What did you mod today?

I put three 4000k 219c’s and one 3000k 219c in my D4, I like the blend.

Hmmm I didn’t think about tint blending.

That would have made it even better, since dynamic range of the beam would be boosted.

6,764 lm @ 30s is quite a bit higher than what djozz reported for his similar mod. What batteries are you using?

@contactcr, I mentionned that this was for the stock XP-L HDs with all the mods possible in the light, which include the new springs, AR lens and brass screws. I’m probably getting a nice boost just with the AR lens itself, about +/- 200 lumens.

The 4000k LH351Ds 90CRI are less efficient than the XP-L HDs, and they get around the stock numbers, so around 5100 lumens, which was to be expected. The light is getting much hotter than stock though at similar power levels due to the much lower VF at the same current, meaning they pull quite a bit more current than XPLs. They are quite close to their max brightness. I wouldn’t do any other mods, so no fancy 16AWG power wires, no wire bypass, as the difference would still be minimal, no FET change, etc.

LH351D: 3,53V at 5A

XP-L HD : 3,81V at 5A

Consequently, even lower modes get hotter.

Edit: I’m always testing with Samsung 30Qs at 4,19V.

Unless you have the privilege to work with top-of-the-bill instruments, that will have to be calibrated in a regular interval, all measuring is pretty much a relative thing. If Blue SwordM says that a certain mod will improve things by 5%, I will believe him. If djozz says the same thing, I believe him too. What I don’t believe, is that both of them get identical results when they unbox their lights for the first time. The difference may be in the lights itself, it may be the measuring equipment they use. And the batteries, of course.
If you or me perform the same mod, we will have an identical outcome. As a percentage. Not in the actual readings of the meter, before or after the mod.

@BlueSwordM that explains it much more clearly i missed the XPL
HD part since the rest was about the Samsung LEDs. I have done this exact mod and got similar results as you did.

I need help on how to install driver from .mtnelectronics in c8f with firmware like the emisar d4

You could start by telling us which driver from mountain electronics.

The 17mm fet driver for electronic switch

You have to reflow LEDs to the MCPCB they included first then attach LONG LED wires to that. Before you screw the MCPCB to the base of the reflector be sure to line up the wires with the milled out holes in bottom of reflector and screw hole. Here you can optionally cover the wires in kapton tape if you have it. Not necessary though. Screw MCPCB to reflector making sure to keep your LED centering rings in place. Apply solder paste to the bottom of the MCPCB. Next, feed the wires through the shelf into driver cavity.

There is a long screw that goes in via the driver cavity which secures the reflector to the shelf from the under side. You can put this in now while you can push the wires out of the way easily.

Next, get about 5-6 hands or clips or clamps or whatever that will allow you to hold the driver close to the body so you can solder the 2x LED wires and 2x switch wires. You can trim the LED wires (dont trim switch wires they dont carry current) as close as you feel comfortable being able to hold the driver and still be able to solder it comfortably.

Next use your tweezers or whatever and gently tuck the wires into the darkness and secure the driver with the retaining ring.

Here is a diagram of where to connect switch wires. They are tiny and hard to solder so dont spend too much time with the heat. If you dont get it let the parts cool back down and wait to try again.

Connect switch leads to OTC pads or MCU Pin #2 and ground. Picture below:

Completed my BLF D80 UV Mod (Seoul Viosys Z5). I salvaged a old AMC based driver (removed 3) now working with 5 AMC for 1,75Amps.
Its bright! On your skin you can feel the heat after a few seconds. To bad my phone is not able to get a good picture of a blacklight picture. It is so bright when i use the light that my phone is not giving a usable picture.
So i took a picture of a box with tailcap rubber boots and some GITD o-rings. One with the light 1,5m away and one a few second after i turned of the light.



That D80 looks good with the black filter and the ss bezel!

It fits nice together. And the light can handle the heat of the led much better than a S2. Even after a few minutes its not getting hot ( you get more output). But i did not notice the interesting pattern in the middle yesterday.

I’m glad that you regard that pattern as interesting :smiley:
Is it just that the light is very close to the piece of wood so that you see the middle of the reflector and further away you have a normal spot? Or does that spot remain at distance, in that case you could try to project the led with a projection lens and see what is wrong with the led.

Not keen on soldering in a set of high quality springs in my brand new Sofirn Q8, I decided to do an old fashioned spring bypass. Not from the top of the spring to the tailcap switch (which does not exist), instead I put in four 20AWG connections from the top of the spring to the spot where the base plate is screwed to the body. The loops are wound around the screws between the base plate and the body. Four leads may seem a bit crowed, but there is a lot of empty space between the springs. Output improved from about 90 to 93 kCd.
To compensate for the fact that the loops add an extra mm between baseplate and body, I exchanged the Ø2.5*4mm screws with longer ones from my spare parts can.

Edit: for reasons of visibility the picture shows only one bypass.

I played a bit with the light and if i remove the led centering ring the pattern is gone. But without the reflector is not centered right and i loose preasure on the MCPCB.
So i live with the beam. If you hit something uv reflective the pattern is also not visible (the glow is to bright).

Rebuilt the tail switch on my triple XP-G2 3D PK Paladin for some waterproofing and added a tritium vial.

The reverse clicky tail switch is housed in some copper tube & sheet covered with a silicone boot.
I installed a 4mm x 0.5mm green tritium vial in the titanium switch button backed with glow powder.
Carbon fibre wrap in the battery tube to stop any rattle.

Start around 1900lm DD, 928lm stepdown 30s.
Length – 64mm
Width – 24mm
Weight – 77g (with 16340 cell)
Max – 1900lm

I was reading BLF Q8.
THAT would be a UV mod that heats your skin… :smiling_imp:

A few of you guys asked me about my C8TT mod from this post:

Well, great news. I ordered a CUTE-4 ~20° medium optic (C10447_CUTE-4-M) instead of the smooth spot ~12° and it got rid of my donut problem entirely. You still get a slight “starburst” on the very outside of the spill but it’s noticeably less square with no donut in middle.

With direct drive enabled I only lost 200lm (4%) as well which is exactly what the datasheet claims. Also, 20 degrees is still pretty narrow so it still has a nice hotspot.

I purchased it from Allied Electronics (www.alliedelec.com) they have world wide distributors too. It sucks I had to pay as much for shipping as the optic but the beam is pretty much entirely fixed so worth it.

Just received Novatac Gold Storm, modded to N219b 4500k 9080, on right is a Novatac w stock LED (and B42 tail)

beams

lumens, on my homebrew meter
Gold Storm max 94 lumens, min 0.23 lumens w N219b
Pewter SPA max 74 lumens, min 0.08 lumens w stock LED

Under UV light (lights are Off)