2nd Time's the Charm

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

I Won a solarforce L2 with a UV drop in from ChibiM many months ago. It was my first p60 style light, but I didn’t know it at the time. A few weeks ago after going on a manufacturing field trip, I decided to make a drop in for the l2. Had some solder, so all I had to buy was flux, an iron($4), heatsink compound, XML, pill w/reflector, and driver(105c 8xAMC). Ordered everything from fasttech and the stuff came in like a week and a half.

I really hadn’t soldered hardly any before, only stuff when I was around 8 for RC cars. My first attempt was a disaster soldering the pill up.(Sorry for the crappy quality pictures)

I started off the project terrible! While taking the driver out of the package, I switched from knife to scissors thinking It’d be safer, but I was wrong. I snipped off the negative wire from the driver. Luckily I had an old headlamp I took apart, so I tried using a wire from that, it worked. But, I had been using really bad soldering techniques. I didn’t tin anything(despite my attempts to) and I just melted blobs of solder above things. I accidentaly soldered the star positive point to the pill, and I didn’t have any desoldering wick. So I just belt sandered the whole thing away and soldered further up the poistive connection.

It worked and everything when I tested it, but modes didn’t really work. I guess my attempt at soldering the third star on the driver sucked! So I put the drop-in in the light and tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. Took it apart and realized I had forgotten the isolation disk. Now when using a wire to test the drop in it only turned on very dim, so I guess I fried the driver. I knew It was done for.

So I ordered a new pill, driver and emitter(got a 105c but with 2 groups that you switch with the button not soldering). Unbelievably, the package shipped on the 20th, and I received it today on the 25th(From fasttech).

This time I used way better technique. Tinned my iron, and the leads of the driver; and fluxed everything possible. Soldered everything up, including the driver to pill in about 5 minutes(last time I spend literally hours trying to fix my mistakes). Tested it, put on the isolation disk, put it in the light and IT SHONE, WOOHOO! Now I have a working drop-in I made myself and all is great.

Beamshots:

Low:

Medium:

High:

Monday I will get some 3/4 inch copper pipe from my dad and add to the heatsinking, no aluminum foil for me :slight_smile:

2

Attaboy !

3

Nice job.

4

Your story sounds exactly like my first endeavor at any kind of modding.

5

Well done. The soldering looks very professional and the light looks like it works like a charm. Now for the next project. Keep us informed. Thanks.

6

I think 3/4” coupler fits over the drop in while pipe is about the same Dia. Either one should work. Cut to expand pipe or cut to reduce coupler.

7

I’ve just noticed. You either have really tiny hands and wrists or you have just built the worlds biggest P60. That is one massive light. It must throw a mile?

8

It’s really just a regular ol’ p60. I think it’s just the camera angle :P. I actually have large wrists and larger than normal hands. And about throw, I was actually looking to get as little as I could. The original thread that sorta started this was some “10.34 thrower” thread that used a xpg2 for throw. But I put in an xml instead at 3c tint.

9

Nice job on the second attempt! Your skill definitely improved since that first one. ;)

10

Congrats and remember practice makes perfect well kinda sorta well really not but it helps a lot except when you still mess up and fry something because you thought you would try something new or you were not paying attention because the phone rang and the dog barked at the cat and it jumped at the same time the door bell rang. Well anyway it does help but if you are anything like me you will still mess things up.

11

Very Good! Glad you stuck with it and overcame. Good luck on more modding. It's gets to be more fun with each new project.

12

Well done, so what's next.....:-)

13

?

14

let there be light

Way to go