So I’m soldering on a KD 8×7135 V2 and trying to set the modes to HIGH and MEDIUM but got a little too much solder on those two pads (4 all together) and bridged them together. Now I have a single mode light. For now I’m leaving it as is until I figure it out.
Question: Is it single mode because I combined the two bridge points or would it already have been single mode if I didn’t solder at all? I’ve never tried this driver before soldering the bridge points.
You can’t make it one mode by bridging any combination.
My bet is that you accidentally bridged led negative to one leg of 7135 chip. That has happened to me and others…
Definitely what happened here. I did it once or twice myself. Can be real hard to see the bridge but it doesn’t take much.
It’s a common mistake it happens all the time. The ground wire to the LED is grounding on the outer ring. Just clean off the blob of solder and you should be good to go otherwise it’s grounded at the reflector on the same wire.
This is definitely what happened, upon further inspection. In fact, it’s easier to tell now because the light started flickering a little so I figured the solder was contacting the body as well.
The driver soldering isn’t quite as nice as the LED star because I did it without a clamp. The best I could to hold it in place was poking a hole in a piece of cardboard and resting the spring in there. That, coupled with the fact I’m no master soldering by any stretch of the imagination, and you have a messy looking driver 
Thanks for the great solutions!
buy one of these
http://www.amazon.com/SE-MZ101-Helping-Hands-Magnifier/dp/B0002BBZ2Y
if you can (or similar). My wife bought me one ages ago for painting 6mm miniatures, but it’s had way more use building lights.
That thing is a lifesaver.
I have the helping hand also one of the best investments I made for flashlight repairs.
Ditto on the helping hands. And I am glad you got an answer that helped. Again: BLF to the rescue :-)