I agree I’m not a fan of spending the big bucks, but being a journey level machinist, and very critical of my own work, I’ve found using the right tool for the job a lot of times can make a big difference in the quality of the finished product. This iron I’m using was purchased at NAPA auto parts, its so cheap I’ve already burnt one up. Plus I’d really like to get way more into modding and the soldering iron will be used a lot, so with that in mind I can justify spending the $90.00 for a quality tool.
I read his many reply/threads , Yes my result is lower than him in almost every flashlights I have.
I have no idea.
May or may not interest you but I will throw it out there anyways. Don’t let the price fool you.
Thank you so much 007, Tom E on BLF is the member who told me about the hakko 888D, and after reading a lot of reviews I went ahead and ordered one, but I’d like to get one of these also, $16.51 you can’t go wrong. Thank you for the tip. The iron I have is just worthless making soldering very frustrating, being a perfectionist, seeing the mess I was making with this iron was taking the fun outta this hobby for me.
The shipping will cost more than the soldering station but still under $35 and a steal for that price. Add it to your cart and don’t purchase right away, a pop up will appear offering a little discount, maybe a few bucks, don’t remember exactly.
Edit: discount was .89 cents.
Thank you south land, I was just setting up an order from the usa warehouse, for a soldering station and 5 strands each of 20awg silicone wire, the total order is like $39.49 I haven’t got to the shipping yet, but ground freight within the us shouldn’t be to bad? Ars you talking about shipping from china or here in the states? I ordered 2 stations just in case, for that price why not.
I’m in Georgia, USA, the shipping is that much for about everybody in the US. Still a good deal for less than $35.00. Make sure you get one shipped from the USA warehouse, when you add to your cart just make sure you select from the USA warehouse. They are usually out of stock so I would order now. When I decided to purchase one someone had just listed they were in stock and I waited a couple of days before ordering, by then they were sold out and I had to wait a month on mine.
Yep I’m ordering from the USA warehouse. And I agree a soldering station that’s adjustable under 35 bucks, if it lasts even a couple years I’ll be happy, and I read somewhere that cheap tips for this unit can be had on EBay. Do you know any other source’s for replacement tips? Thanks for the help, and its great to meet another flashaholic here in the States. I’m still a newbie, so just getting tooled up is setting me back, but it looks like a fun hobby and I’m meeting some great people.
Not sure of other places besides ebay but I’m sure someone will list some places after reading this thread. It comes with a pointed tip and I was told that’s the best tip for this type of soldering. I have had mine for 8 or 9 months and still haven’t used it, bought to fix a light I messed up by shorting it out when I removed the led centering device. Have parts to fix plus mod that light and another light just haven’t gotten around to doing them.
Ebay is where I got mine.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?\_trksid=m570.l3201&\_nkw=936+tips&\_sacat=0
+1. With the 10 cent resistor mod, its hard to beat for the price.
FlashPilot, I’ve heard about the resister mod for the TN31, is there any detailed information on how to do the modd? And how much is gained by adding the resister? I just did my first dedomeing in gasoline and it worked perfect, so with the resister more and dedomeing the emitter I’ve heard will make it a beast, sounds great to me.
Montana man, you list the u2 as being copper mounted so yes, it will be fine at 5a and I know that driver will fit the l2, I’ve built two of them using noctigon mounted dedomed xp-g2’s.
Their dammed good hosts and come with a lot of the bits you end up adding in persuit of output.
Gords 1001 thanks for getting back, which 5a 3 mode driver are you referring to? And where can I order one, that sounds perfect, and I like 3 mode’s, I’m not a blinking fan at all. Ya I can’t find that lck led 5a driver. One other question have you done a build with a
OEM E3 from CNQ? Only thing I don’t like is its only got a 47mm reflector, and trying to find 22mm drivers with any kind of amp output seems impossible, so I guess nanjg with a bunch of extra 7135’s will work.
Montanaman wrote:
FlashPilot, I’ve heard about the resister mod for the TN31, is there any detailed information on how to do the modd? And how much is gained by adding the resister? I just did my first dedomeing in gasoline and it worked perfect, so with the resister more and dedomeing the emitter I’ve heard will make it a beast, sounds great to me.
Resister modding the tn31 is beyond easy. Just take off the driver cover (3 screws) and place a solder blob in place of the below indicated resistors. The below pic is from this thread.
If you're lucky, you will get around 7 amps to the emitter. More likely you will get less due to resistance in various places in the light. I would advise that you check the place where the emitter base sits for flatness. My xml2 tn31 had a nipple lifting my base up in the center and no compensating thermal paste. It's a great time to do a dedome anyway. No reason to change the emitter base. You can't get one that good in the market.
So desolder both resisters, add a blob, and its a done deal? Heck even I can do that, and dedome. I didn’t realize these emitters could handle 7amps, it must seriously shorten the life, but wow what a thrower.
With flashlights, you are usually wanting to upgrade emitters way before you put any real wear on them.
You probably won't get 7 amps. The skinny wires connecting the emitter and the driver and a whole bunch of connections electricity has to cross in that light will hold your current back probably into the 5's. Addressing all those connects and opening up the head are a significant undertaking. That is why folks pay people like Tom E and Vinh to mod their lights. I my opinion. It's a good way to go if you want a super performer. Me, I'm a diy type guy and I'm not afraid to break things.
this is the driver I use
I like it, it’ll even run an mt-g2 if you decide to.
I’ve not built an e3, I’m off to have a look now though as I’ve probably considered it, I love cnqg hosts and have built quite a few of them.
ok.
just had a look. if you wanted to only run it on two cells id say the 5a driver I linked would work.
if you wanted to run it on one cell, you need a 22mm contact board then use a nanjg driver and pot the crap out of the pill once you confirm it works.
its a nice host that I’ve considered but not yet plumped on, I’m sure its only a matter of time.
4wheelr, funny you mentioned TomE I’ve been talking with him and when he’s got some spare time he’s gonna doctor up my TN31. Myself I really like the C8 lights, and if I can line up a metal lathe I’ll make some custom brass pills for a lot of these Chinese lights that have aluminum pills. I could make some nice custom pills with better heat sinking. Just one thing at a time. Thanks gords I’ll order a few of those, I just got in 5 of the xm-l2 u2’s so I’m looking at a few builds, and enjoy hearing others successes.