Put this quad together last night.
Round one
Tpad Quad w/ XP-L HI V2 3A - Mtn E.
Used original Driver with bypassed spring and 20 AWG
Lighted tail SW kept original and Not bypassed the double spring.
Thought all was good until I was asked what current it draws. Light seems to function fine over all. Until…
Tried to measure with DMM 14 AWG short leads. Light kept kicking out with a double flicker at about mode 4. Would get brighter but would kick back to previous mode. Never got a measurement over 2A before it would kick backward. Works FINE with Lighted tail cap though.
OK, Round 2
Swapped the driver with a Mtn E new Ver, Fet+1 Bistro.
All other parts remained the same including the unmodded lighted tail.
Again seemed fine but this morning I realized there was no memory and reverse.
Got memory, put it in 6 mode + ML… For the life of me could not get reverse to work or the hidden modes.
Also got the DMM to measure 11.8A in Turbo with a 30Q stuffed in its butt. The Windy 14500 reads 9.2A measured with tail SW removed.
Final, as it sits, Round 3
Had to scrounge parts to make a standard tail SW, bypassed the spring too. No Lighted tail now… All other parts as round 2 with Mtn E Fet +1 Bistro. Now the Reverse mode takes effect and get the hidden modes.
I think I need an education on lighted tail switches and drivers?
BLF X5 Fet works with lighted tail but does not work with tail removed trying to measure the current.
Mtn E did not function properly with lighted tail but is perfectly fine with standard SW mounted on a non lighted board.
Heading to PD lighted tail thread, gonna be a long day in that thread.
No idea what was going on in round 1, but in Round 2, you needed a bleeder on the driver. It comes on the stock driver from the groupbuy, but without it the driver memory and switching don’t work correctly with the illuminated tailcap.
I had the same issue with kicking down to moon mode after mode 4 with current x5/x6 driver when trying to to make a triple x6. It would kick down to moon after mode 4 no matter what I tried, until I put an 18650 about 75% charger in and everything worked ok. But with fully charged 18650 bam! So frustrating! Switched with current A6 driver and it would no longer kick down after mode 4. But, new problem, after being on for about a minute on turbo it kicked down to moon mode. No idea what I’m doing wrong here.
I just kept the MtnE new Fet+1 Bistro driver and eliminated the lighted tail SW.
I am perfectly happy with it. As suggested by another member I could put a tritium in the tail for a lighted switch cap.
I will keep the X5/X6 fet driver and lighted tail switch for a different single emitter build.
Also built this EE X6 Triple with a MtnE fet and no lighted tail. Nichia 219BT works flawless
gave up on the BLF drivers, X6 and A6 for anything but Single emitter builds.
I bought a pile of the A6 on sale for $3.63ea. They have their place…
The driver designs themselves isn’t bad (though we have advanced recently), but we all suspect the components Banggood used to make them were of lower quality, adding to the reliability issues.
Same as the aluminum S2+
400 wet but laying on a piece of Glass (flat). Until the grid is 98% gone. 800 wet till grid is gone. 1500 wet until the 800 scratches are gone and then 2000 wet. Polish it out with Mothers. I used a lighted magnifying glass to check final finish. Had to go back to 1500 and so on before I was satisfied.
For the Mothers I apply it to the 2 layered Bounty towel and work it in a bit. No slop of polish. Towel is now on the glass. Circular motions through all grits and polish. Repositioning grip 1/4-2/3rd turn occasionally to get uniform surface removal. As the grid wears away you can see if you are getting uniform removal.
Also note that is not the usual layering of the O-ring, optic and glass lens.
What I did was optic, one drop of pure silicone oil, glass lens and the O-ring is on top of glass between glass and bezel.
DBC and others put the o-ring between the optic and glass witht he glass touching bezel.
I have another X6 triple in the works and may try that one the DBC way to compare beam shots to each other.
At this point I will sand and polish all optics flat. The cast PMMA tends too shrink and leave surface indentations.
I plan to just use the optic and the O-ring, no glass. I’ve spaced it so that will fit better. I take it there is enough “meat” on the front to still be strong structurally after we have sanded it down?
So when you say “wet”, do you just have the paper moist as you are sanding, or do you actually sand it under water? I’ve seen someone us that technique before.
There is plenty of Meat. You are essentially just removing the grid. Material removal is minimal to get it flat and polished out after the grid is gone. Just wet. I rinse the paper occasionally but retain water on it after. You will see white as the material is removed, rinse before it’s mud. Also rinse the optic as you change grits. Wash with soap, detergent before polishing to get rid of grit.
Hopefully I don’t mess up my only optic. Dale says the beam doesn’t change much, but I’m trying to eek out as much throw as I can from it. I’m tired of floody triples.
In round 1, that’s just the nature of the stock Bistro drivers from Kronos and Banggood. Spoke to Richard about this and it had something to do with components and traces not being the highest quality. Too many amps will bump it down or turn it off completely, which happens when you bypass the tailswitch to measure amps. DBCustom suggested measuring from the negative lead on the MCPCB to get measurements.
It works fine with a quad Nichia 219C w/ 14500 and a triple XP-L with a 30Q, but if its a triple nichia paired with a 30Q, it doesn’t work in turbo. The most it can handle at the emitter is about 10ish amps.
I have a few spares in case I bought the last off Richard.
Actually think they came from kiriba. Ya get cool plastic cases if you throw in an optic or 2.
Just checked, I have more from him on the way and some new shtuff… M2 Quad.
Can’t speak for distance but they are certainly bright.
S2+ Triples w/ 10507 Carclo Lens - 3-UP Narrow Spot Optic and my first Green S41 Quad with (2) emitters replaced with 219C
MtnE 24mm quad optics have indentions on top center, 24mm quads from kiriba are flat on top.
I had an idea to drill holes through one to try. Just to see of the 3 beams would converge or be 3 separate hot spots.
I gave detailed description on How to screw it up.
Yeah if you can’t get them. Kiriba lists Few (only $1) and MtnE has 18 at the moment @ $3.5. And XP32 still out.
