That’s an interesting idea. How would a low sensor reading trigger LED activation?
I’m wondering because an attiny13 could do it, but… the ADC parts of the chip use more power than simply leaving the LED on all the time at a low level. I guess it could keep everything off most of the time though, waking up once per second to take a reading and then go back to sleep.
I wonder if it’s possible to get the light sensor and tail LEDs in different frequencies so the LEDs won’t make it think it’s in a bright place.
Hi pilotdog68, could you possibly do a version of rev5.1 for 14mm boots that uses (4) 1206 LEDs and only (1) resistor on the back? If there isn’t room to do 1206 LEDs, could you do 0805 LEDs instead?
Today I made a S2+ 18500 shorty with illuminated tailcap. (some more details perhaps tomorrow in the what did you mod today thread)
driver: Qlite revA with Nlite firmware (from MtnE)
bleeder: 470 Ohm
ledboard: pilotdog68’s dumb 16mm 6-led ring with a resistor for 3 times two pairs
leds: from a bag with random blue/cyan/green mix 0603-size from ebay
resistors before leds: 2 pairs of 6.7KOhm, 1 pair 1.8kOhm (tweeked)
current through tailcap: 131 micro-amp (so 1.8 year on a NCR18500A)
The light is well visible in the dark but not overly bright. The driver UI suffered somewhat from the lighted tail, every half-press gets you to low again, so you have to go through the cycle starting from low every time you change mode (not too annoying with 4 modes)
Hello friends. I order a few boards a while back and have just picked them up to attempt my first lighted Tailcap. I ordered 16mm and 14mm rev5 boards. The 16mm boards look fine, but am I missing something on the 14mm board? I can’t find the ground plane. The trace for the neg pad of the LEDs goes to the end of the board and it appears as if the board was cut short. I’m a little confused, please help.
Hmmm… I don’t know if that makes me feel better or not? :confounded: I thought I had to have been missing something so I looked at it for quite a while before I gave in and posted. Thanks for the help! I’ll contact oshpark.
I checked with oshpark and they believe it is a result of the copper layer being too close to the board outline. She says it must be 15mil or sometimes the mill with cut the wrong side of the line. IDK?
I want to try this little hack on Manker E14, I see that it’s already using custom board for the switch.
I have soldered 2 SMD (with code 103 and 104) resistors and 2 nichia LED as following, but it still doesn’t work. Do I need to add another resistor on the driver as well?
I know my soldering job is not great but I tested with my multi tester and they turned on.
The Manker E14 has the BLF-A6 driver, but a (bleeder)resistor must be added, try 470 Ohm between batt+ and ground (one way to do that is from the led+ wire-pad to the outer ring).
I have wanted to try this for some time, I love it on the X5. The issue is reading all 1140 posts to see where exactly things stand.
Is the OP updated with the latest developments?
Also which boards should I order, there are so many options and it doesn’t make a lot of sense as to which one you should actually order without the background on why there are so many.
I basically want the most universal setup that can be used in the widest possible number of lights and be reliable. It also still need to offer high current carrying capability to the switch.
Pots are nice but not a must.
I would be using it in S2 tube lights mostly and other lights with similar sized tailcaps.
Are you using that green tailcap in the picture? My thought is that they might be turning on in the flashlight, but so faintly that it can’t be seen through the green. Adding the bleeder to the driver might help.
I’m not up on my resistor codes. What are those values on the tailcap? (103 and 104)
edit: just saw your new post. glad it is working. It definitely takes a lot of playing with values, with is why some started using pots
The OP is mostly updated, there are links for each board that go to their more detailed descriptions in this thread.
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For one design that can cover a lot of functionality, I recommend either Rev5.1 or Rev5.2 (get the default Oshpark option). These will work with stock switch pcb’s
If you pair it with either Rev5a or pyro1son’s board (Usually the 2oz board will be better for this one) you can adjust it without opening the tailcap.
Ok, I think I figured out what was throwing me off.
You need 2 different boards, the first is the tailswitch board like normal except with resistors/pots and outputs.
You then use a second board that holds the LED’s and it mounts in place of the washer that is normally on top of the switch?
How does the switch boot seal/not damage the LED’s?
The pictures do not show the 2 boards, they just show a single board and a clear washer. The oshpark pics didn’t make it clear there was a hole in the center either, this was what was causing the confusion for me.
Does anyone have a picture of the completed setup for the stacked board design?
Also besides letting more light through to the tailcap, does the stacked design offer anything else over the single board setup? I could make washer out of acrylic easily so light loss would not be a big deal.
I already have a few of those high amp tail switch boards, I use them in the triples and such, I was hoping the lighted boards incorporated a similar design, which they appear to do.
I re-edited my post for more clarity. The ring/washer shaped pcb’s were designed using measurements of the common rubber boot sizes so the led’s themselves shouldn’t even be getting contacted during operation. Likewise the pads on the bottom are spaced for the small omten 1288 to have clearance. You may have issues with other (larger) switches.
You can also use the rings by mounting resistors right on them, and keeping the stock switch pcb (or the “high amp” one).
Even using crystal-clear acrylic, the rings let out way more light, meaning you can turn the power down and get tiny tiny power draw measurements. You also get more well-spaced even light. They all have pads for 6 led’s, but I usually only use 3. Here’s one picture
