The XP-L is really succeptible to damage because of it’s construction. Because it uses the XM-L2 die on a XP-G2 substrate the dome is all the way out to the edges of the substrate, so bumping it with the centering ring or reflector is probably more likely to cause damage…
This is from CRX’s thread here on emitters. Sorry it’s so big, it’s a single picture of the build of a lot of emitters, can’t trim it down to the specific XP-L or XP-L HI. But seeing some of these other’s gives a great perspective to what we’re dealing with in our lights.
A truly round die in a square hole, the SBT-70 in a Mirella reflector modified to fit this emitter and the Eagle Eye X6.
Don’t see the dome? It doesn’t have one, they put an AR coated glass window on a metal frame for protection. The silvery edges are the metal frame, the glass lens is glued onto this frame which is likewise glued to the substrate. I like pulling them off, leaving the bare round die exposed with it’s bridgework of bond wires. (I have also slipped and crashed that bridgework, killing a $70 emitter!)
thanks for the reply. i tried this, but it did not solve my problem. i cut a very small amount from the nub, which did not work. i proceeded to cut small sections off and testing, but it never worked. i eventually ended up with the boot actuation becoming mushy like you mentioned. still nothing. below is a picture of the trimmed nub next to the untrimmed nub from my extra boot.
yes, it appears to. i have a second light that works perfectly, so i took the switch out to compare. they both look and sound the same.
i should add that every once it a while it does turn off. however, i’ll leave it sitting on a desk and it’ll randomly come back on. blinded me a few times, haha.
Take the switch and test it for continuity with a meter. It shouldn’t stay on. Check it both installed and out of the tail cap. I had one with abnormally high resistance that I had to swap. Fortunately this is easy to do.
Sounds like the switch is heat damaged from soldering it onto the pcb. Too much heat traveling into the plastic switch via the metal tabs can soften and deform the plastic inside the switch, causing it to hang up. Just a little and it might only hang up from time to time, very much and it won’t work at all.
I’d say the switch needs to be replaced. This is relatively easy, it’s always a good idea to hold the tab where it goes into the body of the switch with a pair of tweezers or hemostats or needle nosed pliers to act as a heat sink and hold back that heat from entering the body of the switch.
Also a good idea to touch some solder, or use solder paste, on the pre-fitted tab end where it is going onto the board. The idea is to make it as quick a solder joint as possible and still be solid.
Care also needs be taken when on the other side of the pcb, doing a spring bypass can actually flow plastic into the via’s from the switch getting too hot, and more often than not the switch action will be compromised after an event like this. I like to take the switch off, do the spring through bypass or standard just-inside-the-spring bypass, then re-mount the switch.
Ask me how I’ve learned all this. By burning up switches and stuff, of course! lol
Anyone know where to buy these centering rings?
Is it possible to get the kind that sticks onto the LED board instead of sticks to the reflector, so it stays in place when the reflector is removed?
The butterfly type aren’t sticky but are a tight press fit to the substrate and stay put when the reflector is removed. The lip is not as prominent either.
You should be able to fast click to the first two blinks then shut it down between blinks. Turn light on again fast click and wait for second set of blinks and shut it down. Be sure to check the diagram on the first page.
You are already in mode memory by the “second” set of 2-blinks. The “first” set of 2-blinks toggles the 7/4 modes. Turn off after the first blink of the first set of 2-blinks for the 4-mode.
Shutting the light off during the 2 blinks in the configuration mode enables that option. So if you want to toggle between 7 and 4 modes, turn it off during the blinks on the first set. To enable or disable memory, turn the light off during the second set of blinks. I usually click it off between the two blinks, but even immediately after the second blink will do the job.
4/7 and memory are independent of each other, but it does take entering the configuration mode a second time to access either or.
I received my A6 and had the same issue with the switch never disconnecting, so the light was always on. Switch worked fine outside of the tailcap, but once any pressure was applied to the switch housing, which happens when the retaining ring is tightened in the tailcap, it never disconnects. Luckily I had a spare switch lying around that I swapped onto the board (no clue how many amps it can handle) to make the light work correctly.
I'm contacting the email address in the first post to see if they can send out a replacement. However, is this the best switch to go with? Is there a better one I can swap in there?
Side note: huge thanks to everyone involved. I honestly didn't read much about the light, just saw the specs and the huge amount of people in the group buy, so I ordered. I'm seriously impressed with the firmware, makes me jealous that TK was able to pack so much logic into one tiny 13a :)
He’s gonna hit that 10k mark faster than we originally thought!