Alright, so I took the plunge and started my first ever P60 build, utilizing much of the knowledge gained reading these forums (thank you). Only thing that sucks is waiting for all the parts to come in. Well, here goes nothing…
P60 and Cree XM-L2 U2 ready to go
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LED soldered w/RTV applied
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Qlite Rev A 8x7135 5 Mode Driver installed (ignore sloppy soldering… I hate brass)
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Added RTV to the driver (inside pill as well), just in case it ever goes swimming
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All done for now, still waiting (ordered 14 May) on my Solarforce L2P host to arrive. In the meantime however, my local Home Depot had the 2AA mini Mag LED and 3D Mag LED combo pack on sale for $19, so after my military discount it was $18.64 out-the-door today, so that tided me over :bigsmile:
While you’re waiting, you can check that the drop-in is working, if you like. Just get some leads with alligator clips on both ends, and attach the positive one to the spring, and the negative one to the body, and the light should light. You should also be able to simulate clicks to test that modes work by removing contact on one of the leads momentarily.
I did make sure to use non-acid based RTV, specifically this one is “sensor safe” so it won’t corrode the electronics. Also, it should be easier to remove, if ever needed.
I keep wondering if there might be too much of the RTV on the spring side of the board? It’s hard to tell how high the RTV is, but it almost looks about the same level as the spring itself?
I don’t know if I’m reading your location correctly, but if you’re in Arkansas you could have an L2P in a couple of days from lighthound.com for about the same price as direct from Solarforce.
The body of an L2P is actually quite long, with a spring that short you many have trouble with mode changing when bumped or slight connection issues with shorter cells.
I’d recommend either adding a slightly longer spring in place of the original (that’s what I did to my ones), you have to solder it upside down and use pliers to bend it in at the back to make good contact on button tops.
Alternatively I’ve seen another member add a copper ball on top of the spring to raise the contact point, which looked nice. But of course you need a source for little copper balls…
It may be fine though as long as you stick to longer protected cells.
That information led me to my decision to go ahead and use it, we’ll see how it goes. I’m all about “testing”.
I have already been considering this as I have the spring that came with the pill. I was waiting on the host to arrive :weary: but I think you’ve convinced me to go ahead and knock it out. I can always trim-to-fit later!
Yes, I’m in Arkansas, and thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely use them next time (will there be a next time??? :bigsmile: ) as a few couple dollars is worth the faster delivery. Thanks again!
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