They change them every few months it seems. I have 7 of them between 2018 and now and they are all different inside - have different reflectors, and have 8, 10 or 12 LEDs on the COB.
Great idea running just the bright COB LED. The diode you bypassed is actually an important resistor, however. LEDs will draw too much current and burn themselves out prematurely if there isn't a resistor in line with it, all LEDs need a resistor to regulate the current flow. Yes it will reduce the brightness slightly but that's part of the intended design, the "high" mode you ended up making is the LED being overdriven and will shorten its life. You need to instead jump the line from the small LED array to the side of the resistor that will make the power run through the resistor before reaching the COB LED.
That said, after looking at mine which has the COB but a different circuit board, there is no resistor by design on my COB, unlike yours. Pretty unorthodox, my guess is HF got a deal on some over-specced COBs that can handle more current than 3 AAA batteries can put out, so they skipped the resistor. Weird. You run into some illogical stuff when dealing with super cheap Chinese parts.
LED's can withstand 4.5 volts so I don't think it will be much of a problem. It has lasted 3 years so far with no problems. Besides that I have a box of these free lights from harbor freight.
I have about 14 of these stuck on the side of my box. Some here on YT have used 3 of these COBs in one light. It then needs an 18650 to be the catz azz! czcams.com/video/dBeBl-kAgII/video.html
I use this and the harbor freight blue lantern as a light for my dogs
It was fun to watch your wheels turning while you were figuring out the switch wires. In that moment I saw my self in your shoes.
They just came out with a version 3 that has 8 LEDs in the COB instead of 15. It's much brighter AND the color tint is white instead of blue.
They change them every few months it seems. I have 7 of them between 2018 and now and they are all different inside - have different reflectors, and have 8, 10 or 12 LEDs on the COB.
Great idea running just the bright COB LED. The diode you bypassed is actually an important resistor, however. LEDs will draw too much current and burn themselves out prematurely if there isn't a resistor in line with it, all LEDs need a resistor to regulate the current flow. Yes it will reduce the brightness slightly but that's part of the intended design, the "high" mode you ended up making is the LED being overdriven and will shorten its life. You need to instead jump the line from the small LED array to the side of the resistor that will make the power run through the resistor before reaching the COB LED.
That said, after looking at mine which has the COB but a different circuit board, there is no resistor by design on my COB, unlike yours. Pretty unorthodox, my guess is HF got a deal on some over-specced COBs that can handle more current than 3 AAA batteries can put out, so they skipped the resistor. Weird. You run into some illogical stuff when dealing with super cheap Chinese parts.
LED's can withstand 4.5 volts so I don't think it will be much of a problem. It has lasted 3 years so far with no problems. Besides that I have a box of these free lights from harbor freight.
Those Flashlights The Older Ones W/the Little LEDs The Magnets Were Stronger .
I have about 14 of these stuck on the side of my box. Some here on YT have used 3 of these COBs in one light. It then needs an 18650 to be the catz azz! czcams.com/video/dBeBl-kAgII/video.html
Those lights are probably 0.1/2 lumens
Did you have to spit whilst filming?! Have some class!! All that work was totally unnecessary. Just double click!
I have never spit in my life. When did I spit?
Talk about having class, get some for yourself and quit leaving negative comments that are totally unnecessary. Just don't watch.