first I like to introduce myself, I am from Germany interested in technology and through your forum i reached the world of modding flashlights :bigsmile:
I thought, just start with an easy mod of a common known and loved flashlight, the C8.
I ordered the light itself at KD, some batteries at DX and the modding parts from Intl Outdoor.
Everything arrived two weeks later and today I started modding.
Changed the glas, some GITD orings and a driver with an output of 3.04A.
I made a tailcap measurement before and after the modding but the result doesn’t make me happy. :_(
Before was around 1.5A and now its around 1.7A |( . Am I getting something wrong or is the driver broken or just scrap or did i something wrong? The 18650 battery is fully charged at 3,72V or does the driver needs higher voltage? :Sp
Welcome!! Yes - TrustFire flames aren't so great, mostly now we are staying away from them, though I still have a couple around. Your DMM could be reading amps poorly, lower than what's real. We generally have to beef up our DMM leads because most stock meters cables have too much resistance. If you are reading 1.7A with a 3.04A driver, then between the battery and DMM leads is probably why you are reading low (battery may be unable to achieve 3A if you have an XM-L2 emitter, and leads show lower amps than what's real).
As for your reference I have a C8 modded with XM-L2 and Qlite driver (without extra 7135 added), measured 2.5~2.6A at tail with Trustfire “3000mAh” Flames and 2.93A with Sanyo unprotected cell, both cells are fully charged. The Flames are okay to use and also come with protected circuit but they are not for high current application.
The same Sanyo unprotected cell measured around 4.5A if not more in my modded ZY-T08, so they are quite good at high current. But there are still other cells which can give even higher current draw like Samsung INR 20R.
Hi Shiver… So, I notice you’re only giving one reading for current… Just to make sure it is said, did you change modes on the flashlight to the highest output before measuring current draw? Besides that, as others have said, charge up the cell then test again. Good luck!
Now with fully charged batteries I made a new measurement and it looks much better.
Low mode 0,1A Med mode 0, 7A and High 2,7A. Still not 3.04A but maybe that is not possible with the Trusfires. Overall i am satisfied with the result and even happier if i look at the bill, around 30USD for the light with the mods and batteries is pretty cheap.
Compared to the other flashlights i owned its a really good deal. Thank you all for your help
I think firstly yes, the Flames doesn’t provide enough juice, and secondly there might be some resistance in spring, wires… etc. With Sanyo cells I didn’t get 3.04A but around 2.93A too, it could be my DMM custom made probes are not really good also.
