How to mod Fenix E0?

[ackbar]

Hello Everyone!

I just recently purchased a pair of Fenix E0 thanks to the fenix-store clearance. I was wondering if anyone has been able to mod it. I tried pushing out the LED + driver board using the sharpie trick that was reported to work with earlier versions.

Hopefully I'll be able to put the remaining 365nm UV LED I have sitting around in one of them and polish the reflector on the other and add a Nicha GS to the other

 

[Energie]

The driver board came out easy.
I use the red led for astronomy.

Fenix E0 with red led

Driver board

Polarity protection

 

[ackbar]

Great pics. Unfortunately I was unable to push out the guts out of the head. The PCB looks different from what I have. Perhaps you have a older version?

 

[mighty82]

I bought my E0 a couple of months ago, and i could easily push the "guts" out without using much force.

 

[ackbar]

I guess the newest models are potted or something.

 

[eebowler]

ackbar, I also just had to push on the LED to get the board out. I used the eraser end of a pencil I believe. My board is also different from Energie's. (broken inductor is the same though.)

 

[mighty82]

Well. I don't think they made any more of them after i bought mine. They warned that they were being discontinued a while before i bought mine. Mine looks like this inside:

You also see what i used to push it out.

 

[ackbar]

I would have loved to get a E0 in natural. I missed out on both that and olive when they were clearing them out :F

Well. I don't think they made any more of them after i bought mine. They warned that they were being discontinued a while before i bought mine. Mine looks like this inside:

You also see what i used to push it out.

 

[warlord]

They're potted so don't expect them to just push out anymore. You can polish the reflector with the leds in plase using some polish and cotton swabs.

 

[warlord]

The potting:

I'll post some info on the tools I used when I get back from picking up my pup from the vet...stay tuned

edit: Ok back from the vet. Lets continue.

Here's what I used:

It's a moded cuticle cutter and a dental pic. I didn't use the pick much on the actual buck removal. Basically, I just cut around the perimeter of the board for about 3minutes or so until I felt I freed it sufficiently. Then I placed it on a flat surface and used the plastic end of the dental pick to push it out. The pick works well on removing some of the potting material from the threads.

I used just about everthing I had availible in the house but the cuticle cutter was the only thing to work. I was having a good amount of luck with a exacto knife until it broke!


Anyway, good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[ackbar]

Thanks for the pics. I finally got the pill out. I heated the head with a lighter and then pushed everything out. They are using a different type of epoxy to pot the new ones. It is white and covers the entire pill. It is going to be a PITA to pick this stuff off so I can swap out the LED.

 

[warlord]

Yes, I have some new style black once that are a REAL PITA to open. My silver ones have been a breeze by comparison. If you didn't want to directly expose the flashlight to flame you can boil it in a plastic bag for 5 mins. I remember reading somewhere that works for removing potted boards...

EDIT:

OK, I just tried the boil trick and it works perfectly. Way better then the scrape method.

:twothumbs

Thanks for sharing the sucess you had heating things up. That helped a lot! I'm gong to get a pic up on how the black version was potted... in a min.

ok, potting on black version:

 

[ackbar]

I've gotten about 80% of the epoxy off.. the last 20 is going to be a very delicate work.

They discontinued the NA HA3 Fenixes a while back.. I should have picked one of those up..

If only my E0s didn't have a very angry blue tint I'd scrap this project.. but it is annoying the #$(& out of me

 

[warlord]

only 1 out of my 3 black ones was fully potted. Of the two silver ones only one had potting.

What kind of mods do you have in mind? I'm going to replace the LED and pot the rear of the led with glow powder. If I can find the right size o-ring I'd also like to replace the led o-ring with a GITD one. Oh yeah and I already polished all the reflectors.

 

[ackbar]

Since this was such a PITA I am going to put A 365nm UV LED in them. Using some glow powder mixed in to pot them. I may or may not polish the reflector.. i don't think there was much spill with the LEDs i picked up. Then I I will buy a stright E01 and polish the reflector.

 

[warlord]

A UV led, huh? Sounds interesting what can you do with that?

Here's a pic of the LED's oring. does andyone sell them in GITD this small? It might be easier than potting the 5mm with GITD powder or maybe they would work well together.

You can also see it way down inside the head in this picture:

 

[ackbar]

I will be using the UV led for checking money and IDs at the bar... It won't be powerful enough to do anything else.

Regarding the orings. Check with Sigman. I picked up a few from him a while back.. I don't know if he stocks one that is close enough to provide a watertight seal.

 

[warlord]

I will be using the UV led for checking money and IDs at the bar... It won't be powerful enough to do anything else.

Regarding the orings. Check with Sigman. I picked up a few from him a while back.. I don't know if he stocks one that is close enough to provide a watertight seal.

Thanks. I guess I'm going to have to pull it out and measure.

 

[datiLED]

I can confirm that the latest batch of EO lights from the Fenix Store clearance are potted. I bought two olive EO's, and had not planned to open them up. But, curiosity got the best of me. A few minutes on the mug warmer, and the board pushed out easily. It is gooped in epoxy, and will take a while to clean up. I have some Nichia GS LED's on the way, so I may mod one with a GS, and the other with a UV, or colored LED. I guess it depends on how I am feeling that night.

 

[tricker]

where do you get the gs's from