Convoy C8 Copper Wire Mod Help

So I can’t really figure out what’s going on…

I did the copper wire mod to the spring on my convoy C8. I first did it on the clicky switch and it seems that now I’m having shorting happening… If I unscrew the back just a little bit, boom, light goes off…before it wasn’t that way. Any possible insight? I also attempted to do the driver end but quickly realized that the spring is so small that I couldn’t really get my soldering iron in the middle to solder the wires down… Any help on that would be appreciated as well.

I haven’t taken it fully apart but is the pill integrated into the actual flashlight? Meaning it’s 1 piece? I’ve unscrewed the driver retainer ring and it doesn’t look like the pill comes out…?
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Hey Phil,

I suppose it could be a little too much wire in the spring. The copper gets quite hard after soldering as I experienced. So I think the spring is very stiff now and if you loosen the tailcap just a little bit the force of the spring directly cuts the contact between tailcap and battery tube. It could also be that you have to tighten the switch retaining ring more now. Also because of the stiff spring.

All in all just my guess after seeing the pictures. Maybe you could get out a little bit of that wire again.

Maybe should I try stretching the spring a little if I can? I almost feel like its making poor contact if its turning on only when its almost fully screwed in…

Best way is probably getting some wire out. Anyway you should also tighten the tailcap straight to make good contact. No matter if you wired the spring or not. Most flashlights have contact problems when the tailcap is loose.

Basically you can not shorten the system by working on the tailcap. When the switch is closed, the negative side of the battery gets connected to the casing of the light. IF there is a short (actually: an unwanted contact) somewhere in the tailcap, the maximum effect is the same as that of a closed switch.
Question: is your switch still clicking? The heat of the soldering iron may have dislocated some of the metal parts in the plastic switch. Or the switch itself may have come loose from the tailboard.
Speaking of an integrated pill, there is actually no pill. The PCB with LED is pushed by the reflector onto a sort of “bulkhead” in the casing with only 2 small holes for the leads (from driver to PCB). If you want to remove the driver, you will have to de-solder the wires from the PCB.

Thanks for the info! The tail cap is still clicking with no problems. I’ve definitely tightened the retainer ring also…

“If I unscrew the back just a little bit, boom, light goes off”

That’s exactly how it is supposed to work if the body threads are anodized which I suspect they are.

The circuit is completed by the very end of the tube (not the threads) touching inside the tailcap.
Even the slightest unscrewing will separate these two surfaces

Wiring the spring made it stiffer, pushing the tailcap away from the body tube more readily, therefore you are reaching disconnect state more readily. Not an issue.

Its normal lockout feature on the tailcap

In general less copper in the spring is good as the spring is not harder than normal
AWG20 is enough for a spring bypass

On the positive terminal of the battery you have to be careful that the copper is within the spring, because if it gets loose outside it may short the battery