NovaTac 120E Nichia 219B

Bet he is happy with the outcome, I am!

dumb question but is the increase in lumens due only to the change in emitter?

:beer:

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I used oven cleaner to strip it, that’s plasticine stuffed inside and tape/gorilla tape on the tube ends.

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Yes, just the new emitter, still the same driver.

Nice mode, I’ve swapped my Novatac 120T’s LED with XPG R5 as well.
Will try convert it into triple Nichias.

Amazing work, really is, attention to detail and perfection is 2nd to none. Really appreciate your help on breathing life into an old classic. The weak cold CT with a little blue has been turned into a usable hi cri light for the next 10yrs+

:+1:

Cool, I’m happy that you’re happy with it mate :+1:

I’d love to turn mine into a triple. Please document and photograph it! or just do mine for cash! :slight_smile:

Over the moon steve, totally changed it for the better. The low mode of 26lm is pretty much perfect, so its just a click on/off for use as enough output for most my needs(general edc type). Double tap for 100lm then ample,still the turbo of 300lm is nice to have………

Someone say triple……………. :smiley:

Great, is the spring retainer good, working ok? I didn’t like the way it just fell out when changing cells.

A triple would be nice, would need to check the depth of the angled reflector though and the driver might be potted in there, something with a bit more power would probably be better anyway so you could install a new driver, clicky switch, triple and run it on 18350 cells :slight_smile:

Been great, no issues at all and spring has stayed put. Kind of a crazy design really, but must have been necessary back in the day and with this design for contact.

Defo up for a triple 219bt 4000k at some point :sunglasses: , will enjoy it as is for now. The h17f driver would be a lot better than the single/double click and press hold UI.

Cool, I didn’t mean a triple for yours, just meant it would be a nice host for it if someone else was thinking of doing it :slight_smile:

Very nice work … I am a big fan of the “Ole” Novatac. I EDC mine quite a bit.

You really sent it to the right guy, Ven!

Sorry I forgot to take picture during the process, but here’s the final result.

I use a coin sized copper as the base (heat dissipation won’t be great though) and using rubber silicon to wrap 20 mm TIR optic to fit the host.

Triple nichias and optic were bought from Kaidomain.

My guess is the spring still exists in the HDS design to this day, as a wire, because it provides power to the Electronic switch. If it had a mechanical switch, the spring could go away, and an 18350 could be used…

all with just a little more CRX magic

outstanding writeup and pics, thanks!

Holly Tripple, Wow!

I believe it could be possible, maybe by clearing the stock driver board and connecting the MTN driver to the appropriate contacts.
I haven’t opened the pill on one of these so don’t know how it is inside but would imagine there would be space for a 14mm or 15mm driver?

I dont know the answer to your questions, and look forward to learning more.

I would like to learn more about options like the H17f driver in a Novatac, I dont know the pros and cons of that option, Im hoping CRX will come up with some real world testing soon…

My main interest would be to find a driver, with ramping UI, or at least programmable, that did not use any PWM below 3000Hz, and that would not have other types of visible flicker. afaik the D4 driver uses PWM, I think the H17f does too, but I have not owned any lights with those drivers, so have not had opportunity to test them with my phone camera, and my eyes.

Im very interested in coming up with a viable option to drive a tripple Nova with a NoPWM, NoFlicker driver, and that has a more intuitive UI than the Novatac or HDS. One that could be handed to a newbie with simple instructions, like, click on, click off, hold to ramp brighter…

Is there a trick to getting the pill retaining ring loose? Just bought a SPL120 AWLK and the retaining ring refuses to budge.

Long nosed pliers.

I tried a lens spanner wrench and no luck. Maybe I need to eat lunch first. LOL

Put some effort into it! :smiley: