I have a 2 mode V3 XM-L U3 I'm extremely happy with. As much as I'm tempted to get a V5 XM-L2 U2, I think I'll hold off for a while until someone reviews it.
I had to reflow 3 LEDs in my Shadow SL3. I ordered the warm emitter version, but Fasttech sent me the cool version. I had to remove the electronics and the rubber switch cover then heat the entire head using the pre-heater in this hot air station. Worked great.
At $170 this might be slightly out of budget, though. :bigsmile:
But it will certainly get the job done.
I’ll borrow some kitchen gas burner, read somewhere they get up to 800°C, but can be adjusted. XP-G2 flambé…
I used my toaster oven, set to 360 deg F to remove the old LEDs. Worked fine. I could have used it to reflow the new emitters, but I wanted to be able to see them as the solder melted.
I do a lot of electronic repair, so I decided to go ahead and upgrade my soldering station to the hot air rework unit I show above.
As far as I remember Match himself didn’t trust his Vf measurements (whereas his lumen recording seemed pretty accurate and I regularly rely to his charts).
When djozz did his “crash testing” he stated Vf as well and had 3.55V at 3A for an XP-G2. That sounded very reasonable - and is higher than XM-L2 with 3.4V at 3A and much higher than an XM-L, which seems to have a Vf of 3.15-3.20 at 3A. Here is the post of djozz with the graphs for XM-L2 and XP-G2.
My XinTD C8 V4 (XM-L2 T6 3C) gets about 33 kcd of lux (~360m); I wouldn’t be surprised if this XP-G2 version can get 60 kcd (~490m). It’s too bad they don’t sell a de-domed version; then we could probably have a stock C8 with 90+ kcd (~600m) of throw.
Does a XP-G (G2) really have that much more throw over a XM-L (L2)? Or since you are pushing the XP-G at 3A which is 2x times the 1500mA max current the reason? I know my XP-G at 1400mA gets CRAZY hot…at 3A…boy howdy!
The XP-G2 is roughly half the size of the XM-L2, or one quarter the surface area. However, it’s not one quarter as bright; at 1.5A it’s roughly half as bright as the XM-L2 would be at 3A. So, this means its surface brightness is twice as high as XM-L2. Run it at higher amps and it’s more like three quarters as bright as XM-L2, in one quarter the surface area. And if you de-dome it, the apparent size gets even smaller and more light goes sideways into the reflector instead of forward into the spill area.
It’s not because the XP-G2 is over-driven. It’s less efficient than XM-L2, putting out fewer lumens per watt. Instead, it’s because the XP-G2 has a higher surface brightness — more lumens per square millimeter.
So, long story short… XP-G2 will get you a smaller, more intense hot spot than XM-L2.
My numbers earlier were based on actual lights people have made with similar parts. My XinTD C8 V4 gets about 33 kcd lux with a XM-L2 at 3.04A. At the same power level, a cheaper C8 with de-domed XP-G2 gets 90 kcd lux. And some people have gotten 125 kcd.
This works for both reflector-based lights and aspherics. In my Ultrafire 838 zoomie, I just tried a XM-L at ~2A versus de-domed XP-G2 at ~2A, The XM-L got 14 kcd lux, and the de-domed XP-G2 got 60 kcd. The XP-G2 really does have that much more throw.
I have just ordered one with an XM-L2 T6 4D. I will be adding another 4 x 380mA 7135s to it and will upgrade the the driver wires and add some braid to the springs.
+1. This one is definitely going to be harder to modify exactly because of the soldered MCPCB. You've got to be careful how much heat you put into the pill; if you get it hot enough to break the MCPCB/LED loose it may be difficult to try and recenter it. It's pretty hard to get the solder blobs off of these, I always add a lot of fresh solder and flux to them before trying to remove it. It may seem counterintuitive but it is really is the easiest way to get them off.
I’m a little confused? When will I have to put much heat into it? I have ordered it without the driver installed so the only soldering I need to do is attaching the wires to the mcpcb which doesn’t need much heat and a couple of blobs on the driver to the pill?
My soldering iron is adjustable up to 125w. Do you think that will be enough?