I recently had 5pcs of TIR lenses from DX. I planned to use them with my XR-E emitters as they were hard to focus with newer emitters. I choose my long time DIYed SkyRay S-A1 and a 3-18V P60 drop-in I got on EBay.
Here are the lenses in their white holders. You see the reflector of a UF C3 next to them.
Although they were said to be 23.36mm in diameter, this is the diameter of the holder and the actual lens diameter is like 16-17mm. So I though I could file it down to fit into my 1xAA light, and it did fit very nicely.
Now you'll recognize a warm XR-E in that SkyRay. Well I swapped its XP-E R2 5 mode pill and reflector with my UltraFire SS C3 and put in a warm XR-E instead (because I de-domed its original Q5 while playing with my TIR lenses). So I guess you can use these TIR lenses with your regular C3s as well.
Here's how the beam appeared on the wall. Nice and smooth, with narrower spill.
Here is the beam next to Fenix E21on low. Warmer tint belongs to our DIY SkyRay.
And here is the beam next to a Fenix LD05 on high, I guess.
So far so good for a small light I said. And the single mode driver I put in it can accept 2xAA or 14500 easily so the output can be increased with different cell configurations.
Here comes a second one, Ultrafire 502D plus the 3-18v Q5 drop-in.
I decided I could get the best runtime out of this drop-in with a multi cell setup.
The TIR lens and its holder are built for an XR-E so they fit very nicely and snug on the emitter. I just removed the reflector and added the lens on the emitter with slight pressure. No need for epoxy but could be better for long time use.
I added a piece of copper wire for better heat transfer and to center the drop-in in the light better.
The drop-in pushes and centers on the glass lens well. Again you may add some rubber rings around it for better stability.
And the beam profile...
Again, a nice beam pattern with less spill. Here's how it sits next to a Fenix E21 on high. Ultrafire is on the right.
Funny, I got better results with these no name lenses than a brand Carlco lens.
Thanks for watching.
Seckin