The gasket the diameter of the board and the metal disk will both add their own thickness. I'd rather just dremel-cut a couple of turns off the spring, leaving only as much as needed for the battery shoulder to clear the board components (taking into account some pressure against the spring). That, IMO, would be the most space-conscious solution.
Not shure if that would be enough, though.
If the above doesn't work, a well-known solution is to remove the entire spring and replace it with a fat blob of solder thick enough for the battery to clear the components. You might need to periodically clean the tin oxide on that blob to keep the light at top performance. I have done this on another light and as far as I can tell, the oxide doesn't seem to be a problem at all.
You don't need to have the spring on the nanjk driver..I have one light that had issues with spacing and I removed the spring..the button on the top of the cell makes contact just fine with the pad of the driver..
edit:sorry..I forgot this was the one driver I had modified to drive at 1.4a..all the 7135's on the spring side have been removed to accomplish this..that's why it works without the spring..
Absolutely. No need to bother rigging something up on the driver end. Mine is working nicely on unprotected or protected cells and also with or without the lanyard ring.
All that is needed is a way to shorten up the switch assembly. As well as swapping out the spacer I mentioned above, it could be cut,filed, or sanded down to shorten it.
In hind sight, knowing how both of those lights perform, would you get a Keygos if you had an X9 or vice versa? You know, if you wanted only 1 decent thrower.
I'm trying to decide what 18650 light to get next and wondering if I should get a C8 variant like the Keygos or go for a slightly more floodier light.
I like the Keygos for what it is and is towards the top for performance per dollar, but the X9 still wins hands down. And this is despite not being driven as hard as it could (~1.85A). I think the X9 is still worth the extra $10 and it's clearly a better thrower. The reflector is considerably bigger. The size is also great for a flashlight primarily used around the house or in one particular location. The Keygos is much more compact and travels better. The X9 also has a great feel holding underhand. The tube is the perfect length for me as my thumb seems to find one of the indents just behind the heat fins and the back of my palm rests towards the end. It's quite the comfortable grip for just being a straight tube. If you want a thrower and don't need a compact design, definitely go with the X9 over KE5/C8 types. It's also very nice looking in person. The photo's don't do it proper justice.
I also have the X9 and the Keygos KE5 and both have tight beam but usable spill. The X9 has brighter hotspot but the KE5 has brighter spill on mine and the size difference is simply huge so the KE5 is easier to carry around. These size comparison pix might help you decide.
Yes, KE5 has more usable spill, definitely. But that's to be expected since it has a smaller reflector and that spill falls more on the flood side of things. If going for compact the KE5 fits the bill. If size isn't a factor (and I actually like the X9 size for around the property) then the X9 is what you want for throw. My KE5 has slight artifacts in the hotspot whereas the X9 appears almost perfect. The KE5 is also slightly more blue, but only when compared to the X9. You don't notice it otherwise. I like both of these lights and they're definitely two of my best purchases!
On my walks, I use another floodier light, but I also carry the X9 head up in my back pocket. I draw it out when I want to spot game at longer distance.