the rings come from too much jpeg compression, saving at higher quality or RAW will show the real fading
Modified a nanjg105c today. Stacked 4 extra 7135ās for a total of 12. And swapped the attiny13a for a attiny25 with the desire to have temp regulation in a constant current driver. Using a Bistro, converted to a single channel. Bench tests are successful, but I still need to put it in a light to test thermal regulation.
I reflowed a 219c sw403 into a v2 HDS Clicky. The light had an XP-G in it so I didnāt even try to remove the emitter board, which is epoxied and potted into place. Instead I used my hot-air reflow unit to do the swap in-place. No issues, and the light is much improved.
Lumintop Tool Ti - lighted switch
I glued a small clip to my Thrunite TH20 headlamp.
The clip is one that was made to attach to your keys (or anything with a key ring or string) so you can attach them to your pocket. I had to shorten it a bit for it to fit.
Belt clip will offer an additional way to carry temporarily while not in use. Just clip it to the pocket or belt for easy access. Also the angle of the clip is chosen so carrying it on my right side (outside of pocket or belt) projects the light out in front of me, for hands-free use. Doesnāt add any significant bulk or weight. Clip is just superglued on now because I was testing different angles of attachment, but I plan to use epoxy and I think it should hold pretty good.
Modded a Skyewolfeye TLY-6501.
This is a super-cheap 1x18650 zoomie very common on Ebay. They can be had for anywhere from $2 to $15 depending on where you look.
This light attracted me for a number of reasons:
- 107mm long making it the smallest currently available 1x18650 zoomie.
- I needed a replacement host for the no-longer-available Aleto N8 18650 zoomie and this was the closest in size I could find.
- body and tailcap is fully knurled. Light feels quite good in the hand.
It had all the features youād expect in a super-cheap light:
- Latticebright XPE
- thin aluminum star
- hollow pill (pill has a partial shelf several mm wide with a hole in the center. ā¦. so more than the thin ledge some hollow pill lights have but definitely nowhere close to a full shelf.
- wobbly tailstanding. Button protrudes just a bit too far.
- standard press-fit switch, with a shrouded tailcap spring.
- accepts 16mm star and 17mm driver
- 20mm plastic aspheric lens.
- very low output.
- beam angle is narrower than I like.
Some additional observations:
- The pill can easily be removed without using any tools.
- The pill lip is quite narrow. Unfortunately, this means the pill cannot be filed down to the level of the top of the LED for a super-wide floodbeam. The beam is still quite nice, but youāre not going to get a 90 degree beam by modding this light.
- The only thing stopping the bezel from sliding off the back of the light is the lens, which directly hits the edges of the pill. this is a bad design because a drop onto the head of the light from height could crack the lens.
Last couple nights I did a few simple mods to this light with spare parts I had on-hand.
- Replaced emitter with XPL HI on Noctigon. Added a generous amount of AS5 on the partial shelf. That combined with a copper star should be all the heatsinking needed for at least moderate operation at full power. (I have another light that uses a hollow pill and a FET driven triple that works just fine with nothing under the starā¦. the trick is to use plenty of thermal grease to fill in any gaps around the edges).
- Replaced driver with BLF A6 driver
- Replaced switch housing and switch with a lower profile one.
- Added spring at head to prevent skips if light is bumped while in operation.
- Replaced tailcap with a lower profile black tailcap that allows perfect tailstanding.
- Filed both sides of the pill lip. Back side needed a bit filed to allow the LED to come into focus with the thicker star. Front side needed filing to allow the lens to retract slightly further.
These mods greatly increased the usefulness of this light. Lumen output and throw are now outstanding.
Other modifications I am considering:
- Shorten the pill with a file and grinding bit. Doing so would open up more space in the battery compartment.
- That would allow me to then shorten the entire length of the light by filing off the top of the body where the pill screws in. Fortunately the pill threads are quite extensive so I can chop a lot off and still have the pill screw in. However, this might require filing a new o-ring channel in the body for the bezel, which could be risky in such a thin light.
- Open up room in the tailcap by grinding off part of the inside of the switch compartment to allow the battery to extend into it.
- Or file off the back end of the light and install a lower profile switch. Filing off the back end would mess up the anodizing though, so Iād likely end up removing all the anodizing and then polishing the bare aluminum.
- Replace A6 driver with DrJones H17F.
- Add tiny reflector around the LED (doing so adds a broad hotspot to the floodbeam greatly improving its usefulness. It also adds an ugly ring around the spotbeam, but the ring isnāt very bright and is only an issue for white wall hunting).
- Not sure if Iāll bother, but adding a small ring of Sugru on the top of the pill might help cushion the lens in case of a fall onto the bezel.
- Instead of keeping the tailcap switch I could try converting this light to a sideswitch like I did with the Aleto N8, though for this light Iād want to mount the switch further forward on the side of the moving bezel. Doing so would allow removal of the tailcap switch and could shorten the overall length of the light 15mm.
I figure if I do the above modifications I should be able to remove at least 1 cm from the overall length of the light which would make it even better for EDC pocket carry. Before shortening the light though Iāll need to first obtain another H17F driver.
Almost finished with this one. 
It has a 219C triple regulated at 1.14A with guppy drive firmware. The brass pill was shortened and copper added back to give minimum driver depth. Short springs on both ends allow for more wood in the middle using a 16650 cell. The brass liner sleeve extends ~10mm past the head threads and seats onto the pill. Here it is between an 18650 A6 and an 18350 S2+.
Nice :+1:
Thats pretty sweet RBD. Lucky you limited it to 1.14A. It may have ended up along the lines of a movie made along time ago by Cheech and Chong. 
Cigar goes up in smoke?
My memory of that is a bit Foggy but I am pretty sure it wasnāt a Cigar.
vwpieces sorry for a stupid question but how did you do the finish on your S2?
It is really nice, is this maybe what they call a bead blast finish? Or maybe thereās just a S2+ in this finish and Iāve never noticed?
Thank you, looks really great to meā¦!
Thanks!
Some discussion was in this thread about the stripping and polishing. If you are reading through the thread you should come across the info in a page or 2.
I will checkā¦ but if you search the thread for
Stripping
polishing
Lye
or even 2000 grit
you will find it. That S2+ was originally Blue. Stripped with Lye and wet sanded up to 2000 grit and polished with Mothers aluminum polish.
OH, I got ya, I did pick up some what was it called Simply Purple or something down that line and have read of countless other options including what youāve mentioned here, Iāve read through all the stripping processes I could find but I jump around a lot and hadnāt really seen such a fine example of the end product so this strikes me as a premium example for sure, you did a great job, so now I have to go get whatever it was that I bought out of my trunk and get to work, oh wow that is so clean, just a beautiful example of what I imagined and hoped for when I do mine. Really does put the spurs to me, well sort ofā¦ ha ha
Thank you for the reply VW and by the way while I have you here, I am still sitting on that Ti X6 we talked about months ago on another thread and did follow your suggestion and went and looked through the pills/spacers made by Kirbuā¦?? The Russian fella?
I think I know what to put together when ordering these parts, but do you mind if when I get my thoughts in order here and a list if I PM it to you for review prior to making a colossal mistake?
I know you know what your doing and I canāt really say that about myself with confidence so would really appreciate someone to just double check before I jump?? Thanks VW
Iāve been thinking about stripping & polishing one, but something I donāt remember hearing a verdict onā¦ after stripping, will the aluminum oxidize? If so, do you just re-polish it? Clear coat it?
I had read that one person claimed that Museum wax worked well, I canāt confirm that of course.
Edit: By the way I have a lot of Mothers aluminum polish and I am reasonably certain that not only does it polish it also puts a protective coating down as well, how durable I donāt know but I do know that once Iād go through a spend a lot of time polishing the rims on my collectable it would hold up real well and for quit awhile in this rainy muddy state of WA. I could just hose spray the mud off and dry and it would still be shiny like when I polished.
Raw Aluminum Oxidizes instantly. It takes special primers to get paint to adhere so Clear Coat isnāt a great idea. After sanding and polishing it it does take some time for ti to generate actual cristals of oxidization, like years, if itās not exposed to salts or other harsh environments. Oh, your skin oils may cause faster corrosion if your PH is acidic.
Once it is polished it will last for a long time. And already being polished makes it easy as cleaning it to get it back up to shiny with another quick polish. Car Wax will help on long term storage.
@ T18
I use Sodium Hydroxide crystals (Lye) dissolved in water and warmed in the microwave for a minute after dilution to help a weaker solution work better. Please read up on it as there are potential dangers involved. Wet sanding starts with 400 on a sanding block moving the block around the circumference. 800, 1200, 1500 and working up to 2000 Grit. Polishing with a Bounty paper towel with Mothers polish worked into the towel before using. Once the desired finish is achieved I use Dish detergent to wash off the Black polish from light and my hands. You will want to grease the threads after stripping anno off. Raw threads can be coarse and gall if tightened dry.
ALL sanding and polishing is by hand. Machines, buffers, dremels can not achieve a smooth mirror finish.
Have heard the Museum wax but never tried it. I like to wash anything I polish after. It changes the color to more silver, brighter IMO. Any wax willad the protection after washing. No joke some car enthusiasts use Pledge furniture polish as a quick shine. I am partial to Mothers Carnauba Gold. Easy to apply and get off the residue.
Thanks for the Info VW, cut and pasted to book of important stuff, to do someday very soonā¦ 
I did a driver mod.
FET+1 modded to 19+1, totalling 20x 7135.
Hereās the pics:
Iām just not a fan of direct drive, so the FET had to go.
Original plan was 12x or 14x 7135 for an Astrolux S3, but:
Inside a copper sheet 16mm circle 19 of them will fit.
This will fit snugly in most pills for decent cooling (with some thermal goo).
Positioned them with grey epoxy before soldering them to the copper enclosure.
Added solder paste for thermal and electrical path to the copper āwallā.
Heating it up inside a pill to keep the wall in shape.
Had to do it twice because the paste loses about 50% volume when soldered.
Thin ring for the + and a fatter one for the - output. Both have lips for soldering leads.
Behold a 6.65 Ampere Constant Current donut.
Leads on driver PCB for + to the 19x 7135 and - from the on board 7135 to the - output of the donut.
Made some room with a rotary tool so the copper wall can be soldered to the outer ring trace of the PCB.
Hole in PCB for + wire spring bypass.
More epoxy as solder mask and to keep the parts in place and to join PCB and donut.
Donut and PCB soldered together, bypassed spring added.
Output side. Black wire soldered to output lip of the donut.
Epoxy added to secure the lot a little extra.
NOT TESTED YET ! 
Praying it will workā¦ :person_facepalming:
Iāll be using it (if it works) in a S2+ triple with either XP-G3 or 219C.
Waiting on blue S2+ host and XP-G3 S4 3A from Fasttech.
Planning on de-anodizing and polishing the S2+, especially after seeing that beauty vwpieces produced.
I donāt like coloured lights too much, but i wanted that switch boot.