Hello guys, I am hoping someone here can help. I recently caught the flashlight addiction and been buying some cheap ones to mess around with since I work for the state and the pay is very little after paying bills. I plan on upgrading to better flashlights eventually but I really want to fix these two broken ones and mod them for now.
Two of the cheaper lights I bought are the trustfire tr 3t6 (3x 18650), and an ultrafire c-8 (1x 18650). Unfortunately, the very second day I had the trustfire it was dropped and stopped working. The c-8 I messed up. I bought an extension tube for it, thinking I could run another battery to up the battery life like I did with the tr6 but instead it fried something soon as I tried to run two batteries (strong burned smell).
I dont know much about modding flashlights, but I would like to replace the broken parts and at the same time, improve these flashlights to be brighter. Can someone point me to some drop in drivers I can use. If possible I would like to run 4 x 18650s as well with the tr6, as I have the extra extension for it as well. Im one of those people that hate to waste stuff so I would rather fix these up then just buy new ones. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and yeah I searched for past topics on this, but some of them the links provided no longer work.
You won’t get drop in’s. But you can get new drivers. This is a little circuit board at the positive battery end.
You can also buy new mounted LED’s. A combo of different LEDs and drivers will result in a better light.
Components are pretty cheap, but you will need to understand some of the basics to know what works with what and why. So it’s probably worth spending some time researching this. If you don’t want to spend the time, then you’d be better off not modding and just buying a replacement.
BTW - to mod these parts you’ll need to be able to solder.
But you can buy entire torches pretty cheap. This is a good output, nice quality light at a good price:
You may also want to read up on Li-ion safety. Li-ion is no more dangerous than petrol (aka “gas”). But it’s only sensible to understand the risks, especially if you are stacking batteries and running multiple ones in series.
The 3T6 is probably fine. LED lights can take drops pretty well. Most likely just a loose connection. First check the tail cap by removing it and then using a paper clip or screwdriver to connect the bottom of the battery to a non-anodized part of the battery tube. If it lights up, just loosen and tighten the switch retaining ring and you should be good to go.
As far as 4S cells. There are a lot of different versions of the 3T6 these days. If the driver bottom (cell side) is green and has at "TF" stamped on it, it should be good with 4 cells. If it doesn't look like that, you can post a picture of the driver (top and bottom) and we might be able to help you answer that question.
Personally, if I were to go with 4S cells on a 3T6, I would rewire the cells emitters 3S so that the driver wouldn't have to buck so much voltage. It would be easier on the driver and be more efficient. Would also afford you an opportunity to really soup that baby up if you wanted to.
Obviously, using Li-ion cells in series requires special knowledge and safety precautions.
Cells could be squashed a little from the fall. Check with screwdriver as suggested. Try recharging the cells before testing. What brand are the cells?
“All dented cells or batteries with dented cells should
be disposed, regardless of electrolyte leakage.
Denting of sides or ends increases the likelihood of
developing an internal short circuit at a later time.” http://www.whoi.edu/cms/files/LithiumBatterySafetyGuideSG10_26006.pdf
Don’t leave them where a fire or chemical leak would affect your family.
Yeah, it’s not all that likely to happen.