Anyone opened up an Inova Bolt yet?

I've got an Inova Bolt 2L (2xCR123, advertised 4.6watt LED) that's an "ok" flashlight. It's not built to my previous Inova expectations, but it is pretty solid, and the beam pattern is very nice.

However, it's just not bright enough for what 2 CR123's should be capable of

Has anyone managed to pop open the head on one of these guys and swap out the LED for something better? Looks like a luxeon, so it'll probably want an SSC P4 in return.

I just haven't had any luck trying to pry open the top, and I don't want to end up breaking the light, unless I'm the first one to try this.

I hear you need a big socket wrench to open one up

Yeah, extreme difficulty in taking one apart is the big reason why I don't care much for Inova flashlights :thumbsdow. I recently had an X0 and X03 I tried to take apart without any luck, suffice it to say they were returned back the store. It's too bad because they seem to be of good quality...but when you're a flashlight enthusiast like most of the people here, the ability to mod and/or upgrade is something we all would like to be able to do with our flashlights.

ace0001a said:

I recently had an X0 and X03 I tried to take apart without any luck, suffice it to say they were returned back the store. It's too bad because they seem to be of good quality...but when you're a flashlight enthusiast like most of the people here, the ability to mod and/or upgrade is something we all would like to be able to do with our flashlights.

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Easy access to internals, in order for a very small handful of flashaholics to mod such lights, was likely low on the design priority list. Not a good reason to cost the store, and/or Inova money on two lights because you couldn't open them. :thumbsdow

Sounds like they were in fine working order (assuming no damage from trying to open them). Coulda' just sold 'em on BST to minimize your loss.

Bimmerboy said:

Easy access to internals, in order for a very small handful of flashaholics to mod such lights, was likely low on the design priority list. Not a good reason to cost the store, and/or Inova money on two lights because you couldn't open them. :thumbsdow

Sounds like they were in fine working order (assuming no damage from trying to open them). Coulda' just sold 'em on BST to minimize your loss.

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I am very careful with handling anything I buy (something I got from my short comic book collecting days), so they were returned in fine condition...I also make an effort not to damage packaging. In any case, I wasn't satisfied with the product and the store's policy allows that as a reason for returns. It was of no cost to the store as I saw them back on the shelf a couple days later...and the last time I checked, they were sold. No harm, no foul...

For the record, I did try to sell them at CPFMP without any luck.

There are threads on opening Inova lights using the "freeze-pop" method.
I am not much of a modder, but I did it to one of my old TIROS ones without much fuss. The bezel is pressed in and can be removed this way:
1) Fill it COMPLETELY with water (close it while under water)
2) Place a coin in the tail cap to protect it (use something sticky to keep it there?)
3) freeze it while on it's side. Some small part of the bezel should push out a millimeter or so.
4) thaw and repeat steps 1-4 until the bezel and optic are free.
5) Now repeat again for the driver and LED/heatsink module.

Some of the newer ones have a screw off bezel ring, but I remember (don't quote me on this) that they freeze-popped the same way.

ace0001a said:

Yeah, extreme difficulty in taking one apart is the big reason why I don't care much for Inova flashlights . I recently had an X0 and X03 I tried to take apart without any luck, suffice it to say they were returned back the store. It's too bad because they seem to be of good quality...but when you're a flashlight enthusiast like most of the people here, the ability to mod and/or upgrade is something we all would like to be able to do with our flashlights.

Click to expand...

ace0001a said:

I am very careful with handling anything I buy (something I got from my short comic book collecting days), so they were returned in fine condition...I also make an effort not to damage packaging.

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Perhaps it's just a matter of communication that has me confused, but there are a number of things in your explanation that don't make sense to me. Of the questions that almost automatically came to mind while reading, perhaps the most compelling is... how did you get the lights out without damaging the blister pack?

Or, does "extreme difficulty in taking one apart" mean you weren't able to get the lights out of the packaging in the first place? :laughing:

Bimmerboy said:

Perhaps it's just a matter of communication that has me confused, but there are a number of things in your explanation that don't make sense to me. Of the questions that almost automatically came to mind while reading, perhaps the most compelling is... how did you get the lights out without damaging the blister pack?

Or, does "extreme difficulty in taking one apart" mean you weren't able to get the lights out of the packaging in the first place? :laughing:

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Well I was simply trying to convey my opinion about them. It's not me to make things political here or what I think are wrongs and rights...to me this is simply a flashlight forum where ideas are shared and absorbed with a little judgement as possible...basically I try to keep an open mind here and understand that what's right or wrong to one person can vastly be different to another.

I've been in and around retail for a long time and quite frankly, learning and/or understanding packaging is something that is simply part of retail. I've worked in retail situations where my job was to essentially "repackage" things to be put back on the shelf. To me, the fact that people buy and return things doesn't faze me and I simply accept it as part of life. Because I know there's a chance I could buy something that has been returned makes me feel that it's fair that I could return something if I wasn't satisfied...and to me, it's as simple as that. So I honestly am surprised when someone actually takes issue with this subject here.

With that said, I have never found Inova packaging difficult to open carefully. Seems most of the time they don't fully seal them around with the ones I come across. In fact I think I have heard of people complain about that here because there's nothing stopping a scammer from pulling them out of the package at the store and doing some sort of switch. To me, you just gently stretch the one of the sides enough to get your hands in there to take them out of the packaging...and putting them back in is just as straight forward.

As for trying to get them open, I always make sure to put heavy protection around the areas where I am going to clamp to attempt opening. I got as far as taking off the stainless steel bezel on the X0. After that, I couldn't figure out where to go and I didn't want to break it. So I screwed the bezel back on and back into the packaging it went. Since I figured the X03 would be the same, it also went back into the packaging.

Getting back on topic, I have never opened a Inova Bolt and I would assume it's just as hard as the X0 I had no luck with. Like I said before, it's too bad Inovas are so hard to get into...as a flashaholic, I like the quality of the lights and would have love to be able to easily mod them.