Wow, I never noticed that the pill slides out either. Iāve had mine apart and swapped emitters in it several times, but that pill has never budged and I never considered pulling on it. Then again mine doesnāt seem to heat up slowly. In fact it gets quite hot, quite quickly. So maybe mineās just tighter to start with. Mineās also a couple of months older and has the notched lens retaining ring, too, so it could be different in other ways as well.
Either way, I also really like this light and appreciate the full teardown. The factory UI isā¦okay, workable, but its not my favorite. Now that we know how to get to the driver it may be worth swapping it, or at least trying something different. Thanks!
^ Thanks. In your and ReManG's defense, it was tricky to figure out. Sounds like your version is built to tighter tolerances. If I had your light instead of mine, I might not have figured it out. Regarding the UI, It would seem that one of the board wizards could design a DD driver that has a vertical board the momentary switch. The top of the sliding pill supports the top part of the vertical board. Seems like it would be worth sacrificing in light USB charging. The USB port could be turned into a light tube and make water tight.
EDIT: Since the voltage sense resister is of such a low value, I tried straight up shorting the pads.
I only had a xpl2 XM-L2 handy to connect it to. Using a fully charged INR18650-30Q and keeping the stock 24 gauge leads, I got something like the following currents:
1 Moon - Still very low. Don't remember the current but you could still look at the emitter directly while on
2 1 amp (I think, It was late and I didn't take notes
3 4.5 amps
4 4.6 amps
5 4.6 amps
So it looks like 4.6 amps is about the max (might be slightly higher with the xpl) with just a resister mod. Next step will be to find a resistance value that give 4.6 amps in Mode 5, but still offers good mode separation.
Not knowing what was going on below the pill, I slowly walked it out from above by gently prying, pulling, jiggling, tapping, cursing, etc. Once I had it all apart I cursed one more time because I could have done just what you suggest in your question. I think the cursing is the most important part to the whole process.
Once it was taken out once, no pressure was needed to slide it anymore. There were just a couple burs holding it down.
Nice tear down. This indeed is a great light in terms of both build and performance. Much better and noticeably brighter than my Nitenumen NE01. Theyāre roughly similarly priced but the U11 is in a completely different quality category. Itās become my favourite 18650 EDC. And thanks to the tear down itās good to know the quality of the innards are commensurate with the exterior. Iām going to pay more attention to other Manker lights.
Having said that, the lens on my U11 is loose. When I shake the light the lens rattles. I wonder if anyone else has this problem? Is there supposed to be an O-ring over or under the lens? How do you remove the front bezel? I suppose youād need some sticky rubber to twist it off.
i like it but
it is too big and heavy
my other EDC is a DQG tiny 18650, which has a completely opposite UI - hard to switch between the 2 lights
moonlight mode is too low
would like more evenly spaced [logarithmically] lumen levels
the charger is nice
the LED color is nice
the side blue LED ādragon modeā is fun for about 10 minutes
this is hard to explain, but usually the reason for wider and longer heads is to get a more focused throwy beam
this is not throwy, it is semi-flood at best {which is fine for a pattern BUTā¦}
ā¦
they could have made the light smaller if they were going to have that beam pattern
the DQG uses a very short TIR to focus the beam - and it makes the light about 10mm shorter, which is a LOT
these guys made a wide and long head but then orange-peeled it, wasting the focus and size
a lot of the other features [blinky modes, āsuper turboā, light level programming] don;t really seem that useful after you see what they actually do
the light levels for instance, yes you can change them, but the levels you can use are not really what i want
also the turbo mode and super turbo are not very different from plain old āhigh modeā with the batteries i use [cheap or laptop recycles]
i am not going to buy $20 batteries just to get 40% more light for a few minutes
I have both the U11 and DQG 4th. Got the DQG first and it was my EDC until the U11 came along. I bought it based on positive reviews here (4wheelerās included) and donāt regret it in the least. A good flashlight for the money.
The U11 carries deeper and has rounded edges which I find more comfortable. I like the larger switch too (the DQGās switch is small) and its much brighter when needed. The USB charger is handy when traveling but Iāve only used it once and that was to make sure it worked.
All this said Iād gladly swap the UI from the DQG unto the U11. Much more intuitive for EDC use than the oddly organized UI on the U11.
The U11 is a good flashlight and I will EDC it again today over the DQG but the UI holds it back from greatness.
I'm ordering one from the US warehouse for $29.56 with freeme's code: MKU11. Shouldn't be a problem getting a Attiny85 driver in there. Planning on doing it to a T01 as well, and lot less space in the T01 from the looks of it. It's very similar to this light: http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_71296.html, which was and still is one of my favorite budget lights, but the U11 is a lot more quality. I got 85/Narsil on one of those Zy-T11 clones. My Manker U21 given to me by Manker for a review died, but it was a blessing in disguise - now it's throwing a lot further and more lumens with a dedomed XPL V6 0D and running Narsil utilizing the RED LED under the switch cover, and powered by a LK 5000 of course.
I've taken my T01 apart and appears to dis-assemble the same exact way as this U11. The U21 scales up from these designs with a separate USB charger board, but I tossed it.
I got my light, actually just ordered another. Wow, it's really a nice carry light/EDC. I got it all apart, as done here. Mine needed more help to get the pill out - it seemed like a tight press fit. I used a screwdriver and hammer and tapped all around the edge of the driver, around the spring.
I totally mis-judged the spacing from the pictures above. There basically is no room between the driver components and the shelf the MCPCB sits on. I don't think a piggyback board can fit in there with the stock driver stripped, even with the OSHPark thin boards. Ideally would be best for a driver board replacement, as ImA4Weelr shows. Securing the switch board though is the challenge, as well as getting a properly sized driver to file down and fit. I think it's do-able, but not easy, maybe not pretty.
Keep us informed. Iāve thought about this mod a number of times. But held back because of the challenges you describe. I think it is definitely doable though.