Thanks for the review. Just ordered this light. Not bad for $16 
No problem! Glad I could help you spend a little of your money, even if it’s only $16 of it. 
What comes around goes around. 
Nice review and mods relic38. Dig that driver mod. This light looks like a really good deal.
Hi,
I just got one of these (late, I know). Was there ever a mod thread (that was mentioned above)?
For the driver, I understand to mount a Nanjg on top of the existing driver, but were there any pics about the emitter side?
Thanks,
Jim
Here are some pics of the mod I did to fill the hole in the pill. Also this is also the origional thread. Give it a look a few modded the pill in different ways.
Link to post with info
Hi apt323,
Thanks.
One thing I don’t get. On that thread:
they were reporting tailcap current like 3 - 4 amps, and seemed like with stock. As mentioned above, I’m only seeing 1.47 amps on the one I have. Were the driver and/or emitter on the light in that thread different than the light that I have?
I’d probably be happy if I was seeing 3-4 amps now :).
For the original driver, I think just left the components and drilled two holes in it. It’s just a backing plate for the NANJG now. I stopped at 4A, but with better heatsinking this host could handle 5A for 5 minutes or so anyway.
Good luck with the mods, I’ll try and answer questions if they come up.
relic,
I saw what you did with the driver. Pretty clever :).
But, what about the emitter? According to a couple of posts (garry, I think) measured the hole where the original emitter PCB rests on top of as being ~22.5mm, but is there such a thing as a 22.5 mm+ emitter PCB? I thought that 20mm were the largest?
Also, any idea how come they were seeing 3+ amp tailcap current, whereas I’m only seeing 1.47 amps, even with an IMR battery?
I had to reuse the one it came with. It’s not bad, nice and thick. I just reflowed an XM-L U2 on it. You could leave it as is, the T6 is still throwing fine. If you go XM-L2 and want to punch it in the face with 5A+, you should do the pill filler from that other thread. I would rather have copper as a base for that electron flow rate though. The benefits roll off fast above 4A when not on a sinkpad.
So, just use the T6 emitter it came with, and change the driver to a Nanjg, and I’d see the higher currents (and performance)?
I have these drivers from FT coming in:
8* AMC7135 4-Group 2~5 Modes LED Flashlight Driver Circuit (Generic)11
https://www.fasttech.com/p/1127403
4* AMC7135 2-Group 3/5 Modes LED Flashlight Driver (Nanjg 101-AK-A1)
https://www.fasttech.com/p/1122401
I’m guessing you’d recommend the 2nd one above then, because it’s a Nanjg?
Edit: And basically just Fujik the new driver to the old driver, and run the wires from the new driver up to the emitter?
I’ve used the first driver. Crappy modes, but it gets the job done.
The second one you will have to add a lot of chips to get 4A. Add four for 2.8A, which is respectable.
I keep forgetting that not everyone will automatically upgrade the tail spring and the emitter wire gauge. I always add copper braid to the tail spring. I also go with heavier gauge wire (20ga in this case). Without these mods, you may not get 4A. 2.8A maybe, but do the tailcap spring anyway, it keeps things in regulation longer.
Edit: I fujik’ed the new driver wight to the contact side of the original. This with the long spring was perfect for a 65-68mm cell. It was waaaaaay too sloppy before, would not even make contact.
Relic,
“Sounds like a plan”, I probably will go with the 1st one. I’m still kind of “mode” agnostic still, but I am now becoming more aware of tints.
Just out of curiousity, since I haven’t done this stuff before, going from 1.47 amp to 2.8 amps, is the difference in brightness really noticeable?
I’m trying to “set my expectations”, because I was expecting to, but haven’t been, blown over by this light so far, esp. reading the earlier posts about people seeing 3+ amps out-of-box.
Yeah, not sure why your amps are so low, but you’ll fix that right up nice
You will notice a difference between double the current from 1.4A to 2.8A, for sure.
At 3’ish Amps into a T6 on this light, expect 600-700 lumens and 40-45kcd of throw. Remember, you did it for under $20
Ok, thanks.
So you thinking that it is odd that I’m not seeing the 3+ amps out-of-box? I keep wondering if, over time, the manufacturer might’ve changed the design/specs. I guess I should pull the driver out to see if it looks the same as the ones you all had back when?
I saw that there was some discussion about resistance in the switch, but the way that I’m measuring tailcap current, I don’t have the tailcap in the circuit, so resistance in the tailcap would come into play. Since the emitter is still T6, then the only other possiblity would be that the driver design has changed, I think?
If I pulled the driver, and took some pics, could you all be able to tell if it was different than the ones that you all had?
Post them, I can open mine up and compare. I don’t recall the exact amperage I got, but I’m sure it was north of 2A. My main reason for changing the driver was PWM, lower low, and eliminating Disco modes.
Definitely do the tailspring braid mod. I didn’t have an issue with the switch itself, but YMMV.
Hi,
Is the driver retainer ring threaded the opposite from normal, i.e., clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise, to unscrew the driver ring?
There’s a retainer ring??? Mine is press fit. It just pops out. Time to post those pics so We can see what u got
C…p! So do you just push it out by removing the emittter, then pushing from the front :(??
I vaguely recall doing that, yes. I might have pried it out using tweezers. I think opening it up from the front is the best way, then push the driver out. Fingers crossed.