Hi Guys,
I found a flashlight today and it uses a cree xre, as far as I know. It is driven at 600mA and not particularly bright. I would like to upgrade the led and the driver, but there is a problem: Ground from the battery comes from the plate, the led is mounted to. It is a round 24mm plate and i couldn’t find anything online. Do you have any suggestion on how to proceed? I cant use a normal driver, because the inside of the flashlight is anodized aluminium and the driver is mounted from the front.
Thanks for your advice
Devryd
Pictures?
In the outside ring, the module is connected to ground.
I just found a brass pill that i might be able to fit in the flashlight.
https://www.fasttech.com/p/1208600
I ordered it and now I don’t know what LED to put in there. I want it to be fairly bright, but it doesn’t have great thermals, I think. I was considering to use a XP-L V5 but I am open to different suggestions. The host fits one 18650 battery.
Does nobody has any recommendations on LEDs?
The XP-L is fine. Whether or not the light can take the heat produced really is partly dependent on how much current is supplied to the XP-L as well as how well the light head and body can radiate the heat. A 2 part thing; In and Out.
Looks like some sort of pill with a ∅16 mm MCPCB thermal glued (?) into.
Honestly speaking, any modern led will do better than the XR-E lumen wise, but just in case it is of importance let me say you may lose throw if you don't considerably increase the driving current for bigger leds. The XR-E has a tiny die (see: LED Package/ Die Sizes - WIP -) and thus smaller leds may be better replacements: Luminus SST-20, Osram CSLNM1.TG/CULNM1.TG (White Flat), Cree XP-Gx, Nichia 219C… Other than this, any modern led will overall do noticeably better.
No, it is not a pill. It’s a 24mm mcpcb which is mounted on a plastic pill(?).
I added another picture
Honestly since you already bought the pill, just buy LED and driver spec for the pill.
If it fits loose in your light, just shim some aluminum can around it or something to affix to your light.
I’d go with XP-L Hi or SST-40 for effecient brightness and a simple biscotti 2800ma driver with adapters to fit
if all doesn’t fit then just save yourself some hard work and get a Convoy S2+ or a C8
Without any details we are all speculating only.
We see. Piss poor heatsinking at its best.
The emitter/driver pillar you bought should do fine. Stars-922 is a nice thermal glue if you need a “stick in place” compound for the pill, it's thick consistency wise.
By the way, why 4000 × 1800 pictures? There's so much wasted picture space, it's inconvenient. With a standard 4:3 aspect ratio the item would fit within a lot better.
I know this is going to be off topic, but I must say all this modern trend of super wide displays, extra wide formats and such is stupid, moronical. Plain and simple, super oblong displays are out of proportion and, in my opinion, be it whether in portrait or landscape, they don't work well. 
P.S.: When buying at FastTech use BLF coupon, gives 5% discount on flashlight related items, including batteries.
Sorry, I just took the picture with my phone. I didn’t change the aspect ratio, because i didn’t think, that somebody would mind. My next picture will be in a better format.
Where do i find the BLF coupons?
Thanks for the tip.
The brass pill has been put in the mail, so I think i can soon start to fit it too the host.
BLF is the coupon. O:)
Oh wow that is easy. Now I know, thanks
Are there different sites, where there are known discounts?
My LEDs and drivers have finally arrived today. I also ordered a brass bill, I fitted into the flashlight. It is now running a xpl v5 which is really a big difference to the old cree xre. I didnt think it would be that noticeable, thanks for your help.
I also apologize in advance, because the mod is neither pretty, nor without mistakes. It is my first mod, so please be kind.
I also managed to damage the dome of the emitter when i was soldering to it, so I sliced it. If you have any tips, on what I can do better next time, please let me know
old:
new:
What do you use for centering the led?
Make sure you use some thermal paste under the ledboard.
I used trial and error for getting it centered. I put the led on, put it in the flashlight and looked through the reflector. Than I took it apart again and moved the emitter slightly until it was nearly centerd. I used arctic mx4 thermal paste, which I had some left off from building my pc a year ago.