Solarforce light dead all of the sudden?

[Photon_Whisperer]

My new Solarforce R2 1 mode light was working fine, then today, I click it on and a split second later the light goes out. Changed batteries and same thing. I notice that the emitter will glow a very faint blue when it is "on". Any ideas on the source of the problem? Emitter or driver?

 

[Gunner12]

What batteries are you using?

There might be a short so try unscrewing the reflector a little.

 

[Photon_Whisperer]

The solarforce light is sprung on both ends so it isn't very prone to shorting the batts by crushing them. Either way, I just tested it. First I jumpered the tail to make sure it wasn't the clicky and it wasn't. Then I hooked up a 3.7V battery directly to the emitter and it lit up just fine so I think it's the board These things are rated all the way up to 18V so I'm not sure what happened. Oh well, got some boards on the way from DX anyways, I just hope they fit.

 

[Gunner12]

It could have been the reflector shorted out the LED, but I haven't seen the drop-in so there might be a plastic disc to prevent this from happening. A LED short could kill the driver.

I hope you can get it fixed.

 

[My3kidsfather]

The solarforce light is sprung on both ends so it isn't very prone to shorting the batts by crushing them. Either way, I just tested it. First I jumpered the tail to make sure it wasn't the clicky and it wasn't. Then I hooked up a 3.7V battery directly to the emitter and it lit up just fine so I think it's the board These things are rated all the way up to 18V so I'm not sure what happened. Oh well, got some boards on the way from DX anyways, I just hope they fit.

As I just ordered my second SF L2 with two extensions, I will definitely be watching your thread.

 

[Photon_Whisperer]

It could have been the reflector shorted out the LED, but I haven't seen the drop-in so there might be a plastic disc to prevent this from happening. A LED short could kill the driver.

I hope you can get it fixed.

Yeah, I thought about that too but it has a white isolator disc and it's not punctured so I don't think that's it.

I got some DX SKU 1885 1050mA boards on the way, they look to be 1mm too big but I'll see if I can squeeze them in.

 

[ace0001a]

Yeah, I thought about that too but it has a white isolator disc and it's not punctured so I don't think that's it.

I got some DX SKU 1885 1050mA boards on the way, they look to be 1mm too big but I'll see if I can squeeze them in.

DX SKU1885 will only work well if you plan on using a 17670 (18650 won't fit in the solarforce) battery because it accepts a maximum of 4.5 volts. DX SKU3256 has much better voltage flexibility, is a good efficient driver and still gives very good performance at 800mA. I've slapped together a few P60LED dropins with the 3256 driver and other parts from DX with great success. Otherwise if it's going to be too much trouble, you could just buy one of the dropins DX sells (like SKU 11836).

 

[Photon_Whisperer]

DX SKU1885 will only work well if you plan on using a 17670 (18650 won't fit in the solarforce) battery because it accepts a maximum of 4.5 volts. DX SKU3256 has much better voltage flexibility, is a good efficient driver and still gives very good performance at 800mA. I've slapped together a few P60LED dropins with the 3256 driver and other parts from DX with great success. Otherwise if it's going to be too much trouble, you could just buy one of the dropins DX sells (like SKU 11836).

Damn, you're right, forgot about that, thanks. Do you find the coil on the 3256 makes it difficult to fit into the slug? I'll unsolder the current driver tomorrow and see.

 

[kramer5150]

Is the brass pill unscrewed enough from the reflector to press firmly against the body tube? Not sure about the solarforce, but on my 6P. I find its better for the brass pill to bottom out inside the body, before the bezel bottoms out on the outside.

Just tonight my 6P started to flicker and turn dim...??? The heat from the LED was causing the body to expand enough to cause an intermittent contact between the brass pill and body. I took it apart, loosened the pill a little, tightened the bezel and it was fine.

 

[ace0001a]

Is the brass pill unscrewed enough from the reflector to press firmly against the body tube? Not sure about the solarforce, but on my 6P. I find its better for the brass pill to bottom out inside the body, before the bezel bottoms out on the outside.

Just tonight my 6P started to flicker and turn dim...??? The heat from the LED was causing the body to expand enough to cause an intermittent contact between the brass pill and body. I took it apart, loosened the pill a little, tightened the bezel and it was fine.

Yeah I've run into that issue before and that's one of the first things I check the odd occasion one of my flashlights flicker or stop working suddenly.

Damn, you're right, forgot about that, thanks. Do you find the coil on the 3256 makes it difficult to fit into the slug? I'll unsolder the current driver tomorrow and see.

If you're referring to the inductor component on the circuit board, it doesn't get in the way of anything as there is plenty of space inside the brass pill.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Desolder the wires on the top of the pill that are connected to the positive and negative pads on the mcpcb of the emitter.

2. Desolder and set aside the spring on the bottom of the circuit board.

3. Desolder and remove the solder that connects the outside negative circular ring of the bottom of the circuit board to the bottom outside of the brass pill.

4. The driver is then essentally press fitted into the brass pill. Using a flathead precision screw driver, pry out and remove the defective circuit board.

5. Thread the positive and negative wires of the replacement driver through the holes and press fit the new driver circuit board into the bottom of the brass pill.

6. Reverse the rest of the steps and there you go, back in business.

It looks like DX Driver 3256 is out of stock at the moment. Alternatively, you might consider Kaidomain's "Kennan" Driver 2982 as it has been talked about as a highly efficient and good quality driver. It runs a little less mA than DX 3256 at 750mA, but from my experience anything from 700mA+ to the current crop of LEDs still yields high brightness...and at 750mA, you'll get longer runtime while sacrificing little in brightness. So that's something to think about there.

 

[ampdude]

Photon_Whisperer,

What voltage did you run it at? As far as the specs on the Solarforce website, they are rated to 12.6V, not 18V. I've seen differing specs for the multi-mode version, some saying 12.6V, some saying 18V.

I have not gone over 9V with mine yet, but plan to run it on three RCR123A's when they arrive.

Also, did yours flicker at all? Mine flickered a little while back, but I think it has stopped now, might have been just a bad contact.

 

[Photon_Whisperer]

Thanks guys, good stuff. For now, I just ordered a 17670 and will try to drive it at 1A with the 1885 board

Ampdude, it was just ~8V with 2 RCR123s. I didn't notice any flicker on mine.

One thing though, when I direct drove the LED to test it, it was for less than a second. The pill got surprisingly hot, hope I didn't just cut the life of the LED. Should have drained the RCR123s some more, they were still around 4V.