lymph
Enlightened
I recently bought a Fire~Fly 2 and really appreciate the small size and craftsmanship.
As I expected, there were some issues with the 2 stage switch, but the recommendations posted by cy improved that situation.
Also, the NX05 optic was too close to the emitter. As cy pointed out, moving the NX05 away from the emitter with small o-rings and removing the UCL lens improves the beam considerably.
I wanted some sort of lens, though, so I got a 0.8mm thick sapphire lens and used it to replace the UCL. I put a couple of small o-rings behind the NX05 and screwed the head back together. The beam improved a bit, but not as much as I wanted. Screwing the bezel back onto the head compressed the new o-rings and essentially moved the NX05 too close to the eimtter (my optic wanted to be about 2-3mm further forward.)
I found that if I didn't screw the bezel all the way down, I could get a great beam. Problem was, when trying to turn the light on and off, the bezel would turn - not the whole head as it's supposed to. Not enough of the friction-providing o-ring was engaged. I solved that problem by putting a little blue lock-tight on the threads between the bezel and the copper head. Here's what it looks like assembled - note that part of the o-ring is visible. The light functions exactly as it's supposed to.
Here's a beam shot. The beam is a perfect, even, round spot. My wall is somewhat glossy and textured, so the camera picks up a bright hotspot that isn't really a beam characteristic.
Anyway, there's nothing really new here - moving the optic was recommended by cy a while ago - but using lock-tight, if necessary, to hold the bezel and allow the optic to sit far enough from the emitter, really helped me out a lot. I can still disassemble it, it just takes some muscle or a strap wrench. The beam is excellent now, and I have zero complaints about my 'modded' FF2.
As I expected, there were some issues with the 2 stage switch, but the recommendations posted by cy improved that situation.
Also, the NX05 optic was too close to the emitter. As cy pointed out, moving the NX05 away from the emitter with small o-rings and removing the UCL lens improves the beam considerably.
I wanted some sort of lens, though, so I got a 0.8mm thick sapphire lens and used it to replace the UCL. I put a couple of small o-rings behind the NX05 and screwed the head back together. The beam improved a bit, but not as much as I wanted. Screwing the bezel back onto the head compressed the new o-rings and essentially moved the NX05 too close to the eimtter (my optic wanted to be about 2-3mm further forward.)
I found that if I didn't screw the bezel all the way down, I could get a great beam. Problem was, when trying to turn the light on and off, the bezel would turn - not the whole head as it's supposed to. Not enough of the friction-providing o-ring was engaged. I solved that problem by putting a little blue lock-tight on the threads between the bezel and the copper head. Here's what it looks like assembled - note that part of the o-ring is visible. The light functions exactly as it's supposed to.
Here's a beam shot. The beam is a perfect, even, round spot. My wall is somewhat glossy and textured, so the camera picks up a bright hotspot that isn't really a beam characteristic.
Anyway, there's nothing really new here - moving the optic was recommended by cy a while ago - but using lock-tight, if necessary, to hold the bezel and allow the optic to sit far enough from the emitter, really helped me out a lot. I can still disassemble it, it just takes some muscle or a strap wrench. The beam is excellent now, and I have zero complaints about my 'modded' FF2.
