What did I break?

At which part of the head did you do the unscrewing? At the battery tube (that would have absolutely no influence on the beam) or at the top part above the fins? If you unscrew the stock light at the top (or bezel?) the star with the emitter will be no longer pressed down and become loose. It may overheat very fast. I have an Ultrafire SH-98 from dx.com (a sipik SK-68 clone for 18650) and the star had bad contact with the pill (some shavings from the drilled holes under it and the screwed ring was loose, too) - it fried after I left it on high for a little longer. Now only half of the XML emitter lights up, very dim, very bluish… Will replace it as soon as I’ve got the ordered thermal paste.

Maybe you shorted one of the two soldering on the led board against the reflector when you unscrewed it.

That resistor might look a little discolored from a me putting pencil lead on it (I know that’s not the one to bridge, I was just seeing if it would do anything) Let me wipe it off and see if I can get another pic. The magnifying glass that came with my helping hands doesn’t seem to magnify enough for me to really get a good look at each resistor….

I do have one spare resistor I could try swapping it out for, just to see if it makes a difference. Thanks for taking a look!

I should have been more clear. I was unscrewing the bezel (above the fins) and I had the stock centering ring on. I didn’t think I’d short anything because of the ring preventing the reflector from getting too close to the soldered wires. I do see a few nicks in the threading where the anodizing is scratched off. Not sure if that would make contact with anything its not supposed to… Oh, and I only turned the light on for a split second, so I don’t think the emitter had time to overheat.

I think that you unscrew the bezel enough for emitter to move a bit and + contact probably touched reflector!
In my experience usually that 3 legged component near the mcu burns first but in my case it usually have burning hole in it :smiley:

Looked at mine and the holes where the wires goes up to the led are pretty sharp. Can the led board have turned with the reflector and cut the wire to ground then?

Alright, I had to break out the better camera to get this pic. I rubbed the pencil lead off too. You can click the image to see the full size. I don’t really see any burn marks, at least none that are obvious to me…

Good suggestion. I took a look and I don’t see any stripped insulation.

you are tybreaker! what did you expect! (sorry, I hope you get to repair it, but had to say it)

I think you might be right Sirius9. Since the star had no thermal paste under it, it could have lifted right up and touched the reflector. I should have used Kapton tape….I just got some in the mail a couple days ago. Since I wasn’t really modding anything, I didn’t think to use it… I just wish I could tell what I broke so I could replace it, rather than buying a whole new driver. (Now I need two!! :_( )

Anyone know if you can bypass that three legged component? I have no idea what it does.

Hahaha! And that’s why I love these cheap lights! I don’t feel as bad when I ruin them :bigsmile:

My red wire is on the other + next to the blue. Maybe there is som juice in there :slight_smile:

^ mine was connected to that one too when I first got it. By connecting to the other location, I went from 1.6 amps to 2.2 at the tail (using unmodded dmm). It worked perfectly with that and the pencil mod.

Might have shorted the emitter solder points to the reflector, usually when you loose all modes and stuff get’s hot it’s running direct drive

Ok. I Just tested mine, messured tail cap 1,7A and took it apart. Haven´t decide what to do with it yet. I have done one reflector short cut and on that one it was the 3 leged mos fet that went to haven. Learning by misstakes :slight_smile:

Wow, that is some picture. Really great macro shot. Wish I could take pics like that.

I'm with you. Nothing obvious appearance wise on the driver. Of course that doesn't mean the more complex components didn't fail. Have you verified the tail cap switch is still working? You know, connecting with a screw driver or paper clip.

You could totally by pass the driver to make sure everything works. DD with one cell won't hurt an xml/xml2 on copper.

EDIT: of course be careful in case you have a short somewhere. You want to be able to disconnect the cell real fast if needed.

Do you own a DMM? I will help you troubleshoot if are willing to take some measurements.

Also, please post a macro of the LED emitter.

Thanks ImA4Wheelr, its not a true DSLR, its one of those fancy digital cameras that just look one :slight_smile: I’m actually not familiar with bypassing the tail in that manner. Is this the same as using a DMM to touch the battery and the side of the battery tube? Do I just lay a screwdriver across the battery and tube?

I did a bit more playing last night, seeing if I could fix my other F13 by removing what looked like a bad resistor and using a piece of paperclick to bridge the connection. It ended up making no difference… That one pulls only .04-ish amps…

When I finished messing with that one I put *this *one back together. (I’m going to confuse you guys…) But now, I get no light!! Ugh… The tail cap and tube works fine on the other light, so I don’t think anything is messed up there. (This light, was pulling 1.2 amps with the single mode before it stopped working).

Hi Wight, thanks for the offer; I appreciate it. Even if I did fry something to the point of no return, I’ll sure learn alot from you guys. Here’s the emitter (click for full size):

The LED has twisted counter clockwise on the MCPCB. Notice the traces under the LED are showing at an angle? That’s definitely a problem!