Hi all.
The above mentioned newbie is ME.
I just love cheap chinese flashlight. All of the first week when they actually work.
After that first week (or day… or minute) they start to work less that perfect.
By now i have about a dozen or two flashlights in different states of decay. Not to mention batteries.
I dislike the idea of buying cheap and then discard. I stopped buying chinese batteries for that reason and now only buy $30+ batteries from local vendors.
After repairing my favourite flashlight yesterday i thought -“Hey, im a handy man, why dont i just refurbish my other lights too?”.
After 2 hours of research i realized, i not only have to be handy… A degree in electrical engineering and knowledge just short of wikipedia is useful too.
So, here comes the questions (and i have a feeling i know the answer too “use the search button”)
Dismantling the torch;
There are generally 2 dimples in some of the parts for unscrewing. I managed to open a flashlight with 2 small screwdrivers, patience and a lot of cusswords. There must be a better way.
Are there any tools for it and where do i find it?
The LED emitter;
Which led emitter is the best bang for the buck? From what i could gather, the Cree XM-L2 seems to be a good candidate. But i bet there are plenty of options.
Where do i buy it? Its no problem finding LEDs but there seems to be lots of counterfeit or inferior lights out there and i have a natural talent of accidently buying them.
The LED driver (is that the correct name for it?);
Apparently the chinese manufacturers feel that more is better and with a 252 mode flashlight i end up clicking the button for a few miutes before deciding that the moonlight if plenty of light for walking a dangerous hillside.
I have seen that there are drivers that you can program yourself but thats probably not for a total noob like myself, but what is a good driver to chose if i in the future want to try? Preferably 2 or 3 mode from the start. And by 3 mode i hope the modes are low-mid-hi and not sos-strobe-self destruct.
If someone want to help me out by answering my questions i will be thankful, but i also look forward to a “use the search button” or 2.
Regards
Fulis