Novatac or Ra driver into new host

I have just about settled on the Novatac/Ra being my favorite UI ever. I would like to see a slightly smaller Ra (namely thinner so I can EDC it in office wear pockets with a deep carry bezel down clip), but that does not seem likely to appear so I have started to wonder if I can transplant a NT 120P or Ra driver into a host like a Peak Rainier or something of that size with a similar silent momentary switch.

The EX10 is close to perfect UI too (and a better size) but needs head twisting to go from momentary to constant on, while the HDS UI is still the best way for me. I have my HDS & NT set up with simple momentary enabled and think it is the best idea since the wheel.

One problem I see is making the driver work in a new host since it uses multi-contact with a seperate signal path to operate.
Solution: use a floating battery and an Arc/FireFly2 switch at the head to signal. There is a name for that type switch, but I can not recall it right now.

I don't know the diameter of the driver - does anybody? It may not fit in anything smaller diameter than the Ra 0.95" (24.1mm), but I'll have to find that out. If it can't fit in anything smaller, then I may just mod a NT head onto a thinner body. A body with a small raised ring about 50mm from the tail for cigar grip activation. Less of the length at 24mm the better for me.

Any other problems with transplanting the NT driver into an alternate host I'm not seeing? I've never seen it done before, so I wonder why not?

I have been thinking about a light like this for a long time and may have found a concept worth spending a few hundy making it happen.

The basics
* XP-E & XP-G swappable PILs (throw & flood options)
* Ledil Tina XP-E 7deg or LXP 5.5deg optics
* Slim steel bezel ring like the EX10
* Peak brass momentary switch to push the battery forward (silent!) or maybe the EX10 style piston.
* RCR123 with possible 14500/17500 body option/extender
* Not more than ~95mm long
* Aluminum body with grip features - I'll get it Ceracoated or H-Ano'd
* EX10, VG, or other bezel down clip - preferably AiTN? (black) coated

There, I just had to write that all down.

The first problem I see is removing the driver without killing it. That Novatac epoxy is :sick2:. I can provide pictures of the 120P I killed after Novatac gave me the sad news that it needed new brains...

Yeah, that would help! Thanks. Did you or can you measure it? Height/Diameter?

If I can't extract the driver, then maybe I can cut around it and remove it in a small can to be dropped into a new host. Depends.

Sounds like what you need is a LiteFlux LF3XT. It has a simple UI that's pretty close to the NiteCore SmartPD's, and a full-featured UI that's pretty close to the Arc4+/HDS/NovaTac/Ra. And, it's both thinner and (a little) shorter than a NovaTac.

Edit: And there's also the LF2XT if you want the same in a AAA/10440 form-factor.

There's a reason we don't see tons of custom built lights with the Novatac driver in them.

When I did my first Novatac rebuild, I was excited to have a Novatac driver to put in something else. I started removing the circuit board ever so carefully but it just wouldn't budge. I resigned myself to the fact that I was putting my own driver in the LE anyway, so I decided to put some more force behind it. My dreams of re-using the driver were shattered when the board separated from all the components. All the components (surface mount or otherwise) remained securely inside the epoxy potting. I had to use a drill to grind everything out of the LE so I could use it for the rebuild... it was a rather sad experience destroying such a "work of art". I am happy to report though that the sadness was short lived... I LOVE my Novatac P7!!!

So the short of it is, the only way you will get the Novatac driver to work in another light is by mounting an emitterless Novatac LE inside another light, with the new power and signal wires connected directly to the back of the contact board. There is unfortunately no way to put it in a smaller body. :mecry:

That might be what I have to do. Put an entire NT or Ra light engine in another host. Do you think I can cut some small amount off the outside of the LE to make it smaller without hitting the driver?
Thanks a lot for the benefit of your experience.

bluecrow76 said:

<...> So the short of it is, the only way you will get the Novatac driver to work in another light is by mounting an emitterless Novatac LE inside another light...

Click to expand...

Maybe I should look at the LF3XT UI again. I considered it a while ago, but I may have been unsure of some details of the UI and it seemed more difficult to do emitter swaps. I posted a few months ago asking if anyone had done one and nobody had yet.

Blindasabat said:

Maybe I should look at the LF3XT UI again. I considered it a while ago, but I may have been unsure of some details of the UI and it seemed more difficult to do emitter swaps. I posted a few months ago asking if anyone had done one and nobody had yet.

Click to expand...

Being a fan of both the LFxXT UI and the Ra/HDS/Novatac UI, I don't think of them as mutually interchangeable when it comes to choosing one as a replacement for the other. I love the momentary, push to high and 4 levels. I also love saved user setting, instant shortcut to high or low.

Very interested in seeing what you come up with!

Blindasabat said:

Do you think I can cut some small amount off the outside of the LE to make it smaller without hitting the driver?

Click to expand...

The wall of the LE isn't very thick. I don't think you could take off enough to make a significant difference, but I don't know what kind of tolerances you are working with. The other issue is the outside contact point on the rear contact board is so close to the outside of the LE that it would also limit how much you could remove.

Blindasabat said:

Maybe I should look at the LF3XT UI again.

Click to expand...

I EDC two lights daily: either a stock 120P or a K2 modded 85P, and my always present Novatac P7. The thing I like most about the Novatac UI is the ability to go from one level to any other level based on the number of clicks. Although the LF3XT is a really cool, well built light, with a very innovative UI, it lacked that capability that I had become so used to. I ended up selling it on the CPFMP, but I am glad I got to play with it. Having said that, make sure you try it out for yourself! It may be just the thing your looking for.

I look forward to seeing what you drop the Novatac driver into! :twothumbs

Looking at the LF3XT UI, there were a couple of things I didn't like. There is a delay turning on and off. You have to click four times to go into and out of momentary mode and then are stuck at one level while the simple momentary of the NT allows level changes, ramping, and full funtionality in a brilliant way. I still may get an LF3XT to try it out though. It should make for a smaller light and the new clip looks great.

That said, I have a preliminary working sketch of what I might like so far if I have to use the NT or Ra head or one shaped and sized like them.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery...321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee



The midbody ridge will be cross shaped (cut out in four spots) for grip options.

A couple of questions:
1) for those that have had the NT light engine out, how TALL is it?
2) Does the Ra allow ramping outside the options menu like the Novatac? Or is it like the HDS?

Blindasabat said:

1) for those that have had the NT light engine out, how TALL is it?

Click to expand...

It is just over 16.7 mm, including the raised bumbs that contact the battery. It's about 16.66 mm without the bumbs.

16.7mm ends up looking very tall in the newly redrawn layout. Does that 16.7mm include the emitter?

The length has increased to 91mm with that driver and a Ledil LXP 5.5degree XP-G optic. I had to increase the length a little more than in the layout above to fit a stock (longer than it needs to be to me...) Peak momentary switch. I may make a much shorter and more simple one piece switch. It appeas I don't gain a lot of size reduction if I have to keep the entire 48mm (-ish depending on bezel) Novatac head.

More driver/board/signal path mystery: The NT body and signal spring (I've always thought/heard the spring is for switch signal sending) both appear to contact the same pad on the light engine. I though they had to have a separate signal path, so now I'm confused as to how I need to send the switch signal. More investigation is needed.