DQG Tiny lll 18650

Ok sorry if this version was already covered (didnt see it but Ill bet its here somewhere), but wanted to share my “review” of it. Just getting into the flashlight side of things (flashlight collection growing FAST) and this thing I thought was insanely cool. So put together a “video review” as my first real attempt at a video review since I expect to be doing many more (mostly bike lights but be the other things in the mix too).

What i like:

-Tiny
-really bright for being so dang small
-can use protected or unprotected but with the little brass buttons or pills (look like brass colored pills to me) instead of springs (i know how annoying springs can become later on in the lights life)

  • like the wider beam pattern, not one for liking lights i can light up someones house a half a mile away like its daytime.

Dislike
-cant change the emitter (cant even get past the silicone to get the driver out if I wanted to) and drver/emitter are all one unit. means I cant tinker, put a u4 1C in it :stuck_out_tongue:
-finicky metal button (like silicone buttons better)

But overall love the thing. Not sure if itll make a home in my kit for night riding or in the car for “everyday” uses. Cant decide.

Thanks for sharing your review!

Nicely done review. I really like my Tiny III 18650 as well… Thanks for your take on the light!

I really wish I could mod this light. Unfortunately, removing the driver seems impossible. I can’t get the head off the body tube. I’ve tried:

1. 3M rubber indoor stairway grip tape on both body and head.
2. Same as above but with pliers applied to both head and body for extra leverage.
3. Same as above except I used a large quantity of hot melt glue instead of the grip tape. Then used pliers on top of the glue.
4. Two strap wrenches (one on head and one on body).
5. Freezing the light, then trying the above.

Not many options left for removing the head to get to the driver:

  1. Buy a blowtorch and then torch the head in the hope that it will get hot enough to melt the threadlocker.
  2. Instead of a blowtorch put it in the oven at over 400 degrees.
  3. Drill a hole all the way through the sides of the head wide enough for a standard screwdriver and another through the body. Then insert screwdrivers and turn.

I couldnt resist….

What mods would you do? I do not see a good way for you to do this if all your other methods have not worked. Perhaps some dry ice cooling first? Cooling would be less damaging to the components than the other methods outlined…. maybe a heat gun on the head while the tail is in dry ice? The temp differential may break the glue/threadlock…

Oh yeah. I haven’t yet tried rapid temperature changes. Way I’d do that would be to have 2 pots. One with boiling water and one with water with ice cubes. Dip it in one pot, then wait a few seconds, then swap to the other pot.

My plan was to replace the integrated driver/star with a dedicated driver, then build a heatsink above it out of copper rounds, then install a triple star and Carclo optic. There’s room for this because the triple TIR optic is much shorter than the single-emitter TIR. If I could get the head off the body, this shouldn’t be a hard mod at all and would make for the smallest 1x18650 triple ever.

Sounds cool, perhaps the less destructive route may be the temp shocks… I have found that Dry Ice is available in some grocery stores, and the –74F is a few degrees below the ice cubes…. I would try to freeze the body with the dry ice and while it is still in there, hit the head up with a 100W soldering iron where the threads are, or a heat gun aimed just on the edge of the head… The expansion could be different enough to break the “glue”. Failing that, extinction is a part of the learning curve, just put it up for a month or two, then have at it again.

That would be a wicked mod with a triple in this thing… Tiny III cubed?

Problem with dang thing is that the emitter is on the driver as well. I couldnt get the head off either but the design with the fact it has silicone holding the board suggests that maybe getting it apart via the head may not be needed. I could be wrong but Im with firelight, Im a big guy and even protecting the the thing, I still scratched up the head,lol.

FYI if they used red loctite or something similar your talking 400deg temp to break it loose……

I gave up though, too much work when I got other flashlights and bike lights to play with, lol.

Plumber’s Pipe freezing gas works even better and far quicker and colder than ice or dry ice

Avaliable from plumbers merchant’s and diy stores in 400 ml aerosol cans quite cheaply

it’s also handy for pre cooling heat sensitive components when soldering close by