Novatac Resurrection with LFlex Driver

[bansuri]

Had an old, burned out Novatac that was bought specifically to mess around with some different drivers, finally getting around to it.
Ordered an LFlex and got to work. Pretty simple mod:
1. Gut old electronics and preserve battery contact board and pill shell.
2. Dremel off the surface mounted components on the back of the battery contact board. If you're careful you can preserve the contacts to connect all the wires to.
3. Attach wires for the (+) and (-) battery connections and the switch signal. Some drilling may be necessary.
4. Attach wires to LFlex, battery (+), (-), and switch to SWA.
5. Mount LFlex to inside surface of pill with included thermal tape.
6. Reassemble.

Works great and the driver offers a wide range of features and operating modes. Fully programmable Low Voltage Detection and Shutoff, selectable groups of output levels from Max of 500mA to 3.5A, and too many other things to list. Check out the link above for full listing of features and specs.
The contact board.

Set up for testing.

Ready for mounting.

The nearly completed pill.

This driver would be suitable for any mod that allows for a switching circuit. It doesn't support power cycling for mode changes so it will require a host with a switch.
Ideal switching would be 2 dedicated wires for a momentary, however, the HDS/Nova design works fine in my installation. Leave SWB unconnected.
I'm running this with 1xRCR123 so I haven't tried any higher that the 1500mA max range, normally leave it on the 1000mA range, very bright. Haven't run it long enough on HIGH to generate any heat.
Have most of the exterior of the pill slathered with thermal paste to ensure transfer to the head.
Georges80 was fantastic with quick, detailed responses to a few questions I had.
The driver works over such a broad range of voltages and output levels that I will be incorporating one in my under-cabinet kitchen LED lighting project. And it just so happens that it has a firmware feature set for this very use!

 

[blackbalsam]

Bansuri, Great mod on the Novatac, one of my favorite modded lights....Robert.

 

[bansuri]

Thanks Robert! The XM-L is nice and smooth with the Novatac reflector, nice wall of light. Lots of spill with a big, fat hotspot.

 

[kevinm]

Nice work! How bright is the burst mode now?

 

[gt40]

Had an old, burned out Novatac that was bought specifically to mess around with some different drivers, finally getting around to it.
Ordered an LFlex and got to work. Pretty simple mod:
1. Gut old electronics and preserve battery contact board and pill shell.
2. Dremel off the surface mounted components on the back of the battery contact board. If you're careful you can preserve the contacts to connect all the wires to.
3. Attach wires for the (+) and (-) battery connections and the switch signal. Some drilling may be necessary.
4. Attach wires to LFlex, battery (+), (-), and switch to SWA.
5. Mount LFlex to inside surface of pill with included thermal tape.
6. Reassemble.

Works great and the driver offers a wide range of features and operating modes. Fully programmable Low Voltage Detection and Shutoff, selectable groups of output levels from Max of 500mA to 3.5A, and too many other things to list. Check out the link above for full listing of features and specs.
The contact board.

Set up for testing.

Ready for mounting.

The nearly completed pill.

This driver would be suitable for any mod that allows for a switching circuit. It doesn't support power cycling for mode changes so it will require a host with a switch.
Ideal switching would be 2 dedicated wires for a momentary, however, the HDS/Nova design works fine in my installation. Leave SWB unconnected.
I'm running this with 1xRCR123 so I haven't tried any higher that the 1500mA max range, normally leave it on the 1000mA range, very bright. Haven't run it long enough on HIGH to generate any heat.
Have most of the exterior of the pill slathered with thermal paste to ensure transfer to the head.
Georges80 was fantastic with quick, detailed responses to a few questions I had.
The driver works over such a broad range of voltages and output levels that I will be incorporating one in my under-cabinet kitchen LED lighting project. And it just so happens that it has a firmware feature set for this very use!

Can you explain the switching more? What happens as a result of leaving swb unconnected and what do you connect swa to? I am guessing you are somehow leaving the driver on all the time and using it as a single mode light by using a tail switch to switch power on and off. I just got a few of these and was hoping there is a way to use them without a momentary switch. Congrats on the mod in any case.

 

[bansuri]

The Novatac has a signal path from the switch on the tail that closes to ground. SWA is the signal in, SWB is ground, which is already supplied on the other side of the switch.
The battery board has a contact for (+), (-), and the (-) momentary that is supplied by the button on the tail. You can see 3 wires attached to the back of the battery contact board in the first picture.
The driver is unable to switch modes without a signal to the SWA pad, ideally a switch between SWA and SWB, but this method worked also as it is roughly the electrical equivalent.
This driver is not like the typical P60 drop-in driver that allows you to cycle through different modes by powering on and off. It has a ton of programmable features that need to be accessed via a momentary switch.
The good news is that the switch can be as tiny as you like it since it carries such a small signal.

 

[gt40]

The Novatac has a signal path from the switch on the tail that closes to ground. SWA is the signal in, SWB is ground, which is already supplied on the other side of the switch.
The battery board has a contact for (+), (-), and the (-) momentary that is supplied by the button on the tail. You can see 3 wires attached to the back of the battery contact board in the first picture.
The driver is unable to switch modes without a signal to the SWA pad, ideally a switch between SWA and SWB, but this method worked also as it is roughly the electrical equivalent.
This driver is not like the typical P60 drop-in driver that allows you to cycle through different modes by powering on and off. It has a ton of programmable features that need to be accessed via a momentary switch.
The good news is that the switch can be as tiny as you like it since it carries such a small signal.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[fl0t]

Thank you so much for this post, bansuri!
I am attempting to do this exact same mod with a little twist. Your pictures are very helpful.

Keep modding!

 

[sween1911]

Dude! Bumping this thread up! Working on my Novatacs, I'm pretty sure the one head is toast. This info is GOLD for getting it working again.