I’ve ranted at length about how G3s are vile little chips, not even suitable as mules. Hideous yellow off to the sides, bluer out the middle.
Only something like a pebbled TIR lens (or assloads of diffusion film) can clean up the beam.
I agree. The 2mm^2 emitter approaches XPL HI output with much higher luminance, as long as you are ok with the cool color temp. What driver did you use? I’ve been eyeing the constant current FET drivers from convoy. Seems like this type of driver could replace all the FET+ drivers if we can get the right FWs on them.
The only lights that I have found them to work well in are the AAA Tool.
Im using the Manta Ray Driver I think its basically the same as the convoy but has a different resistor.
I was not overly impressed by the XPL Hi leds, and the 1mm white flat is a bit of a one trick pony, but these 2mm^2 seem like a really nice compromise
Unno, I got the Wuben E01 that uses one, and it’s a bit ringy and halo-y, lots of color-bleed all over. Not terrible, but I wouldn’t ooh and aah at the beam. The SOS is a killer, though. :confounded:
Wondering if any optix for triples/quads could be diced up to fit the hole and not need spacers or anything. Might fix a multitude of sins…
Is it any better than the 1mm?
I still have one lying around, as well as a 7,2A driver
Throw is a bit less than the 1mm2, even at 7A (but it is still throwier than a dedomed XP-G2 S4 2B), you get more light and a bigger spot. Tint is similar.
Very nice mod!
Yup, if you have any interest, there’s Oshpark links and BOM info here. I think I also have parts on hand to build one or two if you’re interested.
Interesting, the hotspot of the 1mm combined with a large reflector is a very tiny hotspot.
Result: it throws like a beast, but actually its more fun to show your lightsaber laserbeam pencilbeam then using it.
Its quite useless actually, but fun.
pretty sure it will still out throw an FT03 without to much trouble, but hopefully light up a larger more useful area than the 1mm
I was initially put off by the unusual widescreen profile, but it seems in a reflector it doesn’t effect beam shape much.
Thanks, might try it !
Two mods
1. I changed the LED in a New RRT-01 to 219b sw35 9080.
The process went very smoothly as I did not have to change the reflector and centering ring (required in the Original RRT-01), and I was not asked to separate and lubricate the control ring.
imo the 219b beam in the New RRT-01 is very good with the stock reflector.
I like that the New version uses screws to hold the LED star down. I like the very firm off detente in the New RRT-01. I also like that it has strobe, and that the pocket clip does not ride on the head when unscrewing to change batteries.
imo the New RRT-01 is a nice light, well built, w nice smooth threads. It is a simple mod to replace the stock XP-L w an N219, using the stock MCPCB.
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2. I disassembled an Original RRT-01 to lubricate the control ring, because it was too loose and turned on in a clients pocket. I used Nyogel 767a which is very thick and sticky.
The light had been previously modded by Vinh to sw45k. He did not modify the original factory grease, of which there was almost none, and he did not change the reflector.
I installed a kaidomain reflector w a customized centering ring. The beam is now excellent imo.
The dial is now very resistant to unintentional movement, but very smooth and can still be turned with one finger. On a scale of 1-10, the dial resistance is now a 10. When I first got it, the dial resistance was a 1.
After missing the NightWatch Stalker NI40 with the 90.2 Luminus emitter I got to looking at mine and decided to use an older SBT-90 in it for something to do. It was on a square copper MCPCB so I filed that to round and mounted it up with 18 ga leads off the stock driver and bypassed the stock springs with 22ga leads. It pulls ~9A off a Samsung 30T for 2100 or so lumens. As usual, I removed the glass window for a better tint. Not the blazing output of the new emitter, but not at all bad for an emitter that’s been sitting around for over 3 years in my kit box….
Yesterday I switched the metal bodies from two Nitecore TIPs. I got a silver one (Cree XP-G2) on my keychain for some years and am pretty happy with it.
I never switched to the (not as bright) black Nichia TIP I got soon after because the silver one was already scratched.
Since I recently ordered the TIP2, I concluded I don´t need two cold white ones and switched the outer metal plates,
so the more beautiful looking Nichia is in the scratched body, and the black one is now ready to be gifted to my little brother.
Today I modded a Convoy S5,
*with a shorty tube from a Jaxman E2L
*a red tailcap
*a blob UV glue on the switch knob to compensate for the different dimensions of the red tailcap
*a Blue spring on the tailboard
*a 17mm 5A lineair Convoy driver
*a KW CULMN1-TG led on a 16mm 4040 led4power DTP board
*an adapted reamed and thinned centerpiece
*a smooth reflector from Convoy, reamed to fit the centerpiece, underside Kapton-taped against shorts from the ledwires
The most critical job as always with thrower-leds was adjusting the centerpiece, I spent 1.5 hours working on that tiny piece: adjusting-testing-adjusting-testing etc… The focus is now perfect, and the beam is super-nice thanks to the (aftermarket) convoy reflector (the S5 has the deep type Convoy reflector, unlike the S2+ that has a shallow one).
I had already modded a S8 shorty with a KW CSLNM1-TG (the 3030 variant of this led), but this new mod is smaller, has better focus, draws less current, has better tint (bit warmer) and throws just a bit better.
The current that measured on a full battery with a clamp meter without tail is 4.4A, and based on the output difference with tail in place or tail replaced by a copper shunt, the real current should be 4.3A. Based on led4power’s bare led results that should be about 895 led lumen. I usually take a factor 0.82 for reflector and lens loss, so output should be 740 lumen. But I measured only 530 lumen so I wonder a bit where those 200 lumen went.
But those 530 lumen do provide a fair amount of throw: 43 kcd at 30 seconds, which makes this my throwiest tube-style EDC to date 
The hunt for the missing lumens, I know that game 
Very nice 
The typical centering technique is to have a plastic ring. It is fiddly to tweak…
Some manufaturers like Armytek use self-centering reflectors. Then tuning focus requires just centering LED on the shelf and … I’m not sure if you can tune reflector height. But with a pill based light, tweaking height would be easy.
Centering and focusing the White Flat in a smooth reflector is a matter of less than a 10th of a millimeter in all directions, anything other than physical guidance between led and reflector (=the centerpiece) will not be accurate enough to get the perfect hotspot that must be.
Successfully installed Lexel aux board on my friend’s FW3. Tight space and small solder pad makes soldering difficult. Solder is not neat here, after the first power on test, I re-tidied the solder and cleaned the rest of the flux. I was not able to reflash the firmware so I took power directly from the battery. Aux led always lights up even if the main led is on, but it does not affect the beam at all. Love the color combination of the led here.