Mr.Lite J4 XM-L Mod

Still some niggling continuity issues, but this thing is bright!

As in:

High: 389 Lumens from 1.85A or about 6.66 watts so around 58 lumens/watt

Medium: 249 lumens from 1.11A (at a nominal 3.6V) 4W so around 60 lumens/watt

Low: 97 lumens from 1.5W so around 63 lumens/watt

Definitely the brightest 14500 light yet!

Wow, but now your low is as bright as a good AA light on hi.

It is a little excessive. And it is still as big as an 18650 light - Mr.Lite seem to make their lights pretty large - but as a wow! light it will be fun. Wonder if it will even light up with an NiMH now? Time to find out. It works and gives all 4 modes.

H: 2200mA

M: 1320mA

L: 420mA

VL: 170mA

Output is around 500lux on medium with an Eneloop - around 90 lumens. Still have some very annoying flickering though.

Great mod, can't wait to put one of these in the RC-G2 at 1,75 or 2,1 ..

The Vf of this emitter is much lower than the others, 3,35v at 3A at 1,85 could be 3,2 V

Just threw it together because I could. Took a fair amount of effort in the end. Something as throwy as an RC-G2 isn't best suited to this mod. I also replaced the optic with a reflector that worked better. I hope the G2 reflector works with it. I certainly expect it to kill the driver eventually, it is seeing a lot more current than it expects.

The RC-G2 is a light i really want to like, but completely fail to do so. All of them I've bought have been given away. An XM-L in it might well make it a better light for me.

Of doing the same thing , only I didnt think the Lens would work with it .. Hmmm interesting ..

Flickering would be poor contact somewhere ...

Look forward to beams etc .. Output seems a little low for current though .. Is it sagging ?

Till I get the contact issues sorted, it's hard to say. It is also rather less efficient than it ought to be at what I assume the drive current is. It does get hot. To get the best out of it, I'd need to swap the driver. The output suggests about 1200mA getting to the LED. But the driver is pulling 1.85A from a 14500 so it is clearly having to dump a lot of current as heat.

I have swapped the plastic optic for a reflector. The one out of the Trustfire TR-801 fits without modification. The optic works well enough in the TR-801.

In an effort to sort out any and all continuity issues, I now think the strobing is some sort of driver issue because I get it with the pill pulled out and wires from the cell to the rear contacts. I really ought to get myself a bench PSU for such tasks.

Anyway, to the switch. It is a slightly unusual assembly held together by some sort of rubbery goo which you will break removing the switch.

The switch has a spring below the metal post that makes contact with the negative pole of the cll. This spring pushes the guts apart. Still trying to stick it back together.

The right-hand assembly is pushed apart by the spring. Time to get the hot glue gun out.

Here's the other end.

I am curious about the beamshots and I feel sorry for your 14500 batteries

edit: I just tried a full 14500 in a modded with XML light it is also running @ 2A

(with a 18650 I get 3,5A)

At the moment, the driver just wants to strobe the light at me so it is difficult to do beamshots. I have a BLF variant of the J4 with a bored body so I can put a 17500 in it so I've been using the switch from that for testing purposes. Here's a rather poor beamshot with an Eneloop. The camera was in one hand, the light in the other. This is about 90cm from the wall.

A variation to the infamous orange peel wall eh? The photo look decent. Knowing it was with a eneloop it's even better!

Finally, some beamshots. For some reason it is refusing to work with 14500s just now, the driver just strobes it. However, it will work with an NiMH cell and give all four modes. It would be a lot brighter with 14500 but the driver isn't playing nice. Will need to ask some of the people who understand these things to see if there is any sensible mod or repair to fix this.

Control

XL

L

M

H

Finally it decided to work properly with a 14500. It is of very similar output to the Mr.Lite LT3. It is less throwy though.

Here are the numbers with a 14500.

Light Battery
Mr.Lite J4 XM-L Mod High 14500
Mr.Lite J4 XM-L Mod Low 14500
Mr.Lite J4 XM-L Mod Medium 14500
Mr.Lite J4 XM-L Mod Moonlight 14500

And here are the LT3 numbers

Light Battery
Mr.Lite LT3 Mode 1 IMR 16340
Mr.Lite LT3 Mode 2 IMR 16340
Mr.Lite LT3 Mode 3 IMR 16340
Mr.Lite LT3 Mode 4 IMR 16340
Mr.Lite LT3 Mode 5 IMR 16340

The LT3 is on the left, the J4 mod on the right. Will do some outdoors beamshots in a minute.

These are a longer exposure than usual. I think that 6 seconds is probably too long but it allows me to stop the lens down a bit for better depth of focus when the camera can't make up its mind as to what to focus on.

Control

J4 XL

J4 L

J4 M

J4 H

LT3 Mode 1

LT3 Mode 2

LT3 Mode 3

LT3 Mode 4

LT3 Mode 5

Animated Gif

whoohoo! I just did my first DIY project ever. Swapped a xm-l on a 16mm star into my mr.lite J4. Also am using the reflector from the trustfire tr-801. The light is absolutely awesome in output and all of the modes work perfectly. The light heats up very fast on high, but I trust that is a good thing.

At the tailcap on high, it is drawing 1.5A from a protected flame trustfire 14500. This thing is a sweet little pocket rocket.

I am excited to do my driver swap/ xm-l swap to my tr-801 now. Uh oh. I have discovered the other side to this hobby. Not just buying/collecting, but actually modding and fiddling with them. Makes it much more enjoyable and rewarding!

I bought some IMR 14500s for mine. I'd strongly recommend you do the same.

Mine is drawing more than that, but much over an amp from a 14500 is more than I prefer to pull.

Runtime isn't great but if you carry a dozen or so lights, who cares....

[quote=mizjif]

whoohoo! I just did my first DIY project ever.

[/quote]

Congrats on your first mod! Sounds like it turned out great. Careful, modding is addicting

Thanks! When I was done I put a KD 2800 mah driver and an xm-l into my tr-801 :smiley: wow. It’s drawing over 2.86a and wow. For it’s size, it is impressive to say the least!