My DX80 died shortly after I got it. It was a paper weight so I finally got around to opening it to see if anything could be done. Long story short yes, but not worth the time. The mcpcb is a 4S 2P so it uses a boost
driver. The only after market driver I know of that could do this would be Taskled hyperboost (like I used in the 3590 GT). I’m not interested in putting the work in for that, but here are a few pics of the tear down for those interested. :student:
After removing the bezel with a strap wrench and some heat I used the suction cup on my glass cutter to de-vaporlock the lens from the bezel.
Several of the dies in the LEDs were not lighting up. This happens at very low power some times because of a variance in vf between the individual dies (some appear brighter than others) in the LED, but in this instance even at higher power they did not light so they are blown for sure.
Next it just pulls apart in layers. The brass center has screws, then the aluminum shelf. There was also silicone all around the outer edge of the aluminum plate covering the screws.
Below the bladed sink a plastic cover with a tube running up to the top with more silicone. I have no doubt after seeing all of the silicone that this light would be quite water proof despite the open fins.
Below that the driver.
Try as I might I was not able to get that free without breaking things. Originally I tried to unread the brass ring from the bottom as one would think, but I just spun in circles. Since I tried that before I ever opened the bezel the wires were broke anyway so I just beat it out of there
Thanks vestureofblood! Now it all makes sense. This light is impossible to repair. This is why my well-packaged light for warranty repair was “never received” by Imalent, and why I was offered the purchase of a new head for $135, instead. Ha-ha. Too bad I didn’t keep the perfectly-fine battery pack (body). I sent in the entire light for “warranty repair,” which was the mistake I had made. (I should have just sent the head back to Longgang, Shenzhen); then played their game.
Awesome. Thanks for showing us what’s inside one of those. That’s not something you see everyday as those are expensive lights. What do you think killed it? Dos the leds go bad?
My best guess is that something went wrong with the driver. I had it on and was changing modes when it died. I suspect a quick but massive spike in voltage occurred killing the driver and some led dies. Had it been just the emitters failing on their own I think the light would have continued to work, and driven the remaining dies even harder causing a cascade until at least a full set from each side of the 2p setup had failed.
Wow, thank you vestureofblood for taking the DX80 apart! I always wondered what is inside a DX80 but never thought it would be that difficult and destructive to open the head. Do you think this would be a nice host for some new leds on single boards and a FET driver? Maybe with some copper for improving the thermal path? This brass and the screws in the middle look like a very weak connection to the body. It is definitely nothing similar to an integrated shelf.
Wow that is huge, amazing flashlight! The aluminum cap hanging on the pcb look a little odd, but otherwise the entire flashlight look very solid. sorry to hear it stop working, but thank you for sharing very cool photos.
Once I wanted to get an Imalent DX80 and swap the leds for neutral white ones but I didn’t know if it is possible. Now I know it is but with this kind of heat management lacking even an integrated shelf I don’t want this light any more. I am planning to build my own DX80 with a large host and lots of copper underneath the leds. If 8 XHP70.2 work in a setup with screws and brass they should work even better with copper, right?
I don’t want this light any more. I am planning to build my own DX80 with a large host and lots of copper underneath the leds. If 8 XHP70.2 work in a setup with screws and brass they should work even better with copper, right?