I'm going with a dedomed XPL V6 0D, and will try 4 more 7135's. The driver is not so simple to replace. Batt- at the spring, and the batt+ ring around the spring...
despite being repeatedly instructed to take the paper off the positive terminal, it took me a while. the paper was cut to the exact dimension of the terminal and actually looked like nothing was on it. after looking more closely, a duh moment. works great now.
Make sure to clean off the adhesive slime also that is left on the contact for the best connection.
I tested mine today and it charged to 4.21 volts, so I’m a happy camper:)
This is one of the best deals of the year.
Later,
Keith
Man, my bezel is really tight. Strap wrench and 8” channel locks with rubber in the jaws and it will not budge! I guess next I will try some heat on it from the hot air gun. Gotta reprogram that driver, change LED’s and up the drive current.
I do like the body, it has good feel and seems solid as well.
Matt,
here is a pic of the bezel off. Shows where the head and bezel separation is. May help with hold or where to hold.
Did everyone see Keepitsharp's method for cracking open anything?
OMG! Best yet: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/42267/42
His pictures here: https://photos.google.com Keepitsharp cracking open lights method
hmm, given the reports on how vastly different the glued threads are(from not super hard to open to pretty tightly glued) and the non standard driver used and the fact that Amazon still hasn’t shipped out my order (I ordered when this thread surfaced. I recently started to notice they do a lot now. I mark it off as to them really pushing me to just get a Prime subscription. It would be a pretty good deal if not for me using a bunch of other streaming subscriptions already.)
Anywayz, I decided to just cancel my order. Originally I thought I would get a UV Convoy S2+ & use it’s UV LED here but replacing the driver looks like too much work in a not that fun of a host. Now I think I’ll just buy that Convoy & see how well it’ll throw if I just run it with a copper pill & a 8 x 7135 AMC driver. This light was only $10 but it no long looks like that much fun to play around with.
Oh wellz, so much owning my 1st zoomie. I guess it wasn’t meant to be…
Hey alphazeta, this is my first real zoomie. I did have one of the little AA sk68 clones and it sucked so I do not count it. I have been playing with this one some, I am going to put effort into it. 7135s will have to be stacked unless someone gets creative in OshPark. Over all, it is a well built light and worth some effort, at least to me. It is also fairly compact and if the right led were used, would look good. The stock one is very cold.
I dedomed a XPL V6 0D (FastTech) last night on a 16mm Noctigon, and sanded down the thickness of the Noctigon to ~1.05 mm, close to the stock MCPCB. Plan on doubling up the 7135's and re-programming the 13A. Just not done yet. I'l post my measurements when completed.
In that case I guess I won’t rule this light out 100% It always did seem to be much better built then those ~$3 zoomies.
Hmm, as I do not have a Prime membership & always order tons of stuff from Amazon ($XXXX but mostly on non “sexy” stuff like toothpaste or toilet paper & very rarely things like lights. LOL) & frequently need to get over $49 on orders for free shipping then I’ll always take a look to see if this light is still for sale for $10. If so then it could always be used to pad my order. With the holidays coming up it’s unfortunately inevitable that I’ll have to buy more stuff from Amazon :person_facepalming:
Tom, this is just about identical to my plan. I may go with the 4000k Nichia 219C, that would cause me to use it more.
Hhmm, a nice 219C is also a good idea - might do that with #2 
. Was also think'n of a XP-G3 because I got a bunch of them, a few with high CRI.
Edit/Update: Did anyone else upgrade the firmware?
Oh boy, just finished doing mine - lot of extra work.
- First of all, as I mentioned/shown before, the R1/R2 resistors were backwards
- I could not re-program the stock 13A - had to replace it
- for firmware, didn't want to air wire a OTC cap, so used my own STARNoInit version, then tried Biscotti - same problem - had to be super quick to change modes, almost useless. I suspected the C1 cap, pulled it and measured it - about 1.1 uF! Yikes! Replaced it with a good 10 uF cap (from Mouser), and wholla - mode changing is normal/nice.
I stacked a 2nd layer of 7135 380 mA's and was only getting amps for 6 - noticed I had no connection from the MCU to a stacked pair - had to scrape off a trace and solder blob to the 7135 pin, then all was good - getting a solid 3A now.
So now with the dedomed XPL V6 0D (FastTech) on 16 mm Noctigon sanded down, well focused, I'm getting:
lumens: 796 @start, 755 @30 secs, 35.7 kcd (from 5m) for 378 meters
Much better now, plus running the full Biscotti.
I got open two more BD04's, so a total of 3 that I have are all opened up. This time I used a cutting wheel to get out the retaining ring on the LED:
Used the same techniques to open these 2 up as I did the first - rubber from a tie strap in a wrench in one hand for the bezel, holding the light with a sticky glove in the other.
PD don’t you need that reflector? I have mine apart and I am cutting 2 slots in the pill to pry mine out.
PD? No, don't need it at all. Better to blacken things out like the JAXMAN Z1 rather than that white piece. I'm not using anything now, and you can see a Noctigon pattern around the hot spot. Plus I'll be installing a dedomed LED, so rather not have anything around the LED.
How I'm securing the MCPCB down? Well, I used my usually good thermal grease, GC Extreme, but added a couple dabs of Fujik thermal epoxy/glue at 2 spots toward the edge, underneath the MCPCB, then set it by clamping a socket down on it over night. So, for replacing, should be easy, and still has the better thermal grease under the majority of the MCPCB. Didn't think screws would be easy with the 16 mm MCPCB, otherwise for a 20 mm, that's what I would have used. The Sunwayman T25C comes with screws - much better for zoomies.
Sorry Tom, thought PilotDog posted that.
Latest 3 of 3 driver updated: swapped R1/R2, replaced cap with 10 uF, replaced MCU and installed customized vers of Biscotti:
2 and #3 are getting a 3000K XPL HI, and a XP-G3 5000K S5 bin. Dabs of Fujik glue/epoxy and letting them set:
Nice work Tom, I am just going to reflash mine with Star. Would be nice to go either direction in the modes, but not required. Gotta get rid of the blinky modes! Any chance of beam shots, have not decided on the emitter yet. First real zoomie and I do not want the zoomed out mode to be a tiny circle, already really small. I assume that a smaller LED will result in a smaller zoomed out circle? And a smaller, brighter zoomed in square?
Well I used my BD04 with a dedomed XPL out on trails and I don't think the flood mode area shrinks at all?? Of course there's an effect on the square of zoomed in but that's what I wanted - worked great out on the trails.
As far as I know, the flood width doesn't change at all for large or small dies, dedomed or not. Didn't check before/after but I never heard of that happening. The BD04 has a narrow flood because probably the lens doesn't get close enough to the LED when fully retracted in. Could be other factors but that's the usual behavior - I've tweaked other zoomies to get closer to the LED to widen the flood. I just don't find a need in practical use out on trails - in flood, you get a really nice smooth wide view of things close-in, then flick of the thumb, you are look'n far down the trail. I tell you, this type of zoomie with the 5 modes, Biscotti functionality, real nice switch, real easy push/pull zoom, is about ideal for trail'n.
I just wanna go warmer in the tint, then see how it looks. The 5000K XP-G3 and 3000K XPL HI should be interesting to compare.
Tom, thanks for the insite! I have not experience with zoomies. I figured that being a Thorfire might generate some quality and I liked the size of the light. It does seem to be reasonably well built compared to other small, hollow pill zoomies. I am thinking it will get a 5A1 XP-L HI to start with, if I like that, it may get one of the new 219C hi cri 4000k emitters. I am always chicken to start pulling parts off drivers and replacing them when the driver is not a standard driver, in other words the odd contact arrangement makes it very hard to replace. It would be awesome if someone were to build a FET driver that would work in the little guy. I do not mind building drivers from scratch, kinda enjoy it during the winter months. But I would hate to trash this driver.