Hi Jake,
My L10 came, but I had a small issue with it. The head was glued solidly into the body. So much so that when I twisted hard on it the bezel came off the brass heat sink. In order to free the slug from the body I had to get the body hot, and when I did it melted the black isolator ring that sits between the reflector and the LED. The light still appears to work, but I was wondering if you can send me a new isolator ring?
Thanks
Matt
The categories are almost all empty. Nothing in Acebeam.
I got responses for several different people at SB, they searched the warehouse and sent me a refurbished head and tailcap, and still I am having the same problem, after doing some hilarious troubleshooting over video messenger with Johnny Mac, we both agreed it has to be the inner sleeve, which in the first case the problem I described to them all pointed to the sleeve, but when they sent tracking info saying they sent the refurbished tail and head, I didn’t want to bother them anymore.
I emailed them asking if they had a spare sleeve they could send or have any other pointers, I haven’t heard anything back from them, nothing since Dec 11.
I will be posting it up for sale as is with the spare head an tail if I don’t hear back from them soon.
I appreciate Tom E. And others help during this experience. It’s a shame because it has a feel of a very nice light, ahead of it’s time and all with the sleeve.
I’ve got a SL5 and SL6 now. They were both a bit finnicky at first, but when I verified the inner tube wasn’t the problem I just developed patience and gave the switches a bunch of actuations (and some “really hard presses”) and they’re doing better now.
The SL5 is the real winner for me. It’s pocketable (though really quite large for AA/14500) and has pretty good oomph on 14500. Sadly my black Shockli 1000mAh cells don’t quite fit (width issue), but my protected Thorfire 750mAh cell does. I’m concerned there’s no LVP for Li-Ion as it’s rare in AA/14500 lights even still today, and I can’t find reviews of it (it is like, what, 9 years old now?). But the Thorfire cell is protected anyway shrug
You said they were easily moddable but not driver-swappable - I’m assuming emitter swaps? They both came with alternate frosted lenses, and the bezel comes off easily enough, but I haven’t had the time to try to get in deeper than that. Does the reflector just pop out easily?
The SL6 is pretty nice but the mode spacing leaves something to be desired. It sheds heat well enough but will still get quite uncomfortable to hold when left on “Super” mode - I bravely let it eventually step down, but I’m not sure if that was a timer or a temperature thing. I do feel like it probably didn’t step down far enough to cool properly, but that’s not something I’m equipped to measure. Also, the light is chunky. It’s got a long wide head (kind of reminds me of my Thorfire VG10S in that regard) and barely tolerable in my cargo pants - not tolerable to EDC in any respect for me.
As far as the build quality, yes they lack square (or even trapezoidal) threads but they’re otherwise pretty nice. I’m quite fond of the look and feel. If the driver could be swapped or even just the firmware modified on the SL6 I would make excuses to carry it despite the uncomfortable size. IMO the signal tube design is far better executed than the FW3A (I wonder how the KR1/4 compare, but I still down own them 
). I was examining the tailcap closely and I really like how that part of the system is implemented as well (maybe I’ll get a picture of it later and highlight what I mean).
P.S. I meant to comment on the “extra resistance” regarding the signal tube spring: It’s the switch signal, it doesn’t really matter. That’s why Novatac could get away with using long thin steel springs the length of the entire tube as a signal tube.
Follow-up edit: I looked outside of this forum and found a good review (by HKJ! I was surprised ) that mentions it has a buck/boost driver. I think it definitely needs an SST-40 swap now if I can manage it.
I do really wish I could find someone who has had the driver out, though…
Sorry to confuse, but I bought these Sparks because I thought they would be easily moddable because of past modding of the SF3 and SF6 - didn't turn out that way with these.
Hhmm, don't recall details and see I don't have pics uploaded on them, so not sure what the mod issues were (at work now).
Pics on the SF3 Mod: https://app.photobucket.com/u/TomE2012/a/89f7fe40-6407-46a2-b60b-f5e727ff2544
Pics on the SF6 Mod: https://app.photobucket.com/u/TomE2012/a/86db7aeb-d84e-4542-bd5b-cb0c175b3054
Good Point About the Springs! Didn't realize that, so not so bad.
I will say I saw some SL#s for sale with swapped emitters on reddit, so that’s definitely doable on these
I currently have an SL5 disassembled. Everything is potted in some sort of epoxy. Factory driver was destroyed. I bought mine with the intension of driver swapping so no big deal.
Is there a dimension you want or a picture you’re looking for?
Gonna take another look at them now. Was destroying the driver intentional or accidental? I would be concerned because sometimes I have to preserve the stock driver to use as a base.
I was actually pretty curious about the SL6 - My SL5 is good enough as-is. But it sounds like they’re super potted, so I doubt I’ll be swapping it.
My original curiosity was how the driver dimensions compared to the FW3A (including possibly the lume driver)
There is no provision for removing the driver. It’s just pressed in to a bunch of epoxy. I drilled in to it to remove it. I don’t think you could possibly remove one without damage.
Do to the design of the head cavity there isn’t any room to stack a driver on top of the factory board.
It’s different from any other AA e-switch light I’ve seen in that the side switch mounts on it’s own machined shelf.
I’ll post some pictures later.
Tore down the SL6 - got the driver out undamaged. I got pics, will post soon. As Scallywag said, the SL5 isn't bad as-is, but figured I'd have a better chance with the larger SL6. It's a 22 mm driver, but of course the outer spring mount is critical to keep. Look'n at piggybacking in a full driver or maybe just a ATtiny1616 on a gchart tiny MCU board - got the MCU's and OSHPark boards in for that, but may be beyond my capabilities at reverse engineering.
First unsoldered the MCPCB and removed it. Then used a solder pick to pock through the LED wire holes from the top, and applied a little pressure and the driver loosened, than carefully wiggled and pulled from the spring sides to get it out. The switch wires are stiff and supported by the potting, so the wires pulled off the driver easy, no damage.
Oh you monster. You’ve given me hope.
Let me know if you get a good solution on the driver/MCU. I was just commenting in another thread how we need more ability to just directly swap MCUs so we can keep useful drivers and fix (well, replace) firmwares more easily. Anduril and SST-40 in this… Even RampingIOS I’d take gladly. Would be a fantastic reason to carry it and talk about a 10-year-old flashlight… (I found reviews consistently from mid-2011.)
Edit: Isn’t FW3A driver like 21.7mm? Now I’m really curious if it can be swapped (and the spring mounted on it somehow)
Not sure if you saw this: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/56521/739
Pretty amazing work by gchart, check his follow-up posts there as well.
I purchased a SL5 and SL6.
The SL6 died on turn on. SB offered to refund, since they were out them for replacement.
For the price, I decided to tear it down and attempt to repair.
Tear down went fine. Lots of potting to remove.
I didn’t repair the driver, but was able to squeeze a FET+1 with Ramping IOS from mtnelectronics into the cavity, piggybacked off the original driver PCB.
I upgraded the LED to a shaved Samsung LH351D. It is now one of my favorite lights with dual electronic switches, a great ramping UI, and my favorite high CRI emitter!
I like it so much that I tore down the once working SL5 to upgrade it. I’m waiting on another driver from mtnelectronics.
So…
If anyone has one of these they want to get rid of… I might be interested!
FB
Tear down. This light, being NW, actually has a pretty nice tint.
FBsLights -- Outstanding!! Good to hear, so assume it's got clearance. I use 0.8 mm OSHPark drivers to save even more space.
I'll have mine running Anduril 2, though wish I had a 17 mm ATtiny1616 driver ready to go. I assume you used a 17 mm driver?
Yeah he’s doing wonderful things. I was replying to one where he was direct-swapping PICs for ATTiny412s with RampingIOS
Yes, 17mm driver. It was a tight fit, but went together perfect.
I really like the dual switch. There is a switch for any hand hold.
FB
I think the FW3A or lume driver would fit if you could find a way to mount the signal spring.
I don’t know where to get a FW3A driver and the lume driver costs more than I paid for the SL6!
I had the mtn driver with Ramping IOS on hand. I like to buy them as “DIY kits” and build them up to save a few dollars.
FB
Yeah my SL5 is NW and a great tint. My 6 is CW
Is that the MCU under the spring?
It's a SOIC-8 part and 1 resistor, though could not read the writing - probably, probably a PIC but could be an ATMEL.