NEUTRAL moded COPPER MARATAC AAA *LOTS OF PICS*

this is the 1st (that i know of) neutral moded COPPER maratac AAA.
it was slightly different than the green led mod i did on an aluminum maratac AAA.

on to the pictures

i used some snap ring pliers to take the head out, along with the help of heat.



this piece of plastic that centers the LED comes right out.



the new NEUTRAL XPG_R4



first things first! clean out all of this white thermal stuff.



heat the underside of the PCB to remove the LED, (make sure and mark which side is positive and which is negative, because theres no markings that i saw on the PCB)



then use the same method to heat the solder and drop the neutral r4 onto the PCB



i chose to use some arctic alumina thermal adhesive to secure the led in place.



solder the wires, then center the LED with the plastic cap, and give it about 45 minutes to set.



screw the pill into the head of the light, and the first (that i know of) neutral XPG_R4 copper maratac AAA is born!!!!



thanks!
jake

Very neatly done sir, looks factory.

Nice! Have two questions...

How difficult was getting the pill out? You say you had to use heat... what kind?

Hows the beam since you went from an XPE to XPG? Any donut?

I'm tempted to get one and do the same mod...

Thanks for posting your pics!

netprince said:

Nice! Have two questions...

How difficult was getting the pill out? You say you had to use heat... what kind?

Hows the beam since you went from an XPE to XPG? Any donut?

I'm tempted to get one and do the same mod...

Thanks for posting your pics!

Click to expand...

i used a butane windproof lighter on a low setting and put the flame on the head while turning it, ( the objective is to get it warm, NOT HOT) then unscrew the pill. it took a little bit of force to get the glue to break, but not much.

i really didnt even notice a donut untill i looked closely, there is a slight donut at 1/2" away which (to me) isnt noticeable unless you look for it

Hey nicely done guide and good job with all the pictures

Now we need a beamshot or did you do that with the aluminum version? Same thing right

the one thing i forgot to do was take a before beamshot, but if someone posts one of the stock cu maratac, we can compare them.

im waiting for it to get dark to take a more accurate picture

double post

This looks like a fun mod, I think you have convinced me. If its not too much trouble, would you snap a picture of the snap ring pliers and the bottom of the pill where the pliers engage the pill?

Thanks again for the pics and info, I'm gona have to get one...

Double post. Sorry.

Very nice!:thumbsup: You make it look so easy! I butchered a couple mini AAs trying to get the pill out.

Did you just heat the board with your soldering iron? Also, did you add some solder paste or did you just set the new LED on the solder that was left?

Nice work, Jake !

Thank you for sharing this with us.


:goodjob::kewlpics::thanks:

_

Zendude said:

Very nice!:thumbsup: You make it look so easy! I butchered a couple mini AAs trying to get the pill out.

Did you just heat the board with your soldering iron? Also, did you add some solder paste or did you just set the new LED on the solder that was left?

Click to expand...

ive done this a few times, i found the best way to do it is to put some solder onto the tip of the iron, and use it to heat the bottom of the pcb. i haven't had to add solder, there should be enough on the pad. just set it on top, heat it up, and when the solder melts, it will pull it into the pcb.

netprince said:

This looks like a fun mod, I think you have convinced me. If its not too much trouble, would you snap a picture of the snap ring pliers and the bottom of the pill where the pliers engage the pill?

Thanks again for the pics and info, I'm gona have to get one...

Click to expand...

I highly recommend getting one of these lights, i sold my aluminum one on the marketplace a few months ago, and this one is way better. the added weight is awesome, and makes it feel like a quality light, while the aluminum AAA is a little on the light side IMO. the treads are super smooth and even installing a new battery is smooth.

i got the ones from harbor freight for $2.99 that have the interchangeable heads, i filed them to a point because the holes were smaller than the pins.



i put the head onto the pliers, heated it, then twisted, and it came free pretty easily.

Thanks for posting this man. Im a copper junky and have had one of these AAAs on my keychain since they came out. I always wondered if someone would mod them eventually. great work man!

Very nice mod. Also I've never used bare emitters before because I don't really know how to mount them. How difficult is your way of soldering the LED to the board? I'm assuming a hot soldering iron is needed?

Thanks!

its easy to me, but when i first started soldering it was alot harder, practice makes perfect, so id suggest to practice on a dead / spare led, but its very simple, just make sure you line up the contacts properly

Where is a good place to buy the emitters? I want to try this but I love my Copper maratac! im afraid I will screw it up.

I had a neutral leftover from upgrading my D10 to XML

For single leds I would try ledsupply.com.

I got my light in and modded it too. I followed Jake's pictures and method, it was very easy. Thanks for posting.