Would it be possible to change the driver board with a biscotti version and still have the charging to work? Or the driver must be designed to use the charging?
Wondering the same. It certainly looks like the charger board and driver are separate, so charger should work independently. I have two of these on the way, so I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.
Can you check the diameter of both boards?
I wish X2R could be boosted with a simple sense resistor like this one…
Anyway, the S9 seems promising if we can simply boost the current like that.
I hope Simon will implement a good UI in this one (ideally, an e-switch version of Biscotti or maybe Narsil ?)
If the charge circuit can be kept, and driver changed to suit personal preference, this would be a great “go bag”/ EDC light. Many people have ways to charge phones w/micro usb when they are on the go already.
I am definitely a fan of micro usb charging for things. Its a very common standard that is easily compatible with so many things found world wide.
Sorry guys, again I forgot to measure the upper (and lower) driver board. But it will need to be small, 15mm or smaller as a guesstimate.
I am kinda happy with the resistor mod as it is and don’t see it coming apart again. UI is tolerable with the memory and can avoid the strobe if you don’t click too fast.
With the pinout, wires to a different driver board could be swapped in. You will loose the SW indicator LED while On and the low voltage indicator LED. Perhaps an indicator LED could be bridged with a resistor to the Pos pad and ground ring on the replacement driver.
Kinda nice that the USB port and the SW are on a board that can be reused, keeping those positions that are needed.
But not sure what current that lower charge board could carry to another driver.
Now my mind is churning… I may make some changes and a ramping UI driver but have other things before this one.
Cool, thanks. I have a bunch of them on the way, I’ll be making a custom drivers for them either way.
What about the feature of being somewhat shorter than any (most of?) other similar 18650 based cylindrical flashlights with USB charging. Of course, it is also slimmer than Zanflare F1 and similar
To me it seems to a be a nice balanced product, is it not?
This light with this 1400mA current and this user interface does it reasonably well for me apart from the mode memory; I’m an always start on low person. In the old days with cheap drivers you could do a pencil trick on one of the capacitors to remove memory, would that work with this driver, and if yes, which of the four caps would be the candidate?
djozz, can you elaborate on this method please, or point out any info about it? I’m also an “always start on low” guy and I’d like to remove memory from some of my lights (Sofirn SP10A and SP10B), buy I have no clue how to do that!…
If you or anyone can help, I’d appreciate!! Thanks in advance 
And sorry for the on/off-topic 
Buy a Jet-II?
“The pencil trick” would help get rid of NMM, but not eliminate memory entirely, if I’m not mistaken. Getting rid of memory altogether would involve reflashing the µC. Some UIs would let you select features on NANJG drivers by shorting/opening the stars. Eg, star 3 would be mem if shorted and nomem if open (making it up, but similar).
If you can find the Dr Jones page with various driver UI source, one of those had that listed, I think. Been a while…
Hey, that’s why drop-ins will never ever goway, because you can always just grab an off-the-rack NANJG, throw it in, flash it as you want, and make your own Frankenlight.
Thought about it sometimes, the price is great, but I preferred some side or tail clicky lights
Hum, so this means that it will be difficult (impossible?) to make a trick like this on these kind of drivers (like the SP10A/B) without reflashing it, right? :confounded:
Damn, I was so thrilled about that chance…Now I’ll have to stick with them like they are now ! And I’m not unhappy, but…always start on low/moonlight would be so much better… :cry:
Use the right tool for the job…
I keep my II in my little side-bag (keys, phone, etc.) which I throw into my big bag. It’s an alternative light in case something happens to my EDC. Thinking of putting one of my Glarees as a zipper-pull.
Just like a throwy C8, floody S2+ w/ TIR, light-bazooka like a Q8, you reach for whichever light is gonna do the job. Ie, you don’t have to settle for just one light, like when people come here and ask, “What’s the best light for me to get?”.
Answer? All that you need.
Probably. All the trick does is to help the capacitor drain off faster so it doesn’t “remember” its last mode and then skip to next mode on its next power-on (as if 6wks of being off is just another half-press). Not sure of the mechanism, as I thankfully don’t have any NMM lights. Even my A01 isn’t NMM.
Shorting it out wouldn’t be too great, and snipping it or desoldering it would remove any semblance of memory whatsoever (so it’ll be stuck on whatever its saved mode is when you snipped it). So yeah, think you need to disable that in flash.
I always cycle my lights back to FF/ML when I’m done. Or in the case of my old C8F, turbo.
So next time I flick it on, it’s not an unpleasant surprise what mode it’s in. My SF32W is always in ML as I use that late at night, and only step it up if/when I need to, then back to ML.
My S2+ still pisses me off with the blink-on-low, so while I used to keep it reset to low, that just kept bugging me, which is why I kinda retired it. Gonna swap drivers completely (either 1-mode or a 105C set to 10%/100%) and maybe use the shorty tube (or just swap long/short as I want).
Just got one. I find the switch awful - see if I can do something bout it. It will never engage accidentally - good thing, but gotta press it just right and hard to activate. Not a candidate for a ramping UI as-is, least for me. Might have to piggy-back a decent driver in there, trash the charging.
Does the 18350 tube fit the S9? Or is the thread different?
Threads are different. Actually just the head threads are different.
It is possible to use a tail clicky on the S9. If you want a clicky lockout.
Did somebody measure the driver board dimensions?
I can do it later.
I ordered one of these for evaluation, then forgot I ordered it and ordered a couple for evaluation, and then forgot again and ordered more :person_facepalming:
After receiving the first I thought it wasn’t worth the hassle to make a custom driver with the USB slot for it, but now I have so many of them I might as well go ahead.
Here’s the schematic of the driver. Not pretty, but it should do it. I’m not sure if there’s a FET at the bottom or something else, or what it does. But the connections are correct.
Note that on the double n-channel FETs, there is Drain on the “upper” connection, and Source on the “lower” connection (how it should be). But on the strange FET at the bottom, there is Drain connected to Ground, and Source connected to the upper part. Usual connection on a p-channel. But a p-channel makes no sense…
And I somehow can’t measure the values for the voltage divider on the left. The DMM shows weird stuff.
A much less technical question: How does the rubber cover over the charging port hold up? Is it easy to accidentally pull out in normal use?
It feels pretty sturdy but I can’t say about everyday use because mine are just sitting in my drawer waiting for me to design a driver for them. The covers don’t just fall out, but who knows after extensive usage.