Match's Mods: Edi-T T11...To He(xm)LL and back

Awesome indeed. A professional job. I guess it would make a great flooder at the medium zoom. I wonder how my Randar XML Zoom is going to be. Your result made me inpatient.

just what i figured would happen with a flood-to-throw light upgrade.

loss of concentration, which is part of the appeal of these flash lights.

funny that i ordered the edi t11 about 2 weeks ago, and it still hasnt shipped from DX....sad

Can't say i like the light in true fairness but i can't be quiet for your exquisite craftsmanship. Good job! I like your craftsmanship and commitment. I wish i had the tools...

That's a great job! (we really need a "thumbs up" smiley :) )

I was thinking of doing a similar project (with much more amateurish execution, I predict), but in light of your results I think I'll skip it - I guess there is a need for a suitable lens, which will concentrate the light closer to the size of the original XR-E.

Excelent Job Match! like all yours!

Have a look at this curves, I think a CR123 primary may give a good current draw.. I would like to know if DX cheap CR123 are good enough..

Thanks for the comments, guys. This was more of a proof of concept and to show one way how it could be done. As far as the beam pattern, I look at it more as a "Long Range" Flooder. Currently I'm having fun with it, so I'll play with it for awhile. The flood is amazing on high...the pics really didn't do it justice - it's a very even beam.

What I may try now, since it can now handle the heat, is to put the stock emitter back in and drive it as hard as possible just to see how high of a lux reading I could get out of something this size. Hmm...may try that tonight.

[quote=Budgeteer]

I wish i had the tools...

[/quote]

This mod really only required sandpaper, thermal glue, a razor knife, and some copper strips. The copper slug does not have to be as round and smooth as shown in the picture. In fact, it only has to have one flat side to make contact inside the pill opposite the emitter. Using a hand file... in half a beer's time you could make one.

Nice! I love it. When I saw your title, I thought maybe you converted it to an XM-L and then converted it BACK to the original. :p But seriously this is a really nice piece of work, and very clever heatsinking. And nice looking light there by the way.

Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.

Well... my tools department is very lacking... i don't even own a decent drill and any file. I have however sandpaper of various grits.

Btw, there is much fuss lately for lead based solder... Soon, only lead free will be available which is a pain to work with. I suggest all who do or plan to DIY to stock some while still available. My solder melts at 270 cesius or so... the standard lead free does at 400+ or so iv'e been told. Tried the lead free a few days ago and i was very unimpressed.

Know the feeling!

It does need a more powerful soldering iron. But if Slovenia interprets the COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations the same way as they are here, the "consumer" shops will only sell lead-free but the "trade" shops will still have the leaded stuff. I still have about 450g of a 500g reel of leaded stuff I bought years ago.

I can solder with the lead-free stuff but prefer not to. It needs much more heat and a longer wait for the iron to heat up. I have a 50W thermostatically controlled iron but it needs to be cranked up to almost maximum to work with lead-free solder.

Ha, I should start selling lead based solder from here. Around these parts they even still put lead in the gasoline, to say nothing of the solder.

Excellent mod, Match :crown:

And the result of this mod... as I suspected. The standard aspherical lenses are made for a small die, Q3-Q5 normally. As XML has a much bigger die, those lenses can't concentrate the beam as well, so the throw is less intense, but the ceiling bounce is much bigger, logically. So, I think we need aspherical lenses with less (if I'm not wrong) curvature :| to get more concentrated beam. Ceiling bounce could be a little bit less intense also.

[quote=sb56637]

Nice! I love it. When I saw your title, I thought maybe you converted it to an XM-L and then converted it BACK to the original. :p But seriously this is a really nice piece of work, and very clever heatsinking. And nice looking light there by the way.

[/quote]

I just updated the end of the original post with an epilogue of sorts. That was my origional intention, but just ran out of steam posting it that night. It's back, but not quite to origional

I think that is the art

creativity that gets translated into aomething interesting .

Just keep it simple as many of us are slow learners //Maybe mostly out of fear .thanks for making it look possible.

Hi Match,

Another nice mod...I was wondering how did you remove the emitter? Thanks in advance :)

[quote=mintec]

Hi Match,

Another nice mod...I was wondering how did you remove the emitter? Thanks in advance :)

[/quote]

With a careful twisting action on the two indents using a needle nose pliars. The thermal glue used will break loose easily. Just be sure to disconnect the leads first.

Thanks for the fast reply...I don't think I'm there yet...how do you get the black thing out thats on top of the emitter? Thanks again.

[quote=mintec]

Thanks for the fast reply...I don't think I'm there yet...how do you get the black thing out thats on top of the emitter? Thanks again.

[/quote]

Ah, the black thing...yup it's kind of a bugger. I wouldn't try prying it from the top, or you'll run the risk of damaging the emitter. I used a razor blade to remove the solder between the driver and pill, then carefully removed the driver. There's enough length in the wire going to the emitter to push the driver off to the side, which will allow you to use a small screwdriver to push up through the pill holes and pop out the black emitter cover. Just gently push on one side at a time and it will come out. Then you can un-solder the leads on the emitter to continue complete disassembly.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your help Match...my driver was not solder on, it was held in by a retaining ring that was press in. I used a tiny screw driver that was sanded down like a chisel and I used it and hammer to pry the retaining ring out. then I used your suggestion to poke out the black led retaining piece from behind.

The beam shot is my xp-g r5 with 1.4a driver modded Edi-T T11 and Romisen RC-29 Q5 at 15ft. The Romisen hotspot it just a tad brighter than the Edi-T T11.

Congrats on the successful mod, Mintec! I'm glad it all worked out well.

Match, I absolutely LOVE what you've done with your EDI-T T11... well, before you changed it back, anyway.

I'd like to do something similar with mine but I don't know the PCB & star measurements, and I have NO idea where to find 1mm copper sheeting; I think I can find a metal slug, albeit something besides copper (probably steel).

Any advice you might be able to provide would be much appreciated.

Take care!