Ohh - I just follow the recommended zener mod guides to assemble - pretty simple to do to a BLF DD driver or a Nanjg/Qlite. I've done a few and lots of others have done them as well, just not certain what to do about the battery level checks because I think the standard check don't work.
I think Richard has figured that out for the Zener mod, you might give him a shout.
I would like some help on this too.
I got the modded L5 today XML2 T6 4C.
I also added a UCL that I have been using in my f13 clone and it fits great. Only a 3% increase in lumen with the lens. I suspect the coating is cheap as the lens doesnt look as “clear” as some of the nicer UCLp’s I have.
Numbers!
Test run on a 50a Sony vtc 26650 (Efest 35 might be slightly better as Richard measured higher numbers WITHOUT a ucl)
1512 at turn on
1401 at 30 sec (Richard measured 1575@ 30 sec on an efest 26650 in his lightbox)
739 high
99 mid
26 low
6.5 amps measured @ tail!
impressive!!
50,000 lux
this light easily makes all the f13s and similar clones obsolete at this price 
well I guess if you got some f13s at 9.99 from GB like i did they still have some purpose
I need to test some efest 35a 26650
Anyone know of a way to get a 13mm copper XP star?
(or a larger star which can be safely filed down to 13mm)
I suppose I could reduce a Noctigon XP16 down to 13mm, but I’d have to be careful not to short the pads to the pill. I think the amount of cutting would be about like this:
It also might be a bit difficult to get the cut quite right, using only a hand file and/or dremel.
I've done this a couple of times. My thread on the Tank007 E10 mod (https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/22831) ,I used a SinkPAD, but you can do it with a Noctigon. One trick is to file the edges at the pads at an angle so the pad edge is no where near the housing it's sitting in - worked great for me. I did a similar mod to the SingFire little SF 348, pics here: http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/TomE2012/library/SF-348.
Always check for shorts of course. I used a rotary tool with the sanding drum I believe. I don't have any trouble getting things round for some reason. Mark your target with a marker - O-L style, and use that as a guide to how much material you are taking off.
The SinkPAD's were made for this with the two pad set, but Noctigons will work too, specially for 13 mm.
Also post #422 here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/27548 for the SF-348.
Make sure to file a bevel around the edge or at least in the area of the pads, this will allow the mask to separate the pads from the star and the edges of your pill.
Thanks, I think I’ll try that. I’m just improving my cnqg brass 18650 light, and there are virtually no stock components which fit in it. Fortunately, the driver is a standard attiny13a so updating the firmware was easy. Now it just needs a better emitter (and I was hoping to add copper instead of reusing the stock aluminum star).
Hey guys, sorry I have been virtually absent this past weekend. I had gotten a little behind on flashlights and custom builds, so I pretty much shut everything off for two days and got caught back up. If you sent me an e-mail/PM and didn't get a response, please send it again as it may have gotten lost in the shuffle.
The Maxtoch lights are in! I will get them up on the site sometime today. I have to say that my initial impressions are very positive. I have a $120 Olight SR52 and $150 TN32 sitting here and these lights are every bit as good. The machining, threads, and finish are top notch--almost flawless. The lens and reflector are also excellent, and the lights are lightweight considering their size. Of course we have some work to do if we want to make them really sing, but they are about as good of a starting platform as any I've seen. I think that one of these with a few tweaks will spank the expensive lights without missing out on any of the quality.
Also, batteries and LEDs are set to arrive today. I will post when they are available.
I finally took a good look at the JAX Z1, and I think it’s an ideal host for a laserlike-zoomie mod. Seems like it should do 200kcd without a lot of trouble. If you decide to carry those, count me in.
I actually have a few Z1s on the way, hopefully arriving this week.
Just an observation. In looking for drivers I was on the site looking at the BLF DD drivers. I didn’t see any input/output specs or limits.
I also looked through the BLF threads and nothing stood out directly.
Night Spy, input is based on the single cell Li-ion 4.2V with a 3V cut off. Output is going to vary by the cell used, with a max in the 6.8A range from a Sony C5 or Efest 35A in new condition. The lowest I’ve seen is around 4.5A from Sanyo UR18650FJ cells out of a laptop battery pack.
Hope that helps.
Maybe it would be worthwhile to point folks at HKJ’s BLF17DD review? In that review HKJ goes to no great effort to explain the concept of “direct drive” and it’s implications - so reading his review will probably only help so much if a person doesn’t already know about those things. It can be difficult to communicate in an accessible way exactly how DD ends up functioning. Maybe lagman’s thread will help people better understand the concept and it’s implications. I’ve been meaning to review his writeup but haven’t done it so far :-(.
Yep, I understand the basic concepts and the limitations of various components.
What I am not seeing is the allowable maximum input voltage to the driver for series terminated emitters.
Approximately 5.5 volts, which is the limitation of the MCU input voltage. The 70N02 is good for 20V source to drain, so 4S cells would be fine (and works fine with the zener version).
I have used this driver a lot in the 12 LED lights, with 3S cells on the input. I wired the leds 3S4P, matching the voltage requirements on the input and the output. I also use it in the BTU Shocker with 3S input and 3S output. I have even used the driver in a 36V application, but the 200 ohm resistor needs to be replaced with about a 1.5K-2K resistor, and the losses are quite high so a voltage regulator/buck regulator to supply the MCU would actually be much more efficient in those applications. (I wasn't concerned about the loss of efficiency).
I’m thinking you’d have to do a Zener modification to be able to run series cells to series LED’s in order to not fry the MCU. There is a BLF17DD Z board made for this.
I’m sure Wight or Richard or Comfy or someone can give you more info on that aspect. These were originally designed as a single emitter single cell direct driver replacement for the Qlite or Nanjg 105C style driver. There have been a lot of variations for the multiple uses people have come up with.
Thanks guys, that is what I needed to know. That is why I made the post, to say that this confirmation is not readily available upon a 1/2 day effort of searching.
I will update the driver listings with acceptable input voltage ranges.
Thanks!