I finished my first build of C8 M21A with 20mm 3v 8amp buck driver 12 group with SFT40 Convoy LED. I also installed a metal button with green LED.
If it doesn’t look very bright it’s because I had an 18650 battery in it instead of the 21700 battery. Once I put it in the light lit up just fine.
My hands shake so the soldering was not great but it will hold. I think I’m going to get a rechargeable soldering pen to do the next build.
I will take some pictures tonight but one thing that concerns me is that the LED on the button doesn’t shut off. So I may switch back to the original button. Any info on the LED light would be helpful.
It wasn’t that hard but I now have to find some instructions for how to change the group settings. I want to put it in a ramp mode
To turn off the illuminated tail switch you can loosen the tail cap just a little and it will disconnect power.
Define “Ramp Mode”.
Mechanical switch lights aren’t capable of Ramping like an eswitch light since power to the entire light is temporarily disconnected when tapping the button to change the mode.
Do you have an AR coated Glass Lens?
If you look at it on an angle it will look like it has a Magenta or Green film on it.
Supposedly the AR Coated Glass Lens help more light get out.
A good soldering iron was the single biggest thing to improve the quality of my work and my enjoyment with modding. I don’t hand anything special - just a cheap ($40 or so) station from amazon that takes t12 tips. But it heats up super quick and can get way hotter than I need. Lots of heat helps when solding on an mcpbc in place since it acts as a heatsink.
Thanks. I am definitely going to invest in a different soldering iron. I saw some rechargeable ones but I think a soldering station may work better. I have already ordered some more flexible holders with magnetic bottoms to hold the flashlight in place while soldering.
The size of the battery shouldn’t matter for the brightness. Any 18650 battery that can deliver 8 amps would be good.
And a green lighted switch should last a long long time, like years. Of all the colors, the green switches are the most efficient by far. If you have a multimeter, you can measure the current. My green ones, which I swap out the resistors to make less bright, measure around 0.08mA. That’s over 7 years on a 21700 5000mAh battery!
I have this driver and LED that I got from Mountain Electronics and didn’t use but I’m not sure what I can put them in. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
Flux is also very useful for getting good solder joints. Not just flux-cored solder, but a small pot of it to add manually. Also @INeedMoreLumens crescendo is a ramping firmware for a mechanical switch
