Hi Guys,
Well I ended up replacing the driver that I was having troubles with in the previous thread. It is now working and I am drawing 4.4A on high and i think around 0.2A on low and 1.3A on medium so I finally have modes. Problem is, it has burnt out two switches almost immediately.
Is there a switch which is a direct replacement for a C8 which will handle the 4.4A?
Cheers,
Tim
Picture of switch?
For the ultimate in switches IMO these should be able to be fitted with a little work or no work. I cant guarantee that but there are a few reviews at the end in different lights.
The switch is just a standard forward clicky on an 17mm board.
17mm Forward Clicky Switch with Spring and PCB (you can get the same thing at IntlOutdoors).
It seems very odd they’re failing at only 4A, how exactly are they failing? Are you braiding the springs? If so are you being careful to not heat up the body of the switch in the process? That can cause internal issues with them (ask me how I know). Having said that you really shouldnt be having issues at such a low current level if the spring is braided, not tellig you not to get the Toffy switch but at $25 its overkill for a XM-L2 C8.
I must admit I am surprised it is failing as well. I have read of people running higher amps than I am with no mention of the switch having been replaced. I have braided the spring but I only use 63/37 0.6mm solder so I can feed it in quickly and with little heat due to the very thin diameter. It turned on and then went out almost immediately and I opened the body up thinking I had a driver short or something and could smell electrical burning. Checked the tailcap current with my DMM and it was working perfectly, 3 modes, correct amperage etc. So I checked the switch and it smelt really bad. So I pulled the spring off and chucked it on to a spare Omten forward clicky I had from IOS and it did almost the same thing, worked briefly and then out.
Maybe I have just got some dodgy switches. I thought maybe I would just buy a whole bunch of those Omten ones and try them because according to what I see around here they shouldn’t have a problem with 4.4A?
Aside from that what is the go with the McClicky and Tofty switches? I understand they are both better than the normal ones with the Tofty being better than the McClicky as well? But how do they fit into a C8 tailcap? They look to be a different set up to what is usually used?
Thanks for the help!
Well they take some fitting, having a few old tail caps in the parts bin helps. You screw the whole torch switch down under the retaining ring, there is no PCB used.
Are you sure you have a FORWARD clicky Omten? I didn’t know IOS had those, I’ve gotten several forward clickies recently but all from Mtn.
Nope you are correct. It is a forward clicky but isn’t the Omten. I might just buy a 5-pack of the Omten Reverse clickies and give them a shot.
Ok, So i tried the switch off of my XinTD C8 V4 and it worked fine, but I wasnt using the brass piece that sits at the end of the spring. So since it worked i took the brass piece and soldered it to the end of the spring. Tried it again and I heard the switch and then smelt it. Another burnt out switch. It has to be too much current when I add the braid as well as soldering the brass button to the end of the spring. I have ordered a bunch of the Omten ones and will give them a shot when they get here. If it works I will leave it. If it burns out again I think I will have to remove the brass piece from the end of the spring…
The brass piece is…well…brass, so your switch should be getting less resistance without it. It can’t be the problem. This is all too weird. It’s not common for switches to blow at these current levels.
Just don’t buy an Omten from FastTech. It says Omten in the photo, but it’s a KAN-28, which are the only switches I’ve ever blown.
I just find it strange that it was working perfectly fine on all modes for at least a few mins when it was just the spring. Then pull it out, soldered the brass piece on turned it back on and heard a little noise and could instantly smell it.
The heat when you soldered the cap may have weakened the tiny internal spring in the switch. Still, I’ve never heard anyone having problems with the switches in xintd’s.
It is very weird. The clicking action still works fine on the switch and I would have thought that if any damage was going to be done it would have when I soldered the braid on to the board. But that was done ages ago, all I did tonight was add the brass piece. When the switches arrive I will swap it over and see how it goes and if it burns out I will remove the braid or something and see if that makes a difference.
On another note, do you have any idea where to buy bare switch boards from?
Sorry if this is a dumb question but how do you check it?
I have checked for resistance across it with the switch clicked in and out but is there something else I should be doing?
I already have some of those boards but they are only 16.7mm. Both of my XinTD C8s use ~20mm boards.
You checked correctly. What happens when you click the switch?
You can just remove the old switch from the existing board and install the new one.
…or, adapt a 20mm contact board.
My Xintd blew the switch running on high for ten minutes, light started to go dim and flickering, tested the switch and it was gone, Hank sent another , must still test the new one on high….hmm
Edit , that was the C8 V4
A bit late now, but I ended up purchasing about 20 switches. I got some of the KAN-28s from FT, some Omten’s from IOS and some of the “6A” rated switches off of ebay which are in a thread around here somewhere.
Anyway, I chucked the Omten in and it worked first go and was fine. So pretty happy with that.
Was this after doing a mod or completely stock?