It really looks like a bad solder job, since my replacement (with good old leaded solder and resin flux) held up well.
Lumintop were happy that i pointed it out, and if they are reopening their business any soon, hopefully they will address this issue (and let’s hope for other LED options as well as a lower low mode)
Will future regular Tool AA v2.0 get illuminated clicky switches like the tit one?
My regular (white) Tool AA 2.0 arrived today, and it has an illuminated tail switch. I’m worried about the drain of it though. Won’t it notably run down a 14500 in several days?
Will future regular Tool AA v2.0 get illuminated clicky switches like the tit one?
My regular (white) Tool AA 2.0 arrived today, and it has an illuminated tail switch. I’m worried about the drain of it though. Won’t it notably run down a 14500 in several days?
Not several days, but i have measured it 10mA, so please take that in mind
Okay, so more like 2 months to fully drain a typical 14500 battery. I take it this is a new feature for the non-Ti Tool AA 2.0 flashlights? I really do not like it and probably would not have selected/bought this light had I known about it. How is it a good idea to half-deplete your battery in a month without ever turning on your light
Yes, removing either the LEDs, the resistors, or all of them (should be two of each) would remove the drain.
I swapped mine for a custom LED tailcap and am only getting 0.08 mA drain, which on a 900mAh battery translates to 15+ months of standby… much more acceptable.
Or physically lock out the light by partially unscrewing the head or tailcap. Works for all tools except the Ti version.
That does not work well with white aluminum that I rec’d earlier this week. I can go well past exposing the o-ring and still have the tailcap illuminated.
Yes, removing either the LEDs, the resistors, or all of them (should be two of each) would remove the drain.
I swapped mine for a custom LED tailcap and am only getting 0.08 mA drain, which on a 900mAh battery translates to 15+ months of standby… much more acceptable.
Now that is how to do it! I would totally be onboard with that, but not with what Lumintop did with their implementation.
Yeah, that (and an LED swap) were the done the day it arrived in the mail. Alongside the new tailcap board, I installed a very light green tailcap that lets much more light through so that you can run the LEDs with less power.
Just recharged the battery in the Ti Tool today after noticing the tail lights were either off or so dim that could not see in bright daylight and it was at 3.2 volts after about 1.5 months, it is an Efest.
Opus Charger read 543 Mah when charging complete.
Also mine will lock out with 1/4 turn of the head.
—
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sometimes rhymes,” Mark Twain
…
After the Apocalypse there will be only 2 things left alive, Cockroaches and Keith Richards
Just recharged the battery in the Ti Tool today after noticing the tail lights were either off or so dim that could not see in bright daylight and it was at 3.2 volts after about 1.5 months, it is an Efest.
Opus Charger read 543 Mah when charging complete.
Also mine will lock out with 1/4 turn of the head.
I got my Tool AA Ti today. It was an impulse buy and I never looked much into this thread or in Chibi’s review, but there are too many dumb features to leave this light unmodded:
10mA parasitic drain is unworkable, drains the battery in 5 days !
golden clip is ugly, it gets my black clip from the alu one.
memory!
XP-L2
7400K
but the worst thing: it is a shelf design with the shelf therefore being titanium, the ledboard is nice copper but the heat goes nowhere after that. I’m not surprised that ledwires unsolder themselves.
So: other driver, better led, aqua switch leds at lower current, I can not fix that shelf but I will craft a new copper board that will reach the very edge to bypass that shelf (the stock board stops short of the edge).
Victor told me earlier they should be releasing an upgraded model with a copper head soon, i don’t have any details. (So i don’t know how heavy it will be Jos)
I really like the light, but indeed, the parasitic drain is too high, the tint of the XPL2 is ugly and it gets HOT
For now, i just twist the head for lockout so it won’t drain my cell and the reflowed high CRI SST20 makes the tint so much better (and throwier)
Victor told me earlier they should be releasing an upgraded model with a copper head soon, i don’t have any details.
Interesting to hear about the copper head. While I love my Tool Ti, the all-titanium head was a bonehead move.
djozz wrote:
I got my Tool AA Ti today. It was an impulse buy and I never looked much into this thread or in Chibi’s review, but there are too many dumb features to leave this light unmodded:…
I also swapped my LED as soon as it arrived, along with a new tailcap that is brighter, gives my realtime battery status, and only draws like 80uA. I just wish I could do something about that gold clip without stealing one from another Tool.
I like my Tool AA Ti, and I agree that it needs a better heat transfer path. But that really looks like an afterthought. Perhaps because it is? Copper or not, it looks really out of place.
Is the >5 ma coming from the lighted tail cap or something else. I haven’t checked mine, you all got me wondering if I need to check and see if my battery is dead.
Yeah, that stock tailcap is a battery hog. Keep an eye on it. Not only is it the style where the LEDs are on the switch’s PCB (less efficient than a separate ring board), but the current is cranked up so it can shine through a black tailcap
Yeah, that stock tailcap is a battery hog. Keep an eye on it. Not only is it the style where the LEDs are on the switch’s PCB (less efficient than a separate ring board), but the current is cranked up so it can shine through a black tailcap
I fixed that a few days after I got mine by taking off a couple resistors with some needle nose pliers. I didn’t even both heating up the solder, but I did destroy those surface mount resistors. I cannot believe Lumintop employed such a bad design/concept!
It really looks like a bad solder job, since my replacement (with good old leaded solder and resin flux) held up well.
Lumintop were happy that i pointed it out, and if they are reopening their business any soon, hopefully they will address this issue (and let’s hope for other LED options as well as a lower low mode)
id be insterested in how the voltage indicator works out
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Ok, i did my first reflow ever and it turned out pretty good (except that i put the LED reversed, so plus and negative pads are exchanged now)
I have lost quite some lumens, but the high CRI 4000K SST20 make it a totally different light.
Very happy with it!
My regular (white) Tool AA 2.0 arrived today, and it has an illuminated tail switch. I’m worried about the drain of it though. Won’t it notably run down a 14500 in several days?
Not several days, but i have measured it 10mA, so please take that in mind
Okay, so more like 2 months to fully drain a typical 14500 battery. I take it this is a new feature for the non-Ti Tool AA 2.0 flashlights? I really do not like it and probably would not have selected/bought this light had I known about it. How is it a good idea to half-deplete your battery in a month without ever turning on your light
You can ofcourse disassemble the LED’s in the switch.
Or physically lock out the light by partially unscrewing the head or tailcap. Works for all tools except the Ti version.
I think it’s great they added the illuminated tailcap!
Yes, removing either the LEDs, the resistors, or all of them (should be two of each) would remove the drain.
I swapped mine for a custom LED tailcap and am only getting 0.08 mA drain, which on a 900mAh battery translates to 15+ months of standby… much more acceptable.
That does not work well with white aluminum that I rec’d earlier this week. I can go well past exposing the o-ring and still have the tailcap illuminated.
Yeah, that (and an LED swap) were the done the day it arrived in the mail. Alongside the new tailcap board, I installed a very light green tailcap that lets much more light through so that you can run the LEDs with less power.
Just recharged the battery in the Ti Tool today after noticing the tail lights were either off or so dim that could not see in bright daylight and it was at 3.2 volts after about 1.5 months, it is an Efest.
Opus Charger read 543 Mah when charging complete.
Also mine will lock out with 1/4 turn of the head.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sometimes rhymes,” Mark Twain
…
After the Apocalypse there will be only 2 things left alive, Cockroaches and Keith Richards
Thanks for the links with the details gchart.
For now I just removed the two surface mount resistors in the tail switch board. No more needless battery drain!
It seems every Tool Ti does that
Yes all Tool AA 2.0 models have lighted tail switches now — or at least that is what the manufacturer told me yesterday.
I got my Tool AA Ti today. It was an impulse buy and I never looked much into this thread or in Chibi’s review, but there are too many dumb features to leave this light unmodded:
So: other driver, better led, aqua switch leds at lower current, I can not fix that shelf but I will craft a new copper board that will reach the very edge to bypass that shelf (the stock board stops short of the edge).
Things to do…
link to djozz tests
Victor told me earlier they should be releasing an upgraded model with a copper head soon, i don’t have any details. (So i don’t know how heavy it will be Jos)
I really like the light, but indeed, the parasitic drain is too high, the tint of the XPL2 is ugly and it gets HOT
For now, i just twist the head for lockout so it won’t drain my cell and the reflowed high CRI SST20 makes the tint so much better (and throwier)
Interesting to hear about the copper head. While I love my Tool Ti, the all-titanium head was a bonehead move.
I also swapped my LED as soon as it arrived, along with a new tailcap that is brighter, gives my realtime battery status, and only draws like 80uA. I just wish I could do something about that gold clip without stealing one from another Tool.
THAT’S NOT COPPER DAMMIT!
When will they learn the difference between copper & brass
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Ya know what they say: brass is the new copper
(I may be in for this one, even if it’s brass
)
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection ///
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2
I like my Tool AA Ti, and I agree that it needs a better heat transfer path. But that really looks like an afterthought. Perhaps because it is? Copper or not, it looks really out of place.
CRX is on it
I ordered a Tool Ti a couple weeks ago, see what I can do with it.
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Hmm, you might be right about that, way to yellowish, not a sign of red copper.
The Tool is a nice light though, but the heat transfer is below average and the parasitic drain is >5 mA
Is the >5 ma coming from the lighted tail cap or something else. I haven’t checked mine, you all got me wondering if I need to check and see if my battery is dead.
V11R and V10R Current Mod
Yeah, that stock tailcap is a battery hog. Keep an eye on it. Not only is it the style where the LEDs are on the switch’s PCB (less efficient than a separate ring board), but the current is cranked up so it can shine through a black tailcap
A triple, of course
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection ///
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2
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