I ordered 4 drivers, they have not arrived yet.
I’m alarmed by the conclusions of some colleagues, but let's not panic ahead of time. I would like to see Mr. Simon's answer. If a persistent problem is discovered, a solution will be found, I am sure. In any case, you are in a better situation than me, you at least understand the reasons, and how to fix it)
Hum, I know Simon will have an answer or a solution for this situation for sure!
But, the driver structure seems, indeed, strange.
Let’s try going bakwards: was that driver - with the same structure (meaning, no contact on the upper side) - originally used in any flashlight “ready to buy” from Simon?
Or was it made as it is for us moddersn, to try to fit it in “any” flashlight taking a 17mm driver?
Could it be someting related to those adapter rings that Simon sells to make smaller diameter drivers fit flashlights with larger driver diameter holes? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33023608406.html
EDIT: I am not sure if my assumption is correct, but these adapters, are sold for 2 specific lights (M21A and S21A) that use the SST40 Leds, the one for which this driver is suitable/designed for.
As the adpaters have an upper ring, that will make contact both with the lower ring (and the bottom of the driver), and the pill, maybe they can replace that contact edge of the driver.
Hence, it seems to me that this may be the reason why these drivers have that design, to be used in those 2 specific flashlights, with those adapters!
But I may be wrong
I think this is a problem related to the driver manufacturer. If you look at the driver advertisement pictures, the only driver which has a solder mask covered upper ground ring track is the ∅17mm version with 12 groups firmware:
The 17mm was the one I got that was missing the contact ring. It died in my C8 with the retaining ring. I have another one on order…been in limbo for over a month over the Pacific somewhere. I hope Sim9n has a solution.
I second that - I've done scraping off of solder masks many times. I use an exacto style knife with a curved blade. Did a lot of that on Q8 battery/spring boards but also on many drivers. After you scrape and you might not be sure good contact is made, then add some solder - it can easily be sanded or filed down to the proper height. Again, did this several times.
Sorry, because of some manufacturer’s consideration, it made a little change to the driver, and it will be changed back in the future.
Another cause of poor contact is the bevel on the retaining ring.
I guess you refer to the solder masked top side :???: ground ring in the ∅17mm 12 groups drivers. Is any other driver size or version affected?
This is an unpleasant mishap. I'd give the manufacturer a good pull in his/her ears. Sirstinky already reports a nasty issue here, and I am sure others must be experiencing some problems even if they are not aware at first. The solder mask reduces the heat transfer from the driver to the flashlight body, this may be causing earlier than expected thermal throttling in user flashlights (there are reports already, although don't really know if this is playing a role).
Hope this is fixed as soon as possible.
P.S.: any idea of the actual impact of the solder mask in heat transfer?
Simon also did another long one at the top of this page. I understand this basically concerns smartphones or tablets, but it is good to be seen anyway.
The spring shenanigans are escalating. I actually appreciate the more conservative Convoy drivers because I don’t have to worry about this silliness. In 99% of practical use, 2 amps through a modern LED are more than enough, and these drivers do 6A. All my Convoy spring bypasses failed right away, but at 6A, I feel comfortable just ignoring it.