It looks like there's damage there, on that photo of the driver, where it seats into the lip of the head.
You should be able to get a refund from ebay/paypal. Sorry to hear all the problems.
I got mine today too, it's the same as O-L's. Cool white XML2s. H-HM-L (mid is not nearly low enough!), press&hold for strobe, press&hold again for SOS.
Output-wise, it doesn't fare too badly against my unmodded genuine NW SRK from CNQG.
The C8 from the same seller is not what's shown in the pics - 16mm star instead of 20mm, came with another cool white XML2, pics showed an old XML. Plastic lens, aluminum XR-E reflector (the good one), next-mode driver (of course). Could have been worse for $10, I guess.
Mine was wrapped in bubble wrap and in a sealed baggy. Did yours come in a retail box like OL’s?
I am happy to report that my example arrived today and it is identical to the one Old-Lumens received .
Wondering whether I should bridge the resistors . It seems like a simple mod that adds a lot of power .
Decisions , decisions .
I received my three XML light
And the dern thing is ever so bright
Should I leave it alone ?
Or mod it as shown ...
I'm just worried I won't do it right
Bridging the resistors isn't a hard thing to do. You don't even have to remove wires. There's enough slack to be able to pop out the driver, bridge them and pop it back in.
So if I wanted to bridge the resistors , but not take it quite as far as you did , what could I do ?
What would simply removing one of the existing resistors do ?
Removing one of the resistors would reduce performance. Stack/add extra resistors or bridge the resistor pads will increase current consumption.
You don't need to bridge the resistors if you want it turned up to 11, just move the LED+ wire over to the pad that feeds the resistors, where the array of vias coming through from the positive plane on the battery side.
If you don’t want it as hot as I did, you would need to add or change resistors, to lower the resistance. These other guys can better recommend which resistors.
OK , so I bridged one of the empty spots with a small piece of copper wire .
This should bump it up a little , right ?
My reasoning is that since I haven't changed out the aluminum stars , I don't want to over drive the light too much .
comfy , did you change out the stars on yours ? Are you doing any additional heatsinking ?
T6 3Bs (5200K), 16mm Sinkpads, on the stock Al plate. The Sinkpads are just enough thicker than the original board that you can screw the plate down into the head until it bottoms out against the step without leaving the lens/o-ring loose at the front. I also trimmed down the plastic centering rings and chamfered the openings, as-delivered they're way too tall and block a ton of light.
I don't know what kind of current it's pulling but on medium, it's brighter than the previously mentioned really good NW SRK. On high it's hilariously bright.
Oh, and if you keep the stock wires you can eliminate the resistors altogether (or move the LED+ to the other side) without issue. The skinny extra-long wires protect the LEDs.
I have been offered $15 back on my light. ( I did not accept it ). I suppose I could take the $15 and try to fix it, but then what do I have? Just another triple XM-L light that I don’t need. The ONLY reason I ordered it was because of the XM-L2’s and the easy mod driver.
Now as to what happened. This is what I believe. “chinavally” is just a seller with a web presence. He has no stock, but rather uses Amazon fulfillment centers to ship orders that he sells. There are about 70 Amazon fulfillment centers across the country and the world. Mine shipped from 172 Trade Street, Lexington, KY. Old-Lumens shipped from one in Texas Las Vegas, and jacktheclipper got his shipped from another, probably one in Florida. Apparently, the lights coming out of KY are like the one I got. This is why I am DONE ordereing lights from Amazon or EBAY. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get consistancy, becasue each fulfillment center is apt to have different stock. Order a name brand in a retail package and you’re going to be OK. But to order lights from China and it’s a crap shoot. Emphasis on crap.
Just to be amazed, here is the Amazon fulfillment center mine shipped from. Remember, this is only 1 of about 70 world wide.
Hilariously Bright , eh ?
I like that .
I believe bridging one of the empty spots has increased the brightness enough for now .
Let's just say Amusingly Bright .
I have to say I'm impressed with my first multi-emitter light .
Thanks for all of the help .
One spot bridged should be the same as all 4 bridged or the wire moved across to the other side. They only used multiple resistors on multiple pads to spread the load between them, all the current goes through the resistors in stock form.