My daughter accidentally knocked the flashlight off the shelf and it fell down from approx. 1m height. The flashlight wouldn’t start after that. I am no good with repairing the flashlights but I managed to take it apart and to test it. So, the contacts (wires) look soldered, and if I test the LED contacts (still in the pill) with a DMM the LED would turn on, however, if I touch the ± wires soldered on the driver it doesn’t (should it?). That’s about all I know about testing the flashlights.
My guess is the driver is now dead? How could I be sure? Is there a way to test the driver?
Maybe I should try to desolder and resolder the wires and see if that does the trick (I don’t have the soldering iron, I would have to take it to somebody)?
Sorry for not posting pictures of it, I don’t have a camera atm.
Thanks guys,
P.S. If the driver is kaput, what are the recommendations for this Balder se-1?
Have you tried bypassing the switch by using a paperclip or your DMM set to read current? I've had a couple of these balders with dodgy switches.
Also had a fried driver in my XM-L version SE-1 and replaced it with a 2AA boost driver from Fasttech. Can probably find you a link if you want. Before you do, make sure the driver is actually faulty by unscrewing the head and applying 1.5-3V to the centre contact and negative contact ring. You may have a contact issue between the driver and aluminium pill.
Not much you can do about replacing a driver without soldering skills and tools though. If you had to pay someone it wouldn't be practical.
Oh, and trying to power up the driver without the LED attached may burn out some drivers anyway so be careful if you start more testing.
Yes, I tried with DMM and it sorta gives me figures, but very low, and only for a split of a second, and only the first time when measuring. All other measurements don’t read anything. After the LED lit up when I tried DMM directly on it, that was the main reason I suspected the driver has some issues.
Mine is also XM-L, what’s that 2AA? Does it mean it would work with 2AA cells also? I would like to get some nice driver for it, if I prove this one is dead.
I tried placing the battery on the pill while trying to measure anything using DMM. No joy.
No, I wouldn’t pay for it (maybe a tiny amount though), it’s just a bit of a hassle.
I haven’t dismantled the LED and driver from the pill…yet. As I said, I thought there must be a way to test the driver only, before I sign it off and order another one.
(a bit late response) Well, the driver is gone to the heaven so I have to either put a new one or I get a drop in with, maybe, an XP-E. Are there such ready dropins that I can just put in it, and which driver should I get that could take all the power of XML if I chose the driver path?
On 1AA it is pretty unimpressive but on 2AA is decent. I'd rather it didn't have the blinkies but it does an OK job. Do not use a Li-Ion with it.
You won't find a 2AA driver that will take "all the power of XML" since that would have to deliver about 3 Amps. Such boost drivers do not exist anywhere I have ever seen (though I wish they did). But anyway, in the SE-1 there would not be sufficient heatsinking to drive it much past 1A anyway.
Dereelight used to make a 2AA driver that output about 1.4A for their Javelin. I'm not sure if this is still available but it was a nice driver with 3 modes and no strobe. It isn't listed as a separate part on the website but you could go to http://dereelight.com and drop a message to Alan.
Or perhaps you could contact Balder for the original driver replacement.
The SE-1 does not take a drop-in in the way that a P60 light would, so however you approach it you are up for some soldering.
I cannot open the link at the moment, it just dies saying web page is not available (could be some temporary thing)
Unfortunately, as I understand, this is only AA driver. I intend to use 14500’s as I did so far, because the amount of light coming from these is more than double when using the AA’s.
I’ll drop Balder a mail to see if I could get any response.
Thanks man
EDITED TO ADD: Btw, my SE-1 was drawing about 1.6A or possibly more on high from the old one.
Repairing the light yourself is worth it if you are doing it for fun or to gain experience for future repairs or mods.
But if you just want a light that works, it’s less expensive to buy a new light. Sell the broken one here or on eBay for parts to mitigate the cost.
Repair takes a lot of time if you don’t already have a good amount of experience - disassembly can often be a real pita and assembly can take a couple tries if you don’t have some experience already. And time is money, so it’s almost always cheaper to just buy a new light.
hmm... Seems to be working for me. Try searching the site for sku 1127407
[quote=s0xxx]
Unfortunately, as I understand, this is only AA driver. I intend to use 14500's as I did so far, because the amount of light coming from these is more than double when using the AA's. I'll drop Balder a mail to see if I could get any response. Thanks man
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To successfully use both NiMH and Li-Ion chemistries you need a proper boost-buck driver. Unfortunately these are only found in the better quality more expensive lights like the foursevens quark, Thrunite Archer and some of the Zebralight and Olight models. I don't know of anyone selling them as parts.
The original Balder driver went to direct drive when on the lithium ion cell which may have been what damaged it in the first place. Many lights designed for AA's work this way which is why they have ridiculously high outputs when you use a 14500. It is also why many of them carry warnings not to run the light on high for extended periods with 14500 cells.
If you want to use 14500s exclusively and drop the NiMH then there are any number of suitable drivers that you could choose from. I was not confident in the quality of the Balder driver which is why I chose the other product. Then again, I now always run my SE-1 on 2 AA cells. I have better lights for a 14500.
[quote=s0xxx]
EDITED TO ADD: Btw, my SE-1 was drawing about 1.6A or possibly more on high from the old one.
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Was this on an Eneloop? Keep in mind that because this is a boost driver, 1.6A from your AA will not be 1.6A at the emitter. On a 14500 it might have drawn this much because the circuit was effectively direct drive. However this much current in such a small light and from such a small cell is probably not recommended unless you use IMRs.
I only used 14500’s in this flashlight, so no AA’s. The flashlight went dead after it fell down from approx. half a meter height.
I didn’t use the flashlight on high for too long, usually it’s just a couple of minutes, not more. For more I use medium, or low mode.
I tested the light with AA’s when I bought it, I wasn’t impresed. That’s why I bought a pair of 14500’s. Also, I don’t like the idea of using a longer tube for 2AA’s; I like this flashlight cause its small.
I don’t mind getting my hands “dirty” with soldering a driver, it’s just I thought there must be an easy solution, such as a dropin.
In that case, you should replace the driver with a Li-ion only driver like the Nanjg 101-AK. It will give you regulated output and you won’t run the risk of burning out a AA driver with the higher voltage. Most AA/14500 combo drivers really aren’t combo drivers at all. They’re just AA boost drivers that happen to offer just enough resistance to not burn out your LED when you force 4.2v though it.
Not for the SE-1. Aside from general formats like the P60 and some C8’s, ready made drop-ins are highly uncommon.
You should be able to find plenty of good choices.
From memory, the SE-1 has an aluminium pill so you can't really solder to it. Make sure you have a good, tight press fit for the new driver to minimise potential earthing problems.
Actually this was a great advice! I did contact Balder - I got a response from a guy named Martin and in his first response he offered to send me a replacement. A few days later I got a mail from him saying that he shipped it and he gave me a tracking number. A couple of weeks later I got a pill with already mounted LED and driver! I just had to screw in the pill and the SE-1 was alive again!
I measured it, it draws 1.6A on high from a freshly recharged TF 14500 (4.18V), which is the same as before.
I got to say I was a bit surprised that I got such a warm response; it actually left a pretty good feeling so I’ll definitely be ordering more Balder products.
Just wanted to share my experience here. Thanks a bunch everybody.
Well that's great to hear s0xxx! Thanks for letting us know in this thread.
I hope you have better luck with this one (and try not to drop it again )
My XM-L SE-1 T6 was a really nice little light on 14500s barring the short runtime/heat issue on high.
Always good to hear when vendors are helpful with issues after purchase. I bought half a dozen of these SE-1s for kids Christmas presents 2012 and had tailswitch issues on two of them. I contacted the seller (US based) who organised for Balder to send me replacements. They shipped 3 complete spare tailcap assemblies at no charge which I thought was pretty good service. (I've replaced two so far and no more issues yet.)
I still find it puzzling that Balder, on their own page here list output and runtime on both AA and 14500 for all the versions (XP-E, XP-G, XM-L) but yet at the bottom of the page in red text is a specific warning not to use 14500s on anything but the XM-L version:
Warning: Please do not used 14500 Li-ion for XP-G and XP-E version. Voltage overstep the limits so that it may damage to LED core.
I have a spare 15mm Sipik SK68 driver I yanked the other day, it is the AA/14500 driver, and I am more than willing to ship it to you…I have to check if it is the Hi/Lo/Strobe, or the 1 mode off/on driver though (I was trying to shoe horn in a Nanjg 101-AK-A1 into it and haven’t finished it but have it in my “electronics” tackle box, and I really don’t like blinkies
I’m not sure if that’s directed to me, but if it is I wrote above that I already got a replacement from Balder. The driver is actually 17mm.
Yes, that’s the one. I got the initial model, with a reversed clip.
I don’t remember reading earlier that Balder did not recommend using 14500’s with anything other than XML… maybe people were reporting problems or dead LED’s when using 14500 batteries?
I thought of replacing the LED as the XML doesn’t give such a focused beam, but now I’m a bit hesitant. I like the amount of light coming from this light, it’s just the beam is really…how can I say, one could barely notice the beam ’cause it’s spilled all over.
)