MX-900 Tip

[RedCowboy]

I recently ordered some MX-900 trustfire 2 x 26650 flashlights and heatsinks from Budget Beams.
They are nice solid feeling housings.
I built one and have a couple tips to share.
First the led/driver pill is great as it threads into the body, but beware it is reverse threaded.
Second one of the flashlights I bought from Budget the other from ebay and the one from ebay had slightly longer tolerances that left the heat sink with about 1/2 a mm of play causing it to rattle and not make a good thermal contact, so I used a length of 14 gauge solid copper wire as a filler in the place where the o-ring would sit between the bezel and flashlight glass cover, this made it nice and tight.
I used a larger round object to form the 14 gauge wire circle so it would retain outward spring tension when placed inside the bezel.

BudgetBeams has some good deals and I am happy with this build, hope the tips help and as always safety first. :beer:

 

[autonomousperson]

Still new to lasers...
Whats that 1 inch long piece coming off the diode mount for? It looks like its going over the lens holder.

 

[RedCowboy]

It's a threaded brass tube that fits the 9mm lens housings, it's from my scraps box, I have many a dead dpss module.
I use a thin ring from a junked lens barrel as a stop and use it as a finger adjuster and lens flare hider.
I use lens flare hiders on most of my lasers, even if they are just temporary cardstock rolled up and tapped.
Lens flare really stands out at night but with a hider tube you reduce the angle of view to bystanders from 180 degrees down to.....well the longer the hider tube the more they have to be looking down your bean to see the flare, it prevents unnecessary attention.
Lens flare can be bright at night and I would not want a passer by to mistakenly think I had targeted them because of a bright lens flare.
It also makes beam shots much nicer.
Think of it as a laser silencer.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi Red,
Nice build they are great hosts i have two . But one thing mine are not reverse threads.And another thing the copper sinks will fit a C8/Q5 flashlight host also.

Rich

 

[Pman]

Good tip. Sounds like something I would do. I also have a couple of these and a spare 9mm heat-sink from Moh. Especially like the "silencer"
Can't REP you yet
I'm assuming you are talking about the copper sinks from Rick, Lifetime. Was about to buy one last week but it's on hold at the moment.

 

[Lifetime17]

Yes P, the copper from Ricks on eBay . They fit the C8 Q5 hosts to but they won't fit the C11 side clicky hosts. Oh the Saik SA 305's love 'em . The copper sinks from Rick are a normal thread, Cowboy said there reverse got me on that one. I guess the ones from Matt are different (Budget Beams)..

Rich )

 

[RedCowboy]

I just checked the other one again, to be certain I'm not losing it and the reflector bezel unscrewed counter clockwise...leftie loosey, then the LED/driver pill unscrewed to the right, clockwise as seen from the top.

Both mx-900 flashlights are reverse threaded, the one from ebay and the one from Budget.

 

[TaterMay]

I just checked the other one again, to be certain I'm not losing it and the reflector bezel unscrewed counter clockwise...leftie loosey, then the LED/driver pill unscrewed to the right, clockwise as seen from the top.

Both mx-900 flashlights are reverse threaded, the one from ebay and the one from Budget.

Edit: I see what you're saying now. This makes sense, though, doesn't it? You would want access to the pill to be from the bottom, and the bezel access to be from the top, right? In that case, they are both normal threads right?

If I'm understanding correctly, this sounds exactly the way my MX900 hosts have always been, and mine have always made sense to me being designed this way. I always just grab the battery contact spring and unscrew from the bottom counter clockwise.

 

[RedCowboy]

YES
Both flashlights, one I bought from Budget and one from Ebay both had the screw in pill that holds the led board and the battery driver board are reverse threaded.

Your telling me that you reach up the battery tube and unscrew the battery pill by the spring?

Hey what ever works for you, but that's not why they put those assembly dviots on the top side, and sometimes they are tight.
But if it works for you great, it is different from most that I have repurposed, most are normal threaded.

But if all Ricks copper sinks are reverse threaded they it's nothing new, it was just odd to me as most are not backwards.
It just seemed unusual to me that's why I mentioned it.

 

[TaterMay]

YES
Both flashlights, one I bought from Budget and one from Ebay both had the screw in pill that holds the led board and the battery driver board are reverse threaded.
Watch the video, I don't know why it's not showing but just click the link.

Your telling me that you reach up the battery tube and unscrew the battery pill by the spring?
Hey what ever works for you, but that's not why they put those assembly dviots on the top side.
But if all Ricks copper sinks are reverse threaded they it's nothing new, it was just odd to me as most are not backwards, but the flashlight top end will not come off until the pill is out so I guess this keeps someone from unscrewing both at once, a lot of lights will let you unscrew the top body then the pill, but even others are not reverse threaded.

I don't reach up the battery tube, I simply unscrew the battery tube, which makes the spring/pill very easy to access with my fingers. Then, I unscrew it counter clockwise from the bottom. It is incredibly easy to remove that way. However, after watching your video, it does appear that they are not exactly the same as mine. My pill looks very different, and I'm 99% sure it doesn't screw into the battery tube like that. I can take pictures tonight. I might go ahead and order one from Budget Beams just to compare them, as I am very curious about them now. I believe my bezels are different dimensionally as well.

 

[Pman]

I didn't buy mine as a complete flashlight so I can't compare. One came from Rick Trent and the other was a kit from budgetbeams with a 2.4A driver so it only needed a 9mm diode. I need another unit for the heat-sink myself. Wish they came in black.

 

[RedCowboy]

I don't reach up the battery tube, I simply unscrew the battery tube, which makes the spring/pill very easy to access with my fingers. Then, I unscrew it counter clockwise from the bottom. It is incredibly easy to remove that way. However, after watching your video, it does appear that they are not exactly the same as mine. My pill looks very different, and I'm 99% sure it doesn't screw into the battery tube like that. I can take pictures tonight. I might go ahead and order one from Budget Beams just to compare them, as I am very curious about them now. I believe my bezels are different dimensionally as well.

Yes you are correct.
You can not unscrew the body until that pill comes out, the head will not fit over it and being reverse threaded you can twist the body and head all day it just binds up.
I think they have changed something.
Also the heat sink was loose after screwing the bezel on as tight as it would go, until it was fully seated, and it rattled. That's why I had to shim it with the 14ga solid copper wire.
I have seen this with other hosts before, they keep making them cheaper and cheaper.
Also the ebay unit was not quite as bright and the emitter did not say cree it says LatticeBright Ver 2.0
The Chinese advertise as Cree but often they are copies, pretty good copies.

 

[RedCowboy]

I didn't buy mine as a complete flashlight so I can't compare. One came from Rick Trent and the other was a kit from budgetbeams with a 2.4A driver so it only needed a 9mm diode. I need another unit for the heat-sink myself. Wish they came in black.

Sorry I did not muliquote.

There's a newer version with a side button, it looks like the digital type that carries low current to tell the board's transistor to turn on, but you could refit your own side button in the hole.
I like side buttons, they are faster to operate, and the body is black.

CREE XM L2 LED Flashlight 2000LM 5 Modes Warsun MX900 Torch Extension Tube | eBay