Thanks will be even nicer when those wheels are black and a black front grille set better wait a while for that though lol, today was an expensive yet very enjoyable day!
How do you plan on making the wheels black? Paint, powder coating, or new wheels? I’m thinking about using this company to powder coat my wheels when my tires need to be replaced: Apex Custom Coating.
—
I’d rather use my flashlight around the house than turn on the lights.
How do you plan on making the wheels black? Paint, powder coating, or new wheels? I’m thinking about using this company to powder coat my wheels when my tires need to be replaced: Apex Custom Coating.
Powder coat defo, spray paint is nowhere near as resilient, well unless it’s done really well and numerous coats, then lacquered a few times (much like the body lol) . Pretty certain that would end up much more expensive.
Also you have to think of cleaning, likely wheel cleaner may be used on them semi regularly and I’m not sure spray paint likes that quite strong cleaner.
I see spray painting (not a proper job as I describe above) as a quick fix/time to sell on option to tart the wheels up and cover up damage.
Well it was actually last Thursday when I got new apartment from my hometown. I really been missing that place. Had to live elsewhere for almost 13 years I think, or was it even more. Well now I’m coming back.
I just love that town,it’s location and some really nice nature all around it. Lot of fatbiking, packrafting, camping and just walking in nature, doing roadtrips, exploring places and yeah there is also good amount of abandoned places too. Maybe life will get better this year.
Just got my first B158B ever in the mail today and I hastily slopped it together with a Osram Black Flat S shorting out (intentionally) and therefor DD through the stock driver and a few bypasses. 319kcd! Not bad for 10minutes of modding.
The light I got from AE and it is a super clean and high quality host. Ano is beautiful with no markings and threads are smooooth. Everything is beefy and the lens was immaculate. Nicely packaged with egg crate foam padding in a sturdy but plain box.
When I get more time I’ll black out the internals, use a proper centering ring, adjust the pill so that 100% zoom is at the end of the travel, and start planning how I’m going to get a DIY collar in there. Pics will follow
I got an order from Kaidomain. An S2 host, some 2700k SST-20s, and various centering rings. They screwed up and sent me a bag of 5050 centering rings in place of 3030…
I know I am late to the party, but I finally found some time to plan a few thrower builds. Simon was kind enough to send me:
KW CSLNM1.TG 6N-ebxD46-15 6000-6500K
From payment to delivery in my mailbox, it only took 11 days. What others say about Simon’s Convoy store is 100% true, couldn’t be more happy.
Now all I need is a decent driver for this build.
Novatac Spa with Steel Bezel, unlocked and fully programmable. LED is a very nice SSC P4, 94 lumens max, 0.08 lumens minimum. Tactical momentary enabled.
Nice light, Jon. Any plan for LED swap for more output?
thank you
I would like to change the LED, but have never tried to open a Novatac, so Im waiting for a moment of inspiration.
Ive had some failures to open a couple of other lights recently, an Eagletac D25a Ti, and a Nitecore Sens Mini. The mini is destroyed. The ET still works, but still has the ugly low CRILED..
Do you have a suggestion how to defeat Novatac glue, do you use heat?
I had another Novatac w black bezel, that after modding gives 250 lumens. I was quite happy with that. The light now belongs to one of my adult children. So I glad to have found another.
Ive had some failures to open … an Eagletac D25a Ti
I believe you have the D25a Ti version with the brass pill inside. These lights have a simple construction consisting of a brass pill with threads on both sides for both the bezel and the battery tube.
Eagletac used threadlocker to fasten the pill to the Titanium bezel. I believe they did this to reduce the chance of the bezel accidentally unscrewing when trying to remove the battery tube.
On mine, I was able to remove the bezel from the pill for an LED swap with a bit of muscle-power. I wrapped grey 3M safety walk tape around the bezel for grip and to protect it and did the same with the brass threads. That wasn’t quite enough so I ended up using pliers on top of the tape on the threads. Then just unscrew. It came off with a bit of work, but no heat was needed. The brass threads where the battery tube screws in got a little beat up from the pliers, but they still work completely fine and the exterior of the light was not damaged.
Incidentally, the earlier model of D25 Ti is easier to mod. It has no pill and no glue. However, it also has less smooth action when unscrewing the bezel due to Ti on Ti. And more importantly, the driver is not as good as the later model D25a Ti. It loses access to intermediate modes when run on 14500.
Just in the last week I modded both versions of D25a Ti
Later version D25a Ti with brass pill – I swapped out an XPL HI for an SST-20 95 CRI. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out as the SST-20 I used seemed to have output issues. The tint, CRI and color temp was great, but I probably wasn’t even getting 100 lumens even on 14500. I think the SST-20 in question might have been damaged. I ended up swapping the XPL-HI back in.
Earlier version D25a Ti with no pill – I replaced the stock driver with a FET driver I had laying around from Mountain Electronics (Guppydrv rev 1 firmware). I also replaced the LED with a 4000K LH351D high CRI on copper Noctigon. This greatly improved the output, tint and CRI and it now works fully on 14500.
Do you have a suggestion how to defeat Novatac glue, do you use heat?
So far I have opened 4 Novatacs with black bezel, it’s not hard at all.
Just push the bezel into something rubbery (floor mat, sandals, shoes, car’s tyre) and twist it counter clockwise to unscrew the bezel.
The challenge will be removing the old LED which was glued into the host and building a base for placing your triple MCPCB.
Novatac Spa with Steel Bezel, unlocked and fully programmable. LED is a very nice SSC P4, 94 lumens max, 0.08 lumens minimum. Tactical momentary enabled.
.
This flashlight looks like its missing the front third of it.
"It is critical that there is a credible academic source for the growing and important discipline of Alternative Facts. This field of study will just keep winning, and we knew that all the best people would want to be on board. There is a real risk in the world today that people might be getting their information about science from actual scientists."
Ok, I’ve come to the realization that I suck at taking beam shots but here they are anyway lol.
Ti Beta 219ac 4k Eneloop Pro
Delta 219C 5K Keep power 18350
Alpha MCE 4500k Efest 18350
Not sure why the Beta looks blue and the Alpha looks green in the pics. In person the Beta is very warm and the Alpha is more neutral. The MCE is much more floodier that I thought it would be but still a perfect profile. Just the right amount of hotspot and spill around it.
—
"America has three cities, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland."- Tennessee Williams
My new beemer after the wife wrote the last one off
The BLF Flashlight / Accessory / Battery / Spares Retailers Thread with Discount Codes
Nice!
Thanks
The BLF Flashlight / Accessory / Battery / Spares Retailers Thread with Discount Codes
How do you plan on making the wheels black? Paint, powder coating, or new wheels? I’m thinking about using this company to powder coat my wheels when my tires need to be replaced: Apex Custom Coating.
I’d rather use my flashlight around the house than turn on the lights.
Powder coat defo, spray paint is nowhere near as resilient, well unless it’s done really well and numerous coats, then lacquered a few times (much like the body lol) . Pretty certain that would end up much more expensive.
Also you have to think of cleaning, likely wheel cleaner may be used on them semi regularly and I’m not sure spray paint likes that quite strong cleaner.
I see spray painting (not a proper job as I describe above) as a quick fix/time to sell on option to tart the wheels up and cover up damage.
The BLF Flashlight / Accessory / Battery / Spares Retailers Thread with Discount Codes
New toy flashlight, $60.00 on Amazon. Looking at upgrading the Hologen bulb to a 12K lumen LED automobile light next.

The beam sucks badly new, lol, but that was expected.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HY8Q5FA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_...
.
.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085WKCM6W/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=...
Water Cooled MT35 PLUS RE-MODDED------MT35 Plus with SBT90.2 mod ( GT90 kit from Texas Ace )
7th annual BLF/O-L contest Haikelite MT07 upgraded-----8th annual BLF/O-L contest “SKELETON”
Water Cooled 20K lumen POT LID LIGHT------ Cyclops 18M cd flashlight Mod------Q-beam mod to led
Convoy 4x18 Luminus 90.2 mod with 86mm reflector
Think outside the box too long , cannot find your way back in
Sunwayman V11r, stock XM-L Cool White
debating whether to mod to

2700k LH351d
or sw45k…
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
Definitely sliced 2700k lh351d. Can recommend it.
thank for your thoughts
I agree sliced 2700k lh351d is very nice and warm
glad you enjoy it also
the middle light is the shaved LH351d 2700k:
l-r LH351d 2700k shaved, 219b 4500k, xp-e2 green:
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
Got my Pioneman K18 and L80 with battery and charger set. Ordered from their offical store in Ali 2 weeks ago.

http://imgur.com/gallery/mAThn6h
Well it was actually last Thursday when I got new apartment from my hometown. I really been missing that place. Had to live elsewhere for almost 13 years I think, or was it even more. Well now I’m coming back.
I just love that town,it’s location and some really nice nature all around it. Lot of fatbiking, packrafting, camping and just walking in nature, doing roadtrips, exploring places and yeah there is also good amount of abandoned places too. Maybe life will get better this year.
Just got my first B158B ever in the mail today and I hastily slopped it together with a Osram Black Flat S shorting out (intentionally) and therefor DD through the stock driver and a few bypasses. 319kcd! Not bad for 10minutes of modding.
The light I got from AE and it is a super clean and high quality host. Ano is beautiful with no markings and threads are smooooth. Everything is beefy and the lens was immaculate. Nicely packaged with egg crate foam padding in a sturdy but plain box.
When I get more time I’ll black out the internals, use a proper centering ring, adjust the pill so that 100% zoom is at the end of the travel, and start planning how I’m going to get a DIY collar in there. Pics will follow
https://fundrazr.com/osturaband
No affiliation, just a fan.
I got an order from Kaidomain. An S2 host, some 2700k SST-20s, and various centering rings. They screwed up and sent me a bag of 5050 centering rings in place of 3030…
Eagletac D25A Ti 2014
(pic is a link)
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
Lumintop EDC AA Ti.
... Happy Landings ...
I know I am late to the party, but I finally found some time to plan a few thrower builds.
Simon was kind enough to send me:
KW CSLNM1.TG 6N-ebxD46-15 6000-6500K
From payment to delivery in my mailbox, it only took 11 days. What others say about Simon’s Convoy store is 100% true, couldn’t be more happy.
Now all I need is a decent driver for this build.
First time order from OSHpark. Buck-Boost driver PCBs for D10 headlamp. ;))

Novatac Spa with Steel Bezel, unlocked and fully programmable. LED is a very nice SSC P4, 94 lumens max, 0.08 lumens minimum. Tactical momentary enabled.
sw45k, nw xml2, ssc P4:
.
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
Nice light, Jon. Any plan for LED swap for more output?
Blog: https://lumenzilla.com
thank you
I would like to change the LED, but have never tried to open a Novatac, so Im waiting for a moment of inspiration.
Ive had some failures to open a couple of other lights recently, an Eagletac D25a Ti, and a Nitecore Sens Mini. The mini is destroyed. The ET still works, but still has the ugly low CRI LED..
Do you have a suggestion how to defeat Novatac glue, do you use heat?
I had another Novatac w black bezel, that after modding gives 250 lumens. I was quite happy with that. The light now belongs to one of my adult children. So I glad to have found another.
Here is an old thread about Novatacs
it includes your triple, that I find inspiring:
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
I believe you have the D25a Ti version with the brass pill inside. These lights have a simple construction consisting of a brass pill with threads on both sides for both the bezel and the battery tube.
Eagletac used threadlocker to fasten the pill to the Titanium bezel. I believe they did this to reduce the chance of the bezel accidentally unscrewing when trying to remove the battery tube.
On mine, I was able to remove the bezel from the pill for an LED swap with a bit of muscle-power. I wrapped grey 3M safety walk tape around the bezel for grip and to protect it and did the same with the brass threads. That wasn’t quite enough so I ended up using pliers on top of the tape on the threads. Then just unscrew. It came off with a bit of work, but no heat was needed. The brass threads where the battery tube screws in got a little beat up from the pliers, but they still work completely fine and the exterior of the light was not damaged.
Incidentally, the earlier model of D25 Ti is easier to mod. It has no pill and no glue. However, it also has less smooth action when unscrewing the bezel due to Ti on Ti. And more importantly, the driver is not as good as the later model D25a Ti. It loses access to intermediate modes when run on 14500.
Just in the last week I modded both versions of D25a Ti
congratulations
post pics
the brass pill on my 2014 D25a Ti got crushed into an oval shape by the vise grips I used. It was not pretty.
There is not going to be any more modding on this light,
pros
it still works. It is a very nice host, thinnest AA I own, with a great clip.
I do not own 14500, I only use AA Eneloop, all the modes work
cons
the tailswitch on mine is very difficult to activate, and once on, it will switch modes at the slightest touch..
I do not love using low cri, but, the LED is useful for beam photo comparisons..
there is banding in some photos, that resembles PWM
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
So far I have opened 4 Novatacs with black bezel, it’s not hard at all.
Just push the bezel into something rubbery (floor mat, sandals, shoes, car’s tyre) and twist it counter clockwise to unscrew the bezel.
The challenge will be removing the old LED which was glued into the host and building a base for placing your triple MCPCB.
Blog: https://lumenzilla.com
Got a new to me Alpha today. Goes great with the rest of the family.
"America has three cities, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland."- Tennessee Williams
congrats!
Very Nice Family Photo
Jason really knows what hes doing.
would like to see a beam lineup too
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
Thanks Jon, he really does know how to make a quality product imo. All his lights amaze me every time I use one.
I plan to get some beam shots once the cells finish charging.
I’ve got both bodies for the Alpha also but prefer the way the short body just feels in the hand.
"America has three cities, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland."- Tennessee Williams
This flashlight looks like its missing the front third of it.
The Journal of Alternative Facts™
"It is critical that there is a credible academic source for the growing and important discipline of Alternative Facts. This field of study will just keep winning, and we knew that all the best people would want to be on board. There is a real risk in the world today that people might be getting their information about science from actual scientists."
Ok, I’ve come to the realization that I suck at taking beam shots but here they are anyway lol.
Ti Beta 219ac 4k Eneloop Pro
Delta 219C 5K Keep power 18350
Alpha MCE 4500k Efest 18350
Not sure why the Beta looks blue and the Alpha looks green in the pics. In person the Beta is very warm and the Alpha is more neutral. The MCE is much more floodier that I thought it would be but still a perfect profile. Just the right amount of hotspot and spill around it.
"America has three cities, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland."- Tennessee Williams
thanks for making the effort
single beam shots in the dark are too hard for me
I find it easier to show tint differences
by shooting all three lights at the same time,
lined up side by side in a single photo:
I use a folded piece of printer paper to make the “white wall”
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
the ergonomics are quite good
The next model got a longer waistline, and a bigger nose…
which one do you like better?
Want to Buy Jetbeam TCR-1
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