LOL reminds me of a old Doctor Who episode titled "the ark in space" with Tom Baker.....
js's USL reanimation and revivification thread
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LOL reminds me of a old Doctor Who episode titled "the ark in space" with Tom Baker.....
DaveNagy
Newly Enlightened
I (paid for and) received my power-supply from Bill many moons ago. And I already own a Triton. So, I don't need anything but the light itself. :twothumbs
Oh, should I be PayPal-ing some shipping funds to JS?
Oh, should I be PayPal-ing some shipping funds to JS?
Trashman
Flashlight Enthusiast
Bill, I believe I was supposed to owe $84 (or something like that) to get the Triton upgrade, but if it's possible to not upgrade, and just get the regular charger, that is what I'd prefer to do. Things are different than they were 3 (4?) years ago, and most likely, I'll probably not be using the Triton. In fact, the light will most likely go up for sale, shortly after having received it. My flashaholism is just in a different place, these days, and besides that, I'm more interested in cash, now that I don't have any. (back then, when I had plenty of spending money, I was more interested in lights!)
Trashman
Flashlight Enthusiast
What about the extra bulbs and reflectors that were ordered? Will those also be delivered? I believe my package came with 5 extra bulbs, and possibly an extra reflector. Do we have a link to the big spreadsheet that was posted in the beginning?
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
Any extra bulbs and reflectors in your order will indeed be delivered.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
OK, so, still not finished with J_Oei's yellow mag, as I needed some silicone RTV (didn't know I was out), among other things. I'll post pics when I finish. Plus I also think I post the wire-lengths and other parameters here so I don't freaking lose them again. :thinking: I swear I wrote them down last time I built a run of these . . .
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
So, we had a disaster here at the accelerator yesterday and I ended up staying late, then needed to go back out to get groceries after I got home, and was wiped out, so I did no work yesterday. Today, however, will be different (barring crazy unforseen stuff) and I will get J_Oei's USL internals in place with RTV drying overnight. And if I have the time/energy, I will also post pics.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
So, I did some work last night as promised . . .
but . . .
I had forgotten all about the guard / switch problems.
1. If I do use a guard, I need to come up with a solution to secure it, otherwise it is lose, which is OK, but not desireable. I have some double-sided tape which I want to try putting between the guard and the light body. It will keep it from moving sideways, but also will add thickness between the switch and the body, which will also increase tightness. Bill has been epoxy-ing the guards onto the bodies, but I don't like this approach as it is difficult if not impossible to disassemble, and the epoxy tends to run out and de-square the corners, sometimes making installation of the switch impossible until you file the hole square again. So, I'm going to try the double sided tape method first.
2. If no guard is installed, the switch is way too lose, but I'm quite sure that just the right o-ring around the switch, between the switch lip and the body, will be the perfect solution.
I will try both solutions out tonight.
but . . .
I had forgotten all about the guard / switch problems.
1. If I do use a guard, I need to come up with a solution to secure it, otherwise it is lose, which is OK, but not desireable. I have some double-sided tape which I want to try putting between the guard and the light body. It will keep it from moving sideways, but also will add thickness between the switch and the body, which will also increase tightness. Bill has been epoxy-ing the guards onto the bodies, but I don't like this approach as it is difficult if not impossible to disassemble, and the epoxy tends to run out and de-square the corners, sometimes making installation of the switch impossible until you file the hole square again. So, I'm going to try the double sided tape method first.
2. If no guard is installed, the switch is way too lose, but I'm quite sure that just the right o-ring around the switch, between the switch lip and the body, will be the perfect solution.
I will try both solutions out tonight.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
Aight,
I discovered something very important last night that I should have noticed weeks ago: there are indeed "guardless" bodies that are machined differently than the "guarded" lights. For some reason I had it in my head that Bill had told me that there was some error and they had all gotten machined the same--or else that he didn't have any guardless bodies left--or SOMETHING. So, I didn't even think to look for differences.
But, indeed, there are light bodies that have very slight machining at the rectangular switch hole, with lots and lots of good solid metal all around, where the switch snaps in nice and tight and clean. Beautiful.
J_Oei, your yellow mag body is guardless! So, that's cool! Do I have a current address for you? If not, be sure to PM it to me.
There are 11 guardless bodies, including J_Oei's: 3 silver, 1 yellow, 2 pewter, 4 black, 1 red.
Now, the guarded bodies situation is much less pleasant. The amount of metal left in at the top front and top rear of the hole is absolutely minimumal. Like paper thin--no exaggeration. So, guards that attach firmly and securely to the entire top machined surface of the body are a must. No getting around it. No using an o-ring to take up the thickness. Ixnay on that idea.
We have 13 guards right now, plus 3 empty bodies (silver) with the guards already epoxied in place.
So, that means I can make 27 more USL's with the parts I currently have (not counting battery packs, which I can make more of myself without trouble). This is more than enough to fulfill all the outstanding orders listed in the first post of this thread.
So that's good. However, it means I need to come up with my own attachment scheme for the guards to the guard-machined bodies. I don't like the epoxy route, but it's a viable, tested route and I may just use it.
The consumer grade 3M double sided tape I tried last night would work in a pinch--sort of--but is less than great, to say the least. I'm going to look into using the 3M VHB tape (VHB = very high bond). Chris Reeve Knives uses it to attach the nice wood inlays to the sides of their knives, and it's fantastically strong, and while it is expensive, I won't need much of it. So, I'll look into that, and find out from Bill which epoxy he used.
This won't delay me any longer, as I have three guarded bodies all set to accept internals, and 11 guardless ones, but in the long run, I will need to securely attach guards to some of the guard-machined bodies I have.
So, that's the report. J_Oei, your light isn't ready to go out yet, but it will be soon.
I discovered something very important last night that I should have noticed weeks ago: there are indeed "guardless" bodies that are machined differently than the "guarded" lights. For some reason I had it in my head that Bill had told me that there was some error and they had all gotten machined the same--or else that he didn't have any guardless bodies left--or SOMETHING. So, I didn't even think to look for differences.
But, indeed, there are light bodies that have very slight machining at the rectangular switch hole, with lots and lots of good solid metal all around, where the switch snaps in nice and tight and clean. Beautiful.
J_Oei, your yellow mag body is guardless! So, that's cool! Do I have a current address for you? If not, be sure to PM it to me.
There are 11 guardless bodies, including J_Oei's: 3 silver, 1 yellow, 2 pewter, 4 black, 1 red.
Now, the guarded bodies situation is much less pleasant. The amount of metal left in at the top front and top rear of the hole is absolutely minimumal. Like paper thin--no exaggeration. So, guards that attach firmly and securely to the entire top machined surface of the body are a must. No getting around it. No using an o-ring to take up the thickness. Ixnay on that idea.
We have 13 guards right now, plus 3 empty bodies (silver) with the guards already epoxied in place.
So, that means I can make 27 more USL's with the parts I currently have (not counting battery packs, which I can make more of myself without trouble). This is more than enough to fulfill all the outstanding orders listed in the first post of this thread.
So that's good. However, it means I need to come up with my own attachment scheme for the guards to the guard-machined bodies. I don't like the epoxy route, but it's a viable, tested route and I may just use it.
The consumer grade 3M double sided tape I tried last night would work in a pinch--sort of--but is less than great, to say the least. I'm going to look into using the 3M VHB tape (VHB = very high bond). Chris Reeve Knives uses it to attach the nice wood inlays to the sides of their knives, and it's fantastically strong, and while it is expensive, I won't need much of it. So, I'll look into that, and find out from Bill which epoxy he used.
This won't delay me any longer, as I have three guarded bodies all set to accept internals, and 11 guardless ones, but in the long run, I will need to securely attach guards to some of the guard-machined bodies I have.
So, that's the report. J_Oei, your light isn't ready to go out yet, but it will be soon.
Bright Scouter
Enlightened
Bill, you sent me a power supply with my USL when you sent it. You did not have any Tritons at the time, so I got my own. As for a refund, I would ask you to send it to Jim to help pay for any shipping charges, or more supplies he needs to finish the project. If he won't accept it, send it to me, but I would much rather donate it to Jim.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
Bright Scouter,
Wow! This is very generous of you. Thank you. I can certainly use funds to put towards shipping and batteries and epoxy/tape, etc. So far, almost all of the people have paid for their own shipping, and I'd like to thank them for doing this, too. But I will need to make 3 or 4 new packs, and this will cost about $100, more or less, I would guess.
So, thank you! Much appreciated.
Wow! This is very generous of you. Thank you. I can certainly use funds to put towards shipping and batteries and epoxy/tape, etc. So far, almost all of the people have paid for their own shipping, and I'd like to thank them for doing this, too. But I will need to make 3 or 4 new packs, and this will cost about $100, more or less, I would guess.
So, thank you! Much appreciated.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
OK we're good to go. Everything has come back to me, including why I don't want to use fine strand count 16 gauge wire to go from the switch to the + battery contact, and why I used the teflon coated wire cutt-off extra lengths from the ceramic socket wires for this connection, despite it being somewhat more difficult to solder that wire.
Anyway . . . point is, I'm going to do a wave of 5 to 10 of these this week. And also, that J_Oei's light is all ready to ship out.
J_Oei, do I have your address? I'll look through my many PM's to double check (and my emails) but I don't recall getting a confirmed address from you. I assume the one I have is good, but I'd like to be 100 percent sure! Let me know!
Anyway . . . point is, I'm going to do a wave of 5 to 10 of these this week. And also, that J_Oei's light is all ready to ship out.
J_Oei, do I have your address? I'll look through my many PM's to double check (and my emails) but I don't recall getting a confirmed address from you. I assume the one I have is good, but I'd like to be 100 percent sure! Let me know!
bwaites
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have been trying to get back to people who have PM'd me and to post a short note here, I keep getting kicked out with a post that says, "Internet Explorer has closed to avoid damage to your computer" whatever that means.
I have received 3 PM's, and I will be contacting each of you prior to shipping power supplies and/or chargers/refunds.
I have shipped a few of each already, and those should be arriving this week.
Hoepfully, this will post today.
I have received 3 PM's, and I will be contacting each of you prior to shipping power supplies and/or chargers/refunds.
I have shipped a few of each already, and those should be arriving this week.
Hoepfully, this will post today.
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
I verified J_Oei's address via the internet today and it matches the one I have in Bill's records, and so I have packed it up and will ship it out tomorrow.
I also have the last battery pack forming, and am almost finished a pewter USL with guard, but found that I had stripped my allen wrench for tightening the can set screw, and I had already put in two hours, so I called it a night. Will get another allen wrench tomorrow and finish off the pewter USL, and probably start on another one. I'm thinking I don't want to do a wave of these, as I used up a ton of storage space for all the working parts on this project, and so don't really have much space to keep the 5 or 10 packs/bodies/etc. lying around as I complete the whole batch. I can finish one USL in a night without much trouble, and it's no problem to find space for a single USL to sit on the shelf, awaiting completion. So this will be the plan, then: I'll finish about three to five USL's per week and ship them out as I go.
If your name is on the list in the first post and you haven't verified your address with me, please do so. If you are owed a USL, but are NOT on the list, please post here.
Thanks everyone!
I also have the last battery pack forming, and am almost finished a pewter USL with guard, but found that I had stripped my allen wrench for tightening the can set screw, and I had already put in two hours, so I called it a night. Will get another allen wrench tomorrow and finish off the pewter USL, and probably start on another one. I'm thinking I don't want to do a wave of these, as I used up a ton of storage space for all the working parts on this project, and so don't really have much space to keep the 5 or 10 packs/bodies/etc. lying around as I complete the whole batch. I can finish one USL in a night without much trouble, and it's no problem to find space for a single USL to sit on the shelf, awaiting completion. So this will be the plan, then: I'll finish about three to five USL's per week and ship them out as I go.
If your name is on the list in the first post and you haven't verified your address with me, please do so. If you are owed a USL, but are NOT on the list, please post here.
Thanks everyone!
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
J_Oei,
Sent out your USL yesterday via USPS priority mail.
The final pack has been formed, cycled, and tested, and it's good. So that's a small good thing!
I don't have the list in front of me to see who fits with a pewter guarded USL light, but I'll check sometime today. Feel free to pipe up if that meets your needs.
Sent out your USL yesterday via USPS priority mail.
The final pack has been formed, cycled, and tested, and it's good. So that's a small good thing!
I don't have the list in front of me to see who fits with a pewter guarded USL light, but I'll check sometime today. Feel free to pipe up if that meets your needs.
Trashman
Flashlight Enthusiast
Not sure, exactly what you're asking, or who you're directing the question too, but I'm actually signed up for a pewter guarded light. (I'm towards the bottom of the list, however.)
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
OK. It looks like mst3k wants a pewter USL, and I have his address, so his will go out next. I may be able to send it out tomorrow, but it all depends on whether or not I can come home for lunch. Otherwise it will go out Saturday or Monday.
I'll do a black, unguarded one next for Fat Tony.
Trashman, you understood what I was asking! And I got your address. Thanks!
If anyone knows anything about Mark65 or jte, please let me know (and/or let them know about this thread).
I'll do a black, unguarded one next for Fat Tony.
Trashman, you understood what I was asking! And I got your address. Thanks!
If anyone knows anything about Mark65 or jte, please let me know (and/or let them know about this thread).
js
Flashlight Enthusiast
mst3k,
Your order will ship today via USPS priority mail. And it's 100 percent turn-key. The light is charged, ready to use, and has a lamp installed and the head is focused. Just remove the locking pin and let 'er rip. Keep in mind that the battery pack will continue to improve as it sees use.
Your order will ship today via USPS priority mail. And it's 100 percent turn-key. The light is charged, ready to use, and has a lamp installed and the head is focused. Just remove the locking pin and let 'er rip. Keep in mind that the battery pack will continue to improve as it sees use.
