Thank you TyBreaker. Much appreciated. Was hoping for a fatter battery tube. For some reason., it looks fatter than the Maglite in the pics. No tri-bore 18650 mod for this light. Still looking forward to getting it. Like a Maglight with a bigger head.
If the ID is slightly larger than a D Mag, then 4AA nimh adapters should fit. They do not fit in a D Mag.
4 AA cells fit in the tube with some wiggle room, but I’m not sure about the adapter.
^ Excellent news. Most adapters are equal or smaller in diameter than the 4 cells themselves. That's just awesome. So if one wanted, one could easily turn this light into a Nimh MT-G2 light.
Hey ImA4Wheelr, just curious…Did you find AmazonBasics D cell Ni-MH batteries, or did you just buy some other sizes when you purchased your de.power? I couldn’t find them in D. Thanks!
^ They just come in AA and AAA. They are supposed to be rewrapped Eneloops. I just hope they are not the ones made in China. Someone has a thread on the ones made in China and they are apparently not performing as well as the ones made in the original Japanese factories.
White wrapped 2000 mAh AA Amazon Basics claim made in Japan. Black wrapped same capacity AA are listed as Chinese origin.
The Amazon Basics AA High-Capacity Rechargeable Batteries with the black wrapper are marked as made in Japan on the batteries though it does not say so on the Amazon listings. I bought these within the last month. The AAA high capacity Amazon Basics 8 pack description does specifically state “Made in Japan”.
Of course being Amazon this info could be made obsolete at any time.
^ Excellent news.
LOL, I was just searching for the thread I mentioned above. It just so happens that it too is a Richwouldnt thread. Here is link to it. Good info there.
Great info! Thanks guys
Got my light yesterday. I will call it a decent deal. Super under driven like most stock lights. The light has a decent finish. Not Maglite quality finish, but just as good as most budget lights. All in all it seems like a decent budget alternative to a Maglite as it should be easier to mod because it has a more LED-friendly design. 4 Eneloop's also fit mine with just a little wiggle room. Definitely needs the types of carriers that don't spread out the cells from each other. I'm not aware of any viable 4AA carriers out there. Something the folks have been searching for the whole time I have been here at BLF.
Broke it down during Survivor (The TV Show) and snapped a few shots. Don't have time to post anything tonight. The threads on the bezel retaining ring had a mild thread lock. I didn't use heat, but I was close to damaging the ring trying to get it to break loose. Also, none of my tools open to that wide of a diameter. I had to use some tough tweezers and really bend the prong arms out wide. I recommend using some low heat on the outside of the head to loose the thread lock. Probably putting head in a plastic bag and then submerging in boiling water for a few minutes. Use leather gloves to hold light with one hand and prongs in other hand.
The lens is 54mm x 2mm thick. The ID of the reflector is about 48mm. The reflector is kind of a thin plastic, but it has a very good finish. The cone shape at the bottom provides easy clearance for wiring. My guess the bottom section provides the flood and the bigger section is for throw.
Pill is pretty thick and wide. Does not thread in. It is held down with a retaining ring that was also lock locked with some type of rubbery substance. See pick below. Had to use heat for that. I was in a rush during a commercial so I aimed heat gun into the head. Mistake. You can see the retaining ring was partially melted. Still works fine though. I wonder if the aftermarket retaining ring that was found to work for the Couri Big Head would fit.
Here is pill in light without the retaining ring, head without the pill, and pill assembly (screws that hold plactic housing for switch and driver removed). Tempted to sandwich that pill with thin copper disks and reflow a Noctigon to the top disk.
Switch side of driver and business side. I'd scrap the ground ring and put a copper disk in its place. Solder ground wire to disk. Depending on cells, I'd just scrap the driver components and wire straight to B+.
Button assembly.
There battery tube appears to start at the knurling. Surely thread locked. I have no reason to take it apart.
Wow! Excellent tear down ImA4Wheelr! Thanks for the informative post. I have a Courui Big Head coming in the mail with the intention of it being my first modded light. Do you happen to have both? If so do you have a recommendation as to which would be easier to start with?
Thank you TyBreaker. Yes, I have one, but I haven't modded it yet. Not sure what direction I want to take it. It's not half bad stock, the Big Head.
I would think this light (DP-019-D) would be much easier because I believe the Big Head has a flat bottomed reflector ( I think). That makes replacing the emitter without getting shorts much harder. Focus is even more difficult. I recommend you check out a couple of the mod threads after you get the light and then decide. I think you that you should mod this light because it is so under driven. You can use the Big Head while you got this light under the blade.
This light seems like it should be a general purpose light. The Maglite you have and the Big Head you have are natural throwers. I say mod them to throw and mod this light for general usage. I would go either XM-L2 on this light or MT-G2. I'm a little concerned about heat and this reflector. XM-L2 is probably the better choice for now.
I just got the three D battery version. It is as another poster described and pictured. The beam is a throw beam with a quite small hot spot and very similar to the Fenix TK50. Both show considerable artifacts and rings in the corona or flood around the hot spots, which are very close in size. The front of the light is close enough to 60mm so that the Nitecore 60mm colored filters and diffuser fit ahead of the octagonal anti roll flats on the light head.
Overall a pretty much idiot proof relatively inexpensive 3D light with enough beam output to be useful for 90% of normal flashlight uses IMO.
The 4AA holders that FT now carries fit nicely in the de.power 3D.
Cool, thanks for the info! It’s not this one is it?
http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10003869/1279701-4-aa-cylindric-plastic-battery-holder
Did you swap the driver? That holder puts the cells in series, right?
^ That's the one (in your link). Probably will have pretty high resistance. So copper braiding or a mod like this (starts about 9 pictures down in OP) would be in order.
Yes, 4S. I haven't modded the light yet. Just tried holder for fitment.
Huh. I can see getting one, though I hate plastic - I’d expect the plastic yellow bezel and black plastic retaining ring to dry out and crack within a few years.
I wonder if they’re using any standard metric thread so those pieces could be replaced with threaded aluminum collar/ring retainers.
Plastic does not have to be a “goes to hell” product. I have 50+ year old vacuum coffee makers from Silex, Cory and Nicro that have plastic handles which still look new and certainly I have not heard of plastic frame Glocks and HKs falling apart due to aging plastic. Like a great many other things there are good and bad plastics from an aging standpoint. Unfortunately a case of “good” also seems to be “expensive” compared to the junk plastics that get brittle in a few years.
> plastic
Yep. Many companies still have no restrictions or guidelines on what can be used as a plasticizer or in what amounts.
The USA used to be like that.
The tradeoffs are — well, a fascinating area of industrial/toxicological history, still developing.
(Shorter: if it’s plastic and stinks, don’t keep it indoors …)
Just sayin’ — I don’t trust plastic.
I too have a few old things made of early plastic — Bakelite (fortunately the asbestos in Bakelite is fairly well glued down, mostly) ….
But I digress.
I am longtime flashlight collector, always looking for something better. I came across a de.Power two C cell flashlight on e-bay. It quickly became my favorite for everyday use, in dog walking and general purpose. Solidly built, good to very good battery life, nice beam pattern, excellent coverage at 20-30 foot range. Also basic on and off with a drop to low output when the batteries get low. No gimmicks like so many new flashlights. Small enough and lightweight enough for easy carry. I have been looking for another online and after months, I found one and order it today.