Drastic Troubleshooting

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Today I got a Uniquefire HS-802 from DX. It claims an R2, but instead they sent me one with a sick glow worm in it instead of an XR-E R2. Well DX and I and throwers are a poor combination. See my review of the Piritlight SG-L8 to see what I mean. So time to find out what is going on in there.

Remove tailcap. Check

Remove battery. Check

Unscrew head. Now part of the reason i bought this thing is that it's an easy one to mod. Oops! They've glued the @£$%£$%^&$% head on. Apply two large adjustable spanners. Scar body. Apply two even larger adjustable spanners once you've taped up the body to protect it.

When that doesn't work put light in vice on benchtop. Not a very good vice at all - now budget to get a better one that doesn't break when great force is applied. Swear some more.

OK

Remove bezel. Check

Remove glass lens and O ring. Check

Prepare for some therapeutic swearing when the reflector gets damaged trying to pry it out.

Reflector comes out nice as ninepence.

Put reflector where it won't get crud on it or knocked on the floor or stamped on in rage.

Shake gently. It rattles. We have a contact issue.

Apply a wide range of probing, poking and shifting tools in an attempt to shift the pill out - it is clearly loose.

2 hour later extract pill.

Coffee (and swearing) break

Neighbour rings bell to tell me about seagull's nest on the junction of our roofs. Carefully refrain from beating her to death (I love her really, but this flashlight is starting to annoy me) and inform her that seagulls are a protected species and there is 0, nada, zero, zilch we can do about it, even as their crap eats our flat roofed bits.

One disgruntled neighbour trots off.

Think longing thoughts about 50 kilo sledgehammers - then remember I used to be a chemist. Wonder if that nasty stuff they've stuck the body to the head with is susceptible to hydrolysis. Now what's good at hydrolysing organics. Ah sodium hydroxide. Just the job!

Pity aluminium dissolves in sodium hydroxide, maybe that isn't such a good idea.

Now that the light is gutted - and the pill checked. It is going to need a bit of tidying up of the soldering, one of the reasons it was such a pig to shift was that there was solder on the threads. Not wanting to have to fight it all the way back in, time to get busy with a small file and clean it up a bit.

Meanwhile, back to hydrolysis of glue. Most glues die rapidly in contact with strong alkalis, but so does aluminium so let's try boiling it first. If that doesn't work it's time to wave a gas torch at it. Hopefully it'll not come to that.

More scarring on the body. Thus far it is Glue 2 Don 0

Next thought, most glues (all that I can think of) are organic. Few organic molecules survive long at 250 centigrade (500F). Time for baked (and scarred) flashlight.

It would probably have been easier to have moaned at DX instead but I'm British and we don't do that

2

I'm sure once DX hears that you beat on it, squeezed it in a vice until the vice broke, boiled it, and then baked it at 250 degrees, they will be more than happy to return your money (normal wear and tear, right?). Sounds like you are getting your money's worth out of your new light: If it had just worked right out of the package, you'd have probably just put it on a shelf. Now you get to play with it all day.

Seriously, I hate it when they glue the parts together. Best of luck with it.

3

I´ll call it demolition.

4

Sorry man...but that sucks, too much work for me to do. I just get pissed off and take a hammer too it.

5

300 degrees! It changed colour too. It is quite a nice colour now. And the oven's pyrolytic linings did their thing so the oven is clean too.

This little lot got used to get the pill out. Which took two hours. That's the pill at the bottom left.

Step 2

Boil it a bit.

No joy, so bake it a bit. Pretty colours!

It IS coming apart......

Thus far, Glue 3 Don 0

To be continued.

6

That was very funny (sorry Don) and very informative all at the same time.

7

That was what I was trying to achieve - glad I managed it. I think I'll probably hide the scars under heatshrink tubing once I've got the thing apart.

8

What's amazing to me is how patient you are Don because I would have pounded it into a flat piece of crap if that were me. I have what I call 'blind rage episodes' and when it happens, whatever I'm doing or working on gets destroyed. Then after that I feel like crap for destroying whatever it was because I realize that I just pissed away more money. Oh well....:(

9

It still isn't all that bright, but an LED and driver swap will soon sort that. Wonder how well an XP-G would work in there.

If I couldn't be horribly patient, or at least fake it well I'd not be able to do my day job. Actually, it is more that I'm good at faking it.

Some of the stuff I come across is just too horrible to let minor stuff get to you - I've been a pastor in a psychiatric hospital for the last 21 years and have just heard too much to let little stuff get to me any more.

Except when it does..........

10

Not very bright

But with a hotspot this tight it should throw approximately forever when I get more current into a brighter LED. And lose the resistor switch.

It is on the left, the right hand side is a Solarforce L2R with a low voltage R2 dropin running on a pair of Eneloops.

11

But one does wonder if it was worth all the effort. It is now about 1000x brighter than when it arrived, but pretty it isn't.

12

Hi Don.

Should try to freeze for some hours and then try to apply brute force.

It works for me sometimes with glued heads.The strongest glue becomes brittle below freezing.

13

That was going to be the next thing I tried, but a pair of 90cm wrenches and a lot of force got it apart.

14

Maybe you can post a pic so we can see the battle scars on the torch.

15

Take a look at post #4.....like the rainbow effect of the ano.....

16

The camera flash was wiping out the colour changes.

The scars!

Note the interesting colour matching.....

More scars

The cosmetic cover.

Which hasn't shrunk quite enough and is removable.

17

Now those are some serious battle scars. That's what I would make my beater torch to leave inside my toolbox.

18

It isn't really suitable for a general purpose toolbox light, it is too much of a thrower for that. But then, it'll only ever get used in the dark....

19

Wow...

I wonder if my HS-801 would require such punishment to take it apart. The moment it arrives i will try it for a min then it's going to be reworked completely. I was thinking (if glued) to freeze it overnight then use some strong pliers like:

Hoping to succeed by wrapping plenty of cardboard over the flashlight grip (to avoid damage) and try to unscrew the head barehandedly since i managed to pack some muscle over the years.

Btw, since mine is HS-801 and also 2 mode there is some chance that we have the same resistor based switch. It is moddable or it is best to throw it away and never look back?

20

I don't know about the switch, but it seems likely. Plenty switch mechanisms at DX.