Good advivce on the practicing. I use the steel center of a gas stove for reflowing. Put the mcpcb on it and turn up the gas. Works well for me.
Nope, this is a 12V emitter, you need a ~3V emitter (standard XM-L2)
Olight is tempting me to cough up 50+ bucks for this S mini…
It’s another über cuty from Olight, like the H1, which isn’t cheap either.
Not really B (as in BLF).
Maybe i’ll stick with my i3S’s
Yes Jerommel, you need one!
“Get thee behind me, satan.” 
:smiling_imp: :
It’s like having a micro D4:
The S-Mini is one of the only unmodded non-custom lights I find worthwhile any more.
Got it, thanks.
I been spending a lot of time learning about Cree tints trying to choose what I think I’d like best for this swap. I like neutral and I’m not afraid of warm. I prefer rosy over yellow. The higher CRI, the better. I’ve narrowed it down to these two that I can find available at this time: T5 5D3 or T3 7A3. Any other recommendations on tints or where to buy? Thanks again.
Forgot what this was supposed to go into, but the best to do would be to just try both.
Know the distinction between color-temperature (blue vs yellow) and tint (red vs green). Rosy would be below the BBL (black-body line), and would be the A and D in Cree parlance. Warmer vs colder would be higher numbers, 3 vs 5 vs 7.
I prefer rosy myself, but even 4C is quite a nice color. Just warm of neutral, a nice easy-on-the-eyes color. 5s would be a little warmer still, and 7s are already near incandescent.
I’m getting used to and liking warm colors, like a WW Sofirn light that I’d guesstimate would be a 7A or 7D. 5A/5D would be really nice if you’re not willing to fully “commit” to true warm. 
Still, my vote would be to just try both and see which you prefer. Or better yet, get 2 lights, one with the 5D and the other with the 7A.
If you’re starting with a copper S-Mini, the tint it comes with is probably around 6000K, like 1C/1D/2B/2A. I think the titanium ones are about 5000K, probably 3A/3B/3C/3D for neutral white. If you go with a 5D3 emitter, that’ll be the yellow end of neutral (~3800K), or a 7A3 emitter is even more yellow (~3100K) like an incandescent bulb.
I find the sweet spot to be around 4750K (shown on chart), but that’s a matter of personal preference.
I very much like 3D. And I very much like 5A, but I have tried a couple of 4a emitters and don’t like it. It’s right on the line of appearing white vs warm and seems to reveal an unwanted feeling. So for me it’s go up one or down one but stay away from the 4. Tk, have you experienced the same?
I haven’t tried 4A, but I like the Nichia 219A and 219B emitters I have in 4500K to 4800K tints.
Would a Nichia from Clemence work in an sMini?
https://www.virence.com/blank-rwrlr/nvsl219bt-v1
please just say no, or its going to cost me
I’d go for the 5D. Really nice in combination with the “soft” tir of the S1 mini. BTW the neutral emitter that was original in my light was pretty green, certainly not a 3D.
http://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-xm16-v2-mcpcb-cree-xml2-u2-5d-p-806.html
No it will not work :+1:
The optic will make ugly artifacts with a 219C or any XP size emitter
Thanks for pointing out the temperature/tint distinction. I’m a bit frazzled after trying to shop around and then decode the Cree datasheet. It took me way too long to understand that the order codes didn’t indicate the bin codes. I’m certain I’ll want to go with an A or D. I’m just trying to imagine the differences between the 1, 2, 3, and 4. And, sometimes that isn’t even indicated. It has been confusing trying to figure all this out.
I’m too chicken to do the swap myself. I want to practice first on something else. And I’m too impatient to wait so I’ll be sending this out to LightRider to do it. Otherwise, I could do both (or more), see which I prefer, and go with that.
I have several L3 Illumination lights (L08, L10, L10C, L11C) with 219A or 219B. I prefer the 219A over the 219B when comparing them side to side as it is a touch warmer. The 219B is brighter, though. I have one light with a 5000K 219C and I wish it was warmer.
Interesting.
I think it’ll be a 5D. I saw the U2 5D that you linked to but it doesn’t specify CRI or the 1, 2, 3, 4 (what’s the term for that?). I don’t have enough experience to know which 1234 I’d prefer but I do want high CRI. I don’t mind sacrificing a little efficiency for a little higher CRI.
I have an XM-L2 4D in a C8 sized light with OP reflector, a ‘corona killer’ (turns the corona into spill) and a 5° diffuser film.
But besides that, i love the tint.
It’s cool enough to not miss the red too much (because it’s not high CRI)
4A and 4D are not easy to find though.