I've built this contraption as a 'Mom light' - does everybody's mom have the most horrible, useless dime store flashlights that most of the time don't even work, or is it just mine? - so keeping it functioning like stock with normal AAs was essential. Despite claims that this light is 'impossible to mod', it turned out really nice, I think.
the victim:
new baseplate w/ step on each side to fit into the body & head (ignore the sheared-off screw, I was going to do something different but when that broke, it made me teh angry so I decided it was best to stop tinkering and just make it where light comes out when you push the button), 20mm star, XM-L2 T6:
notch & tab keeps the baseplate from rotating when the head's tightened down:
In stock form the output was only 780mA, which just will not do! I don't have a pic of the driver mod, but it's dead simple - just a jumper wire from the switch output to the LED- point. Everything on the input side of the switch stays as-is, which I think keeps the reverse polarity diode functional. Current after the mod I measured at ~1400mA, but later realized the AAs I used were rather flat, and didn't feel like unsoldering anything to recheck with fresh cells. The switch isn't great, and eats about 300mA. This is a pic from O-L's review thread showing the jumper points in yellow:
So, does it work?
Yay! But is it bright enough?
For reference, an unmodded Streamlight TLR-1s, advertised as "300 lumens" - mouseover for the OT200
nice job! XM-L2 was a bit of an overkill, but hey ho, in for a penny in for a pound So your driver mod essentially makes it direct drive? I can’t really see the traces to figure it out.
Yep, direct drive. I didn't bother trying to figure out the driver either, lol. The beam is about a thousand times nicer than the stock XB-D, which had a nasty yellow spot right in the center. Good throw, but not so much of a spotlight that it still works good as a walking-around and looking-for-junk-in-the-closet light. I only used the XM-L2 'cause it was what I had on hand... well, I could have used a XP-G, but knowing this is current limited by the AAs I figured the XM-L would work better.
Doing anything more radical than this (2x26500s, driver swap, etc.) would be pretty useless, as the reflector is about the same diameter as a P60, although it is about 1.5/2x deeper. I still don't know how you get the damn reflector out of the head, I think they cast the aluminum around it.
Nice Job. Great Mom Light. I made my folks a modified Mag a few years ago, and it's served them well. They're not the rechargeable battery type, so it gets fed with Alkaline, but that's just fine for them.
Current to the emitter goes up by 300mA when I jump across the IN/OUT pins on the switch, and goes up none when jumped from the BAT- to the switch IN pin, and also none when I jump BAT+ to LED+. The only other path is switch OUT to LED- which is already connected with my direct drive bypass wire.
Pretty common, at least with my other junky lights. Ferinstance, UF 501B, direct drive XM-L2, LG 2200mAh measures 2.95A at the tailcap, which leaves the switch (and spring, and associated contact points in the tailcap) out of the circuit. But with the switch installed and checking current at the front, between the pill and the body, current measures 2.36A. No other changes other than the switch in or out of the circuit.
So your driver mod essentially makes it direct drive? I can’t really see the traces to figure it out.