HowTo: Modify Carclo Optics for XP-L Use--For $0.25

Does the flicker happen when you bridge gate to bat+?

No doubt anything we do to these optics, polished or not, will hurt output. What we really need are some purpose built XP-L optics, but for now this and dedoming will have to do.

BTW, did you compile that firmware with the red/green indicators enabled? It’s possible that they’re getting toggled and diverting some of the power to somewhere else.

Just a thought; might be worth rebuilding with that part disabled (if you haven’t already), in case that might explain the flicker. I don’t think it makes any difference if nothing is connected to those pins, but it’s hard to say for sure.

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere. But where can you get the bits to build a triple S3?

Post #3249 through 3253 or greater. AFAIK RMM carries everything you need in his store - http://www.mtnelectronics.com/

If the alteration of the optics in this manner costs us output, then I wonder…

I got the ground issues solved in this PH-08 side clicky FastTech light. And now it’s seeing a little over 15A from an Efest 35A. The lightbox shows me 4147 lumens, from altered Quad optics! And it’s hotter than a $2 pistol on Bourbon St.!!

The 3/4” x 1” copper pill in the head gets the light too hot to hold in about 45 seconds on high. :slight_smile:

So how many lumens would the 4 XP-L V6 2C emitters be putting down range under pristine optics? Interesting…

If I understand correctly, dedomed XP-L has roughly the same beam pattern as domed XP-G2?

With the loss of modifying the carclo optics in mind, what would give more light at about 6A total for triples? Dedomed XP-Ls in unmodified optics, or XP-G2s?

Cool!

Some tweaks to making the drilled out holes on the emitters even more polished.

Tools you need:

  • T25 bit
  • Hardened steel file
  • Clamp
  • Ultra fine sandpaper. P2000 or finer
  • Fine/Very fine sandpaper. Around P150
  • A piece of round stick at approximately same diameter as the T25. You could use the tapered half of a ballpoint pen in stead of the stick.
  • Glue

To file down the T25 Torx:

  • Attach the steel file to the table using a clamp.
  • Plug the T25 into your screwdriver, and run it at an angle on the steel file, to get the right tapering.
    To polish the T25 even further you could run it at an angle on a piece of ultra fine sandpaper.

Now you could glue some ultra fine sand paper to the tapered T25 (or the ballpoint-pen) and use that for polishing the emitter. Or you could taper the round-stick:

  • Lay out a piece of fine sandpaper on the table. You could wrap it around a book or something of similar size, and fix the book/sandpaper to the table with your clamp.
  • Plug the round-stick into your screwdriver, and run it at an angle on the fine sand paper, to get the right tapering.
  • Glue some ultra fine sand paper to the tapered round-stick and use that for polishing the emitter.
  • Observe
  • Rejoice :-p

Are people still using this T-25 torx bit method to open up XP-G optics for XP-L’s? I’m considering taking a Revtronic (Nitefighter) BT40s and swapping the stock XP-G2 emitters for XP-L2’s (and I don’t think replacement optics are available for this light). Originally I was going to go with XP-G3’s, but I’m not tempted to try the new XP-L2’s.

Thanks,
-Garry

Hi Garry, yes I'm still using it as I am sure many others are. I would be cautious trying to modify any non-replaceable optics. The XP-L2 will just fit into a few of the TIR optics without any modification, so you might be able to give that a try. Of course, the XP-L2 will give you a floodier beam than XP-L HI or XP-G2/G3/Nichia 219.

Not tempted or now tempted? It’s a good idea for starters but I think a means of polishing or at least getting closer to frosted than a coarse grind will be less costly in lumens mislaid. I’ve had reasonable results attaching small pieces of fine grit to dremel bits for lapping recesses in pills so maybe a small drill bit with some tape and 600 or better w/d paper could improve things after the torx opens it up. Final polish with a q-tip mounted in a drill and some headlight lens clarifying compound. I’d give something along those lines a try.

Plastic heats up quickly under friction and you lose everything gained and have to start over if it melts so go slowly and lubricate/clean the paper frequently. You need to be very careful of bottoming out in the recess as that is a*much* harder spot to polish. I did a few optics to fit the old P7’s back in the day and that’s all I remember of the pitfalls.

Thanks RMM. I have a 2nd optic I can test with that came with the light (a “wide” optic that I’ll never use). I’ll try a test fit first though with both optics. I was leaning towards XP-L2 now just for more lumens over the XP-G3. Driving each emitter at 1A, maybe 1.5A.

-Garry

When Richard first talked about using the Torx bit I found and purchased a ball nosed end mill bit with 4 flutes. I’ve found that if I use it by hand, going forward AND backwards, it leaves a nice smooth finish that works pretty well. If I put it in a drill and spin it up then it leaves a set of marks from chatter. The much slower hand work method worked best for me, leaving a round profile that closely matches the dome on the XP-L with a Khatod quad optic. (still a lot of lumens loss though)

I’ve got 4 of the XP-L2’s under a Carclo quad without modification in a MecArmy PT16 and it works well. So far, ~2300 lumens out of an Efest V2 16340 cell. (5.5A at the tail) :smiley:

Try chucking the end mill in your lathe. Some good double sided tape should hold the optic to your tool post well enough. Then run the lathe in low and feed the optic into it slowly with lots of coolant.

Definitely a much nicer solution...but a bit more expensive than $0.25.

Hey, Dale already spent the money, might as well try it.

I guess this mod is for older xp-l’s right ?

The xpl v6 and xpl2 i have fit Carclo without issues .

The XP-L V6 typically does not fit the Carclo series, even if it might appear to do so. The pressure causes delamination of the dome and if the light is taken apart many times the domes will stay stuck inside the TIR and the bond wires will be damaged. As will almost everything, ALWAYS and NEVER are bad words to use. A high percentage of the time the emitter will be damaged when using domed XP-L V6 emitters with Carclo triple or quad optics.

They’re only a couple bucks, but if you can find a ball nose burr it should cut a little bit cleaner - you should peck drill to make sure you are not “recutting” any plastic or rubbing it into the surface. An endmill would tend to pull the lens up into it unless you make a fixture for it. You may be able to find a downcut ballnose endmill which would alleviate that.

Now I just move to the Samsung LH351D and don’t worry about the optics. :wink:

Mo powah, better tint, better profile… it’s all good! :slight_smile: