Fenix Modding Ideas
 

What do you think about these Fenix mod ideas:

1. I noticed that the body of the Fenix is quite thick and could be bored out to accept RCR123's. If you put a lux 3 in there and made a new body you could have a light that puts out 60 lumens and is 5/8" shorter.

2. The tail cap currently can be used as twist on/off. What if somone made the tailcap without the clicky switch. This would shorten the light by an additional 1/2".

3. The heat sink could be re designed to a 1/8" copper threaded coin (with thermal grease) which could either shorten the light by 3/8" or allow more room for a larger battery. In total if the first 3 mods were considered the fenix could be shortened from 3-5/8" to 2-1/8" and increased in brightness.

4. The obvious mod: Use a AA Lithium Ion to direct drive a luxeon 3.

5. If the body were bored out to accept two CR123's, the tail cap changed to a twisty, and the heat sink shaved down 1/8" you could put in a luxeon 5 and still retain the same dimmensions.

6. Fenix hotwire mod... Since the stock reflector is alluminum and stock lense is glass it may be possible to put a WA 01274 bulb (948 - 553 lumens) by boring out the body and changing the tail cap. I'm not sure how the O rings would hold up. Might get too hot to handle after 2 minutes of on time. Not sure if the bulb will fit through the reflector hole.

7. Pocket clip... Nuf said..

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I am about to purchase 2 of the new Fenix L1Ps in the 2.5 version. I can not remember where I saw it on here but I remember reading that one of the Fenix lights was more easy to get the internals out for modding. I think the person posting said something about the Fenix having an epoxied head section or something like that.
I do enjoy modding a little and would most likely end up changing the emitter or reflector at some time. Can anyone tell me what version of the Fenix is more mod friendly for an amateur modder.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

how about replacing the stock reflector with a McR18? perfect beam!

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

If you want hot-rodded light with more light and less runtime go for it. Do it on a L1 as it's cheaper unless you want the HA. But for me it's perfect for what I wanted. The beam is great, light out and runtime are awesome.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

How about adapting another bezel, say, from a Q3? That way you'll know which end is which in the dark. Plus you get a 3W Luxeon, hopefully not as green as some of the Fenix. Also. you can now take advantage of some of the existing Q3 mods.

Next, bore out the tube so it will accept a CR123. Take advantage of the better shelf life and cold weather performance.

Then adapt a Q3 endcap w/tactical switch, so you can get momentary function.

Voila!?!? Now were talkin', eh!

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

has anyone dropped in a 14500 li-ion yet?

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I don't have one yet, but I'm thinking about it.

What about a two-stage switch similar to what you can do to a Q3? Would it lend itself to that?

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I have modded a version 2.0 L1P and a 2.5 L1P each w/ a TW0H star and a 14500 li-ion. I think this makes a great light and (IMHO) can't be beat for the price.

Chris
.308

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Might aswell buy a Q3.

I dont know why anyone would want to mod the Fenix.
It is intended to work with an AA batt not a CR123, if one would want the reliability of a lithium, just pop in an energizer lith AA. It uses the currently best LUX 1 there is and putting a lux3 would not result in much of a gain. it is regulated so why trade that off for a DD ?
Personally i think it has the perfect blend of brightness Vs runtime Vs price and the batts are available everywhere and cheap. It is a great light as it is. if it aint broken dont fix it.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Chris,
I thought it was supposed to be too difficult to mod the head? how did you get in to change the star? and isn't 3.6 too much for the board to take for tooo long. I've got some 14500 and 14505 so I'm all over the different battery but I've been chicken to bust a 40 dollar light..lol

doug

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I think that a simple (?) 2 stage non-reverse clicky switch would just about make this light perfect. Low output for task lighting and long runtime, and regular output for everything else.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

The 2-stage switch is the only change I think I'd consider for this light. I'm even getting used to the reverse clicky, so that doens't matter one way or the other. This is really a great light.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

stainless version has no glue. everything unscrews easily, including light engine.

L1+ also uses a star instead of emitter. don't have a std L1-P yet. got three on order.

when I get'm in, will experiement then.

sure would like to find out if stock board will survive 14500 li-ion?

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

The Fenix aren't regulated. Not fully, at any rate.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Well I spent so more time this evening with the two mooded Fenix's. If my results are accurate the 14500 is too much for the board. I measured current at the tailcap well over 1.5A using a Fluke 189. The funny thing is using a 2500 mAh Nimh AA I measured 800mA on the v.2.0 w/ TW0H. On the v2.5 I measured 950mA to 1.05A using the same Energizer 2500 AA and a TW0H. When I had the boost circuit out for the first time last weekend the voltage from a AA was boosted to like 7v.

Please forgive my earlier posts. I probably have used much of the life of my TW0H on the light that had the 14500. Remember electronics aren't my strong suit.

Why not ??? :naughty: Why mod any working flashlight?? To hopefully make it better and share the results. A large part of why I purchased this light was to see if it could be modded.

Chris
.308

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

in which way can you make it better ?

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Brighter, Better beam, whatever better means to me. To each his own. :touche:

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Please clarify:

are you using stock fenix L1 board with 14500?

with a voltage regulated board, VF of luxeon will determine how much current is drawn.

question is will board survive these type loads with li-ion?

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Yes this is using the stock board. When I checked this with a DMM last weekend I never measured current higher than 850mA using a 14500 li-ion and never more than 650mA using a AA Nimh. Now for whatever reason those measurements may as well have never existed. I even re-tested using my old DMM, same results.

I also agree with Archangel because the curent is all over the place when measuring.

I wish I could offer more info but lack of electrical knowledge prohibits.

If there is something I can test/verify for you I will be happy to.

Thanks,
Chris
.308

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I'm using a Fluke 87 and are having no problems getting a consistant reading.

with energizer AA 1.452V draws 752 milliamps stainless L1+

14500 cells is charging up right now. will do current draw test shortly

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

started with freshly charged 14500

current draw was 548 milliamps with 14500 in L1+
cell measured 4.14 after current test

brightness increase greatly! looks Ubin star is headed that way :D

after running a few minutes, light gets a little warm but nothing like an overdriven luxeon.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

.308.....

Can you tell us what parts are on the stock board? Maybe post some pics of the circuit. I wouls be interested in what chip is used. Thanks.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I'll try to post the pics I took a while back. You can't make anything out though. I think Koala said in another thread that it looked like the components had been sanded to remove their part numbers.


Cy,
don't know what I might be doing wrong, probably something though, but I checked current readings again and got the same as before. ~ 780mA on version 2.0 L1P w/ TW0H and AA Nimh, ~980mA on version 2.5 L1P w/ TW0H and AA Nimh. On version 2.0 L1P w/ TW0H and 14500 I get close to 2A. This is quickly touching leads from DMM to battery and flashlight body. As current continues to go up I break the connection. I'll always claim ignorance if all else fails :stupid: :D

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

One cheap trick I use to *test* current draw with setups to not overdrive them to death is insert a variable resistor inline and start it off using full resistance cranking it till you get the recommended current first.... then disconnecting the circuit and measuring the resistance to see how close it is to being *safe*.... if you measure perhaps less than 1 ohm it may be a safe overdrive level.... but 3-5 ohms or more may show signs you may need a resistor to protect things.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

If you're going to be gutting it, why not use a cheaper mod host, like an Inova X1? It already has a twisty and it's a bit lighter.

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Please note I'm using a Fluke 87, which gives reliable accurate readings.

I'm testing a stainless L1+, different light engine setup. don't know if board is same, but sure is acting different from yours.

I've running L1+ with 14500 with no problems. light barely gets warm in line with draw indicted by meter.

brightness has at least doubled, very bright & white

too bright for most closeup work. original beam was more useful. needs a level control with li-ion or too bright

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

Today, I disassembled a bunch of Christmas-presents-to-be to Pro-Gold contact surfaces, put some fresh lube on the threads, and add L91s. I pulled out my caliper, and doing a 123 twistie would br relatively trivial. (Would require a 1mm crossection O-O-ring, and the walls would be pretty thin under the ring groove.) I had previously bought a couple L1ps that were supposed to be v2.5. On a whim, I busted a CR-V3 Duracell pack for 2 3V AA primaries. I put one in and at 8 minutes, the whole thing was getting warm! I tail-capped the Amps-in with my Fluke 73 and got 2 (Amps!) and declining!!!!! Even with an H-Vf LED, that is out of line! So much for a 123 batt case! One would think a boost would get more efficient as Vin approaches Vf. I hope somebody can make some sense out of this.

Larry

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I understand the Fenix is a good design and has good output for a good runtime, but any flashlight is a good candidate for modification. If modifying it means you can make it so bright you have to hold it tight when you turn it on, then I say it's worth it! Even if it does only run for 25 minutes per charge. Lux V Fenix L1 rocks!

Re: Fenix Modding Ideas
 

I had also done some testing on the Fenix drive circuit. It is not suitable for a 3 volt input. What happens is that the inductor becomes current saturated because of the 300 KHz switcher speed and 75% duty cycle switch on time. Once the inductor is current saturated, it's like shorting the battery to ground for a time and simply loosing the power instead of "pushing" it into the load. I hope this helps. Inductor will get very hot.