Had the body professionally bored for 18350, replaced the driver by lexel 15mm/Bistro, swapped the star/led for Virence mcpcb with 3000K E21a and raised the star by placing a penny underneath so that the wide beam is as wide as possible.
This is now my new EDC light.
Other than that I have the Emissar 219C and a mule with 3x Optisolii, but those are carries in my bag for special occasions only.
Wow nice!! I’m surprised, I did some measuring and it appeared the tube would be too thin near the top, how thin is that area after boring? Did you retain the e-switch in the tail or relocate the driver? Could you post some photos of your mods?
Nice wee lights when they’re done up.
There is enough meat in the non-threaded part of the body and enough length in this part to contain a 18350 (see the pics). So this was bored leaving a shallow lip just before the thread.
https://i.imgur.com/jgxAyuO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/wMMyCz2.jpg
The lexel driver sits in the pill (see the first pic above). As for the tail, I removed the driver and installed a mcclicky, the retaining ring fixed it just fine. What I like in this tail is that it is very short and the boot still sits flush.
https://i.imgur.com/bx65nE3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/L8giRs4.jpg
The only thing I’d improve in this light is the clip
I narrowly escaped killing the e21a in turbo mode, so this light now maxes at 1.4A( 4x 7135), but I have another body and a 219C @5000K waiting. With a 10A 18350 it should be a real rocket.
Also what I really like in this particular zoomie is the lack of any significant stray light. No rings. I got also the On the road i3, which is much slimmier and mechanically even better light, but the rings are awful.
ma tumba, real nice work, thanks for the photos! Great it can be bored out!
Where to get the McClicky? Was any modification needed for the switch to fit?
I guess we can fitted a regular clicky too, I think somebody has done it, I’ll have to look through the threads.
I am playing with the firmware. Bistro is definitely for a reverse switch rayher than for a forward one, like a mcclicky. I will borrow reverse guts from some of generic tail caps, but those female thread tailcaps can be used here just fine. They fit but just less fancy.
Not the right place perhaps, but I am very disappointed by bistro. Too bad dr jones lucidrvft for nanjig is not available anymore
I’d like to duplicate your mod, but it would be great to be able to retain the e-switch, it’s what I like best about this light. But for that I’d need to somehow fit a driver within the tail.
At first I wasn’t too keen on Bistro, now I’m a little more used to it. What I do really like is the quick access to turbo from the first mode. (long half press) I keep memory turned off. Not sure how that would work with a forward switch. I really only like forward switches in the tail of a dual switch light.
I don’t have any experience with Biscotti, not sure if it has the quick turbo access. I’ve been considering trying the Crescendo ramping UI for clicky.
Would a regular switch install in this light?
Nope, not straight away. As you can see above, the switch is mounted on the driver, and it's electronic.
I guess I should have said more. Would a regular clicky switch install with some mod or not in the tail and would a driver say 15mm or 17mm install forward of the battery all in normal position like in a SK98?
Obviously pulling the stock guts out and doing a tail switch, driver, and led mod.
Not sure, sorry. These are like $5 lights on a deal so probably worth buying and seeing for yourself. Did you see CRX's updates? wow! 60 kcd with a white flat.
Here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/44631
Well, that’s a no brainer of course. Ordered one.
Even cheaper on the app. €3.88
But i don’t understand how the driver in the tail gets its power.
Even enough to have tiny LEDs running.
What am i missing?
That means I will have to wait nearly a month for the answer. Dang it.
Like the 18650S, there's probably a resistor in the head that supplies low power from the Batt+ through the body to the tail. Think I reported a 57 ohm resistor on the PCMCB of the 18650S, but the U-F10 has a few more parts - didn't measure the resistance.
Ah, I looked back and saw that it has a 16mm led star, 15mm driver (that could be modded up to 17mm) and where the normal switch would go at the tail it’s 20mm.
so a 16340 is the same size as a RCR123 cell?
Correct.
I think it's just another name for it - RCR123 is rechargeable, CR123-A is not.
here for example: https://www.batteryjunction.com/nitecore-nl166.html
16340 is the "new" name based on the size but think RCR123 goes back a ways.
Anyone measured passive drain on this light?
Does the tailcap unscrew enough to break the circuit (lock out) without falling off?
If so this would be an attractive “toss in the bin using a lithium primary” for longterm storage in the earthquake bag.