Drop-in no go

Got my new Malkoff drop-in yesterday but I'm having trouble getting it to work. It won't turn on. Works fine in the first picture switched on with the bezel off but when I put the bezel on and tighten it down it starts to lose contact and when tight goes completely off. Any suggestions? :thinking:

Probably a bit of over anodizing inside the body. If you can identify the area, a little sanding should fix it.

If you push the malkoff all the way down into the body with the bezel off then will it work?

No, unless I hold it down and slide it around a little then it will come on and go off(as I slide it)

Then it is losing contact.And anodizing is your problem.Look inside the body where the drop in goes an see if that's it.

I'll give it a light sanding - OK sanded inside the body where the drop-in sits as well as the top edge seems much better but when I put the bezel on and tighten it flickers and goes out. Maybe the bezel inside threads are over anodized also?
Looks gunmetal on the inside of the bezel maybe I'll hit it with the wire wheel dremel.

Does it look like there is some in there."different color then just aluminum"

Sounds like you need the 'wrap in tin-foil trick' with that host.

As good as any a reason to get a real host.

Thanks for the helpful post carrot. Oh it's 99% as real as my surefire's just needs a little modding just tryin to mix it up a little that's what this hobby is all about I thought anyway.

OK so now that u have sanded when u push the drop in ALL the way in with the bezel off does it work perfect?

Malkoffs and Solarforces have been known to have a bit of a problem with connectivity. Since I don't have a Malkoff I try to learn from users who have seen such issue. I know that you can use the extra contact ring from a Solarforce dropin to ensure connectivity. This does give a slight rattle of some sort but according to other users it's not too disturbing.

I don't think it's the threads.To much anodized on them does not matter.You can put a malkoff in a G2 and it will work

Did the Solarforce bezel come with a spacer ring that you drop into the bezel first and then put in the LED module? It looks like your Malkoff presses against the inside face of the bezel's glass window. Probably what is happening is not an anodizing issue. The deal is that the solid brass Malkoff body has trouble with reliable electrical contact for some 6P type bodies because the brass heat sink shape doesn't conform to the interior profile of the flashlight's neck. The classic case is a SureFire weaponlight. That's why Malkoff offers his copper fitting ring. When you manually press down on the Malkoff, you can bottom out the drop-in and make electrical contact. The Solarforce bezel probably isn't pushing the Malkoff down far enough, which is the function of the bezel spacer ring. The Malkoff is sensitive to this because it doesn't use an outer spring.

The simple solution is to wrap the Malkoff in foil so that the full body makes solid (not intermittent) contact to the flashlight neck. Then you will definitely have good ground contact.

jake25 said:

Malkoffs and Solarforces have been known to have a bit of a problem with connectivity. Since I don't have a Malkoff I try to learn from users who have seen such issue. I know that you can use the extra contact ring from a Solarforce dropin to ensure connectivity. This does give a slight rattle of some sort but according to other users it's not too disturbing.

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Bet your right if it works without the bezel on when you push it all the way down then whats happening is that the head is not pushing the drop in down far enough to make contact.

Ronin said:

Thanks for the helpful post carrot. Oh it's 99% as real as my surefire's just needs a little modding just tryin to mix it up a little that's what this hobby is all about I thought anyway.

Click to expand...

I second Carrot, my 6P works with my Malkoff drop in with no problems.

Now that you've exposed bare aluminum by sanding, you'll get perfect contact by wraping with aluminium foil or tape and you'll also be enhancing the thermal path for the heat to transfer to the body of your light. Normally the electical contact should be made at the bottom of the pill but i think perhaps the module is too short for your host. Thats why many of the cheaper modules use the second spring. The second spring makes a universal fit.

I've had this problem before with different hosts including surefire hosts. You can fix it by putting a spring around the end. Some P60 dropins come with the spring, and I've just used one of them on an M60 to get contact with some hosts.

*Update* I was not sure at first I thought maybe the spring on the Malkoff was off center too much but I don't think that matters. When I slide the drop-in over and it makes contact with the side it stays on 100% You guys are dead on as I think it needs the foil trick and/or a spring from another drop in. Originally I thought as long as it was making contact with the top it should come on. I'm going to wrap it with some foil first try that then maybe get a spring from somewhere. Thank you so much for the help I will keep you updated and maybe try to take a couple beamshots!

I have several Solarforce hosts. They are not all machined to the exact same dimensions. I have Malkoff units that work in most but not in certain others unless I use a spring or lots of foil to tighten up contact of the Malkoff brass housing to the Solarforce housing. I am sure that the Solarforce housing on your unit came a little loose. Gene makes sure his modules are a proper fit to SureFire 6P type hosts. The Aluminum Foil is the best way to insure both good electrical contact and thermal transfer to your specific host's loose cavity. I have had excellent results with mine.