Blindasabat
Flashlight Enthusiast
I finally got a Hakko soldering iron (for Christmas) and replaced the resistors in three L1 tailcaps tonight. I repaired a 100 ohm I put in a while ago, then replaced two others. One with a 20 and another with two 100 ohm resistors in parallel for a resulting 50 ohm tailcap. I am using these on Malkoff M60W, three direct drive K2 modded L1 heads, a Milky 900mA 1st gen KL1, a 2nd gen KL1, an SOB1000 modded KX1, and a Cree L1. I discovered the tailcap of the Milky KL1 had already been modified to 30 ohms. Nice. Now I don't even have a stock 10 ohm tailcap anymore, just 20, 30, 50, and 100 ohms. <<Edit - oops, I found another 10 ohm tail cap>>
I have discovered that the trick to getting these tailcaps open for modding is to
1) Unscrew the ring around the rubber boot
2) Pull off the boot revealing the head of a plastic pin that holds the switch into the aluminum housing
3) Take two flat screwdrivers or other prybar shaped tools and pry two opposite sides of the head of the plastic pin upward at the same time. If you pry only one side, you will break the head off the pin. You will get the switch out, but will have to either glue the head back on or bore it out for a screw like Milky did.
4) Then the switch 'guts' will fall out the other side.
5) Take one of your small regular screwdrivers and pry off the plastic housing opposite of the coil spring. The housing is held on by three pins. Try not to break these either.
6) You will see the resistor soldered to the board. Desolder it and replace with the desired resistor.
7) push it all back together the way you took it apart.
The 'trick was in step Three: using the two small screwdrivers to pop out the plastic pin without breaking it. It takes breaking one to learn how they are put together.
I have discovered that the trick to getting these tailcaps open for modding is to
1) Unscrew the ring around the rubber boot
2) Pull off the boot revealing the head of a plastic pin that holds the switch into the aluminum housing
3) Take two flat screwdrivers or other prybar shaped tools and pry two opposite sides of the head of the plastic pin upward at the same time. If you pry only one side, you will break the head off the pin. You will get the switch out, but will have to either glue the head back on or bore it out for a screw like Milky did.
4) Then the switch 'guts' will fall out the other side.
5) Take one of your small regular screwdrivers and pry off the plastic housing opposite of the coil spring. The housing is held on by three pins. Try not to break these either.
6) You will see the resistor soldered to the board. Desolder it and replace with the desired resistor.
7) push it all back together the way you took it apart.
The 'trick was in step Three: using the two small screwdrivers to pop out the plastic pin without breaking it. It takes breaking one to learn how they are put together.
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