From the picture of the pill the short sounds feasible but the driver being ‘whacked’ indicates otherwise doesn’t it?
If the short is from POS terminal to that outer ring then driver wouldn’t see anything.
The pill on the outside has a diameter of approx. 27mm(1-1/16”), and the hole on the inside of the retainer is approx. 12mm(15/32”, 1/2” would be okay).
My two lights arrived in Tampa this morning, so should be here tomorrow. Feeling nervous about them!
Thanks very much for that, it will allow me to make up an insulating washer before the Cometa arrives just to try before fitting something permanent if this is indeed the problem 
Decided to open the light after all the discussion.
So there is some room between the solder and ring. But perhaps I will put some electric tape on the bottom to be sure.
Here comes the newb question: how to get the pill out? It’s too far threaded in to do it by hand. Would like to insulate the bottom somehow.
So far I’ve been using non raised flat top batteries (ie plus pole is too low to protrude), I can imagine they may be a bit safer…
Use Pliers/tweezers/two nails in a board/etc in these two holes and twist… should be counter clockwise not certain about that though.
Thanks! That was easy. Just needed some creativity
Next newb question: before tapeing the whole(?) bottom pill and parts of the upper ring, is this actually a good idea? I guess the metal more or less acts as a heat sink and things may get warm?
Here’s how to specify the needed “top hat washer” or “shoulder washer”
(That’s a UK site ’oogle found — not recomending it per se, just looking for a way to find something reliably the right size)
so 1-1/16” = 27mm for “C” (the outside diameter), and 12mm for “B” (the inside diameter).
I think I cut a small piece of a hose that fits the widest part of the spring best and keep it in place with an appropriate o ring
Or maybe I do have some thicker o rings that just fit snugly, we’ll see when it gets here
Cutting a piece of plastic the right size does not sound so hard also.
Repeating the question from a while back, what does
“Double gold plated springs” mean?
Here’s what I thought, quoting from the previous group buy:
From the OPSprings
2 gold plated springs: one long and flexible (to adapt different to cells with different lenght), one thick and strong (to ensure optimal current flow).
This solution was used in the manker T01 and looks like it is capable to perform as well as a “sping bypass”
Yes good point it reads like two springs as does double suggest as does the light mentioned has.
Thanks for the suggestion Hank! I have a question, shouldn’t the 12mm be the “A” dimension of the washer, so it can fit into the 12mm gap around the spring? I want to make sure I’m understanding this correctly. Any suggestions on the “T”?
Sorry, I’m really not sure (and haven’t received a flashlight yet). Someone with a flashlight and millimeter ruler care to add more info?
I know “T” can’t be too thick so it won’t hold a flat top cell away from the spring (how much does the spring extend above the brass pill surface around it?)
I’d guess if the spring is single and soft, without an insulator added, even bumping the flashlight could let a battery bounce down and briefly short circuit,
“A” should, I’d guess, be a hair smaller than the inner diameter of the retaining ring
and “T” should be the space between the surface of the pill and the top of the emitter
so the washer would go down around the spring and keep it from bending sideways, as well as keep the cell from ‘bottoming out’ by compressing the spring and touching the pill/retaining ring and short-circuiting.
So we’d need to know the diameter at the base of the spring and if there’s room for a cylinder of insulating material between spring and pill, “all the way down”
Grumble.
I used to be paid for quality assurance work (that’s the part during design and sample making, before they start shipping — after shipping starts, it’s quality control)
but I guess there’s nothing wrong with giving it away free — if only the people making the lights are willing to respond to the problem.
I figure these same people are going to be making nuclear power plants and aircraft, so they ought to be wanting to learn how to approach making stuff right.
/Grumble.
So is it a single soft spring that can wiggle sideways as well as compress easily? What’s actually shipping?
Wow, I ordered my light and had not been on this thread since. Recieved my light today and did my usual prep work then dropped in an IMR 26650 and it worked perfect. I love Toymaker’s Bistro software-after the other lights I have with it, it makes this one feel like part of the family. For me it is intuitive and works perfect. Guess I need to read several pages to determine if the spacer is needed for all lights or just a few. I LOVE this light! Thanks Cyberscuedo and CPF Italia, my Cometa will light up the sky tonight!
I asked Hoop who has been making centering rings — looks promising:
FS : LED centering rings / positioning / insulating – made to your specs (CLOSED) and look down to today’s date
Got mine in today, phenomenal! I had not realized how small this actually is, smaller than my Brinyte B158.
I took it apart and relubed the threads, cut a cardboard gasket for the pill bottom from a cereal box lid and checked the MCPCB soldering. The MCPCB soldering was good and flat, the hold down ring has good clearance, so no issue there. My light works both with and without the cardboard gasket and my shockli 26650…
Thanks CPFItalia and Cyberescudo for bringing this light to us!
PS, a couple or three wraps of Teflon plumbers tape on the zooming threads tightens the little bit of loose right out and makes them like buttah!
The things that do interest me are:
Fit and finish.
Optical characteristics (which look very good from the reports so far)
Bistro firmware integration and tailoring for the characteristics of this torch. I.e. timing of presses and variation with temperature, and thermal stepdown characteristics.
Tailcap illumination settings (too bright still ?)
Etc.
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I received mine today.
Fit & finish is excellent.
Optics are excellent-I do not have a lot of experience with “zoomies”, and I am waiting for dark to really try it out.
Bistro firmware is awesome. Since I have multiple lights that use ToyKeeper’s Bistro firmware, I find it very intuitive and it is second nature to make changes. I compare it to morse code-if you have learned morse code and used it to send and receive messages, 10 years could pass and it would be as easy and intuitive to use as the first year you used it. I think it took me around 20 minutes to really learn the 12 modes and access them easily. Literally, within 5 minutes of the opening of the Cometa box I had it programmed the way I wanted.
As far as the tailcap, it is my personal opinion it is too bright. I will soon order another resistor to swap it out. In my X5, I used a black sharpy on the LED and an extra white plastic washer to tone it down. To be clear, I LOVE the lighted tailcap-it is incredibly useful. I am very pleased this light- it feels like a very expensive light, works as designed and I find it so useful as it is different than most of my other lights!
So what’s the story on the springs? Double spring on both ends?