Code now public! BLF A6 FET+7135 Light. Short 18350 tubes and Unanodized Lights Available

[NightSpy]

I finally opened mine up and found no force marks getting the MCPCB into the head. In fact, it was rather loose.

I also noticed that you “should” put the reflector over the emitter when you tighten the head.
This should reduce the risk of de-doming.

I put the spare tail-cap rubber over the switch. It has a much shorter nub and give it a more classic feel on the switch.

I am little disturbed that the switch is being squished with the brass ring. Mine was incredibly tight.

Solder didn’t look to bad on the MCPCB termination. Didn’t pull the driver yet.

Still a great light with an incredible UI!

[xzel87]

I sent a complaint to banggood regarding my low mode problem I hope they send me a fixed head....it's really unusable as an EDC as it is as my most used modes are the low modes...Turbo is just for wow factor.

Btw the email in OP heyanqing1@banggood.com is no longer reachable.

[keengeorge]

@NightSpy

I finally opened mine up and found no force marks getting the MCPCB into the head. In fact, it was rather loose.

I also noticed that you “should” put the reflector over the emitter when you tighten the head.
This should reduce the risk of de-doming.

I put the spare tail-cap rubber over the switch. It has a much shorter nub and give it a more classic feel on the switch.

I am little disturbed that the switch is being squished with the brass ring. Mine was incredibly tight.

Solder didn’t look to bad on the MCPCB termination. Didn’t pull the driver yet.

Still a great light with an incredible UI!

Good Day NightSpy,

How did you manage to undo the switch's brass retainer ring?

My lights all have incredibly tight retainer rings, which I still have Not managed to undo.

Thank you Very Much,

George

[keengeorge]

@xzel87

I sent a complaint to banggood regarding my low mode problem I hope they send me a fixed head....it's really unusable as an EDC as it is as my most used modes are the low modes...Turbo is just for wow factor.

Btw the email in OP heyanqing1@banggood.com is no longer reachable.

What do you mean by not reachable?

[xzel87]

@keengeorge

@xzel87

I sent a complaint to banggood regarding my low mode problem I hope they send me a fixed head....it's really unusable as an EDC as it is as my most used modes are the low modes...Turbo is just for wow factor.

Btw the email in OP heyanqing1@banggood.com is no longer reachable.

What do you mean by not reachable?

mailbox does not exist error

[keengeorge]

@xzel87

@keengeorge

@xzel87

I sent a complaint to banggood regarding my low mode problem I hope they send me a fixed head....it's really unusable as an EDC as it is as my most used modes are the low modes...Turbo is just for wow factor.

Btw the email in OP heyanqing1@banggood.com is no longer reachable.

What do you mean by not reachable?

mailbox does not exist error

I suggest you try sending it again, as it's most likely a temporary issue with Banggood's server.

[raccoon]

@xzel87

mailbox does not exist error

It looks like the correct email address is:

heyanqing1@banggood.com

not

heyanging1@banggood.com

;)

[xzel87]

Damn I need to retest my eyes, I think my degree went up....I swear I see that as a "q"

[lionheart_2281]

@xzel87

Damn I need to retest my eyes, I think my degree went up….I swear I see that as a “q”

That’s why I copy / paste email addresses and any other important details, so if it’s wrong it’s not my fault!

[keengeorge]

@lionheart_2281

@xzel87

Damn I need to retest my eyes, I think my degree went up....I swear I see that as a "q"

That’s why I copy / paste email addresses and any other important details, so if it’s wrong it’s not my fault!

That's why I always copy & paste too

[DEL]

@ToyKeeper

So, if I understand correctly, the X7R class capacitor reduces the temperature sensitivity but does not eliminate it entirely?

I’m not sure if a capacitor 1/20th the size would work or not. The driver measures voltage, not capacity, so it should depend on whether the capacitor can handle the same voltage with a similar discharge curve.

I have a firmware already made which blinks out the raw ADC value for the offtime capacitor. I use it for calibrating timing. I would imagine it should also work for a totally different capacitor, or at least would reveal whether it discharges in a manner which is useful for this purpose.

The ‘R’ in X7R signifies that its specified uF value varies +/- 15% over its specified temperature range. Worst case will be at 125 C, where it will be ~15% less than at 25 C. This should be good enough for what we are doing.

Some better curves and info here:

http://product.tdk.com/capacitor/mlcc/en/faq/faq00035.html

Going with a capacitor that is 1/20 uF (to accommodate C0G type), the voltage value read at boot up will be 1/20 of what you would read with a 1 uF.

[DEL]

@ToyKeeper

We managed to greatly reduce this effect, but couldn’t eliminate it entirely. So, when it’s hot, a “medium” press is faster than usual. And if you put the light in a freezer, a medium press will be slower than usual. In my tests, the timing changes by a factor of about 2, which is way better than the factor-of-10 sensitivity it originally had.

If we assume that most of this effect is due to the temperature (in)stability of the OTC, this indicates that we have an xxU capacitor. Not a good choice for this application. ‘U’ would be –56% capacity at its upper temperature rating. If it is a x5V in addition, this temperature is only 85 C.

If I have time this weekend, I will remove an OTC and put it on a meter while heating it. Or just swap out with an X7R and try to compare with an unmodified light.

[fatboy]

Are they checking QC? Banggood keeps moving restock date back It’s now october 2

[tkd15]

Finally got my 25R cell to work with my 3D. Turbo is impressively bright, UI is great, the light works flawlessly. Thanks to all who make this GB happen, really appreciate all your hard work.

[DavidEF]

@fatboy

Are they checking QC? Banggood keeps moving restock date back It’s now october 2

If so, I’d count that as a good thing! 8)

[BLightSam]

@fatboy

Are they checking QC? Banggood keeps moving restock date back It’s now october 2

Wonder if that also mean further delays in sending out replacements for the defective parts.

[SciFiFreak]

@dthoang

This is the part that I used in my driver builds. I never noticed any issues with mode changing when hot.

This is the one I’ve used for all my builds and I notice mode change problems when hot. It’s also the part specified in the original driver build thread.

[Tom_E]

@DEL

@ToyKeeper

We managed to greatly reduce this effect, but couldn’t eliminate it entirely. So, when it’s hot, a “medium” press is faster than usual. And if you put the light in a freezer, a medium press will be slower than usual. In my tests, the timing changes by a factor of about 2, which is way better than the factor-of-10 sensitivity it originally had.

If we assume that most of this effect is due to the temperature (in)stability of the OTC, this indicates that we have an xxU capacitor. Not a good choice for this application. ‘U’ would be -56% capacity at its upper temperature rating. If it is a x5V in addition, this temperature is only 85 C. If I have time this weekend, I will remove an OTC and put it on a meter while heating it. Or just swap out with an X7R and try to compare with an unmodified light.

I've been using only X7R 1 uF caps for all my OTC driver build/mods and I still see the temperature related problems in most of the lights I modded using it. Now I did buy the caps off of eBay at the time, so no guarantees I got caps as labeled. I suspect though they won't make much a difference, but it would be interesting to try. In my next DigiKey or Mouser order, I'll definitely will be ordering some 0603's and 0805's - cheap enough.

The inconsistencies with the OTC's is some of the reason why I much prefer e-switch's now -- you have true control of timing under the MCU. I've also used the NOINIT (brown out) method as well, but still seems to have some timing inconsistencies.

[Joat]

The circuit is the cap and the resistance it bleeds down through, if the resistance goes down with heat the timing will get shorter also.

[BLightSam]

@tkd15

Finally got my 25R cell to work with my 3D. Turbo is impressively bright, UI is great, the light works flawlessly. Thanks to all who make this GB happen, really appreciate all your hard work.

What was not working with 25R and what did you do to fix it?