DIY: Solarforce MasterpiecePro1 into XML performer

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts Featured Mods
1

Ever since I bought Masterpiece Pro 1 more than a year ago, I had this idea of turning it into XML super-thrower… So instead of some 250 lumens how about 800 or even 1000 with about the same hotspot and about the same throw ??? I was hoping that the throw would be the same (and the beam profile as well)… we’ll see…

So after Solarforce offered L2T, I fell in love with that host body… Just perfect… I even stripped grip rings from my old Surefire Z2 so L2T can be even better for holding in hands (firmer rubber on both spacer and grip ring plus full round look on grip ring)… then S8 switch came along which was actually upgradeable with McClicky very easy… so final look of the host was this:

So next step once my senses were more than satisfied with final look, was to pull the whole head apart… disassemble was ultra easy and no need to destroy anything in the process…

First thing you notice is that the pill is made from pure aluminum and only 1mm thick on most parts of it… far away from a good heatsink… that’s the most challenging thing to upgrade here as not many people have access to lathe (but few spoilers how to get to one is to follow shortly)…

Basically we need to combine fully custom part of pill to be made and existing aluminum part… After some measuring up’n’down, the final look of pill (to be made from brass as it’s good enough for heatsinking, easily obtainable for me and extra easy for machining, compared to pure copper, not to mention surface oxidization of copper later on that would need some kind of electroplating to keep a good electrical contacts)… so final pill should look like this:

ATTENTION: SPOILER AHEAD !!! How to make this if you don’t have access to the lathe and never worked on one, like was case with me ??? Easy… get a case of beer (or L2P flashlight with custom made low-voltage module with 1-cell extension so it can run on 2xAA batteries) and get to SOMEONE who has a lathe… there is ALWAYS someone who has it… I knew like 2-3 people… spent few times in their workshop, made initial friendship with one, gave him my budget Solarforce with “200 lumens” XPG pill and he was relaxed enough to let me use his lathe (he is a gunsmith)… that was it… I had to promise I will be very careful, diligent with it and after 5 minute intro on safety on the machine, I was off into another creative world… one hour later that was what I came with… deliberately added 0.1 or 0.2 mm on few strategic parts that I could later sand off with sand paper for “perfect” fit… I was more than happy, he realized his lathe was safe in my hands (plus I had to help him with installing few optics on few rifles but that’s another story)…

So after mentioned sandpaper treatment and continuous measurements the final thing had to look like this (forgot to mention, in the process of creating brass pill, I cut the original below second notch with hacksaw and sanded flat so it can rest against new pill - aluminum parts serves as fixing ring for reflector in the head…

Notice that first pics had intact LED… shaving came after I noticed a doughnut hole in the beam pattern… Oh… the LED used is XML U2 1C 6700C that I stripped from Solarforce M3 head (hehehehe, break one good thing to make another)… it was perfect cool white color with no blue or greenish stuff in it… and after shaving, both of my shaved U2 1C’s from first gen XML kept rather beautiful color (compared to XML2 U2 1C that turned YELLOW after I shaved it but that’s another story)… so color temp moved slightly to neutral which I loved and beam profile improved completely… instead of a doughnut I have BRIGHT hotspot with some almost-impossible-to-notice darker spots in it… only beam dorks would see these on ultra-white wall and they are practically non-existant…

But the beam pattern had another issue… RINGS… like onion rings… so what to do ? XML had to be mounted deeper than XRE so majority of light is blocked by aluminum bottom of the reflector… what to do? Get exacto ss knife and slowly cut round and round to widen it (no sanding as I was afraid it would ruin reflector surface)… so I went from this to this:

So LED shaved, glued with AA to pill, KDv2 3.04A 3-mode/no-memory driver installed (pic might show setup for another mode sets as I was “experimenting” with what I would need/use on it), double AWG 26 wire runs to each side of LED… all firm and as robust as possible w/o filling gaps with arctic alumina - for future mods/upgrades…

So survived aluminum part of original pill gets screwed into head to hold reflector, pill got a spring (but didn’t have to as it fully makes contact with the body w/o having more than 0.1mm gap between head and body) and it just rest versus original aluminum part - once head is screwed all the way, everything is perfect fit and no movements inside even when brute force was used (hehehe)… all this so it can be easily upgraded later on (with XML2 as I believed but didn’t show up to be any upgrade from this setup)…

This is “business” end, as some people call it… the hole around the LED is big enough to see my amateur soldering job (had to solder/resolder LED 4-5 times while looking for perfect solutions but at the end replaced everything which looks much better but am too lazy to take newer pics, sorry)…

Also, tailcap was upgraded with McClicky - rather easy mod that gave me ease of mind with great and reliable switch with minimal resistance (when taken in count it being clicky switch)…

So… finally… all this blabbering is nothing without some beamshots… following ones taken were my FIRST ONES ever taken so I hope they live up to reputation… they do represent 99.9% of my eye see in real life…

Comparing modded TNT-MPP1 with original MPP1 and with Malkoff HoundDog XML, first gen…

Pic ONE: TNT-MPP1 XML on the LEFT … Malkoff HoundDog XML on the RIGHT

Pic TWO: TNT-MPP1 XML on the LEFT … Solarforce MPP1 XRE (original) on the RIGHT

The hotspot of upgraded MPP1 is tighter than Malkoff HD-XML and much more intense (3Amps vs. 2Amps/smooth vs. OP reflector)… compared with XRE MPP1 is little bigger but it does appear brighter (and MUCH NICER TINT, hehehe)… rings that somewhat exist in XRE MPP1 are almost non-existant in modded head and NO DOUGHNUT HOLE (MPP1 XRE HAS doughnut hole that’s noticeable when shining against monochromatic object from around 10+ yards… not easily noticeable but still there)…

There you go… I hope you enjoyed reading thru all this as partly as I enjoyed making this (and now using it whenever I have a chance which is hard - urban area all around and foggy/smog weather at night that cut the throw)… I measured confirmed 200 yards throw but waiting for clear weather and bigger clearing to measure full throw against reflective and non-reflective but bright color object and compared to same two throwers from above…

2

Thanks for the info. I love my MPP-1 head and despite it’s rather low lumens, it out throws almost everything. It’s a true thrower in every sense of the word.

That mod is way beyond my ability or desire. Have you measured actual lumen output and lux? I know the stock MPP-1 is not supposed to be all that bright but I have never had any complaints. In fact, the more lights I own, the more I am impressed with the MPP-1.

It would be nice if Solarforce would start selling upgraded emitter versions of the MPP-1 like the XML-2 or XPG-2. I would buy another one because I like mine so much.

3

That puts this light back on top of your own collection? What might you have done differently w a bit more access to a shop or tools?

I have the new M3 from SF and like it, and also have the Pro 2 and the M8, I just like them, though none of them are what I consider state of the art.

I like big flashlight heads, that much I cannot deny…! (hope I am not stealing that from someone else?!~)

4

Looks like an authentic piece of Bosnian ordinance or an official prop from the A-Team movie! Liked the story about the case of beer buying access to a lathe. Otherwse I’d have thought you were going to melt it down to make a new pill and heatsink! The blaster of a beam now looks hotter and more intense with added flood capability.

5

I love your mod TNT, I’ve been wanting to do the same thing, just never got around to it.

Can you perhaps post some beamshot comparisons, from say 100m?

Thnx

6

Nice mod TNT. Good to see you have built the light you wanted with a little trial and error. An AC/DC fan are you?

7

Thanks, guys…

To point out, I’m VERY happy with this light, now… and yes, it is the brightest looking torch/flashlight I have now… Even if some of my lights do have more lumens (or even might have more throw, like original MPP1-XRE, that I have yet to test against this modded one) this one just seems brighter, thanks to that ridiculous hotspot… so to answer sck’s question, I wouldn’t change a thing on it now… I did try to replace LED with shaved XML2 and driver with 4.5A version but was not impressed at all… color shift was wrong, draw compared to increase in output is not that impressive plus I had some artifacts in the beam with shaved XML2… so left it to cool down overnight and tomorrow pulled everything apart to try to get it to be as originally made… and everything went good…

As for measurements, I don’t have equipment for that… yet… but it will be a while until I do… In the meantime I should be able to find a nice clearing outdoors with a nice night to do distance beamshots between these same contenders… I wonder if I lost throw compared to stock MPP1… I know it will overthrow Hound Dog XML, no doubt about that…

As for Solarforce M3… I like the way it looks even more than MPP1, especially as it’s a great looking combo with S9 tailcap… who wouldn’t like to have below flashlights in his/her collection:

On below M3, after it lost XML U2 emitter so MPP1-XML can be born, I did custom pill mod on it as well, installed XPG2 R5 3D 5000K that I’m running with KDv2 1.85 amp driver (added one AMC7135)… and can’t say I’m impressed as with big brother… the hotspot has a slight doughnut hole (hard to see) but it isn’t round at all… has some squarish look to it on white wall bouncing (not noticeable outdoors)… I’m guessing due to the nature of XPG2… I believe the beam would be better with XPG R5… I’m actually thinking of trying XPG R5 with 1.5A driver or again, XML U2 with 3 amps… If there is enough interest, I might post few pics how M3 mod looks like…

And I’m a big fan of hard rock, heavy metal to progressive to death metal… so AC/DC does find it’s way on my tracklist… however, TNT is because my first and last name begin with letter T (and old games with high scores could only accept 3 letters to show who got the most points, lol)…

8

Post away TNT. There will always be some sad old bugger like me that'll have a look.

9

Thanks too, for the updates on the M3.

Been looking at mine, enjoying it as it is for right now, but surely a driver change out will pump up the jam a bit, no?!

I am wondering at the thought process/engineering focus with that mounting they designed - lots of open air - no heat management. (I jammed some layers of foil up in mine on the thought of a bit of improved heat transfer) and what is essentially a P60 base, though I think I remember it being just slightly shorter (or taller, don’t have it w me today), so perhaps SF is planning on updating drivers more readily in the future?

Wish I could have gotten it in the anodized gray color.

10

Eh, it’s easier keeping up with your thread when you know that someone is interested in reading thru it (not just anyone in this case)… :slight_smile:

So here it goes… we start with THIS:

The pill itself has no contact with host other than spring and from M3 head threads… so it’s solely relying on moving heat onto the head… which is not that great implemented… based on my previous mod, original pill was cut short just below threads that thread onto reflector and then combined with something I cooked up… so another part was made on lathe (and a case of beer out of the pocket):

So both joining surfaces were carefully sanded flat so they have the best possible metal contact then a ultra-thin layer of arctic alumina was applied as a glue for it (but pressed against firmly to push out as much epoxy as possible for, again, better metal-to-metal contact)… it ended up like this (machinists could make this out of a single piece… threads are still far away from my machining knowledge)…

It’s easily visible that original pill was like 1mm less in diameter thus not making any contact with the host inside… mine was sanded by hand until it came to a fit where I would leave it to slide down the host and it wouldn’t because the air couldn’t escape… once I did the same without the switch, it just slid down like a glove… perfect fit… :slight_smile:

Also, part which accepts the driver protrudes into body for 3mm… battery is in perfect “sandwich”, not being crushed but still not possible to loose any contact even when hit (switch installed, again, is McClicky)…

Current setup (operational) is XPG2 R5 3D 5000K @ 1.85 amps with KDv2 driver… Since MPP1-XML outthrows it and has slightly better beam, I’ve decided today to re-mod M3 once my XML2 T6 5000K LED from IlluminationSupply gets here in 7-8 days… will drive it at 3 amps like MPP1-XML, only will try not to shave XML2 T6 (hopefully no doughnut hole like in original M3 setup)… should be a bigger hotspot with nicer 5000K so will have purpose next to MPP1-XML…

And I have ONE copper 18mm star that I ordered from DX (with T6 emitter as when I tried to order just five bare stars, they cancelled the order… so I ordered only one with LED on it so I can reflow XML2 on it and I had a good use for T6 from PCB in another project so no waste there)…

Oh, the original pill with threads was widened for approx 1mm to 18.2mm diameter where the LED goes so mentioned PCB copper star can fit and be centered… it was enough meat on the walls and should be better for heat dispersion compared to 16mm aluminum PCB…

11

sck,

Before I took the pill apart (had to destroy the driver in the process as I didn’t realize that the board with POS spring on it was just a dummy board… breaking thru it and using a lever to remove the ring would have saved the driver that was deeper inside the pill… I hit it from the holes in the front and went thru it, lol)… these are the readings:

4.1V (AW P18650-3100) 2.0A 0.8A 0.08A
6.2V (2xCR123 Surefire) 1.75A 0.85A 0.15A
8.3V (AW P18500) 1.35A 0.65A 0.15A
9.1V (3xCR123 Panasonic) 1.35A 0.65A 0.15A

So not even close to 3 amps as optimum for this XML… somewhere between 2 and 2,5 amps to the LED, I believe in buck mode… what I find funny about the driver is that it had the same amp draw with 8.3V and 9.1V… also, the amp draw from two primaries is above safe continuous draw (1.5A)…

As soon as I pulled these tests out and once I figured out that L2T with this head and S9 is just perfect looking, the next step was to plan to replace the driver… it’s good… but not good enough… just like the pill… it’s good… but just not right there… and it’s few mm’s longer from regular P60 brass pill…

12

Pretty cool stuff! A lathe opens up a whole new world doesn't it?

Thanks for posting this mod.

13

Clearly SF put some time into doing the reflector and their almost p60 pill. I have to go look at my M8 and MPP2 (and your original mod) for my own interest to see how they were laid out. (I am remembered they are all different and different from most other designs I have seen They put some nice machine work into both pieces, but ignored some opportunities to do it the right way. But everyone seems to agree they are fairlyl conservative in how they do things.

Did you/do you plan to play with the height of the emittter inside of the reflector (and/or widening up the opening of the reflector) to manage the beam to your satisfaction. I was wondering if that had anything to do with the height of the pill.

Old-Lumens is right - now only is it nice to be able to play on a lathe, but good processes on your end too.

I think the future path is to drive that U-2 a bunch harder and see what it does for throw and spill. I do like the L2N and the look and feel of those big heads.

Wondering about the effect of putting some heat sinking compound into and around the reflector and pill (as opposed to something that is designed to set up) - worth the effort?

Hmn, but I already have the M8 w the old XML, do I really need another flashlight?!

And now I am having to revisit the whole I passed over the MPP1 because I had a good new thrower and wasn’t it supposed to be kind of outdated and creaky (mostly the XP I think)… put that one on the list too and time to head back to a Foy (?) review.

14

It’s a brave new world out there with modding once someone figure out how to get to lathe… I’m so attached to the idea of getting one… I started looking for a small one, up to $1000 (and will try to sell some of my older collection to cover for costs)… there is something about machining metal that really relaxes me and keeps me calm… so it’s like a rehabilitation to me, honestly… :slight_smile:

15

There is always some tweaking with LED position when trying to achieve something new… that’s why I glued/reflowed/resoldered this MPP1-XML like 4-5 times until optimal beam was achieved… as for driving it harder, I gave up on the idea… 50% more amp draw to get up to 20% more brightness is not worth it, if you take in consideration that I plan to use this for prolonged periods of time even in hot conditions…

As for heatsink where the air is, I don’t believe that there will be ANY improvement… what I would do is find some thin aluminum kitchen foil and stuff that thing, compressed as much as possible, into parts where you find parts not in contact… but that would be necessary for more wattage, mine showed to be very good in thermal management even just plainly tailstanding on the floor in room warm enough to be sitting w/o shirt on…

You ALWAYS need another flashlight… at least to tweak your old ones… :slight_smile:

16

That is some nice machine work there TNT. Whats next on your list of mods? Have you thought of making a light from scratch?

17

Thanks… it really means a lot when modders like yourself or Old Lumens jump into thread and give their opinion…

As for projects…

I’m currently taking measurements for Triple-XPG2@4.5Amp module I’m planing to make… Got the new style L2M host today, paired it with A001 head and S9 and instantly had to come up with some ridiculous bright module for it… Could’ve gone with XML2 at 4.5A but empty P60 pills just lack heatsink… so decided to go from scratch and make this module as aluminum/brass hybrid… aluminum will be for heatsink (and to save in weight) and brass part, as small as possible, will be for soldering the driver in spot and for electrical contacts with the body…

Parallel with that will be movement on M3 head - will remove XPG2 from the pill and install XML2 T6 5000K @ 3 amps…

Gotta redraw these measurements and post here to see if anyone consider this a good design… I’m trying to make it as lighter as possible but still able to provide some punch and keep it up for some time before temp takes over such a small host…

Complete light from scratch will have to wait for a while until I master-out my skills on lathe… and hopefully figure out the way to do some garage anodization… :slight_smile:

18

Garage anodizing.

You now have OL and my complete attention.

19

This was the most inspiring page for DIY anodizing (we’re talking about type 2, type 3 or HA is way advanced)…

http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html

Also, I’ve found a lot of pages where people used different stuff (like battery acid instead of specific acid mix offered by manufacturers of chemicals or boiling the part in the water afterwards instead of sealant)… some good read… all in all, as the years go by, it’s harder and harder to find chemicals (before you could order and receive by mail, don’t know if that’s still possible)…

But all in all, it’s not that hard… around $250 for a good power supply and $150 for chemicals…

20

Be interesting to see how this ends up for you… hope we don’t hear a story about how the local fire brigade came to your house one day…

Have a buddy who is into powder coating, did some of that a number of years ago when working on/restoring some old Jap bikes from the ’70’s. Relativelly easy, very durable, cheapish and colors, colors, colors…

Have to wonder about flashlight applications…thoughts?