New to the forum... So I just got the L6 and I am a little disappointed with how bright it is. Maybe I just had my expectations too high, but overall it doesn't seem all that much brighter than my 1000lm Fenix TK16.
I would like to modify it to get a more focused beam and more power overall out of it. However, I am going to be using it primarily for work and being able to keep it at the max brightness for extended periods of time is important. I'm fine with putting it at a lower power setting once I get to 5 min or so. I plan to get a SMO reflector and a XHP70.2 LED for it as both should help get me in the direction of what I want without creating additional heat. I've been reading through a ton of different threads on this forum, but I still have a few questions.
Roughly how long can the stock L6 be left on turbo before it is going to damage itself due to heat? I wear gloves so I don't care that much about it getting too hot to hold.
Would increasing the amperage to the LED significantly reduce (to where it is now below 5 min) how long the light can be left on turbo? Essentially, is the stock L6 set to about the max power you can pump through the LED before it will start to fail within 5 -10 min, or can I get more out of it with a resistor modified driver or a different driver like the Texas Avenger?
What usually fails first due to heat failure? The LED, driver, or batteries?
As long as you don’t keep it powered on past the point of where it is unbearable to hold are you usually not going to damage anything (even when modded)? Another way of asking this… Will the parts in the flashlight fail due to heat first or will it become too hot to handle first?
Law Enforcement work. I have the TK16 as my primary light. This will just be used occasionally when I want to search an area for somebody in a field or forest etc.
This is just about as big as I can get. I throw this in a sling on my belt. Anything bigger than this and I will have no place to hold it when I need both hands.
Too hot to hold first. Lights like the Thorfire S70 will step down after 3 or 4 minutes to keep people from burning their hands, but the Convoy L6 was programmed not to step down. You have to use common sense not to burn yourself. And of course it is designed to handle the heat internally. I think it gets up to 80°C, then as the batteries drain the heat goes down.
One thing that might help is a narsil driver. With ramping it has 150 brightness levels so you can choose what you want instead of being limited by high or turbo.
I do security work with mine. It’s so bright, I can sweep an area in like 3 seconds. I use it in short bursts usually no more than 10 seconds at a time. If I need to keep it on longer, I adjust it down a little.
Another thing to consider, it seems like the various bins of the XHP70.2 vary significantly, looks like between 1520 to 2015lm according to the cree data sheet. Where does one buy top bin XHP70.2 already mounted to the MCPCB?
This is the only one that I found already mounted to a MCPCB but I have no idea what bin it is from:
That’s funny I found that same site just before you posted it. I like the color rendering I get from the 5000K XHP70 so I’ll stick to around that. Looks like 4000K would be better than 5700K. Would you agree? Seems like I can pick up stuff faster with the warmer light (at least when comparing to my much whiter Fenix.
I don’t think he’s looking for a thrower. I know I wouldn’t want to hunt for somebody in the woods using an L2 or a C8 light. You want good spill lighting to see all around you plus a decent sized hotspot to better identify things.
The larger head of the L6 with a smooth reflector will give best throw, use a buck driver at 5.5A or 6A to the XP-G2 and de-dome it, should get some 1100 lumens and a tight pencil beam.
It depends. If you’re surrounded by birches for example, a big spot or bright spill will blind you from the reflections. A small spot goes right between the tress.
I use that to my advantage in the house. Lately, I’ve been plagued by either fruitflies or gnats. I got one of those electronical tennis-racquets that zaps ’em, if I see ’em. A nice bright floody beam doesn’t light up the background all that much, but when the critters are close by, they light up like they’re on fire. Zap!
It’s also the same reason foglights are generally poopooed when it’s not foggy. Sure, they’ll light up the road immediately in front of you nice’n’bright, but that brightness almost blinds you to what’s way out there that your regular lowbeams would light up just fine, but is now relatively in the dark.