If a US member does not like their I3 and wants to swap it out for a M6 5C, PM me. I think I would rather have one of these…
I’d be really interested to hear how you get on with this … especially the XPL Hi … it may be something that resolves my disappointment
I took this light apart last night and modded it. Unfortunately, I was in a rush and forgot to take pictures 
Disassembly and analysis of construction:
- The bezel is not glued on. It was moderately stiff to get out due to a rubber gasket below it, but it came right out with the aid of some grip tape.
- The lens is held in place with 2 rubber gaskets: 1 above and 1 below. This is good, since extra rubber means much more protection for the lens. No need to worry about crushing the edge of the lens with it surrounded by rubber. This might also help to increase drop resistance.
- The lens was stuck to the rubber gasket below it. Once the bezel was removed, I pulled the lens out with the aid of a dental pick type tool. It did not fall out on its own like some cheaper zoomies.
- Both of the lens gaskets are split gaskets and do not make a complete circle. Each has a 1-2mm gap in them. These gaps are intentional: They are there so air pressure can equalize when the light is cycled from zoom to spot. If the light were airtight, air pressure would cause the bezel to automatically return to whatever position it was in when the battery was put in. This is why most zoomable flashlights are not waterproof.
- The top of the pill has a metal cover on it. This cover screws into the pill and holds the star tightly to the shelf. Two tiny holes on its sides allow for unscrewing with tweezers. I really like this setup.... easy to remove, looks good, and no need to screw or glue the star down.
- Below this cover is a standard plastic XML sized isolator and then a 16mm aluminum star. Mine came with an XML2 with 5C tint with no hint of green. I was quite impressed with the tint of the stock LED.
- With the cover removed, the notches in the top of the brass pill are revealed. I used a needled-nosed pliers in those notches to unscrew and remove the pill. The pill was very tightly screwed down, but once it got started it unscrewed easily. It is not glued.
- The stock driver is 14-15mm. A 15mm driver from Mtn Electronics fits easily with minimal filing. The driver itself came presoldered to a tiny press-fit retaining ring. Solder that to the driver, then press the driver and ring into the socket in the back of the pill. If you need to remove it, there is a deep notch in the side of the pill to insert a pick or screwdriver below the ring to lever the driver out. I didn't test it, but it might be possible to fit a larger driver if you omit the ring and solder the driver directly to the brass pill. A filed down 17mm driver might fit.
- Not much in the tailcap: clicky switch on pcb with spring, metal washer, rubber switch boot, and retaining ring cover. In this light the retaining ring is on the outside of the light around the boot, rather than on the inside. The tailcap threads are square-cut.
- The bezel slides smoothly but is a little stiff. This is due to the unusual o-ring placement. This light has 2 bezel o-rings (which both appeared to have little or no lube).
- One is on the side of the pill. This is a fairly standard position. You can lube it up without risk of the lube getting onto the exposed neck in spot mode.
- The other one is unusual. It is in a narrow slot around the bottom edge of the bezel. Adding lube to this o-ring could backfire since the o-ring brushes the portion of the of the light that is exposed when the bezel is in spot mode. Too much lube and you'll have exposed grease getting on your hand every time you cycle the light to spot. I'm not sure how long this o-ring will last without lube though. But even if it breaks it's probably no big loss. It's not needed for water resistance... it's only purpose is to make the bezel action smoother.
Minor defect:
I noticed that the light would periodically change modes when I cycled the light to spot mode quickly. The problem was the tailcap wasn't making a good enough connection with the body tube. Air pressure changes when cycling the zoom were enough to cause it to briefly lose contact. I fixed this problem by inserting a small strip of aluminum bent into a flat ring at the top of the contact on the back of the battery tube. This completely solved the problem, but prevents the tailcap from screwing all the way down. The battery tube is slightly shorter than I'd like it to be. To fix this in future runs, I suggest On the Road makes the entire battery tube 2mm longer.
Modding the light:
- I replaced the stock emitter and star with an XPL HI 5A2 tint on Noctigon. No need to do any filing, the 16mm star fit and centered perfectly. I used the stock metal star cover and plastic isolator.
- I replaced the driver with a 15mm guppydrv FET driver from Mtn Electronics. I had a little trouble socketing the driver into the tiny ring, but eventually got it good enough. With the driver in the ring it was a simple matter to press fit the package into the back of the light.
- I considered, but have not yet attempted a tailspring bypass. the tailspring is pretty compressed so there isn't much room. Still I expect I'll get to this eventually.
- The Noctigon star is thicker than the stock aluminum star. However, in the stock light, the LED in spot mode is just past maximum focus. That gave the spot beam a nice rounded-corner square shape, but blended out the dots on the top of the star. With the thicker Noctigon the focus perfectly aligned with the top of the LED die, revealing the dot pattern. This is good enough and I did not attempt to further adjust the focus.
Unmodded this is one of the best small pocket zoomies around. It looks and feels well-built. It's incredibly small. Output is excellent.... much superior to the Sipik 68 (at least for flood mode). Stock UI isn't to my taste though. Modded, this light is a powerhouse. Fantastic throw for its size with a nice bright flood light.
I highly recommend this light.
Indeed without the brass press-fit ring it fits 16mm, a slightly filed down BLF-A6 fitted without issues:
(picture from post in what did you mod today)
Nice!
I might try fitting a DrJones H17F inside, but I have doubts the battery tube is long enough for the longer driver.
Looks like i’m going to have to buy one of these too… 
I wonder if we can convince On the Road to make an 18650 version of this light.
Another thought — is anyone from the company reading here?
Putting two adjacent holes in one side of the tailcap would solve a problem.
With two holes 180 degrees apart, any lanyard string or split ring going through the hole also keeps the light from tailstanding.
Which it really should be able to do.
With two holes close together, a lanyard string or split ring doesn’t wrap over the base and so the light isn’t made tippy.
Does anyone know if the M3 pocket clip fits this light correctly? It really needs a clip and if it does not fit, I will not order one.
There isn’t a good position on the body that can hold a clip I’m afraid.
I use a split ring and “McGizmo” clip on little lights like that — either to clip them into a shirt/pants pocket or a belt loop.
These are good if you find them in stainless steel at a decent price (it varies a lot)
(link at that page no longer works)
Beware imitations made of zinc, pot metal, or congealed mouse sweat — they make them shiny silvery but not reliably strong)
I got one of these On The Road i3 zoomies the other day and finally found this thread. I already put a Nichia 219C in it.
Now I’m wondering what driver. I would like more output than it currently makes, and I’m not opposed to re-swapping the LED.
Looking at drivers and the space available in this small light, I’m not sure a multi-7135 driver will work. FET+1 drivers are often one sided and low profile. But the prevailing opinion (I haven’t tried it) is that N219C’s don’t do well with FET drivers. (BUT BUT - maybe this isn’t an issue for 16340 batteries, since they can’t do high currents like an 18650 can.)
So questions I’m considering:
1. What driver? (FET vs multi-7135)?
2. What SIZE driver? 15mm using spacer ring, or 17mm shaved down?
3. Keep N219C or put in something like an XP-L Hi?
Looking forward to hearing what mods have been friendly
There’s only one mod on this forum and he is very friendly indeed
Sorry for the impatient bump, but I was hoping to order parts today…
What driver/LED combo do you all think would work well in this light? I like the N219C I’ve got in there (Mine also has that beautiful rosy tint that djozz took a great picture of), but am thinking due to the physical constraints of the light that I might use a FET driver and thus revert to an XP-L Hi emitter. Thoughts?
I did my first i3 mod back in july and posted something about it in the what did you mod today thread, if you had not read it already, does that contain some info for you? What did you mod today? - #1213 by djozz
djozz, I did see that and the main issue is that I don’t have a BLF A6 driver on hand. I ordered several back in November, but I’m currently in dispute with Banggood because their shipping status has not been updated since late November.
I was hoping to get a driver more quickly from Richard at MTN, but the MTN FET layout looks like it has less clearance at the edges to be sanded down like you did with the BLF A6 driver.
Or maybe it would work OK?
And the follow-up question becomes, can I keep the N219C even with a FET driver since the 16340 will never supply the kind of current an 18650 will? (looking at HJK tests, 16340s fall really flat at anything 5A or more.)
It looks like the Mtn driver will be fine, you only need to sand down the diameter by 1mm, which is 0.5mm around, if you sand it halfway the via’s in the ground ring it might just fit already, and the copper tracing is at most places continiuing under the solder mask, and there’s many back-up via’s near the FET.
The 219C is at its max at 6A, and survives up to at least 10A, the 16350 will not even deliver the 6A so you will be fine. Of course you will have to monitor the heat at the maximum setting, there’’s not much mass and surface area in the i3 to spread and get rid of the heat.
As a noob I feel like I’ve said this a lot, but I mean it each time - thanks!
tiny, but i have given up 16340s - they just don;t have enough energy, i end up changing them 3 times a week, and STILL having to limit my use of ‘high’ modes…
wle