I have managed to remove the spotlight’s bezel. None of the prying was successful, so I have reverted to my trusty KNIPEX pliers.
The bezel is press-fit and with certain “latching” but with no apparent springy structures. It might be typical but it’s my first non-screwed bezel, so I have no comparison.
I have first tried with the side bezel but with no success. If it resembles the spotlight’s bezel I won’t even try further — the same technique would probably deform/brake it.
It was mildly destructive but the light still works, so I will proceed with reflowing 519a 4500K (my favorite).
The spotlight is rather floody anyhow, so I will probably give up on the white floody channel and just stick to front and Red light, only. Who knows, I might even start to like it enough to use it regularly?
Since Sofirns mission in the last years seems to be to make their flashlights as unrepairable as possible, they will probably proceed to laserweld their lights shut to prevent people from using brute force to get inside.
Oh my…
The front LED is said to produce 1000Lm, so this little thing is roasting itself because it has no contact to the case.
Sofirn has so much experience with flashlights, how can they build something like that?
The driver layout and construction looks good (flat-flex, yay). But the heatsinking… That’s another reason why I recommended to include a USB charging port instead of the spotlight there.
I put the blade of my SAK in the crack between body and bezel and tapped on the back with a hammer to get some space between bezel and body. Worked on side bezel also. Worked my way around then used other tools to keep separating them. Definitely some marks on it, and the 3 wires on the side board had NO extra length on them, but worth it in the end. The stock emitters made everything look like a horror movie. Nichia goodness now makes it a light I’ll use. I’m not a total tint-snob, wouldn’t bother if they were half useable, but these were terrible emitters.
This is the way.
Side bezel removed without any damage just with the knife blade and gentle tapping. Top bezel needed a little more force and some levering with a very small flat bladed screwdriver. This created a few slight burrs that easily sanded out.
Neither of my bezels was glued.
There was enough slack in the wires to the side MCPCB to put it on the hot plate without unsoldering the wires.
Replaced both white LEDs with 2700k 519s
It’s now an awesome little light.
That’s another reason why I recommended to include a USB charging port instead of the spotlight there.