think2x
Flashlight Enthusiast
Have a dead Novatac or one that is unreliable? I have a couple in the bin myself so I needed to come up with a project to use them. I have heard from several members that a McClicky or pretty much any clicky switch would not fit........I say "challenge accepted".
To make this build even have a chance I had to start at the tail and work my way forward. I made a disk of copper 22.7mm to match the existing switch diameter and drilled out the center so that a McClicky would fit through it completely. I then made a pair of arms that would connect from the copper disk to the base connection of the McClicky and soldered them to the disk. I then slid the Clicky in place to test fit. It looked good after some minor adjustments so I soldered the arms to the Clicky base ring.
Next I used a spare rubber button I had in the bin 14mm diameter and the proper depth for the switch. The same switch cover used in the McClicky Surefire z41 upgrade works great here. Install the switch cover, side the new switch assembly in and use the Novatac locking ring to hold it in. Check operation with my DMM and it's all good.
Here you can see that the McClicky goes way further into the body than the original switch.
And here's a shot of the tail and body with an Efest IMR18350 showing how much room the switch takes up. I then compressed the battery slightly to simulate preload when the light is assembled and measured the battery "stick out". Save this number for later.
The Novatac head has a beveled ramp that holds the reflector in. Remove this by drilling/dremeling until the head has the same I.D. throughout. Screw the empty head on the body (battery removed). Measure the depth from the body face to the top. Take that measurement and subtract the thickness of the lens and also subtract the length of the threaded section of the bezel ring. This measurement is the length of the heatsink "shell" AKA 3/4" copper plumbing pipe.
Next calculate how thick the center of the heatsink needs to be.
Length of copper tubing from the last step SUBTRACT the height of the triple and optic (7.6mm) then SUBTRACT the number we got from the battery "stickout" above then SUBTRACT the thickness of the driver (including the contact spring).
On mine it totals 5mm which worked out to 4 copper disks. I used the same copper piping to make the disks. Cut them to length, split them up one side and pry/hammer them flat before cutting them to size.
After the copper is all the proper size you need to make a jig to gauge the heatsink face to the correct depth. Use something that solder will not stick to. I cut a section of spare mini maglite body to 7.6mm to match the height of the emitter/optic combo but any aluminum will work. Stand up the copper tubing and place the aluminum spacer inside of it on something that can take the heat (I used the concrete floor). Place the first disk in making sure it's squared up and using a torch, solder it in place. Continue stacking and soldering until all four are done. Drill a hole through the center for wiring and dremel to smooth out everything.
One the backside (driver) of the heatsink I cut another ring of copper the thickness of the driver minus the spring. This is used to reduce the 20mm I.D. of the copper to the 17mm of the driver. You have to "pie cut" a section out of it and rebend it slightly to make it fit inside of the 3.4" copper tube.
Here's a not so great shot of the driver sitting inside of the reducer and thermally potted inplace.
Here's the triple board thermally glued in and wired and a shot of the optic in place.
Here it is all assembled and working as it should. This one is 3 mode 5/30/100%
Low 5% is 115ma and should be around 45-50 Lumens.
Medium 30% is 916ma and should be around 275-300 lumens
High 100% is 3060ma and should be around 870 Lumens.
To make this build even have a chance I had to start at the tail and work my way forward. I made a disk of copper 22.7mm to match the existing switch diameter and drilled out the center so that a McClicky would fit through it completely. I then made a pair of arms that would connect from the copper disk to the base connection of the McClicky and soldered them to the disk. I then slid the Clicky in place to test fit. It looked good after some minor adjustments so I soldered the arms to the Clicky base ring.
Next I used a spare rubber button I had in the bin 14mm diameter and the proper depth for the switch. The same switch cover used in the McClicky Surefire z41 upgrade works great here. Install the switch cover, side the new switch assembly in and use the Novatac locking ring to hold it in. Check operation with my DMM and it's all good.
Here you can see that the McClicky goes way further into the body than the original switch.
And here's a shot of the tail and body with an Efest IMR18350 showing how much room the switch takes up. I then compressed the battery slightly to simulate preload when the light is assembled and measured the battery "stick out". Save this number for later.
The Novatac head has a beveled ramp that holds the reflector in. Remove this by drilling/dremeling until the head has the same I.D. throughout. Screw the empty head on the body (battery removed). Measure the depth from the body face to the top. Take that measurement and subtract the thickness of the lens and also subtract the length of the threaded section of the bezel ring. This measurement is the length of the heatsink "shell" AKA 3/4" copper plumbing pipe.
Next calculate how thick the center of the heatsink needs to be.
Length of copper tubing from the last step SUBTRACT the height of the triple and optic (7.6mm) then SUBTRACT the number we got from the battery "stickout" above then SUBTRACT the thickness of the driver (including the contact spring).
On mine it totals 5mm which worked out to 4 copper disks. I used the same copper piping to make the disks. Cut them to length, split them up one side and pry/hammer them flat before cutting them to size.
After the copper is all the proper size you need to make a jig to gauge the heatsink face to the correct depth. Use something that solder will not stick to. I cut a section of spare mini maglite body to 7.6mm to match the height of the emitter/optic combo but any aluminum will work. Stand up the copper tubing and place the aluminum spacer inside of it on something that can take the heat (I used the concrete floor). Place the first disk in making sure it's squared up and using a torch, solder it in place. Continue stacking and soldering until all four are done. Drill a hole through the center for wiring and dremel to smooth out everything.
One the backside (driver) of the heatsink I cut another ring of copper the thickness of the driver minus the spring. This is used to reduce the 20mm I.D. of the copper to the 17mm of the driver. You have to "pie cut" a section out of it and rebend it slightly to make it fit inside of the 3.4" copper tube.
Here's a not so great shot of the driver sitting inside of the reducer and thermally potted inplace.
Here's the triple board thermally glued in and wired and a shot of the optic in place.
Here it is all assembled and working as it should. This one is 3 mode 5/30/100%
Low 5% is 115ma and should be around 45-50 Lumens.
Medium 30% is 916ma and should be around 275-300 lumens
High 100% is 3060ma and should be around 870 Lumens.
