It’s supposedly an XM-L T6. I’m only getting 1.6A at the tail cap. The led board is 25mm, the driver (bottom of pill?) is 22-23mm. The brass pill with driver and led is 46g. I’m ok at soldering, but not sure what to put in this guy, or if it’s even worth messing with. Thanks for any ideas.
Wow. I just was looking at my old messages here. Long ago I sent one of these to Old-Lumens to have him mod it but it didn’t work out so well.
Used to own this light myself! It’s a pretty decent host.
For the LED, an SFT42R 5000K or F45R in various CCTs would be a nice drop-in replacement for throw and output, you can easily expect ~1300m and ~3000lm if well-driven. For a lower-power, throwier alternative, Convoy’s W5050SQ5 is great and available in warm white. Both are available on 25mm copper MCPCBs.
I’m unsure what to do with the driver, as the 2 cells series configuration for driving a 3V LED is unusual nowadays, and most such drivers are side-switch. My guess is that if you’re able to desolder the driver, you might stack a few more 7135’s or resistor-mod it for more output, assuming the inductor can tolerate it. A current measurement of 1.6A at the tailcap is actually equivalent to around 3A at the LED (due to the series config), which is pretty decent at balancing output and heat. It’ll probably never experience thermal stepdown.
I don’t know what is the diameter of stock driver, if it’s 20mm You may go with this one:
2* AA / 14500 / 16340 driver for T4,12 groups - Convoy flashlight.
But You need to check height and diameter first.
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As has been said, the two cells in series is tricky for drivers. I think the Convoy T…
Haha you beat me to posting that by seconds. Yes, if it fits I think it could work nicely here.
I’d grab that driver and some LEDs like SFT42R and the LMP LHP options.
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So I need to desolder the LED, and the spring/driver from the bottom of the pill and see what I’ve got? I measured the board (driver?) the spring is soldered to and it’s 22-23mm, so that 20mm driver will work? I’ll take it apart tonight and see what I’ve got to work with.
The struggle is real. I thought all I’d need is soldering skills. It’s all glued together 
Going to try heat, acetone? Prying with a tiny screwdriver isn’t working. Heat the brass pill with a torch till everything else is gone 
Which part is glued? Looks like the driver is soldered to the pill. Glued too? Old thermal paste under the MCPCB can act like glue. Some solvents might help. Acetone is worth a try. Heat can definitely help.
Depends on how much vertical room is in the pill. The T4 driver is a stacked two-piece board so it requires some space. The T4 driver is a little narrower than the pill, so you might have to get creative with soldering on a copper washer or something to widen the driver.
This will probably be a bit of a project but anything is possible.
Also try isopropyl alcohol, which is the default solvent for cleaning up thermal paste.
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@Let-There-Be-Light checkout this old post by @Henk4U2 What did you mod today? - #9557 by Henk4U2
sft42r.. Convoy 3v 10a buck driver ..and eve 30pl 18650 sounds fun.
Should you stick with original battery tube; an insulated copper rod as a dummy cell would work charm.
Cheers
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Thank you @LAMPUSAKU . This is a post where I take a closer look at the focusing issue.
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If original battery tube has enought of diameter, he can build his own battery pack of two cells in serial orientation but connected parallel under wrapper. This long battery can charge with trustfire magnetic charger.
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I believe its 18650 size tube.