Revalation in modding

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Blind people should not try modding. It turns an OK C8 into usless pile of wires metal and electronics that no longer work, at all. On the other hand, it was fun doing it. Will try again next weekend if I can find a larger magnifying glass and better lighting.

It does have a really nice AR lens though.

2

You’re not alone! I ruined the first two lights I tried to mod. :_( It will get better, though. :wink:

3

I spent about an hour and a half to get one mode. High only. No biggie. 30 minutes researching on here to trouble shoot. Then 2 more hours to totaly mess it up. Not discouraged though. Yes, a little diappointed but I'm not one to give up that easily.

4

I still have sight and fail. Good luck this weekend.

5

Ah the joys of modding.

I just ruined an expensive fresnel lens trying to superglue a glass lens on front. Darn super glue glass glue is so runny it got between the lenses and filled in some of the ridges.

Now I have the assembly soaking in Goof Off in the hope I can remove the glue and reset the lens. I have my doubts though.

6

I’m at a 66% fail rate with my mods. Hang in there, I’ll light a candle
torch in your name. :wink:

7

Superglue gives off fumes as it dries that will cloud optic surfaces. I would try UV adhesive or silicone.

8

Use gorilla glue…the slow setting stuff takes a few hours to set up but doesn’t make that funky white ick like super glue does when drying

and I have several flashlights I have killdeded…in fact one today…for some reason the stupid thing wouldn’t light all the way up…and while dissassembling…crunch…so will have to do a full rebuild on it…yippie

9

But gorilla glue foams. I think Norland would be the gold standard.

10

Hope that you don’t get better, because if you succeed a couple of times you’ll get the big head and want to do a lot more and all of a sudden you’ll have 50 flashlights, all modded (at least once) and you’ll be trying to do things you’ll wish you’d never started. I spent about 35 hours trying to build a driver that, in the end, all the help said wouldn’t work. Before I put it away it ran an MT-G2 for 16 minutes at 3-4A without dying. :slight_smile: (Don’t kid yourself, I killed multiple parts in the process, including some expensive ones and 5 or 6 emitters.)

AND, I think I may be blinding myself. Do you know how difficult it is to look into an MT-G2 running 3.8A and place DMM leads on the soldered connections to read Vf? The dang thing is humming along making some 2200 lumens! Yeah, I think I’m blinding myself…

But it’s FUN! :smiley:

11

http://www.lowes.com/pd_50996-38777-ST-1S_0?productId=3731881&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-*~~Tools~~*~~WeldingSafetyApparel~~\_–3731881&CAWELAID=1404096076&kpid=3731881&CAGPSPN=pla

:smiley:

12

Actually it was Loctite Glass superglue. Meant for use on glass and said to dry completely clear.

I was impatient and gave this a go. Unfortunately it was very watery and ran between the lenses slightly. Reduced output maybe 10%. But then I soaked the lens setup in Goof Off… and that completely killed it. The combination actually caused the plastic fresnel lens to crack down the center… and still didn’t break the superglue holding the glass lens. GRRR.

I can’t repair it right away either. I have a replacement bezel and glass lens, but I do not have another fresnel. I ordered a replacement fresnel, but it will be 2 weeks before it arrives. Until then, I swapped in a backup bezel and conventional 20mm aspheric. I much prefer the fresnel to the aspheric, but right now there’s no other option.

That will teach me not to rush things. I made the following mistakes:

  1. Attempted to glue on glass lens when I only had 10 minutes. I rushed.
  2. Tried glue I’d never used before on stuff where I had no backup parts in case of mistake.
  3. Glue was very watery. Probably should have used less, and dribbled it in from the top edges rather than brushing on the sides.
  4. Used an inferior glue. I actually HAVE fresh Norland NOA61 and a UV light on hand. But I opted to try the super glue because I thought it would be much faster (my weak UV light doesn’t cure fast at all).

When I assemble the replacement bezel I’ll do things slightly differently:

  1. I’ll glue the glass lens in first using Norland.
  2. After the glass lens is glued in place, THEN I’ll insert the fresnel behind it. The fresnel will be press-fit instead of glued. That way there’s zero chance any glue will get in the fresnel’s grooves.
13

Different driver and emitter. It works! The only problem is I'm getting a flickering but only when I leave it on for 30 seconds or longer. Is the problem grounding? Or lack of? I'm going to leave it alone for now but thrilled that it works, sort of.

14

Check ground first, if not that probably a loose connection or cold joint.

15

Whew… new lens arrived.

Got replacement bezel with glass lens and fresnel in place to fix last weeks’ screw-up.

Lens was a lot easier to get sized than the first one I did. Instead of sawing off the extra optical acrylic, this time I used some snips to cut it off, then filed to fit. The optic is press-fitted behind a thin glass lens that I’d previously glued on with Norland.

Hopefully the Norland will hold. The glass is there to help protect the fresnel, make it easier to clean, and provide a watertight barrier at the bezel. I’m undecided if I want to leave it as-is or add more Norland. Dripping the Norland along the edges of the aluminum bezel so it runs into the edge of the lens seems to be the best technique to prevent getting Norland on the face of the lens.

16

:smiley: