I hate flashlight modding with a passion! Who else?

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
21

Yah, my first TWO (old 18650) C8F host builds for my guns- I HATED THEM… for MONTHS. :neutral_face:

I have a bench and a solder station with many tips for proper work; I have fixed electronics all my life. Used to own a recording studio and built (or more like re-built) half the gear for it over ten years. I put old classic studio consoles back together, built pre-amp cards and the op-amps for them (with 50 solder points on a 1” square board- i.e. API 2520s), repaired old tape decks, etc. I had challenges, but was always able to get most projects done back then (early 2000s) without too much trouble.

So I thought this light stuff would be a breeze— wrong! Fast forward 10 years and I can’t see anything up close now. Then going too fast on build #1, I burned out a Lexel driver because of the crap fit on the back of the reflector to the C8F host’s MCPCB LED wires (thought I tested it!) Actually sent those first few drivers back to Lexel for a check as I was so stumped.

Then I had it all out on build #5 and gave up one night— drank a beer, watched a movie with the wife, and went to bed. Next morning the CATS splayed everything out all over the room! THEN… when I found the driver, a **ing CAT ate the damn FET off the driver! (no, I didn’t check the cat box) :person_facepalming:

So two custom boards GONE in about a week (and that was after a few months previously trying to figure out the host problem with that damn reflector space misaligned). I did indeed build some direct drive (no driver needed) lights from the same hosts and went hunting! But I shelved those last two hosts (for carry lights) until Covid. Had one good driver left and finally got one built trouble free— FINALLY! AFTER ALMOST TWO YEARS! Then ordered a last driver from Level (last month)- and this last one will run the Anduril UI!

So a good ending to about a TWO year project that wouldn’t have been completed if not for Covid. Five out of six host are built now with one last one to finish up. Big lessons were:

1) NO cats allowed in the bench room over-night
2) Test EVERYTHING twice (and again after each new step)
3) Do NOT assume the host is fitted correctly
4) De-solder and SUCK all new joints CLEAN being worked on if modding/replacing anything
4b) And… use LEADED solder to work with afterwards
4c) And don’t pull up board traces waiting for the solder to liquefy! (*while burning your finger tip)
4d) Use needle noses or tweezers to hold wires being soldered (*NOT your already burnt finger tip)
5) Step back and research a while (or days) on any new problem— (*letting your finger heal up)
6) Know when to have a pro do it- Lexel drivers, tail FET switches, etc. (* no more burnt fingers!)

and last…

7) Know that whatever great idea you had…
— well it’s being done by Sofirn (or ?) the day after you had the idea and ordered your parts
— and will probably be for sale for HALF your investment for your DYI project
— AND… you’ll get your parts about the same time that the new fangled 1/2 price light (THEY built in 3 days) ALSO arrives (the same day, 3 months later) because you just couldn’t WAIT FOR IT!

I’ve seen too many tool boxes here on BLF full of “parts” that at one time were BIG, GREAT, COOL project ideas!!! :stuck_out_tongue:

22

23

They are a package deal with the wife. My dog and I agree they aren’t worth the cat food, much less the litter and vet costs!

24

I never really looked at it like that but that seems about right.
Looking at it as if its 99% pefect means there’s only a less than 1% chance it could be better and a 99% chance you could make it worse.
Good food for thought :smiley: .

25

Thanks guys for sharing your part of the journey. Because that is what it actually is. If you succeed most of the time it is probably something you can enjoy. If you don't have the patience (because this stuff takes time, practice, patience and effort) like me, this may not be your type of thing.

I'm glad I'm not the only one and I can only imagine there are more people out there having the same experience.

Replacing an LED on a 16mm board isn't the problem. Adding some wires from a 16mm board to a 17mm driver (with enough space) isn't the problem either, but it's usually the big or very tiny stuff, or the things in hard to reach places, multitude of wires etc. And because of that, I don't want to touch most of my flashlights anymore. Large chance something will end up subpar.

There are enough flashlights out there that do have the things I like, so if a flashlight misses 1 little perfection, I can live with that. Same goes for drivers, tint etc. The Anduril UI is fun, but not practical in many instances. I'd like to cut about 60% of the functionalities, but I can live with it. I really don't want to go into that rabbithole :)

To each his own. I enjoy doing flaslight reviews more than modding, even though it costs much more time. So time is not the problem, it's usually the frustrations that kill the fun ;)

26

I find it frustrating my poor old eyes can’t see small parts very well . Even with a magnifier.

27

At least you try, that’s the main thing :smiley:
Some things I know are likely to be messed up if I try - soldering tiny things is right at the top of the list.

It is a shame, I think plenty would like to mod, but it’s one of those skills you’re either good at quite quickly, or it’s hard learning. It’s quite scary when you don’t understand what you are doing, what you could/couldn’t damage etc etc.
Age, a shaky hand and poorer eyesight definitely doesn’t help either.

28

i have never done it, because i can;t even stand trying to fix the @% things

small ICs, surface mounted parts, glued parts, proprietary switches, unknown pinouts and schematics,… etc

the main problem is, you can;t really probe anything when it is put together
and 90% of the time, the problem only occurs then

wle

29

Oh yeah…I know this well.

But I’m yet to experience this. I do have successes with a light turning out significantly better than before but far from better than anything out there.
This really reduces my motivation…and this is my major blocker.

30

I got into modding to solve a problem and really just to see if it could be done better than prior attempts. I dove in headfirst with taking a floating lantern and jamming in a 100W COB led. First attempt worked, but the battery life was bad and it was blinding people (terrible beam). I upgraded it over time so now it has a 5S2P battery and second reflector to make it practical useful and reliable. That was 2 years of work, improving each time. It works great now and is one of the more useful lights I own. Best of all, it proves that it can be done, so I did it with other lights xhp70.2, 50.2, etc now and got me into another more affordable hobby/interest. So if you have the aptitude and motivation and tools to try modding, try it, just don’t go into it expecting your attempts to be perfect every time. You will break some eggs.

31

Next modding fiasco.

I bought a manker U22 II a few months ago.

Took it with me on vacation in August.... Worked for a few minutes indoors.. went outside... and crap.. it didn't turn on anymore.. Nothing helped.

Got in touch with Manker... (they have bad presale and after sales)... and after a slow conversation, they sent me a replacement driver..

It's a USB C board + driver + switch, all connected. And to get it all inside, lined up etc was very difficult to do in the tiny space I had. It took me 45-60 minutes to just get the thing in place..

and...

You can guess what happened...

No dice! Thing still doesn't turn on.

Maybe I damaged something trying to get everything in place...

32

I recommend always check the driver (and everything else) before putting it together. Solder everything in the air and when everything works, just install it.

33

i think it is too much trouble, and i am an electrical engineer

i might like to modify firmware but that is pretty hard too, just the fiddly connections you have to make to the processor
so i have not even done that

34

My 100w is a solder gun, probably from the 70's.

Looks like this

Manner: especially this setup was extra annoying. The 2 wires were short. Then the USB board had to get in place and the switch assembly without having much room to work....

Ughhh

35

ChibiM , did you get the 90.2 fixed ? Just checking.

36

After lots of successful mods I’ve reflown a Luxeon TX (second i3E, the first swap worked). No sign of life. Back into pan, heat up, and destroying the LED while taking it with pliers. Not even sure driver is still ok, since Olight conforms to RoHS, and that shite needed 250 °C or so.

No more LuxeonTX in my possession and short of a pill for a [formerly] wonderful desert tan i3E.

But I’ll check the driver when I have time and maybe get some more LEDs. Right now, I hate that I did it.

37

Not as much as car modding!

38

Nice. My very first foray into soldering was during my RC car/boat days around 1997 using one of those. Not Weller though. It was a Mac Tools my Dad used as a mechanic. It had a lousy duty cycle. It heated up fast though. I didn’t have proper solder for it so that may have been the issue also. Good for cars heavy wiring, not so much for RC or electronics. Having the right tool makes a world of difference.

39

Here’s my Dad’s old Weller soldering gun. He used to fix tube TVs as a side job way back when so I’m sure it has been used for hundreds of hours. It has been repaired numerous times due to the plastic shell cracking, but I believe it still works. I’m afraid to plug it in to try though.

40

Yes,I fixed that one and it's working.

Less luck with the Manner :(