Thoughts on some sort of semi-controlled de-doming experiment?

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

I ordered 50 of the $0.20 XP-G leds from sedstar in another thread with the intent to use some of them in random projects (maybe landscape lighting, workshop lighting, not sure yet).

But over the last several days I’ve read dozens of threads (probably hundreds of pages) regarding de-doming. The option to use either hot de-dome or solvent de-dome seems to be mostly personal preference at this point, but there still seems to be a lot of uncertainty about potential tint shift due to different methods. Also, many people report that using a sealent on the LED afterwards will change the color temp/tint as well.

I was wondering I could contribute to the cause with a little experiment. De-dome n=3 LEDs with each of the chosen methods, and report the effect on tint shift. (and any other effects/differences)

  • Heat
  • Gas
  • Acetone
  • Xylene (this is a new one I’ve wanted to try since doing some research and reading a few MSDS’s)
  • Dow Corning DS-2025 cured silicone removal solvent (this is the one I REALLY want to try, but I can’t find a source for it at a retail level)

Thoughts?

Would this be possible? (will the XP-G de-dome OK, like the XP-G2? I know the XP-G3 is more difficult)

Would this be beneficial to the BLF community, or am I the only one who really cares at this point, lol…

2

What about cutting the dome off?
I have cut off the dome of my c8 xml2 U2 1A with a scalpel, leaving a thin layer on the led.
the result is very nice, and the throw is very Good.
On tint there is no noticeable color shift, maybe very light color shift.

3

Good point, I can add “sliced” to the test.

I’m a little surprised nobody else seems to care.

4

They’re already nice and neutral/warm. Might end up lemon-yellow after dedoming.

5

Yeah, 4500K will probably end up too warm/yellow, but I thought it would still be a fair indicator of whether heat or gas or slicing leads to greater or lesser changes from the starting point.

6

Dow Corning DS-2025

I would inquire with the automotive and/or marine paint specialty stores. If they do not have it, perhaps they can order it.

7

On that, MEK and/or xylene might be more effective than gasoline, and not leave its stank on it.

8

i always dropinto gasoline… the “stank”comes right off with “electronics cleaner” insta-dry spray can…

i’mactually curious what a “warm”emitter will turn into, when dedomed,lol…

9

Hey sac02, I care. Anxiously awaiting your results. Thanks for doing this!

10

I always use a razor and slice the dome of. I have had mixed results some work and some dont. It all depends on how much of the dome you want to take of. usually if you just take the dome its okay but if you want a clean finish and go to low it becomes tricky.

11

I care! I am quite curious to see your results.

Thank you for adding to our knowledge base… or at least mine.

12

sub! I killed to 2 XP-g2 and1 XP-E2 dedoming with a heat gun. I guess I didn’t make the dome warm enough; when the dome popped off, it destroyed the wire(s).