I made a quick and dirty zoomie sleeve to start off with so I could get the exact focal length before I make a permanent extension but collapsed, it’s only 5mm longer and 4mm wider at the head so I might just leave it alone. The wide angle beam is dim and not very wide but zoomed in (extended), it’s very laser like. From less than a foot, the spot is about 2mm diameter. Useless but fun.
I think the reflective dome is a little high as I machined it tall and planned to file it down as needed so some more tweaking needs to done before I get a lux reading and some outdoor beamshots.
Overall, this was a relatively easy mod and only cost me my time. The aluminum I used was from a bent handlebar and the Delrin, from a discarded frame slider. The only part I had to modify was the pill. I cut the ridge off and moved the holes out to accept a 20mm star.
The original reflector is replaced by the dome/aperture and spacer (painted black).
I’d like to but this is a first as far as I know so the results are unknown. No light gets thrown away because the aperture is always directly inline between some part of the LED’s surface and some part of the lens. Any waste should be because the reflective dome isn’t doing it’s job.
If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just open the aperture up just enough to allow the full surface of the LED fill the lens and move the focal point back to the LED just like a standard Wavien setup. In that case, I’ll use a dedomed XPE2 torch. }
After more polishing and fine tuning, I’m only getting a paltry 16686 lux. It does make an excellent hand warmer so I think a lot of that recycled light is getting converted into heat. It was worth a try in the interest of science but it’s time to trim the dome and execute plan B…
I made the following measurements and calculations for using a dedomed XPE2 Torch. Compared to my 1255500 lux light, the beam angles should be roughly identical if I use the 50mm FL lens:
Dedomed XPE2 w/ 35 mm focal length:
0.96 mm side to side = 1.55 degrees
1.36 mm corner to corner = 2.20 degrees
Dedomed XPE2 w/ 50 mm focal length:
0.96 mm side to side = 1.07 degrees
1.36 mm corner to corner = 1.54 degrees
Dedomed XPG2 w/ 75 mm focal length:
1.39 mm side to side = 1.05 degrees
1.97 mm corner to corner = 1.50 degrees
It’ll be interesting to see if the advantages of the thinner, higher quality, AR coated, 20mm spherical lens and the higher surface brightness of the XPE2 Torch can get the S2’s output in range of the bigger (60mm diameter usable) aspheric lens.
When has this forum ever been a safe place for anyone in their right mind? I’m enjoying being along for the ride for your outside the box thinking. Curious to see how it works out. Love the Wavien collar light BTW.
I used a 7/16” ball end mill, sanded out the ridges and polished with Mothers. Before I make any more, I’m going to hone the edge of the mill so it’ll leave a smoother finish. It’s a real pain getting those ridges out.
I use a light meter to focus the dome/collar and adjust the lens by matching distances between two points across the lens with the projected images.
Thanks for all the useful info. Could you elaborate on your second paragraph? this part “just the lens by matching distances between two points across the lens with the projected images.”? I don’t understand.
For the reflective dome to work with the 50mm F lens, I bored the aperture out to 2.2mm which is just enough to let the center of the LED hit every part of the lens. That gives an angle of 24 degrees (Wavien apertures give 60 degrees) so I’m still recycling a lot of light.
I thought he XPE2 Torch could handle DD until I looked at djozz’s invaluable charts (thanks!) and realized I’m not going to get the output I was hoping for . So, I opened up the hole in the pill’s retaining ring to fit a Convoy 2.8A driver (tail cap reads 2.4A) and hoped for the best.
It puts out about 75000 lux which is probably a lot for such a small light but it doesn’t light up a large enough area at 1/4 mile like the larger aspheric does at over 1/2 mile with the same beam angle.
Time to swap it out for an XPG2 and run it DD. From side to side, the illuminated width will increase 40% and hopefully, lux will increase significantly.
I ordered a bunch S2s from Fasttech during their CNY sale to play with so I decided to leave this one the way it is for future comparison. Also, with the prospect of Cree creating a line of HI LEDs, I’m not dedoming anymore.
I managed to get over 80000 lux by using a thicker insulator and tightening up the pill a bit more. Compared to my 1250000 lux light, it’s pretty whimpy but still able to do a cloud bounce. S2 on the right:
A Wavien collar takes quite a bit of fiddling with to focus and then attach so it doesn’t move. That’s why they cost so much but the finished build is usually set in stone (actually epoxy) and future repairs/upgrades won’t be easy.
The barrel of the S2 is almost the exact same diameter as a 20.5mm Noctigon and my light recycling reflector is an exact fit so it centers itself almost perfectly. The base of my reflector sits just inside the the solder pads and holds the star down just like the stock reflector so after a simple mod to the pill, it’s a straightforward drop-in eliminating the solder joint and wire artifacts as seen with the Wavien. It only needs to be shimmed up or down and tightened just like any standard reflector. To revert back to stock, just remove the recycling reflector and put the stock parts back in.
Since the S2 has a constant diameter, it isn’t hard to adapt any size head/condenser lens and even make it a zoomie (with limitations). In fact, I plan to fit a 78mm lens for comparison with my Wavien thrower.
I’m enjoying being along for the ride for your outside the box thinking. Curious to see how it works out. Love the Wavien collar light BTW. 
. So, I opened up the hole in the pill’s retaining ring to fit a Convoy 2.8A driver (tail cap reads 2.4A) and hoped for the best.