jacob a60 direct drive mod

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Ok, I’ll add the couple of pictures I took later.

First the headline

Xre-q5 direct drive on a keeppower 3400mah cell.

Does anyone fancy hazarding a guess on what the little sucker can draw?

And more to the point, I have a zy-t08 that I can run at 3a, the little Jacob has just finished smashing its teeth in, it butted it like a drunk glaswiegen then should “get that stitched sonny!”

I may have to try and get one of these myself to do the same thing to.

Anyway, the mod in brief.

Strip the light, remove the driver and led. Then get a 20mm contact board, add a positive and negative wire and the driver spring so you can retain the nice little brass plunger.

<a href=Photo Storage target=_blank><img src=http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x48/gords1001/IMAG0538.jpg border=0 alt=>

Sand the top of the light engine and add new thermal paste.

<a href=Photo Storage target=_blank><img src=http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x48/gords1001/IMAG0539.jpg border=0 alt=>

Solder the star back in, reassemble and your done, 1 mode ridiculous out put thrower for about $16. I only got one shot of the meter, and at a much lower current draw than the max I saw, that scared me to be honest, but I’ll add the picture after a few guesses.

Then I want the experts opinions on if I should post this monster back to the owner as is or fit thinner gauge wires as its taking the piss….

2

unbeatable from all the shizz it’s been getting ad-nauseum about how it’s all that and then some. Not. I knew this little $15 sucker with that XRE and that thrower-reflector would kick its behind if it was modded just like the T08’s get modded for amps. J) XML’s are not the real throwers like these small-die emitters can demonstrate. The A60 ounce for ounce, batt for batt, is Bad As*.

3

Depends, I fear for this little die going poof to be honest, and don’t get me wrong, if I go for a walk, I’ll take the zy-t08 any day, if I want to just play this thing is pretty damm hot in the throw department. If I got one and did this it’d be mostly to get shots of stupid meter current readings, because this little thing shouldn’t do that!

So what’s your guess, bare in mind, I’d say a well driven q5 is 1.7 - 2a or so which is what this pulled on hi before modifying it.

4

I think it prolly could pull 2.5 - 2.7 and easily stay alive assuming good heatsinking’s there. Maybe even more. :bigsmile:

5

Good guess, well reasoned, but no cigar. 0:)

6

I'll guess you saw 3.2A. And I agree with you goords, the Jacob is just like a "toy" that you play with a little and put back on the shelf. The ZY-T08 is just awesome and deserves a lot more "play time". It may not throw as far, but it's more practical.

-Garry

7

Mr bunk has nailed it, I saw 3.17a and pulled the test leads for fear of smoking the emitter. Here’s the later meter shot

<a href=Photo Storage target=_blank><img src=http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x48/gords1001/IMAG0540.jpg border=0 alt=>

That’s on an ultrafire brc3000mah, the cells the owner uses. It was at 4.1v so near full, I have two of my Samsung 2600 unprotected cells on charge at the moment (wouldn’t charge them till I’d checked delivery voltage, nice one fasttech) see what they give as I want to recommend a better cell to the owner.

This thing is pretty damm hot, I just worry its over board but would like to send it back tomorrow if opinion is it’ll take it. I’ve already given the owner the option of shipping back, if it goes poof I’ll replace the led, fit smaller wires and ship back, me covering the shipping.

We’ll see, it should be awesome as a gun light though, that’s where its use lies. 8)

8

Wow! And my Jacob (stock driver, good cell) only pulls 2.35A! Wow! You think that much loss is in the stock emitter wires and driver board? Tailcap should add some resistance yet though.

Instead of the "money shot" you can call it the "meter shot" for flashaholics! :)

-Garry

9

Gary, seriously, when I dropped that keeppower in and pressed the leads on, my stomach did flip flops, first mod for someone else and I smoke the emitter……

My understanding was the original driver was direct drive, so I expected no increase in current, to see so much increase was worrying to say the least.

I’m still in a quandry as to what to do tbh, but bugger me if the little things not throwy as hell, its the brightest q5 I’ve seen, but then, its pushing what was accepted for an xm-l not long ago.

10

Maybe I need to mod mine with a 105c 2.8A (after ordesing a couple spare Q5's or R2's!

-Garry

11

Erik says pot the shiz out of it and go for it……I’d hazard a guess its currently the brightest tgrowiest Jacob a60 on the planet right now, although I have no light meter or integrating sphere to prove it. Still its a nice thought to have - I’ve pushed a light harder than currently known of and its lived to tell the tale. :bigsmile:

12

I got an R2 in my Jacob now and am waiting for the 1.05A 20mm driver to come in from I-O. Then planning on adding 4 7135's to get it up to 2.45A. Only problem is, I just noticed this on the driver page (Nanjg ak47c20):

Each time you turn off and then turn on the flashlight the mode will change.

After several hours the first mode will eventually come back to low mode.

I can't believe they would have a Nanjg driver doing this! Gotta find a resistor mod for this driver - I did the 1 Mohm resistor mod on the stock driver and it reset to high in 2-3 secs when off.

13

Just direct drive the sucker and be done, its a thrower, why do you want low? It’s not a light for putting the key in the back door, its a toy, let the amps run free, enjoy it for what it is and keep a stock of q5’s….

14

True dat!

-Garry

15

Just tested this on my Samsung 2800mah unprotected cells. It pulls a steady 2.4a, I think the high current was down to the new battery technology in the keeppower cells.

I like to recommend some protected Samsung’s to the lights owner, I think they’d see him right.

16

Sounding good Mate :bigsmile:

Batteries - i was going to go for the Panasconic 3400 jobbies

17

I believe that the keeppower cells are Panasonic based, so I’d suggest you definitely get some, but maybe get some protected Samsung’s 2800mah cells for this light, it’ll keep the current down to a reasonable level and there is no driver to provide low voltage cut off - you don’t want to run the cells flat. I need to get some thermal epoxy to pot the board then its all good. 8)

18

XR-E, with its high Vf, will dim all the way before your batteries get too low. No problem there I think using unprotected.

I hate using protected batteries for its complete shutoff once reaching 3V (or 2.7V) under load. I’d rather have a dim light to navigate with.

19

There you go then there’s the answer, the Samsung cells were $10.odd for two from fastech, there’s a coupon code too for 10% off your first order too in the unbelievable price on fandyfire thread. They got my stuff to me in 13 days, posted December 1st.

20

Oh yes, the Samsung 2800 from Fasttech… the “GOTECH” code should end anytime now - it supposed to expire by Dec 15. If you want it (best deal anywhere at $9.80/pair) better be quick. If you want two, buy one at a time, the code only works for first item.