Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree dropin

[Icarus]

I started with DX module #11836. First the head was bored to the diameter of the DX module (tight fit for best possible heatsinking). Then a collar was machined and epoxied to the reflector to compensate for the smaller diameter and missing rim compared to the X80 Lamp. The modded module now fitted the bored head perfectly.



According to the specs of the module input voltage had to be 3.7-18V. Since output voltage of the B90 is only 3.6V (under load) and my battery sticks are really crap I made a holder for 2x18650 cells. The holder is basically a teflon tube with a cap at the bottom and a collar at the top. Both are made out of brass and connected by 22AGW teflon wire. Making the holder was by far the most time consuming part of this mod. There's really not much space to work with. :sick2:



Enjoy the pictures and :thanks: for looking.

 

[cnjl3]

Re: My Surefire 8AX Commander

Very nice job!
Looks real sweet.
Do you have more pic's of your Li-ion battery pack solution that you can share?

 

[nein166]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

That my friend is beautiful. I wish I had done that years ago.
I wish I had the tooling to pull this level of modding off.
But I get along with what I have... a dremel.

Love the glued on ring to keep the reflector off the lens.
And this holder is the grail of the 8AX

BRAVO

 

[collector]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

Very nice mod, am looking for such a host for a mod also...
Please explain the purpose of the caps ?

 

[nein166]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

Very nice mod, am looking for such a host for a mod also...
Please explain the purpose of the caps ?

Collector the 8AX doesn't use the body of the light as the ground. There is a Negative ring around the Positive button in the SF B90 battery stick.
The SF X80 LA has an outer and inner spring that makes contact with these surfaces not the inside of the light body.
It is a twisty (at the head) with a rubber boot permanently pressed into the body.

Icarus uses the Brass Cap to hold the bottom 18650 in the holder and a wire runs up inside the holder to the Brass Ring which the top 18650 can be seen sitting inside. I believe the notches milled into the brass are for soldering on the wire.
I want to clap again, I love this light, and this mod

 

[Icarus]

Re: My Surefire 8AX Commander

Very nice job!
Looks real sweet.
Do you have more pic's of your Li-ion battery pack solution that you can share?

:thanks: for the kind words.
A few more pictures added.

 

[Icarus]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

That my friend is beautiful. I wish I had done that years ago.
I wish I had the tooling to pull this level of modding off.
But I get along with what I have... a dremel.

Love the glued on ring to keep the reflector off the lens.
And this holder is the grail of the 8AX

BRAVO

I think you were first to mod the 8AX so your opinion means a lot to me.
And... you hit the nail on the head with your statement regarding the battery holder. :wave:

 

[Icarus]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

Very nice mod, am looking for such a host for a mod also...
Please explain the purpose of the caps ?

I couldn't explain it better than nein did.

 

[Icarus]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

Collector the 8AX doesn't use the body of the light as the ground. There is a Negative ring around the Positive button in the SF B90 battery stick.
The SF X80 LA has an outer and inner spring that makes contact with these surfaces not the inside of the light body.
It is a twisty (at the head) with a rubber boot permanently pressed into the body.

Icarus uses the Brass Cap to hold the bottom 18650 in the holder and a wire runs up inside the holder to the Brass Ring which the top 18650 can be seen sitting inside. I believe the notches milled into the brass are for soldering on the wire.
I want to clap again, I love this light, and this mod

This explanation shows your knowledge about and your love for the 8AX. :twothumbs

It's indeed a very nice host. The B90 batteries however that came with mine were rubbish. :thumbsdow Due to the two 18650 cells the light has much more potential now (2x3.7x2.2=16.28Wh vs 3x1.2x1.3=4.68Wh with the B90 battery). That's why I consider your statement regarding the battery holder more than justified.

 

[collector]

Re: Surefire 8AX Commander with Cree LE

Nice mod on the battery-holder...

And since the outer-spring of the head does not touch the body, making the body into the NEG(-) end path would not really help that much, eh ?

 

[Icarus]

Nice mod on the battery-holder...

And since the outer-spring of the head does not touch the body, making the body into the NEG(-) end path would not really help that much, eh ?

Right, and besides, making the body into the NEG(-) end path would be really difficult in this host if you want to keep the momentary function.

 

[toby_pra]

Very nice and clean mod again Freddy!

 

[criollo]

Very nice mod!! :thumbsup:

....looks like you've been busy working on your lathe lately.

Brilliant as always !!

 

[Justin Case]

Another nice aspect of the battery construction is that it eliminates the need to attach a spare X80 outer spring to the drop-in to make contact with the negative contact ring. Apparently, the standard outer spring for the DX11836 works fine to make the negative contact. IMO, this is the key innovation.

If you do want to run the DX11836 using a fresh B90 stick, the drop-in should fine. You won't get the max brightness vs say 2x123A or 2xLi-ion, but ~4V powers that drop-in with good brightness. I've run a DX11836 using a single Li-ion and the drop-in is bright.

 

[nein166]

....using a fresh B90 stick, ....~4V powers that drop-in ...

4v off a B90!

LMAO ROTFL

 

[Justin Case]

4v off a B90!

LMAO ROTFL

Whatever. Not sure why you feel you have to be so arrogant about it though. I know my B90 measures 4.x fresh off the charger. 4.3V? 4.4V? I forget now. Note, however, I didn't write exactly "4V". I wrote ~4V, to account for voltage sag.

The real point, however, is that I actually tested my DX11836 on a B90 and it was bright. I've also tested the DX11836 using one Li-ion cell with resting voltage 4.02V. I'm sure that voltage sag would bring the Li-ion below 4V, i.e., ~4V.

 

[Long John]

Your work is always perfect Freddy :twothumbs...:twothumbs...:twothumbs

The time consuming battery holder reminds me to some time at your lathe regarding a light named "Camperlight" ......

Very best regards


___________
:wave:Thomas

 

[Icarus]

Toby, Cassian & Thomas... :thanks: my friends! :wave: