Well, that was fun. I just read this whole thread from front to back, and I enjoyed it more than I should of.
Right around Christmas I ordered the Q8, 5 VTC6, Nitecore SC4, and some other odds and ends. Up til then, my only “real” light was the Elf C2 warm with its recessed flat top battery. My Q8 came with Prime shipping, but the batteries, charger, and other stuff from Illumn.com took over a week because of the holidays(completely understandable). So in the week where I didn’t have any batteries to play with my Q8, I read this whole thread and that got my planning on doing some mods. My Q8 is 2nd batch(or 3rd??) and is perfect as far as I can tell. Screws don’t even look like a driver has touched them, the battery tube end is smooth and flush(but only making 1/2 ring contact), and the LEDs are nicely centered. My VTC6 batteries are flat tops, but they do work. I researched this and decided to go ahead since I got them for a lot cheaper.
What I was thinking about doing, is Brass Screws, cleaning all threads and contact points, tapping M2.5 threads, beveling screw holes, adding Brass Buttons to my VTC6 batteries for better contact to brass ring, lapping the brass ring to make it flat, maybe adding the center “reverse polarity protection”, and making a new Tail Plate with bypasses. The last one was so I could have my factory PCB with springs, for safety and more appropriate run times and heat output, and my modded, bypassed, high powered board for playing with. Obviously, the copper Tail Plates are not a big gainer, so I was wondering how 14-16ga aluminum would work?? I don’t have any flat copper here, but I do have plenty of aluminum, even scrap pieces.
I also would like to add the capacitor to the head PCB to stop it from bumping off. I think since I’m using flat tops, my light is relatively sensitive about bumping vertically which shuts off the light. My Elf C2 does this, but resumes instantly, you barely notice the flash in light. I’m thinking adding the Brass Buttons would help with this, but would like to not rely on it. While I am decent at soldering, I have never soldered a component that small. If I have to, my brother in law is very good with stuff like this and is schooled in electrical engineering. My question is, what capacitor is ideal for this, and can I get a link so I get the right one??
So TL:DR question list
- What Capacitor to use to prevent bump off??
- If I make a 16 gauge tail plate from aluminum with copper spring bypasses, will I loose any power using aluminum??
- I measure the spring height of ~ 7/16 of an inch, any Gold Plated Beryllium Copper Springs that tall?? I only see 5mm
- Are the springs in the OP ok for use without bypasses?? If not, which would you recommend. Any one find the IOS “A” springs Tom was talking about??
- Where can I source the center “reverse polarity protection” piece, or should I just try to make one out of plexiglass??
Thanks
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