What did you mod today?

Hmmm… :frowning:
That’s strange…
I think it should be parabolic, not with that change of curvature…
Reminds me of the disappointing recoil reflector in the recoil topic…
And i was planning on getting a catadioptric myself, but postponing it because of disheartening shipping costs…

It’s as if it is not allowed to make an efficient tight beam light with a simple optic…

Awesome stuff guys.
I just caught up on this topic and i see great stuff being done.
So i just wanna say: :+1: :+1: :+1:

I was planning to post something about my current mod, but it’s not that interesting and my camera has issues… (actually the USB cable is failing and it has XD card which fits nowhere else…)
But i’m doing my Jacob A60.
XP-E2 R5 1A on Noctigon and a 6x 7135 driver, which may be a bit much… :smiley:
Iḿ dedoming the XP-E2 at the moment, i use a warmed up mixture of paint thinner and benzene, and this seems to work well.

Maybe i’ll put up some pics later.

Wow, I did not know that the XP-E2 came in R5 bin, have just seen it in R4. Where did you find it?

Well, let’s say i hope it is really R5, but it’s advertised as such here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-CREE-XPE2-R5-1A-1B-1C-1D-145LM-6500K-SMD-LED-beads-Cree-xlamp-Cool/32707363888.html

I say hope because there was some horrible feedback on XP-L W2 he offers…
I saw this after i ordered, of course…

Got some of these on its way too, for fun:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CREE-led-chip-XPC-Q5-WG-WD-WP-107LM-5700K-6350K-cree-star-smd-3535-led/32590315929.html

:smiley:

A tiny and quick mod today: I wasn’t happy with the tint offering in the Nitecore TIP CRI, too warm for my taste. So I swapped a 5,700K 92CRI Nichia 219:

Disassembled

The reflector is a 2-piece design, both made from aluminium. The diameter is larger than the centering ring and has a bit of play, making the stock XP-G2 uncentered.

Nichia reflowed and tested

Removed the factory thermal glue and potted with healthy amounts of Arctic alumina epoxy.

Everything back in place

Nice nichia tint :slight_smile:

The tint looks warmer than the picture, I suspect KD sent me a 5,000K version instead of 5,700K. But color rendition is excellent specially the reds.

That shop again …

Both me and Kawiboy have sent messages to this seller in the past without response . (for other items)

Yes. I tried it without first - became basically next mode memory. Pulled it back apart and added one. Oh well. I dont think I’ve built any of these tailcaps that didn’t need the bleeder, but others report different results.

@Will, that Nichia will not go anywhere, ever!

What value did you use?

After potting it I’m pretty sure it will be stuck in that TIP forever :smiley:

The tint is really nice, unlike any other tint I’ve seen before. Makes me wonder why I still have so many CW lights…

So did i get ripped off? :frowning:

At first I didn’t use any but it didn’t work in an acceptable way. So I put a 470 in it, because that’s what I had on hand. I’ve used up to 6-700 ohms before with good results. My driver now works pretty much like the tailcap isn’t even there, although it is now possible for me to click too fast to enter the programming. I have to kinda slow down just a bit when doing those 15-or-whatever clicks or it never registers. Not a big deal at all.

No . It’s a good seller but they are not responding in messages of non-buyers.

Looking at the pictures, it also comes with a nice corrosion spot on the centre pad. :person_facepalming:

that’s not corrosion, many cree leds have that and presumably it’s from testing the leds at production time or some of the production steps involves using heat that’s why you have central pad discoloration

Changed Utorch UT01’s led , from cool white xp-l to xpl hi v2 3d . Really like the tint and the better throw - flood ratio .

Also , i did the same thing to Thrunite TN12 . Intesity went to 16.5kcd (from 11.5kcd if i remember correctly) , not bad for a tube light !

It could be corrosion, or oxidation, because it’s where the holes in the reel tape are, and they’re ‘new old stock’ so they must have been stocked somewhere for quite a while.
Cheap too at $5.75 for 20 pieces.
And it’s the last generation of the super tiny die Cree LEDs, so it should be fun in AA zoomies. :slight_smile:
First i had to figure out the chromaticity coordinates, but iḿ glad i could choose “WD”, which is 1D and 2A.
They also have “WJ” which is 2D and 3A.

My Employer gave me a Helping Hand today. OK, Sorta…
They did unknowingly Sponsor this build with parts and time. Nice when the Dept Super is on Vacation…

Idea from PilotDog’s link, maybe, in this thread?
The flex hoses we use on machinery at work. Of course I dug up new ones for my personal build. Found the powder coated steel blocks on parts shelves and had 2 pre-drilled holes in each. Used some MEK to melt the powder coat and clamped the 2 blocks together in a vise till they were fused together. No glue just the PC acting as glue. Drilled the holes to size and tapped for the fittings. Still need to mount up some alligator clips. Base is pretty heavy, enough to hold what I will be using it for.
Similar items sell for $55 and mine was… Umm… paid for by my generous employer. Actually only took 20min to make. Need to remember to a get a piece of adhesive backed rubber pad tomorrow, for the base.



Well, oxidation is a form of corrosion and yes it is exactly where the holes are in the tape. And Sirius, that certainly doesn’t come from production or testing. Those are LEDs that weren’t stored properly, under too humid conditions or something like that. Shoot the seller a message if you receive LEDs like this. I received a few that looked like this. Used very fine grit sand paper to sand off that stuff and reflowed them right after. I mean they worked fine, but that’s not how I want to receive my LEDs, especially expensive ones. I can overlook that if it’s a cheap LED, but if I pay 7,99$ for one XP-L HI or something, than I’m quite pissed if they look like this and I let the seller know.

Yet another X6 triple. The baked brown finish was shown 6 or 7 weeks ago. I’m not always this slow. So this is an Eagle Eye X6. First baked. Then the tail cap received a wire bypass. The driver is the MTN17DD NUV FET+ 7135 with Bistro firmware. The triple Noctigon has Cree XP-L V6 3C emitters and the Ledil optic is the Cute3-SS version. The copper spacer is from Kiriba-ru. I used ceramique heat transfer paste between the MCPCB and spacer as well as the mating surfaces of the spacer to head. I retained the glass with the O-ring between the glass and the optic. It seated okay with the bezel fully screwed down to the head.

I have run it on a 30Q flat top and Wow!, it sure is bright on turbo!!

I have not run a amp test but will get around to that sooner than later I hope. I’m also looking forward to getting the integrating sphere and will check the output when it arrives. Right now all I can say is it is BRIGHT!! on turbo and very very low on Moonlight. Very cooll!! And I really like the optics beam pattern!