Smartfire M-504C repair

Raymond

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
Messages
260
Location
Netherlands
light fixed, see below

I broke my smartfire M-504C flashlight

When I first opened it (I was curious), I managed to tangle the wires inside and they were torn off of the PCB's :mecry:

I think I did not connect the led the proper way, when I "fixed" the light, because after it was switched on for about 10minutes, it flickered a little and then went out permanently.

The led itself is working fine, but I think the driver board has failed. For now, I hotwired the led directly to batteries, through a 1.5ohm resistor, so I can still use the flashlight.

So, I'm looking for some items that I can use to repair my flashlight.

I need both a driver board and a switch (I think)

I was thinking about this driver. It appears to be able to handle the input voltage (which in my flashlight is 4.8-6V), and also has different modes (a little too much, but I can live with that :) ) It is also one of the few that's in stock.

Also, the switch in this flashlight is a "push-button" switch (contact when pressed, no contact when released). It's not an on-off switch. This switch is mounted on a PCB (I'm not exactly sure what this PCB does and if it's still working). Is that a problem, or do most led-lights work with such a switch to control the driver board?
If not, I'll need a different switch and I'll have to find a way to mount it in the flashlight (The switch in this flashlight is mounted on the side of the barrel). I'll order switches of different types, they cost practically nothing.

And since I'm busy anyways :sigh: , I included this one in my order too :)

Did I order the right items? (will they work in my situation)
How do I connect them all? I don't see where the switch goes. The driver board connects to the batteries and to the led. Does it also have a connection for the switch? Or does the switch need to be connected inline with the driverboard and the batteries?

Thanks for your help :)
 
Last edited:

big beam

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
521
Location
upstate ny
Mine stopped working after a few hours.I striped all the stuff off the circuit board and used a 5588 switch and a 3256 board from DX It draws 700ma from the batteries with either Ni-Mh or alki's.I epoxied the switch to the old blank board and there is lots of room for the new board on the other side of the old board.I found this to be a good fix.
DON
 

Raymond

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
Messages
260
Location
Netherlands
Great, thanks!

I ordered different parts last weekend, but they're similar (just a little different board and a switch that's actually in stock).

Good to know that the light can be repaired this way :)
 

Raymond

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
Messages
260
Location
Netherlands
The parts arrived earlier this week, and after some experimentation, the light works again!

I've changed the led for a Cree Q5 (difference is hardly noticable).
I changed the switch with this one, which works just fine. I first put in one of the square DX switches, but they're not on/off (they switch between different output pins), which was quite annoying.

I'm not so happy with the driver. It works exactly like it's supposed to, but 3 groups with 19modes in total is just overkill. Sometimes a different mode gets activated and the light starts strobing when I just want a different output level.
I've ordered one of the 3mode 1.2A drivers from kaidomain and will put that one in when it arrives.

But for now, the light is back in working order :party:

It's a real thrower. Very bright very small hotspot, which easily lights up objects 300ft away. It draws a little over 1A on high, which means over 4h of runtime with my 5000mah c-cells :)
It draws 100mA on low, which translates into days of runtime :)
 
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