GB Clone Offically "SOLD OUT" 10/21/18 XPL HI 1300LM Focusing AKA Cometa 2016

Meh, it’s not ideal, with its sharp cut off at the edge and the tint shift you get with zoomed out aspherics (or with bare LEDs).
Good wide angle frosted TIR optics would be better.

Oh, hey, yeah, i got mine today too !!
Battery inside.
Best BG deal ever?
Could well be. :+1:

The light is made of nice parts. :+1:

The head is not as loose as i expected. Pity they chose to not use an O-ring, it’s not even possible with that battery tube front end with those ‘fins’ (grooves) to do that yourself.
Maybe i’ll think of something eventually or just live with it.

The lens looks nice. But it seems only AR coated on the convex (front) side. But that’s where it is the most important.
It has a tiny dimple on the front in the centre though… :weary:
> Anyone else have that too?

I don’t like the DD ‘driver’ and the XP-L HI though.

Not sure what LED to put in it…
I have 1 good old 2014 pinkish tinted XP-G2 left to dedome. The other one is in my B158.
I also have some later high Vf cool white ones.
Not sure about the driver choice yet either.

I haven’t even tested the light, it’s in pieces already…
Disassemble, reassemble, try. :smiley:

Yeah, there is too little space between the switch and the switch boot too. No big deal.

Left : Cometa LH351D
Right : B158B SST20 sliced

@X3
Do they have the same lens size? Would be interesting to see the same emitter in both lights to see the difference between the lights itself.
Can someone give me the exact head diameter? Want to order a dust cap from KD (or comes the Cometa with cap like the Z1).
I should have bought a second one for this price. With the new powerfull UV leds it would have been fun to build a UV thrower.

Just tested with 365nm UV, the lens let it pass :slight_smile:
Also, just measured the head : 53mm in diameter.
I tried a sliced SST20 in my Cometa, the beam is less tight than with the larger headed B158B

Two packages arrived today. The first was filled with two Shockli 26650 nicely protected and with extra heatshrink wrap (ordered directly from Shockli on Aliexpress).
Second one was the Cometa. Who the hell did the assembly? And have they ever heard of Quality Controll? I do not think that i ever bought a light with so badly assembled parts.
The scratched tread on the head is not nice but i can live with it. The head sounds like a rattlesnake, the led is reflowed crooket, switch tailcap with to much preload, Negative wire on driver was shorting against the pill + spring soldert out of center (next shorting point if the spring moves only a bit more to the side.
Its a nice host but i think it is really irresponsible to sell these light to people with no modding experience.

Wedged two small pieces, roughly 1”x1”, of 20lb paper. No more free wheeling head.

My cometa got marked as shipped today.

Paid 9/24, marked as shipped 9/25, then within a few hours reverted to back order, shipped 10/10

Hopefully it actually ships.

TheOnlyDocc nearly quoted my reaction word for word when I got the first couple GB lights, you have definitely gotten one of the worst.

Nice to hear that i am the lucky one :sunglasses:
I shorten the silikone nob inside the rubber boot. Grinded all edges i can find smooth (all brass edges are sharp enough to cut isolation or your skin), reflowed the led, changed ledwires to 20AWG, and put some silikone grease on the thread (the scratched one that holds the lens). Reassambled the light and now its working fine.
Tomorrow i will try to make some beamshots of the Cometa and the 1504 side by side. Both with fet driver and XPL Hi led.
Seeing both lights on the shelf got me thinking about the SBT-70. 12Amps generate a lot of heat. And the 1504 is a lot bigger. Also the much bigger lens would give me possibly a tighter beam.
If the SBT-70 goes into the 1504 the Cometa will get a Seoul Viosys Z5
Taking care of the XPL Hi (and also reflowed 219Cs on 10mm sinkpads for another mod).

Finally! A solid zoomie!

On mine, the MCPCB retaining disc is made of a plastic, not Al (?).

A plastic mcpcb retainer disc…?

Or are you referring to this plastic piece in this picture.
Could you post a pic. Please ?

No, not that one. It's on the front of the light, over the LED.

No kidding, that is a first for sure, and definitely safer from how they soldered the leads,
Thanks, that is really odd and really it’s a first that I’ve heard of, I wonder when and how or why they ever went to all that effort on these Cometa’s
Thanks

Could you take a pic for us?

I had already put kapton tape over the leads and then plinked it on the desk for that Al ding but no... Plastic! My only concern is that it melts... almost prefer the Al since I know to insulate the leads.

Sorry. I have problems posting picks with imgur. It looks just like the Al one, black. But I gotta snooze! I'll see if I can do it tomorrow.

Mine is plastic tto.
I was wondering why anyone would feel the need to put kapton on the solders, then saw that the original one was in anodized Al…
Wise choice, both for safety and cost.

So i guess they did fix it then, Well that’s good to know i probably got older stock.

I got an aluminium retaining disc.
LED and wires are soldered nicely too.