Mod - SolarStorm X2 Clone - Pic Heavy (In-Progress)

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
61

In my RC days, you kept your cells at 3.3V cut-off. Maybe because we were drawing 20-30A continuous on average, we needed 3.3V otherwise it would drop too low too fast at 3V. But this pack I got has a 2.85V cut-off, meant for an RC transmitter, which draws in the mA range. So 2.85 may be okay for that low of a draw.

The light’s LED voltage indicator will not work as well for these bike lights since lipo holds their voltage much longer. So when you get down to just one LED, it is in a much lower state than on 18650 cells. So the danger is you don’t really have much back-up time once you get down to one LED. Also, over-discharging 18650 is much less risky/dangerous than over-discharging a lipo.

I have a LVA on order that plugs into the balance port. But not an actual cut-off.

62

I don't do bike lights, but that is one heck of a great mod and some good info there as well. Thanks for posting the mod.

63

Excellent mod and write up! Certainly has the wheels turning.

I believe I may have a heat problem with one of my X2’s, both of which don’t have the pressed in pills. One of the units gets MUCH hotter than the other (mainly on top), with outputs being relatively similar.

Is this a sign of good or bad heat transfer? (In regard to the hotter unit) My gut says this is good, however the hot unit, has the worst contact between the led board and unit body.

64

I don’t claim to be an avid MTBer but anyone who claims to be one will tell you that the answer is no bar/frame heat sinking
as they’re all carbon :-).

Ok, my bar is also carbon but I’m just a wannabe.

But yea, incredible helmet light there ImA4Wheelr. My new helmet light will be a quad flashlight, yippee…

65

O-L wrote:

I don't do bike lights, but that is one heck of a great mod and some good info there as well. Thanks for posting the mod.

Thank you O-L. If you ever want a change of pace, you should consider modding them. I'm sure there are many bikers that would love to have an O-L custom on their bike/helmet. The good thing about the bike lights is that you don't have to deal with battery storage.

cardnation wrote:

Excellent mod and write up! Certainly has the wheels turning.

I believe I may have a heat problem with one of my X2’s, both of which don’t have the pressed in pills. One of the units gets MUCH hotter than the other (mainly on top), with outputs being relatively similar.

Is this a sign of good or bad heat transfer? (In regard to the hotter unit) My gut says this is good, however the hot unit, has the worst contact between the led board and unit body.

Thank you and welcome to the forum cardnation. You are correct. Feeling heat come out of the light is a good thing as it is escaping from the emitters.

It's hard to see differences in light output but due our perception of light and due to the way the human eye adapts do different light levels. The best way to determine if your emitters are overheating is to get a lux meter (An HS1010 costs less than $15) and see if output drops in the first 5 minutes of operation on high in an environment that you anticipate operating the light. Ideally, you should simultaneously measure current the emitters to make sure the output drop is not due to other issues, but that involves much more work.

sista94 wrote:

I don’t claim to be an avid MTBer but anyone who claims to be one will tell you that the answer is no bar/frame heat sinking
as they’re all carbon .

Ok, my bar is also carbon but I’m just a wannabe.

But yea, incredible helmet light there ImA4Wheelr. My new helmet light will be a quad flashlight, yippee…

Thank you sista94. By the way, I've been meaning to say I like the new avatar. That looks like some great biking country there. Do you do anything special to avoid rattle snake bites out there (special guards or something)?

Good point on the carbon. I guess they just have to petal faster when they need to cool their lights down.

EDIT: Added another paragraph to reply to cardnation.

66

Hi,

i also ordered a SolarstromX2.
I ordered i @ fasttech.com (https://www.fasttech.com/p/1285800 | “X2, 1*Cree XM-L U2, Black, US Plug ”)

Image PCB

Is ther also a solution for the current mod? (i cant find a R010 on this PCB, only a few R300 => see image)
Where did i get the hardware version that can be used for this mod?

thanks
mastercheef

67

Hi mastercheef. Welcome to the forum.

As you suspect, the 3 R300's are your voltage sense bank. Combined they have a resistance of .1 ohm. I don't have any experience with your driver. So the best I can tell you is that adding an equivalent amount of resisters (would bring overall resistance down to .05 ohms) would theoretically double your current. Don't know if the rest of the driver can handle that level of current though. It's best to connect a DMM in series with the emitters and measure current to the emitters while making smaller steps (e.g. adding one R300 or R200 at a time).

Obviously, make sure your emitters have decent thermal connection to the host if you really start jacking up the current.

Best wishes. Keep us posted.

68

hi, thanks for your quick answer,

ok thats clear (each resistor has 0,3 Ohm => in pallel so its 0,1 Ohm)

=> if i add additional resistors must i do this by each of the 3 R300? (cause i can’t see the circuit path at the other side of the pcb, so i don’t know if the resistors are connected in series or parallel)

=> where did you buy your solarstorm?

69

Usually, you can't see traces on the other side of a pcb. I find that back lighting makes the traces on top (side your looking at) quite visible.

You can use just about any resistor that will make electrical contact with the both ends of bank. R500, R300, R200, R100 will work fine. The lower ehte resistance, the more current an individual resistor will be handling. So I prefer to use multiple higher resistance resistors vs 1 low resistance resistor (e.g. 3 R300, instead of 1 R100).

I got my light from EachBuyer. Won it in a giveaway contest.

Looking at your driver again and I just noticed it appears to be a direct drive ("DD") driver. I see no buck controller, inductor or "flyback" diode. Are all components visible in your picture?

I take it your battery pack is 2S2P. Your emitters are clearly 2S in the picture. I could be wrong, but I think those emitters resistors are merely limiting current and are not part of feedback system. If your emitters were on copper, you could probably just short the bank to get max power. That large FET probably has a good amount of internal resistance too. Looks like it's labeled "DTU 09N03".

70

ok, i looked again at the PCB. i see traces an the PCB but not at the resistors.
The picture shows the hole PCB!

on the other side of the PCB there is nothing and i also can’t see traces there.

I have a 2s2p battery pack. No copper emitters. i must unmount the lamp the next days again.
But i will order 3 peaces from this light, there i had the chance to get te modable version from this thread.

So i would be happy for a link to this lamp. (@ EachBuyer i can’t find a Solarstorm X2…)

71

My review of the light has a product link, but it says sold out when I click on it. Not sure where to buy this light.

If you mod your light, you may want to make a thread for it. It appears that you have a new version of the light. I'm betting a lot of people will be getting the same version as you too. Please get a link to your thread here if you start one. I'm interested in hearing more about this light.

72

Hi everyone!

What is reflector hole size in SolarStorm X2? Thank’s in advance! Led board is probaply 16mm?

73

Hi Jouna and welcome to the forum. I pressed in a 3/4 inch pipe in the opening where the reflector sits. So it should be 19mm. IIRC, I believe you are correct about the LED MCPCB's being 16mm.

74

Thank you ImA4Wheelr! Just guessing if XPL-HI fits :slight_smile: Surely it fits but is there gasket anywhere to be found to put with?

75

Sorry, I had a feeling you might have been asking about the size of the opening for the emitter (Not sure what that is called). Hmm, XPL-Hi might make a nice beam profile. I haven't tried these yet, but I think you would you would need something like below (link in pic). I did try some that I think Simon sells, but they didn't work well for me with a different reflector.

76

Are you looking for something like this XP to XM sized adapter (This is in the US, so not sure of another source.)

-Garry

77

I modded a Yinding (Genuine with solid wall behind emitters from GearBest) with XP-L HI (which would be my suggestion to you unless you already have the SS X2) but that light uses optics not reflectors. I used these XP butterfly spacers.

-Garry

78

I have those 9mm gaskets what Simon sells for Convoy C8 to put with XPL-HI emitter. I wonder if those in link are right size?

79

Thanks Garry, I have not bought that yet. Doing bike light to my friend and wanted to know if XPL-HI is even option. That Yinding might be option and good one :slight_smile: Thanks also of gasket link, they seem to be out of stock but maybe I find those somewhere else :slight_smile:

80

The Yinding is inexpensive, easy to mod, wide range of optics available, and good quality. The SS X2’s are pretty much all junk out there now; there are no “genuine” X2’s that I’ve ever heard of. Even the stock drivers now are so bad they aren’t worth doing anything with so you’re stuck with an entire driver replacement (that is if you want decent power output). The only negative on the Yinding is that it’s small and doesn’t handle a lot of heat well. It draws 2.4A in stock form and that’s about the limit what it can handle. Oh, and stock batteries on either are junk, so just go ahead and order packs built with Panasonic cells (Gearbest and Kaidoman have them). Price on the Yinding is up a little, but still not bad (“this is a ”head only” link”:http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_133573.html?wid=21). You can also checkout the latest MTBR thread on the Yinding too.

-Garry