My First Mod

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

I just completed my first mod, which coincidentally is also my first time soldering anything.

I purchased a 3.04A qlite driver flashed with NLITE, and a Nichia 219 on a Noctigon from RMM. First, I removed 4 7135’s to get it down to 1.5A (and managed to only break one in the process). Next I soldered stars 2 and 4 to enable moon mode and disable memory. Then I assembled it in a spare p60 shell with some arctic ceramique under the star.

It measures 1.45A at the tail on High. My only complaint is that the moon mode isn’t dim enough, so “moon” and “low” are too close together.

This is my first light with a Nichia, and I already love it.
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Update 1/16: I wasn’t happy with moon mode or the mode switching, so I decided to swap the qlite for one of Wights PZL drivers.
It has four 380ma 7135’s, and one 350ma 7135 for the moon. Mode spacing is much better, and it is now off-time no-memory, which is perfect for a bedside light.

Modes are:
Moon: 0.003amps, 5pwm
Low: 0.11A, 25
Medium: 0.66A, 100
High: 1.88A, 255

2

Great job for your first take at soldering! :slight_smile:

3

Yay! We have new flashlight modder at BLF!

That looks much better then any of my early attempts. Very clean soldering. Nice work.

Really is a great feeling hitting that switch and seeing your creation work.

4

Yes indeed, & well done! Another monster modder is born. :bigsmile: Thanks for posting!

5

Good job. A P60 drop-in is a project I have yet to tackle myself. You beat me to it! :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Good job, clean soldering

Awesome for your first mod…you have the bug now…you are one of us :stuck_out_tongue:

7

Congrats on your first mod! :slight_smile:

8

Well done.

9

The start to a never ending downward spiral of loneliness and heartache as you spend every minute planning the next mod has started. Welcome to the club and what a fine start you have made. Your one up on me using the Nichia led.

10

Excellent! Nice job.

11

good soldering! Much better than my first mod.

Love the Nichia's too. The two low modes too close happens a lot with the qlite, it depends on the led used. I would just unsolder the star and make it three modes.

12

Nice work :beer:

For your next Nichia mod, I’d recommend putting 3 of them on a Noctigon into a Convoy S2+ with a BLF DD driver :bigsmile:

Of course, you’ll want to put your own firmware on it to tweak the mode levels, so you’ll be needing even more stuff to program the driver….

13

Nice one! Modding is so addictive :slight_smile:

14

Nice job! P60s are a great way to get started, I wish there was as simple a way to stop.

15

Good job!

The downward spiral begins...

16

Lol, that just means more business for you!

17

Quick question: how big of an issue is it if one of the wires contacts the star? I re-did the positive lead 3 times to make sure it didn’t

18

The exposed part of the wire? That is a problem. If the exposed positive LED wire contacts the metal on the star (not the top red mask) you will have a direct short circuit and will fry something. If the negative positive LED wire contacts the metal on the star driver regulation will be bypassed and you'll have a direct drive light with no modes.

19

You mean the exposed wire or the silicone?
Any part of the silicone can touch any part of the star but the exposed wire should only be in contact with the solder pad or the red solder mask (insulator) on the top surface of the noctigon.

If the exposed core of the positive wire gets in contact with the side of the Noctigon it will short out and potentially cause a battery fire. So watch out for that. The pcb core and the light are both grounded/battery negative.
If the exposed core of the negative wire makes contact with the noctigon side or the reflector or any other part of the body of the light, you will bypass the regulation side of the driver and lose any lower modes. The light would just have high and it would be a sort of direct drive so potentially damaging the emitter.

Edit: Can’t beat RMM’s posting speed. haha! :slight_smile:

20

I figured as much. I guess I did well to be careful. Is there any chance of the edge of the Noctigon cutting through the silicone and contacting the core?