Disable Strobe and S.O.S mode in AIM Sports FHD180G

Hi guys, first time posting here, not sure if this goes against the forum's rules, I'm trying to figure if this light can be modded so only HIGH/OFF is left, no strobe, no S.O.S modes.

The light is an AIM Sports FHD180G, comes with a pressure pad and conventional button.

!https://www.adorama.com/images/Large/asfhd180g_1.jpg!

Here's the driver:

!https://www.dropbox.com/s/jbnjmifl2uojgow/WhatsApp%20Image%202021-06-20%20at%2021.24.42.jpeg?dl=0!

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum! No rules on modding other than it's highly encouraged!

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong after looking at the photo of the driver but I don't think you can just mod it in that way. That large nameless chip is where the magic has been programmed so you have to reprogram if it's even possible on that one, or replace the chip with one that's programmed to your liking...or much easier, just replace the whole driver with something that suits.

A video I found for anyone wanting a look at the whole light...couple dozen web pages didn't say much about actual specs so this was slightly helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKBBA1WAf9g

So it's using 2x CR123 cells. It only says it's a usa-made Cree emitter, if that's true, but no idea which one...probably safe to assume that it's one of the usual 3v versions, which means that your driver is a buck style where it sheds all the excess voltage from two cells and reduces it to what the emitter needs (that is, not too much, what is safe so as not to destroy it). From that point, it's the 100% value that you need to choose as far as current/amps. You can kind of choose your level of brightness here but more amps means less run time and you want to be sure you aren't overdriving the emitter too much. Your light says it's only 180 lumens, which is really really low, so either they chose a low-output driver in favor of battery life or it's an emitter that cannot handle much at all. A good photo of the emitter would help if possible (or you can look up the big list on here with excellent photos of many emitter and compare to yours for identification).

So...a driver that can take 2x cell voltage (6.4 volts here) and convert that to 3v output at, say, 2 amps or whatever. I'm assuming your emitter can handle some normal current and isn't one of the old school types. First step is to measure the diameter of the driver board....17mm and 20mm are the most common but measure to be sure.

There are lots of drivers out there and lots of buck drivers, but I found one that looks like a good candidate. It's 17mm and it has low voltage protection AND reverse polarity protection. Those two things are sometimes missing from some otherwise excellent drivers that are made for a single lithium ion cell, but since you are using 2x lithium primary cells those safety features are very important. This is the Kaidomain website's shop on aliexpress - great supplier. They have lots of other drivers, too, but some aren't capable of single 100% mode (many have groups that you can choose, like 5% 30% 100% or whatever but the options are more limited with needing a single mode that is also a buck driver). I don't know a thing about this driver as far as quality or accuracy of their specs. In single mode options you can pick 1A, 1.5A, or 2A. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001251200171.html

Convoy (another highly respected brand) has a similar 17mm driver in 1.5A and it has low voltage protection but probably not reverse polarity protection unless the components on the board physically stop the negative end of the cell from making contact. You could message him to ask...and also for him to install a spring for you if you want. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000372903914.html

In Convoy's store they also have excellent low cost lights that you might consider buying instead of modding this light you have. He has tactical pressure switch tail caps that you can purchase for the most popular S2+ and C8 flashlight styles...and you can pick lots of options for the emitters, current, color, etc. It would cost more than just a driver but not terribly expensive and most parts would be a big upgrade over the AIM light. Not sure about the gun mount sizing compatibility, though.

Thank you so much for taking a moment to reply, I thought the same about the chip and firmware, had hopes that there could be a weird kind of way to bypass that step.

I just looked in big list of emitters that you mentioned, it seems that it is a Cree XR-E 7090 EZ900 emitter, but it is indeed a 20mm driver board.
This also came with 2 Cr123A 3.0v 1300 mah batteries.
I’ll be buying a Surefire in the near future, just wanted to toy around with this since it’s not going to be used that much, I really appreciate the attention and help.

You're welcome. I won't claim to be any kind of driver expert and there are a couple things on that board that I don't know what they are or are doing exactly, so maybe there's a way I don't know about and someone will take a peek to confirm or deny. I see this other driver but it's multi-mode unless you were to always double click for turbo...amps are much higher so changing the emitter might be in order for a few bucks (you can get them pre-mounted to the metal boards, cheap) as long as the flashlight body can handle the heat ok. I'm sure there's a driver out there but I'm not seeing anything else in a buck single mode. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000060669238.html