hs-802

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

I’ve had a UniqueFire HS-802 Cree XR-E R2-WC for a couple of years and it quit on me a while back. I figured it was the switch and ordered one but it didn’t fit right.

A couple of weeks ago Amazon had an identical light except it was blue for 9.99 with free shipping, so I ordered it.
I took the tail cap off of it and it cured the problem.

So then I thought I would attempt to dedome the blue led and see what it looked like…… I had a very sharp pocket knife and the dome sort of just crumbled away. I was surprised. When I turned the light on, the beam appeared partially obscured. So I took a tiny needle and removed some substance around the led
a little at a time. It got better, then not so better… I killed it.

What did I do and why was the dome soft?

I am not crying or anything, I did not care for the blue light at all.

I would like to mod the new light and make a much better thrower out of it. The led is set in epoxy or something and the pill is screwed into the main body of the light.
I have been to flashlight wiki, and have searched here a bunch, but if someone is bored and doesn’t mind helping an light idiot, I would appreciate any input.
I will probably be told to do a search and find out for myself, but I have already done that and still don’t have enough knowledge to know what I am reading.

2

Prolly broke the bond wires. Those thangs are tiny and fragilee.

I’d like to know more about the light you purchased from Amazon; got a link to share?

I’m a fan of the 802-style throwers; when you need a pencil beam with little spill, they really are a great light.

They are a bit difficult to disassemble, as you have to remove the bezel and reflector from the front of the light before you can access the pill. Since the reflector is so deep, you need long needlenose pliers, or tweezers to unthread the pill from the front. Just don’t touch that reflector coating!!!

To remove the old emitter from the epoxy: It’s likely a fujik or silicone style compound. If you can’t force the board out, I’ve had good luck by heating the pill with a torch. Once it gets good and hot, the adhesion breaks down and it can be removed more easily. Since you’ve already busted the emitter, there’s nothing to lose by trying. (Make sure you remove the driver first.)

For a mod, get a nice CW High-Bin XP-E2 (or a decent XP-E) if you want to keep the nice tight beam with long throw.

Otherwise, try an XP-G2 (dedomed perhaps?) or even one of the new XP-L HI emitters with a more powerful driver, 3+A.

For a dedicated thrower like this, I see less use for several modes. I’m not sure if the new HS802 lights have the same two-mode double-click tail switch, but I hated that configuration. For my brother-in-law, I removed that switch and installed a single-mode replacement. For an XP-E2/XP-E, I’d probably want to bump the power up slightly and go with a 1.5A or similar driver.

This is a single-mode, really cheap, simple, regulated driver I like for this kind of build.
https://www.fasttech.com/p/1127404
With 4x 7135 chips, it’s runs a constant 1400mA.

For an XP-G2 or higher emitter, I’d go with something more powerful.

3

Thanks for the info.

The blue ones are all gone, but they have some red ones that ship free from hong kong for $9.00. The asin number is B00OHD2702.

I am not too good at posting links, but if you can’t find that let me know and I will try…

Will try anyway…http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OHD2702?psc=1&redirect=true&ref\_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

4

http://www.amazon.com/UniqueFire-HS-802-Distance-Hunting-Flashlight/dp/B00OHD2702

Seems like a good option for somebody looking to buy one for host duty…

5

I ordered a couple of the red ones too, with the intention of putting one of them on a rifle and modding the other one.

I figure if I mess up it is pretty cheap education and or entertainment…

So, I need to unsolder the driver from the bottom of the pill?? Then heat up the epoxy and remove the emitter?
So I can reuse the circuit board (star) the led is soldered to, and the pill and replace the driver and emitter???

How do I know what single mode switch fits these lights? I don’t like multiple modes.

Thanks
again

6

Normally, the driver controls the modes, but on at least some of the 802 clones had a funky two-way switch you had to click through three times to get the high-low-off selection.

It’s been a while since I’ve worked on one, but I think it’s a basic clicky-switch mounted on a 20mm board, like this one:

Unthread the driver retaining ring in the tailcap, remove the old switch, install this one to remove modes.

This one is a forward-clickie, but it might fit your light:

If your light has more modes (High/Low/Strobe/etc), then it’s being controlled by the driver. In that case, leave the switch alone, and you can swap the driver to your choice of multi or single mode options.

The emitter is going to be mounted on (most likely) either a 16mm or 20mm board. I wouldn’t count on re-using the board; emitters are usually sold pre-mounted, and unless you really want to jump in with reflowing, I’d just stick with those.

Again, Mountain has a good selection of emitters, including both Red and Green XP-E2 options, pre-mounted on very high quality boards.

7

your post just told me what i have but mine are silver and no name.they are easy to mod.

8

After I put the new tail cap on the old light, it isn’t as bright. Or am I crazy

9

measure the on resistance of the new switch.some are crap.
and i will revise my statement that mine is of similar design.has the pill in the main tube,a collar that serves to adapt the 18650 tube to what may be a 26650 light originally,and a wide based tailcap with a recessed button for stable tailstanding.

10

What should the resistance be? How much amperage should the light be drawing? I have a M12 Milwaukee clamp on multimeter. I don’t think it will measure a full amp with the leads.

Should have said fork meter…

11

A good switch should be zero ohms on your meter.actually a few 10’s of miliohms but most on here dont have the means to measure that.
Short from battery - to the tube and see if its brighter.if so its a lousy switch.