Shortening the # of turns on my Lummi Raw

[gelhard]

Hi all I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the way I asked my question. I know I've seen this mentioned before on the form but for all of my searching I can't find it.
My Lummi Raw take a turn and a 1/8 to go from low to high beam and I'm wondering if there is a way to shorten up the turn amount between the two settings.
Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[Launch Mini]

I'm no expert, but I don't think so.
His threads are very gradual, and they seem to need that amount of vertical movement to activate high.
Cutting down or building anything up wouldn't help either.
I just think it is that amount of movement required to trigger the setting

 

[BVH]

Yes there is. I tuned my RAW so that there is approximately a 15 - 20 degree turn (around 1/8 of a full turn) btw low and high. I'll qualify the below instructions by saying they work on an older RAW. Mine is two years old. I have not seen any recent RAWS so I cannot say if this is still a viable mod on new RAWS.

There are two ways to accomplish this. If you look at the battery side of the pc board, you'll see a pin sticking down. The length of the pin that protrudes below the surface of the board determines the amount of turn btw low and high. To reduce the amount of turns, either very carefully begin to file down the pin (in very small increments), checking frequently between filings to see how much you have reduced the turns. I repeat, don't take much off between your checks. If you go too far, you'll loose "low" for good.

The other method is to very carefully melt the solder holding the pin to the board and try to move it up (shorten its length). I did not have much luck using this method. Filing was easier as long as you don't ever want to go back the other direction.

Also, my RAW is about 2 years old. When I asked about doing the same mod to a newer RAW, Rob recommended not to do this because the pin is Gold/or gold plated. My guess is that if it's gold plated, you'll remove the gold and therefore the benefit of the gold contact. My RAW doesn't miss a beat after two years of frequent use and it's not gold.

 

[fyrstormer]

Shave down the spring-loaded brass contact that engages the low mode, so it's closer to the surface of the PCB. I did it on my Raw TI and it had exactly the effect you're looking for.

 

[MikeSalt]

Don't do it too short though, otherwise you will never be able to achieve the low setting. Take a small bit off then test, then some more and test etc...

 

[fyrstormer]

What you want is to have the pin stick out about 1mm. It's pretty hard to eyeball unless you have a bench grinder so you can hold the board perfectly still while you touch it against the grinder wheel, so the next best thing is to benchmark it against a couple of business cards printed on card stock.

 

[MikeSalt]

What you want is to have the pin stick out about 1mm. It's pretty hard to eyeball unless you have a bench grinder so you can hold the board perfectly still while you touch it against the grinder wheel, so the next best thing is to benchmark it against a couple of business cards printed on card stock.

Nice advice there fyrstromer. It think my Raw Ti low mode needs a little adjustment, but it might just be because I haven't used it often enough lately (since losing my Wee Ti, I have been scared to use the Raw Ti in case I lose that too.)

 

[fyrstormer]

Also, if you have access to a Dremel with a polishing bit, a little red polish will do nicely to smooth the forward lip of the battery tube so the light flickers less as the low-mode pin slides across the lip.

I put little slips of paper in the battery tubes of my expensive lights with my phone number and an offer for a $50 reward, something low enough that most people would be able to believe it without necessarily thinking they just scored the iPhone of the flashlight world. Hopefully I'll never have to find out if it works.

 

[MikeSalt]

Also, if you have access to a Dremel with a polishing bit, a little red polish will do nicely to smooth the forward lip of the battery tube so the light flickers less as the low-mode pin slides across the lip.

I put little slips of paper in the battery tubes of my expensive lights with my phone number and an offer for a $50 reward, something low enough that most people would be able to believe it without necessarily thinking they just scored the iPhone of the flashlight world. Hopefully I'll never have to find out if it works.

Two excellent ideas there!:twothumbs I tried cleaning the lip with a pencil eraser, but I think something like this should really smooth out the flickers.