Hi all,
I present here, and open to discussion, an alternative to the usual soldered wire spring bypass, using a short length of copper braid, no soldering. On the BLF Q8, Astrolux EC01 and EC03 it resulted in a minimum of 20% increase in output.
The first attempt i did was on the BLF Q8 a couple years ago - following up on an AlexGT idea but without soldering. I used 6mm copper braid i ordered on EB at the time. Can’t find it again but it is easy to find on AE for instance.
I recently did it again on the Astrolux EC01 and EC03:
In both cases, the braid goes from the negative contact on the battery to the edge of the body tube and is secured by crews (Q8) or the battery tube itself (EC01, 03). It bypasses both the spring and whatever is in on the way to the battery tube following a shorter and more efficient current path.
When i first mentioned it in the main Q8 GB thread, some members expressed concerns a braid strand could come loose, find it’s way to the driver side and create a short. How probable and catastrophic this may be, it failed to alarm me so far. How dangerous is this mod is up to you to ponder.
On the Q8 where you had to unscrew the battery tube, remove the batteries, charge them, put them back and screw back the battery tube tight each time you had to recharge, the braid would certainly endure some stress that could possibly let a strand loose. On the EC01 and EC03 where you have USB charging, the battery will be left undisturbed and the braid untouched.
That said, i love this mod because it works really well, is very easy to do, undo and redo in seconds and does not require soldering.
I just redid a ceiling bounce comparison of the stock vs bypassed EC01 and EC03 and i was glad i could do several runs with and without bypass - it takes seconds to remove or replace the braid on these lights. I got a minimum of 23% increase in output.
Pro:
- No soldering
- Easy to undo/redo
- Shorter path - more efficient
- Flexible - adapts to spring compression well
Con:
- Braid strands may come loose and create a short?
- Copper braid less common then copper wire - need to source it
A word of caution: spring bypass as any mod that will significantly increase a light output will also produce more heat, stress both led(s), driver and battery(ies) and overall possibly push the light beyond its design capabilities - possibly resulting in a broken light, physical damages, fire, divorce, Darwin Award or regional disaster.