This is my first post on this cool site.
I purchased a Tovatec Dive light with 3 “C” LED cell dive light a few years ago and now I want to mod it with 2 - 26650’s.
The problem I have is the tail cap switch ( which was push low, push high, push off) does not work
I soldered the new 12volt led in and tested the light buy running a wire from the - of the bottom battery to the outer shell of the flashlight and its real bright now, I estimate about 4000 LM.
When I install the tailcap switch , I get a real quick dim flash when I push the button, then nothing.
The tail switch has a printed circuit board on the battery side of the cap and probably a magnet with spring on the ocean side.
This light was a 4.5volt light and now I am running 2-26650 so 8 volts and a 12 volt led
I need some real help with this as I am at a loss.
Thanks
Ohhhh, boy.
If the tailcap has the driver inside, you probably fried the driver hitting it with 8.4V instead of the 4.5V tops it would expect.
If the driver’s in the head, well, you also probably fried it hitting it with almost double the voltage.
Bypassing the tailcap entirely and getting bright light sounds like the driver’s in the tailcap.
Comfortable with a 1-mode-only direct-drive super bright light? You could gut the tailcap entirely and stick a regular switch in there. What size, how to mount it, etc., you’re on your own, ’cause you’d have to do it by feel as you go along.
Not sure what kind of “12V LED” you’ve got in there… XHP something? That’d imply a boost driver in the head.
Anyway, not nearly enough detail to say anything.
I put the original led back in and the light works perfectly so driver must be ok, seems like the printed circuit board in the tailswitch don’t like the 8 v or higher current?
Hmm, that’s pretty lucky, then. Hate to fry drivers, especially “unique” ones.
So now that I know the driver is OK,
I am back to the original question : (I reinstalled the 12v led and 26650 batterys:)
I purchased a Tovatec Dive light with 3 “C” LED cell dive light a few years ago and now I want to mod it with 2 – 26650’s.
The problem I have is the tail cap switch ( which was push low, push high, push off) does not work
I soldered the new 12volt led in and tested the light buy running a wire from the – of the bottom battery to the outer shell of the flashlight and its real bright now, I estimate about 4000 LM. When I install the tailcap switch , I get a real quick dim flash when I push the button, then nothing. The tail switch has a printed circuit board on the battery side of the cap and probably a magnet with spring on the ocean side. This light was a 4.5volt light and now I am running 2-26650 so 8 volts and a 12 volt led
The tailcap switch still does not work.
Any technical help out there?
seems like the printed circuit board in the tailswitch don’t like the 8 v or higher current?
How can I overcome this?
You are probably overloading it. 2x 26650 produce a lot of current and a switch meant for maybe 1 to 2 amps max would either quickly fail or work intermittently. It might be the switch has resistors or some other circuits that do not like the extra current/voltage.
What led did you put in it? What led came stock?
You could probably swap the stock switch for a regular mechanical reverse switch, but like was mentioned, you need to find ome that fits and is compatible with the electrical path for the light.
Need a little more info to make an educated guess.
Original LED was Cree XM-L LED, which burned out when I added 8 volts to it.
The one installed now is unknown, from a friend , he said it was a 12 volt LED
Keep in mind this is a dive light so most land flashlight switches would not work underwater for long
Got like zero details here, so not much anyone can say. No pix, no nuttin’?
Yah a 3v led would die very fast on 8 volts. Can you take a picture and post it here?
Here’s another pic
Maybe just me but an underwater light that has been modded doesn’t sound reliable to me unless done by a “professional”.
I always bring back up lights down with me.
Url’s don’t seem to be showing the pics?
Any assistance here?
There's a link in my signature on how to post pics on BLF.
See if this works:
I was trying to send it from MY Google drive.
The url form Google drive works on other forums, but I guess not here.
I am not computer literate enough to try or understand what “raccoon city” posted