Is it always benifical to perform a spring bypass at the driver spring and the tailcap pcb spring? I performed one on a eagletac tx25c2vn I own and I feel like it did make a difference. I feel the light now gets warmer at the head and the output is slightly higher. The Eagletac does not use a beryllium or gold plated spring at the tailcap. I am not sure if this is my imagination because of a placebo.
Spring bypass's
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peter yetman
Flashlight Enthusiast
I tend to test whether the spring is getting hot. Heat means lost power. I run the light for a few minutes at full volume then open it and put my tongue on the spring. If it's hot I bypass it.
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When using a FET driver such as what the vn lights use bypassing the spring decreases resistance. Because of this more current will flow and the emitter will output more light. FET drivers essentially give the emitter all the cell can give so if you give it a better path the emitter will get even more power.
Now if you are using a light with a regulated output you will not increase the output but might ever increase the runtime due to less losses due to heat due to lower resistance.
There really is no downside but to do it at the factory is costly as far as a manufacturing process is concerned.
Seems like there is a cost/benefit to installing a spring bypass. If the setup can take more amperage and you want as much as possible, then definitely do it. Then a person should also attend to the other connections in the circuit, cleaning and greasing threaded areas, etc.
Katherine Alicia
Enlightened
I did this on my Astrolux EC01 for 10 seconds and it burned my lip! LOL looks like I`ll be doing a bypass a bit later! :-D
DIWdiver
Flashlight Enthusiast
Beryllium copper vs spring steel makes a big difference in the resistance of the spring. Gold plating does not. The gold plating is so thin that it does not contribute to the conductivity of the spring wire. It may improve the contact resistance, but with spring steel wire that's usually trivial, especially vs nickel plated wire.
In my experience I've found that beryllium copper springs are rare and expensive. Spring steel conical springs are high resistance, even if gold plated, due to the long, low conductivity wire that the current has to pass through. My favorite configuration is tin plated bronze or brass leaf spring. The conductor is short and wide, giving low quite low resistance. The drawback with this configuration is that you have to provide mechanical stops to prevent the leaf spring from getting crushed.
The leaf spring works great in some lights, but in some the conical spring is just unavoidable. If you must use a spring steel conical spring in a high current application, the resistance of the spring can be quite significant, and a bypass may provide significant improvement in performance. Not speaking from experience here, but as an engineer it seems to me that the bypass should be as close to the battery and the negative rail as possible, without interfering with the contact at the battery and negative rail.
In my experience I've found that beryllium copper springs are rare and expensive. Spring steel conical springs are high resistance, even if gold plated, due to the long, low conductivity wire that the current has to pass through. My favorite configuration is tin plated bronze or brass leaf spring. The conductor is short and wide, giving low quite low resistance. The drawback with this configuration is that you have to provide mechanical stops to prevent the leaf spring from getting crushed.
The leaf spring works great in some lights, but in some the conical spring is just unavoidable. If you must use a spring steel conical spring in a high current application, the resistance of the spring can be quite significant, and a bypass may provide significant improvement in performance. Not speaking from experience here, but as an engineer it seems to me that the bypass should be as close to the battery and the negative rail as possible, without interfering with the contact at the battery and negative rail.
Katherine Alicia
Enlightened
Holy sh!t balls! this thing is Awesome!!! :twothumbs
I mean it was good before, but after bypassing Both springs, it Really burns now! I`m not sure exactly how much difference it`s made overall (apart from my 21700 not getting hot anymore) but it`s noticable on the turbo setting.
I`v got as brand new Molicel P42A 21700 in there and it`s nice to know it`s not getting cooked from both ends anymore
I mean it was good before, but after bypassing Both springs, it Really burns now! I`m not sure exactly how much difference it`s made overall (apart from my 21700 not getting hot anymore) but it`s noticable on the turbo setting.
I`v got as brand new Molicel P42A 21700 in there and it`s nice to know it`s not getting cooked from both ends anymore
peter yetman
Flashlight Enthusiast
Sounds great, were you using it last night?
I think I saw it from my house.
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I think I saw it from my house.
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Katherine Alicia
Enlightened
As a matter fact I was actually!
I had a pile of books delivered today (stocking up for winter reading) and it was all wrapped up in black plastic, now I can`t get the smell of burning plastic out my room! LOL
No more standing outside patiently with my magnifying glass waiting for the sun to come out, my new Death-Ray works 24/7 now
