I have just received my two Jexree Mini. Both of them suffer mode switching issue. Most of the time mode is H, sometimes M, very rarely STROBE.
I have observed that mode switching works well when head is tight, tail cap is removed and negative battery terminal is shorted manually to the body.
That leads me to conclusion that most likely the problem is in bad electrical contact between head and body (fluctuating/unstable Vin while switching ON and/or OFF) causing PAM2805 start-up problems (and fallback to default mode H, because eg. Cblk is being discharged before PAM start-ups).
I initially wondered if that was the issue too when I talked about a potential driver seating problem early on. I thought I got comfortable that it wasn't that in my case, but I can't recall exactly how I determined that. I think it's a good idea to double check as it seems like a possibility given the design. I don't recall if I pulled the driver and soldered it to wires isolate out the host issues. I guess I should do that to make sure. I will try to do that this weekend and report back.
I didn't notice that mode switching was much better when I had the extra resistance of a DMM between the cells and the driver.
Great to hear you got one of these guys. You seem to have a strong electronics knowledge base. I just received my second order a couple days ago. Please let me know if you want me to try anything on one of mine. I sure would be nice to somehow make these drivers single or multi mode reliable.
EDIT: When I wrote the above I was rushing to head out the door and my mind was in too many places. I'm pretty sure its not just an intermittent electrical contact issue. I did most of my work with the driver out of the light and wires soldered directly to the cell contact pads. I suppose I could have been having s similar issue when touching the wires the cell I was using to test with. Seems unlikely as I work on most drivers this way and haven't had this type of issue before. Still haven't had a chance to work on one this weekend. Hopefully I will get a chance today.
I still believe that it is about the head - body contact, and maybe changing Cin will solve the problem. Could you please try to replace Cin with eg. twice or event ten times the capacity to see does it makes the difference ?
Could you also please try to reproduce what I have observed (working modes) but using something else then DMM leads ?
I am unable to tell looking at the picture, and have no opened mine yet (lack of time… btw. how to remove the driver, is it glued ?).
Cin is the one between pin 6 (battery +) and pin 2 (battery -, GND).
Stacking 10uF should do (it would double the Cin capacity).
Unscrew tailcap, tight head, use solid metal piece to short battery “-” with body, (fork will do ;))
OK. thanks. I'll try those things and report back. May be a couple days.
Yes, the driver is secured with some type of substance. It doesn't have a strong bond to the aluminum though. Becareful for the lip around the driver. It is very thin and bends easily.
I had to look that one up, looks like exactly the same light, just put a 10440 in and see what happens. I give you 95% that it just works fine because all these boost drivers in all these small lights work the same, they go direct drive on a li-ion without failing. If you do blow the driver you lost 5 dollars.
I've had many things get in the way of me getting back to this light. I really would like to get the wonky mod change issue resolved using the stock driver. It just looks like it should be a good driver and the light itself is just so cool.
I wonder if it would be hard to graft on the little PIC MCU that C_k has started using on to this driver.
I think it can be solved by changing the o-ring to one of right width (the original one is too tight). I’ve messed up the original one so I’ve replaced it with one from the tailcap and the modes change works much better now. It still skips sometimes (I think it’s because now it’s too loose) , but much easier to operate and is more consistent than with the original one. Or maybe by stripping the ano from the threads and gluing foam disc on the contact board.
Early February there was a coupon code @Myled for a “LED Flashlight Mini Torch 1-Mode With Keychain White Light-Golden(1xAAA)” SKU:1300828570 (https://www.myled.com/p10736-led-flashlight-mini-torch-1-mode-with-keychain-white-light-golden-1xaaa.html). I’ve got 2 of them in the mail today ($8.76 shipped for both). They are marked “SupFire A1”. This light is VERY similar to the Jexree Mini/ Ultrafire LZZ-06!! This can answer the question why these two have tailcaps with no visible use. The A1 has a tailcap with a clicky and keychain instead, but uses all the other shell parts, they look almost identical. The other differences:
A1: one-mode only (Jexree Mini/ Ultrafire LZZ-06 3 modes)
A1: smooth reflector (Jexree Mini/ Ultrafire LZZ-06 OP reflector)
A1: keychain, no clip (Jexree Mini/ Ultrafire LZZ-06 clip instead)
Although I’ve got only the SupFire here I’m convinced the parts should be interchangable between the three.
Other things I’ve noticed after first inspection:
The o-rings fit but tend to get squeezed between the shell parts.
The 8mm star with the XP-E LED is only pressed down to the inside of the head by the reflector/o-ring/lens/bezel. It gets loose when the reflector has been taken out.
Plastic lens (the Jexree/LZZ has glass?)
The (plastic) reflector has a cylindrical part of about >2mm height around the LED before it opens up, this could be the reason for a Saturn-like ring around the narrow hotspot.
It is ~5mm shorter then the Hugsby XP-1, with a fresh 1,5V Varta Lithium AAA both are equally bright, but the A1 is cold-white, my XP-1 has a more yellow/greenish tint.
If I use a 3,2V LiFePo4 10440 (Soshine) in the A1 it gets much brighter than the Hugsby.
Interesting i will check out the A1.
But you had some errors in your comparison, that the Jexree Mini has an OP reflector it doesn’t, it has a smooth reflector & a glass lens and there is a hole for a keychain in the bottom part.
EDIT @Antenne, can you tell me how the switch assembly looks? what kind of spring is it copper/phosphor bronze/steel, if the the switch pcb is reachable so one could beef up the connections with a wire bypass to the spring for less resistance? or is it all enclosed.
Ok, thank you for this information. Since I have no Jexree/Ultrafire (yet) I had to trust the pictures and data on the web. The AliExpress page of Jaxree Mini has this product spec: “Reflector:
Aluminum Textured / SMO Reflector” but the pictures of the Ultrafire @wallbuys and dx show OP. Maybe there are different versions, it’s a little bit confusing - the one Djozz pictured has SMO.
More differences based on Djozz’s description: The A1 has no SS bezel (only Alu) and the little isolation disc under the reflector has been left off. All in all it’s cheaper made and only worth a thought when the price/piece is below 5$ and/or the clicky is desired.
The spring is made of chrome or nickel plated steel and riveted to a plastic insert. This plastic part seems to be press-fitted to the tailcap, it has two dents but I was not able to unscrew it if there are threads…
