First mod question

Hi all,

Kinda new here, first post anyway. Have been into flashlights for a few years but not much modding. I have an old Olight M20 Warrior that I can’t stand to even turn on because the tint is so ugly. But generally it’s a nice light. I’m hoping some one can steer me in the right direction for a new led and or a driver. I’m thinking that a CREE XM-L2 U3 3D LED on Noctigon 16mm MCPCB might work for the LED part. Is there a way to find out if the present driver could handle it. If not what driver might work for this. Looks like the driver board is about 25mm but not sure how the switch function would work. Did a little searching but didn’t come up with much info. This light might not be the best host for a complete mod. Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

BTW, have a FW3A in SST20 on it’s way here from Neal’s Gadgets. :smiley:

Hmm. Guess I’ll just try it then. :neutral_face:

I dont have experience with the olight warrior. Most of the time it is most easy if you stay with the same led type as the original but in the tint you prefer. Optics, reflectors and centering rings are adjusted to this. So if there is a xm-l in the light already the mod should work out fine. If there is an xp sized led in the light now, better to stay with XP sized LEDs ( xp-g2, Xp-L, sst20).

The driver should be ok with Al these LEDs.

Good luck.

Look into the LH351D for a really nice LED. Someone should have them on boards vs nekkid.

Czech out the WK30 which uses one. Best tint I’ve seen in a while.

I dont own the M20 either, if you could post a few pics of maybe the driver or led and maybe the mcpcb if you can break the light down far enough to see this stuff. Some measurements of these components would help us give you better recommendations.

Thanks for the assist Geuzzz. The original LED in the M20 Warrior was an XR-E R2. The M20 is kind of an antique these days. There was at one time a module drop in upgrade available using an XM-L U2 but they are long gone. I realize the reflector and driver would be matched to it but not sure how much difference it will really make. Might just do some experimenting. Like I said this is probably not a good host but I’ll give it a swap and mod and see.

Thanks, I’ll look into that.

I have it completely apart. I think I won’t mess with the driver but just replace the mcpcb. The LED is a 7mm x 9mm on a 16mm mcpcb. Mountain electronics has the XM-L2 U3 3D (5mm x 5mm) on a Noctigon 16mm board for a little over 6 bucks. There might be other options (which I’m open to) but that’s the closest I could come to. Kinda looks like this but the difference is the LED size and a metal ring around the LED. http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_61&product_id=783

Are these floody or throwy? Mountain could probably make one up. They have the LED and the board and say they could reflow it.

If it uses a XR-E then you’ll need a new mcpcb to use the newer 3535 leds. Preferable a copper one.
The manual for the M20 I found on google said 250 lumens max for the R2. That means the driver is only putting out to the led some where in the range of 750ma. The XR-E R2 should put out about 120 lumens per 350ma.
If you prefer long run times this driver will give it but at a cost of lumens. Changing just the led out to a LH351D in a good bin should give you around 400 lumens.
Thats a good increase from the original XR-E. It all depends on how many lumens you want and if you had rather have high lumens or long run times.
If 400 lumens in high is acceptable then just change the mcpcb and led to a LH351D. At this low of current a aluminum mcpcb should work fine.

They are a medium floody. they will be alot more flooder than the tiny XR-E. You could ask Richard to slice the LH351D dome. This will tighten the beam up considerably.
Keep in mind that the XR-E in its day was the thrower led. If you are looking to get something around the same amount of throw then a different led will work better but again at a loss of lumens. To out perform the original you need another driver if throw is what your after.
This is probably the best equivalent to the XR-E. LED test / review - OSRAM OSLON Black Flat HWQP - still highest luminance of all LEDs to date!

Umm, a “metal ring around the LED” sounds like an old old old XR-E. Bigger hole, like for a 5050/XM (maybe).

Same E chip as in XP-Es, but ironically the XR package has a bit better power handling.

You could try any LED like the ’351 and see if a gasket is enough to center it (or any non-XR-E LED). Else, you might need a shim/spacer, and/or find some way of lowering the reflector flush over the chip, else the focus might be “off” (doughnut-beam, rings, etc.).

On the bright (haha) side, the bigger hole might be enough to stick an XHP in there. Or an MT-G2 (yummy!). But then for sure you’d need a different driver, as they’re not “3V” LEDs anymore, but “6V” and “12V” and such.

Well you know how it goes, It’s easy to get spoiled by lots of lumens. I’ve gotten accustomed to my Zebralight SC62w that goes everywhere with me. But I know that less lumens can give as good as or better throw than more lumens depending on the matching of the reflector. 400 lumens isn’t too bad as an upgrade. Will just have to see how it behaves with the currant reflector.

Actually, before you go crazy with anything, you want a thrower or a flooder?

Honestly, for throw, get a different light that could handle more power (ahr! ahr! ahr!).

With a ’351, it’d make a quite nice all-arounder. Even better if you’d “need” diffusion film to smooth out an ugly beam.

I’ve got a few LuxPro lights that use XP-G3s which produce truly ugly-ass beams, and with diffusion film, they’re beautiful. Floody, one big blanket of light instead of hotspot+spill, but really handy close-in.

For throw, I got dedicated throwers for that.

200lemons ain’t gonna throw very far, even in a pencil beam. I got an XP-E2 in a C8 host that throws a nice tight disc of light, but it’s maybe 300lm, and that’s not stressing it out much, by design. I could push it quite a bit more, but chose not to. That throwy, though, and it’s a one-trick pony. Kinda useless for close-in snooping, unless you want to look down drainage pipes or something.

Its really hard to say how it will do with a 3535 led. I have seen them in other lights have a bigger hotspot but alot more lumens makes up for it down range.
But I have also seen it not throw as far and become more floody that wasn’t really usable. It depends alot on the reflector I guess.
I upgraded a HS-802 to a dedomed xpl and liked it better than the XR-E but the current was increased. The xpl should be making around 1200 lumens. hs-802 Pill? - #8 by moderator007

Yeah antique-ish. And yeah, I guess that’s the modding part. :wink: Maybe I’ll work up to modding slowlier since I’m not as sharp as you guys. :slight_smile:

Yeah, like trying to throw normal 12V car parts in an old antique car with a 6V system…

Just need an all-arounder (and a project). Will probably be a spare truck light. I’ve got some (somewhat) throwers.

Been there and done that too. Hoping for a more fun project.

I guess I’ll do the Thomas Edison thing and try it. Hopefully it won’t take as many tries. :smiley: