
It think most 26650 lights take 4AAA holders. I usually solder a piece of copper tubing with a little disk to the holder or to the driver to make up the vertical difference. Much less capacity, but at least you get the voltage up a bit for better performance.
Thanks for your input. Yes, I will follow DBCstm’s Eagle Eye X6 triple build (35mm optic, 3 XP-Ls, and 32mm noctigon). I will order one of your FET driver boards from OSH Park (maybe 17mm FET+7135 driver, so I can use it for other lights) and figure out how to make a spacer.
BLF member ‘can’ directed me to this thread and I appreciate it. Just ordered a couple of them. Back when I first got into 26650 flashlights (which is about the time I learned what a 26650 battery was ) I was torn between the TF A8 and an F13. Both were recommended here on BLF. I ended up getting the A8 (actually two of them because my wife took my first one) and it has become my favorite flashlight. Purchased both for $17 each (one on Amazon and the other Ebay) as I wasn’t yet familiar with websites like GB/DX/FT etc. So for the price of one A8 I can now get two F13’s and I’ll be able to compare them. And nice to have a second 26650 light as back up.
This is one of the reasons I like my TF A8 in that it can use three different battery options (26650/18650/3xAAA). I’m glad to know this one can do so as well. I think options are important.