Known issue. The driver tends to reset under very high load. Specifically, at the end of a full-power FET pulse, the FET closes so fast that it creates a ripple effect, and if the amps and voltage were high enough, it can make the driver reboot. It’s being fixed in future BLF driver designs, but that’s totally unrelated to what Banggood sells.
Mine is the same. Kind of disappointing. The front piece is a slightly smaller diameter than the rest of the body and I can’t swap some of the bare parts with anodized parts due to different threading. QC issues like this are one of the big reasons people have been unhappy with Manker.
A Hakko or one of the clones. The one I bought had a cold joint inside the wand and fixing that was the last time I used my old 20w Weller. The variable temp and different tips take care of all my basic needs. Hot air reflow would be nice to have but if you don’t assemble boards it’s not necessary. There are several threads on this topic.
Is it similar on the short tubes (fitting the early BLF A6) on the head-side. The slot for the O-Ring is too wide and the part with the bigger diameter ,on the opposite side to the thread, is too small. Thats why the O-Ring is only half covered.
Does it close if you remove the oring? If it does then look for a thinner oring, if it doesn’t then file or sand shorter the battery tube until you like the fit. Another of the inconsistencies was depth of switch pcb seat and battery tube stop.
No, it’s the same without the O-ring.
Btw, on my Astrolux the switch protrudes a little from the button guards too. Probably the PCB seat variation you said…
If you do choose to sand the tube shorter remove the orings, place some 220 wet or dry sanpaper on a flat, smooth work surface( a piece of 2x6 or plywood will do), and sand then rotate, sand then rotate. This helps to keep it even though evenness isn’t essential. Stop before you go too far and wrap the tube with some tape to protect it, all it takes is one slip and the tube will tip onto the knurling mid stroke and ruin the deal. It’s not difficult, merely tedious and if you take measures to protect the tube from accidents it should go fine. A sheet of 220 costs about a buck.
Updating my debugging posts for non functional BLF A6 from Banggood over pages 24 and 25 - after some back and forth Banggood sent me a new head unit and that promptly fixed things. Not sure if it’s the same tint as the original order but not a big issue - now have two fully functional A6s…
Hi bought a BLF A6 and attempted the bypass spring mod and removed the spring off the tailcap. I tried solidering it back but ending up getting solider everywhere and now the light will not turn on. Is there anyway to fix this or to purchase a replacement tailcap?
Replacement switches can be obtained from several sources, including the US-based MtnElectronics.com if you want it quickly. I don’t recall if banggood offers the switches by themselves yet.
You should be able to fix it. I’m assuming that the light worked before you did this but I’m guessing that you heated up the board so much that you opened a connection to the switch. Have you tried bypassing the switch by connecting the negative if the battery to the tube? (Check the first post of thread for a pic of this) your switch makes a connection between the retaining ring/tube and the battery negative. So be sure that the solder points for your switch are still intact.
I think I have not seen this kind of misbehaviour before in this thread. I have bought a S1 in 3D and was so happy with it that I couldn’t resist to buy 3 more BLF A6 in all tints, one of them bare. Two of these A6 are as expected, but one, the 5A version, behaves strange. The light was tested with fresh NCR18650B, one protected, one unprotected, both above 4.1V. The light is in 7-mode.
- switching the light on: Nothing happens, no visible light, even in complete darkness. So no moon mode here…
- now stepping through the modes with clicks until Turbo works as expected (Turbo mode may not as bright as with my S1, but I have nothing to measure.)
- next click to moon mode gives a short flash of a very low mode (maybe moon?), then again darkness as in the first mode.
- medium press goes back to turbo
- medium press goes to strobe
- next medium press: similar as from turbo to moon: one very dim flash, then complete darkness. Was expecting battery info…
- next medium press: similar to the expected bike flasher, but between the strobes the light is dark/off.
next medium press: darkness (aka my moon mode)
Also, after pressing 15 times to get into config mode: complete darkness, no flashing to indicate mode settings.
Any idea what’s wrong here? I have not yet openened the head and seen the driver because I am a little afraid of dedooming/destroying the LED… Or shall I just ask Banggood for a head or driver replacement?
It might be a faulty or missing solder connection at the 7135 or pin 5 of the Attiny on the driver board. Or the Vdd Pin of the 7135 or pin 5 of the Attiny is shorted to ground.
Hi, I recently have had problems with my A6 due to a failed spring bypass mod. I purchased a new switch and a new driver and the light will still not turn on. What are the chances I ruined the emitter and is it even possible…?
here is a picture of the emitter… note that the switch and driver are brand new, I have tested the switch with my other A6 i ended up buying but dont know how I can test the driver.
You can test the emitter with a battery and two wires, if it doesn’t light it’s toast. I’m assuming it worked before. If it does work then it could be a cold joint on the solder pads when you reattached the emitter wires. I’d make sure they were good before testing as the wires cover the pads. The threads on one end of the tube are anodized but not on the other so it’s imperative that the anodized end were the ano has been removed right at the edge of the tube makes contact or you get no light. You might try flipping the tube end for end.
Two of these A6 are as expected, but one, the 5A version, behaves strange. The light was tested with fresh NCR18650B, one protected, one unprotected, both above 4.1V. The light is in 7-mode.