Just thought I'd share my latest pickup... I wanted a compact 18650-XML light I could cigar hold easily on my night-time jogs around the neighborhood. For this application the weight had to be well balanced between an XML throw-head and the tailcap. The body tube needs to be smooth without knurl, yet firm-grip-able between my knuckles. I wanted a good tight beam XML thrower (or at least one that leans more towards that). I need to be able to spot dogs and other potential threats well in advance before they become threatening. So I landed an MXDL SA-76... pics and commentary in line. ENJOY!
I bought the light at easylightbuy for $27 shipped. heres the URL:
http://www.easylightbuy.com/mxdl-sa76-cree-xml-t6-led-5mode-flashlight-torch_p2456.html
Note the macro setting on my camera tends to distort the scaling of images, so items closer to the camera appear MUCH bigger than they really are.
**EDIT I JUST CONFIRMED PROTECTED CELLS DO NOT WORK WITH THE TAILCAP MODS SHOWN BELOW... See post# 23
Some glamour shots
Size comparison with the HD2010
Business end, a single well centered XML. Nicely done stainless trim-bezel threads smoothly on the turbohead.
Stainless body tube, silicone grip rings, heatsink area
Tailcap + orange switch boot. A true lockout tailcap design, I was not expecting this!! True to the $urefire original, this one can be used as a twisty-ON-OFF.
Turbohead and heatsink area. Really nice typeII anodize. Sorry about the dust.
TEAR DOWN PICS TO FOLLOW:
Turbohead, reflector and XML. You can see the plastic reflector disk that centers the LED perfectly at the focal point in the parabola (or whatever profile the reflector is).
At the heart, a decently well heatsink'd XML. Plenty of thermal grease. This light does not use a thermal adhesive, its a white grease... which is GOOD, because I plan on doing some copper heatsink mods inside the "pill" at a later date. So the LED slug is easily removed and replaced.
Heres the pill / engine compartment. Nicely done with a thick silicone O-ring gasket to seal out the elements against the turbohead.
Stainless battery tube butts up flat against the -B ring on the driver board. VERY nice, I can lube up the threads as much as I want and not worry about lube-gunk creating electrical resistance through the circuit. I like nice lubey-smooth threads, so my personal preference is to have current flow diverted from the threaded areas of the light.
O-ring sealed, hex-bolt retainer secures the driver in the pill. Like before, this area of the light is not part of the conduction path... so lube it up all you want. You can also see the silicone O-ring that tightens against the turbohead/reflector assembly.
Taking apart the hex-bolt retainer, pill and driver. This thin spring doesn't really serve any purpose. Its not part of the electrical circuit. I think its just there to help hold the driver in place when the stainless body tube is removed. I can take it out, but I decided to leave it in place.
Strange to have a BIG torroid transformer in a single cell light? Makes me wonder if this light is also 8.4V capable?... but I am not about to try and cook something. You can see theres a lot of room in the engine compartment. I am working with some other forum members here for some custom heatsink work and a custom programmed 8x7135 driver... Stay tuned for all that!! But heres the stock engine.
Heres that strange spring on the driver board, with the camera flash on this time.
Heres the stainless body tube threads that go into the head. Very nicely done, tight fitting O-ring too.
Tailcap threads and O-ring.... again nicely done.
Switch gutts and pill. And heres where the problems begin. The brass threaded retaining ring you see is a "spring floating" design. The brass collar you see there is LOOSE (!!!) its a free-spinning component, that uses a spring of all things to make electrical contact with the switch. BAD!! design IMHO. I have NEVER seen this kind of thing before in any light.
Heres the culprit. The threaded retainer is too thin, not thick enough to reach the switch board. So they used a spring to bridge the gap. It makes good electrical contact, but the problem is when you tighten the body tube into the cap, it doesn't stop spinning! Theres nothing "firm" in there to bump against the body tube.
Heres the brass plunger and plastic slider-piece. I took off ~1-1.5mm from the base flange of that plastic piece with a dremel. I dont know if this was necessary or not, I did it thinking it would free up some more range of motion for the brass plunger. They could have used a brass collar piece in place of the dreaded spring, I might make this mod at a later date too.
Heres the rev-clicky
Nice -B spring. Firm and thick. I took a moment to re-flow the solder. I like my solder joints to be nice and robust.... but thats just me.
Heres my solution to that pesky spring. The original on the left, the upgraded one on the right. Plan is to compress the spring coils all the way so it simulates a collar piece and gives the threaded retainer a firm platform to tighten down against.
Rubber boot and plastic pieces that make up the button.
New spring, I took from a P60 drop in. I might replace this with a copper collar piece... we'll see how well this performs.
The other thing I did was to invert the retainer, just flip it over and tighten it down. This gives the stack-up of parts enough height to bottom down against the stainless battery tube. As I mention before, this is a LOTC design so the circuit does not conduct current through the threads. So the battery tube needs to make firm contact against the switch retainer.
All buttoned up!
A nice cuban cigar hold!! comfey and secure.
One last note...
Tailcap current measurements with a 2200mah panny CGR18650E
HI = 2.15A
MED = .75A
LO = .21
It also has a noticeable PWM on lower modes. Hopefully this will all change when I get the new 7135 driver in there.
The one area of concern I have is the somewhat tight fit of the cell. All my panasonic, Sanyo, sony and samsung unprotected cells fit great, nice and snug with no cell rattle. Even hitting the tailcap and forcing the 18650 to move around does not interrupt power enough to mode flip it. Outstanding for my intended use as an active carry light. However I dont know if protected cells will fit without really crushing them. Its OK for me since I only use unprotected cells.
Feel free to post up any questions and comments, and stay tuned for future mods too!!