That's way more work than I envisioned to get that forward clicky in there! You must REALLY dislike reverse clickies! A good tutorial for madmen like you.
I was thinking the same thing! Convoy does sell them, but I don't know if they are sized fit the m21b, I have them for the C8. Also, spring bypass works well if you didn't want to swap the springs 👍🏻 you can use any 20g+ wire or I even use that copper braid you have
That's so much work involved.. Would be great if convoy just provided forward switches to buy separately for their flashlights or better yet provide an option to buy with or without forward click.
Excellent video. I've done this same upgrade on 7 different lights, all before finding this video. Wish I'd seen this sooner. One thing though, when he says to *carefully* seat the switch in the drill chuck he means it. The only time I had a mishap I was trying something like this, wasn't gentle enough and detached the switch from its circuit board.
Hi Griz. Greetings from Brazil to you my flashlight guru! I had build several Convoy M1 and S2+ hosts with XHP50.2 leds. One thing that annoyed me was that the tiny switch that came on these hosts tends to malfunction because of the hi current that the XHP50.2 emitter can draw. I'll try this mod to use the beefier forward click switch and see if it can withstand higher currents. Keep going your excellent content about flashlights.
This forward clicky switch can actually handle LESS current than the stock reverse clicky switch. If you want a switch that can handle more current, check out this one that Convoy uses on their larger lights. Installation is just like a forward clicky but you don't need to cut the nub off the boot. www.aliexpress.com/item/2251801386276894.html
That thing with the drill isnt a half bad idea. You've heard by now not to use metal on metal vise to hold something you're soldering I'm assuming? Using the wrench is insane idk how you'd solder anything holding a PCB in that
It's a non-issue. The edges of the PCB are not metal. There's an insulation layer between the center pad and the outside edge of the PCB so there's not much thermal transfer there. The teeth on the vice grips are very pointy as well so the contact area between them and the PCB is miniscule, further reducing any thermal transfer that might happen.
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 okkk, do whatever works for you. If you stick a piece of fiberglass cloth tape to the inside of the wrench you'd have a nice solid, grippy, cushioned hold on the board though. Stuff cost like $3 but you can use it for other things. The tape has a thermal conductivity of around 0.05 W/(m·K), >5x times lower than an FR4 PCB and 300-1000x lower than tool steel. I bet if you tried it you wouldn't go back.
Hey Griz, I was wondering if this would work on a Reylight LAN/Pineapple. The PCB is about 16.8mm stock and I could mill out the button's post (same as the rubber boot's post in the vid). My only concern is if do drivers discriminate between forward and reverse clickies?
He does not sell any pre-assembled forward clickies so some soldering is always required. Recently I bought just the bare switches from him and they're identical to the mountain electroics ones, just without a PCB or spring. I've been desoldering the stock switch and installing the forward clicky on the stock PCB. For all lights you still have to cut the nub off the boot, and for 18650 lights you still have to ream out the washer a bit.
Hey Grizzly is the switching between light groups in combination with a forward clicky still possible? My perfect flashlight would be an S2/S6 part with a forward clicky and group switching by twisting the head like on eagtac or old thrunites. :D
Yes it is still very possible. You just have to hold the forward clicky half-pressed and then momentarily release it instead of momentarily tapping like you would do on a reverse clicky.
Ok thanks just checking I was understanding the reasoning. I’ve been doing the flashlight thing for a long time. Back when we were building high output incandescent flashlights. Spring bypasses were the first thing I would do when getting a new light.
What size drill bit are you using to drill out the hole in the washer? Any chance you could put a caliper on the switch and give use the exact width of the part of the switch that goes through the hole?
Yes but I've found a simpler solution since posting the video. Just buy this 5 pack of forward clicky switches from Convoy (linked below). Desolder the stock forward clicky from the tailcap PCB and solder the forward clicky switch in its place. You'll still need to trim the nub as well, but you don't have to modify the washer or mess with soldering springs. www.aliexpress.us/item/2251801385900532.html
Thank you for that. Just 1 more question, I have a manta ray c8.2 on the way. Would you happen to know if the same switch would work in that? Thank you again for your help.
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 Hello, is this simpler solution still the easiest way to install a forward clicky on the M1? Have any new switches that don't require modifications come up in the meantime?
Sorry, I don't do any modding services. If you have a Convoy 21700 flashlight, Convoy sells a drop-in forward-clicky tailcap here: www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805777624431.html
I am happy to sell you pre-assembled forward clicky switches but I don't have any spare washers, so you'll still have to drill out the washer yourself. If you're interested in buying the switches, send an email to tacgriz@gmail.com.
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 just wondering if it would work only by soldering the forward switch onto the original PCB (swapping the old switch for the new but using original PCB and spring)
That's way more work than I envisioned to get that forward clicky in there! You must REALLY dislike reverse clickies! A good tutorial for madmen like you.
I was thinking the same thing! Convoy does sell them, but I don't know if they are sized fit the m21b, I have them for the C8.
Also, spring bypass works well if you didn't want to swap the springs 👍🏻 you can use any 20g+ wire or I even use that copper braid you have
That's so much work involved.. Would be great if convoy just provided forward switches to buy separately for their flashlights or better yet provide an option to buy with or without forward click.
Excellent video. I've done this same upgrade on 7 different lights, all before finding this video. Wish I'd seen this sooner.
One thing though, when he says to *carefully* seat the switch in the drill chuck he means it. The only time I had a mishap I was trying something like this, wasn't gentle enough and detached the switch from its circuit board.
Hi Griz. Greetings from Brazil to you my flashlight guru! I had build several Convoy M1 and S2+ hosts with XHP50.2 leds. One thing that annoyed me was that the tiny switch that came on these hosts tends to malfunction because of the hi current that the XHP50.2 emitter can draw. I'll try this mod to use the beefier forward click switch and see if it can withstand higher currents. Keep going your excellent content about flashlights.
This forward clicky switch can actually handle LESS current than the stock reverse clicky switch. If you want a switch that can handle more current, check out this one that Convoy uses on their larger lights. Installation is just like a forward clicky but you don't need to cut the nub off the boot. www.aliexpress.com/item/2251801386276894.html
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 thanks for the tip on the switch to choose from. 👍🏻
Great tutorial! Thanks for doing this. What knife were you using?
Thanks! The knife is an SRM 9201. They're about $30 on Amazon.
That thing with the drill isnt a half bad idea. You've heard by now not to use metal on metal vise to hold something you're soldering I'm assuming? Using the wrench is insane idk how you'd solder anything holding a PCB in that
It's a non-issue. The edges of the PCB are not metal. There's an insulation layer between the center pad and the outside edge of the PCB so there's not much thermal transfer there. The teeth on the vice grips are very pointy as well so the contact area between them and the PCB is miniscule, further reducing any thermal transfer that might happen.
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 okkk, do whatever works for you. If you stick a piece of fiberglass cloth tape to the inside of the wrench you'd have a nice solid, grippy, cushioned hold on the board though. Stuff cost like $3 but you can use it for other things. The tape has a thermal conductivity of around 0.05 W/(m·K), >5x times lower than an FR4 PCB and 300-1000x lower than tool steel. I bet if you tried it you wouldn't go back.
Thanks so much.
Hey Griz, I was wondering if this would work on a Reylight LAN/Pineapple. The PCB is about 16.8mm stock and I could mill out the button's post (same as the rubber boot's post in the vid).
My only concern is if do drivers discriminate between forward and reverse clickies?
Hi! Drivers to not discriminate. They just see on/off. If you can physically fit a forward clicky switch in there, it will work.
Hi, Simon sells forward clickies, don´t those work, plug and play?
He does not sell any pre-assembled forward clickies so some soldering is always required. Recently I bought just the bare switches from him and they're identical to the mountain electroics ones, just without a PCB or spring. I've been desoldering the stock switch and installing the forward clicky on the stock PCB. For all lights you still have to cut the nub off the boot, and for 18650 lights you still have to ream out the washer a bit.
Hey Grizzly is the switching between light groups in combination with a forward clicky still possible?
My perfect flashlight would be an S2/S6 part with a forward clicky and group switching by twisting the head like on eagtac or old thrunites. :D
Yes it is still very possible. You just have to hold the forward clicky half-pressed and then momentarily release it instead of momentarily tapping like you would do on a reverse clicky.
Why switch out the springs? For current handling? Why not use a piece of that braid to bypass the spring. I do that to all my tail switches
That would work too
Ok thanks just checking I was understanding the reasoning. I’ve been doing the flashlight thing for a long time. Back when we were building high output incandescent flashlights. Spring bypasses were the first thing I would do when getting a new light.
What size drill bit are you using to drill out the hole in the washer?
Any chance you could put a caliper on the switch and give use the exact width of the part of the switch that goes through the hole?
I'm not sure what size drill bit I used. I just grabbed what I had that was slightly larger than the switch stem. The switch stem is 8mm in diameter.
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 Perfect Thanks!
Do you know if this will work for the 21700 battery lights?
Yes but I've found a simpler solution since posting the video. Just buy this 5 pack of forward clicky switches from Convoy (linked below). Desolder the stock forward clicky from the tailcap PCB and solder the forward clicky switch in its place. You'll still need to trim the nub as well, but you don't have to modify the washer or mess with soldering springs. www.aliexpress.us/item/2251801385900532.html
Thank you for that.
Just 1 more question, I have a manta ray c8.2 on the way. Would you happen to know if the same switch would work in that? Thank you again for your help.
@@denwardchin I don't know
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 Hello, is this simpler solution still the easiest way to install a forward clicky on the M1? Have any new switches that don't require modifications come up in the meantime?
@@Wicknim this switch from Kaidomain will fit without any soldering. You will still need to slice the nub off the boot and widen the washer hole.
would you be willing to sell me one of these modded lights to me?
Sorry, I don't do any modding services. If you have a Convoy 21700 flashlight, Convoy sells a drop-in forward-clicky tailcap here: www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805777624431.html
I will buy some if you're willing to sell them :D can't do it myself hehe
I am happy to sell you pre-assembled forward clicky switches but I don't have any spare washers, so you'll still have to drill out the washer yourself. If you're interested in buying the switches, send an email to tacgriz@gmail.com.
@@tacticalgrizzly9828 just wondering if it would work only by soldering the forward switch onto the original PCB (swapping the old switch for the new but using original PCB and spring)
@@FluttuantChicken Yes that works. That's what I do now, instead of using the Mountain Electronics board.
Way too much work, dude!