Smashing the lens is how I’ve done it before but now after following id30209’s advice I hammer a thin tool (a knife, he uses a thin flat screwdriver) at a shallow angle. On the SC64 and H600 the tool gets quite easily under the retention ring, on a H53 I had to hammer pretty hard, now I’m off to try that on a SC700D but I heard it was harder on this model.
Thermal shock methods can work wonders. Get a can of CO2 duster and a small butane torch. Heat the aluminum evenly as hot as you feel can be safely tolerated by the light. Ideally the light will be held in a vice bezel up. Have your prying tool ready, and then spray the CO2 duster inverted on the glass/ss until frosty (15-20s). Go for it!
You were right, a thin screwdriver at a shallow angle do the magic.
And SC700D is even easier to open. Bezel ring is not that hard pressed in
I suspect the bigger Zebras are easier to open. The wider the bezel ring the shallower the angle you can get to insert your wedge. The edge of the ring doesn’t have to dig in so much as the bezel angles under the edge.
I probably should not start with the SC80. It has the smallest bezel diameter of all the Zebras. Even smaller than the SC52.
I love the feel in the hand of the SC80. Extremely grippy with a super-recessed button. And it has an innovative system with a driver that accepts a wide voltage range. It runs on 1.5v AA, CR123, 16340, 14500, and 16500.
Unfortunately, the 200 lumen low-CRI cool white output from an XPG just doesn’t cut it today. Wish Zebralight did an update of the SC80…. same body and head, but with a higher output driver and modern emitter.
Very nice MascaratumB 
Good to see some modding from you. 
you’re right, it was the easiest one.
Thanks CNCman 
And likewise, I always appreciate your mods I guess I just don’t have the creativity to go for the bigger ones as you do :student: So I stay for the smaller ones 
.
Really size doe not matter Your creativity in the last 2 OL contests are unmatched
It’s really about friends sharing their love of lights of all kinds and sizes as you are continuously contributing. :student:
Your number of posts says a lot :sunglasses: I’m honored to be your friend here at BLF.
Modding the Wavien:
Regards Xandre
32 MLUX…. wow :cowboy_hat_face:
Swapped the cool white LED in an Olight Mini Warrior 2 for a 4000k LH351D. Much nicer tint, but definitely lost a few lumens. Then again, I almost always use my lights on medium or lower, so not an issue for me.
no need to be redundant buddy
Thanks for your kind words CNCman Indeed, in the end of the day, what brings us together here and that leads us to share our passions, mods and experiences, is what matters the most And if it is flashlights, so be it 
I would say that what I did in these lights and in the contests are things of a simple mind searching for some fun within the hobby! Though,thanks for appreciation and I am also honored for sharing this place with you and your works as well
Kind regards
.
Now that is to complicated for me to understand. I will look more into this weekend. But that is some serious modding going on over there at TLF. Thanks for sharing that over here at BLF.
I will check out your forum as well.
.
I’ve posted this before, but it appears you just need a small wood-carving knife to remove the retaining ring: What did you mod today?
Perhaps it works for some ZebraLights and not on others.
Maybe Bob_McBob would be willing to share his technique: Zebralight SC64c LE w/High CRI Nichia 219B R9080 $150
Emitter swap day…
C8+ SFT40 and PFlexpro micro textured lens, huge upgrade from XPL HI
BLF D80 also modded with SFT40, hotspot has a more defined edge than the C8+ but about 10% less throw. Didn’t change the focus height, looked nice enough with the stock centering ring.
L6 with GT FC40 mod kit, much better beam and tint than stock XHP70, but i wish I ordered a warmer tint instead. The 12V driver Draws 6.7A on high
Yet another attempt at modding a Zebralight. This time my SC52w.
I was able to get the bezel off. I used a hobbyist x-acto knife with a curved tip. With the tip underneath I was able to go around the edges slightly widening the opening. Once the opening was big enough I replaced the knife with my smallest screwdriver, then my next smallest, and then the screwdriver tip from a Victorinox mini. With that I was able to lever out the ring with no damage to the glass.
But now I’m stumped again…. the driver does not move no matter what I do.
- I desoldered the two solder blobs to the switch.
- I removed the 2 screws
- I cut around the grey potting compound where the driver meets the head.
But no matter what I try the driver is stuff fast. Even inserting a rod into the back of the battery compartment and then hammering on the bottom of the driver with a pliers did not cause it to move even one mm.
I also tried using my hot air gun to attempt to reflow the LED while inside the light. As expected no luck. The heatsinking is quite good and easily wicked off the heat.
Anyone have any suggestions? I’m stumped. 
I hope my efforts haven’t killed the light.
I have read that someone soaked his light in acetone, but I don’t know the side effects on all the components.
Did you desolder the positive wire ?
That’s not going to do anything, there is a wall between the positive contact PCB and the driver, with a small hole for the wire.
Heating the head makes the silicone adhere less.
To properly pull on the driver I put slightly larger screws in the mounting hole (like ~2.3mm screws for plastic)
Whoops! No I didn’t realize that. None of the posts I looked at on how to disassemble the light mentioned that. :confounded: Or if they did I missed it.
Unfortunately, my misguided attempts to modify the light appears to have destroyed it. :weary:
I reassembled it, but now the light doesn’t work properly. It doesn’t turn off. Pressing the switch causes the light to turn off only while the button is held down. And while holding it down I can see it cycle through the modes, but the moment I release the button, the light goes back to max power.
I don’t think I’m going to attempt to modify a Zebralight ever again.
I can’t even take a close look at the driver to see if maybe something got shorted or dislodged, since I can’t remove the PCB.
EDIT:
I opened it up again to attempt to remove the positive wire. But how do I do that?
The tip of the wire passes through a hole below the left screw. The hole is completely filled with solder, which I can’t remove. My solder sucker isn’t long enough and doesn’t have enough suction. Also, even when I keep that solder liquid by keeping the tip of my iron in it, the driver still does not move at all when I insert a pick into the screw holes and try to pry it up.
I need more detailed instructions on how to remove an SC52 driver. The existing pictures on the internet are not sufficient.