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Hi folks,

I wanted to see if I was able to get better focus on my Torchlite, so I removed the pill and star from the light. I shaved just less than 1mm from the top of the pill where the reflector actually sits in contact with the pill. I did this in order to get the mtg2 LED to sit further into the reflector. In fact, it’s about as far as you can get it now. I put everything back and compared it to the previous beamshot. I was able to see a more defined clearer hotspot. With the size of the mtg2, I’m doubtful it can actually be made into a very tight narrow spot beam unless a reflector is designed for this emitter. Still, I’m happy with the final result, if only subtle.


Previous Torchlite Beam Shot


Latest beam shot with less than 1mm shaved from top of pill at reflector seat.

Thanks for the great beam shots Richie. That pill shave really made a big difference.

Dang that looks quite a bit more focused. Do you have any lux measurements before and after?

I’m getting back on mine tonight, drivers have turned up today.

Richie, did you just file the pill down a touch to get the focus?

I’ll post up picks of the drivers sat in the pill, one is 5a hi-mid-lo-strobe. Not ideal but its only 12mm in height so may drop in there. The other may need to pill extending to suit.

wow, that made a big difference

sinkpad mtg2 pcbs should be about that much thicker.

I finally got de-doming right, on the third try, and then I reflowed it to a sinkpad, so I’m waiting for a driver to arrive and i’ll have 1 done.

Muh hahahahaha haaaaaaaaaa :bigsmile:

How does 3.12a at tailcap, no pill mods and 3 mode with memory sound? 8)

which driver, the lck-led 5A?

I just tested the IOS 9A driver.

2cgr18650ch at 8.3V static, were sending 3.75A through my crappy test leads (drives me nuts that I haven’t come across the homemade 14ga leads I made w/ silicone wire).

The upper board would not fit in the pill. I trimmed the excess (the rough parts where the boards are connected to each other in a sheet when manufacturing) and then the upper board fits in the pill but only to where the inside threads end.

That is actually far enough to get the bottom board to touch the pill, but in all likelihood the upper board would be shorted to the pill.

so, I just finished taking the dremel sanding drum to the inside of the pill. Brass is so much easier to sand than aluminum!

The upper board now fits with a slight gap all the way around. It only went about a mm farther into the pill, then the largest component of the upper board touches the inside/top of the pill.

I will pot it, just to be sure it can’t short, and because ma_sha reported heat problems with the driver in the lck-led review page.

I wish I understood electronics enough to say for sure, but I suspect this driver isn’t truly buck/constant current.

The reading I took is roughly 30 watts - which is pretty close to an sst-90 at 9A (I’m not sure how much the Vf goes up). If I’m right, I should get 5 to 6 amps to the MTG2.

If not, then I’ll be reporting back (probably tomorrow night) that I have destroyed the emitter 8)

Ok, I teased long enough…

This driver.

Its the one on the right. Mtg-2’s and xp-g2’s for comparison.

I removed the standard contact board, here you can see the driver sat in the pill.

I shredded the thermal pad to push in around the driver, potting is still an option if it becomes necessary.

I then fitted the retaining ring, adding a little protection to a component I thought may short. The ring went in upside down with the recess to the outside of the pill and a 21mm contact board was soldered on top to carry the spring, not pretty but functional and no chance of careless battery fitment smashing the driver.

I cleaned up the excess solder, built the light back up and its good. I’ve not tried filing the pill to drop the reflector yet, I want to try it as is for a while and then decide. It certainly looks like a usefully bright beam, shocked mrs gords when I showed her, I started on low, she was not impressed with my efforts, flicked it up to high and she was stunned. :bigsmile:

Hey Gords,

Just checking all your great photos. Looks like you’ve been busy and I’ve missed some things around here…LOL. Yeah, I used a table top sander very carefully and removed just about 1mm on the top. This allowed the reflector to sit closer to the base of the mtg2. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to try removing a bit from the actual base of the reflector. But focus could still be slightly better.

BTW…with all those photos and great components, you are a tease!

Yeah, I have a real problem now though…. I have a spare mtg-2 and 5a driver. What am I to do now? 0:)

Sell them to me and ship them over to the USA :bigsmile: I’m going to risk putting a huge emitter like that in my Digital Projector Spotlight.

Mmmmf yeah, there’s that sst-50 host to try out….

Besides, you wont like that driver. It has strobe :Sp I only ordered it because its 12mm high it’d almost fit a c8…or an m10….but could be interesting if I can fit it in a trustfire t1 with an xm-l2 on a sink pad or a 3d mag light on a custom heat sink with 3 × 26650/32600…

Go for it. You shouldn’t waste those components. Toss them in the SST-50.

Maybe in a month or so, got to tax and insure two cars and mot one next month, I really need to sell my zuk. The cool down period will let me mull over what to do too. Maybe build something tosell, get some funds back.

Hi there Jason,

Sorry for the delay. Originally the ceiling bounce at 1 meter was 460 lux. After I performed the pill shave, this resulted in a slight increase to 550 lux. This was actually higher, but that’s at the point it started to settle at.

I literally have the 5A driver and MT-G2 sitting in the pill waiting to be potted and fujik’d but havent had the time to finish it.

The I-O 5A driver needed a lot of sanding and caressing to get into that pill.

Perhaps tonight.

My test runs leads a much warmer tint than the beamshots posted. I hope im doing it right. Perhaps because of almost no thermal transfer during the quick test?

Hey FM,

Excellent you are so close to getting it going. I’m sure your tint is right. I believe this mtg2 should be rated at 5000k on the money, or close to it. It’s perfect for me because I’m a 4300k-5000k sort of guy. Hopefully you’ll love the excellent color rendering you get from it.

I got her all put together - de-domed mtg2 on (aluminum) sinkpad, potted 9A driver.

The sinkpad is the perfect thickness. I used a thin insulation disc just to be safe.

6A at the tail at turn on, and that quickly drops to 5A. These panasonic cgr18650ch are rated 10A max discharge. good 26650s might maintain that current.

I tapped the pill and I’m using nylon screws, but I think I’ll switch to steel and nylon washers so that I can be sure the emitter is tightened right down hard.

I’m getting ~20k lux@1m at turn on, dropping to 15k at 30 seconds and staying there. Spill is still very bright.

Holy cow that driver is really putting out! You really need to post some beam shots. It must be amazing at that current. I’ll bet with good 26650’s in there, amps and lux will maintain much higher than it is.