I tried a handful of TIRs with a 219B and they were just OK. I didn’t go above 15 degree TIR though. Half the ones I had did not fit at all. It seems the only ones that fit had the very small “lip” on the LED opening. The wide bottom ones did not go deep enough or would not sit straight.
However, I did try the reflector without the centering ring and it does get rid of the rings so I think sanding could focus the beam better in my case. My 2020 model is due here today so i’ll wait before I do anything drastic.
BurningPlayd0h called it. 4000K 70 CRI (the Nichia NW model)
The extensions are a better idea on paper than in reality. They are ugly and should have smoothed the top of one so you can have that against the ring. In 18650 form it’s hideous.
They used the too long clip (again)
Good:
The ring is SUPER smooth, A+
Light OP reflector is slightly larger and will be better for LED swaps
Barely noticeable detent on floor and ceiling
18350 seems like it’s decent resistance
It comes with an extra “gray” switch boot, wrench for clip, extra clip screws, and three O rings.
Double springs in tail switch
Neutral:
The bezel is slightly longer and the control ring is smaller by that amount
Tail stand wobble when off
All the silver parts are ever so slightly sand blasted
The anno doesn’t match 2019, it’s got a brown hue (this is annoying because you cant switch the head from 2020 to 2019 without noticing this)
Face down it’s hard to see if light is on, 2019 was only marginally better though
Reflector (without gasket): 21.62mm x 12.22mm
Lens: 22.81mm x 1.43mm
Lens coating adds –100K CCT and +0.0018 DUV
I used a rubber garden host washer to remove front bezel. Underside of mouse pad or similar can unscrew rear switch housing. MCPCB looks similar to 2019, between 12 and 13mm held in place with 2 small screws.
Yikes on cri! Double yikes on r9! This light seems made (at least destined) for swapping. They just threw in the two brightest pos’ they could find so they could write some big numbers, that also have all the brand recognition with em! Haha. Its like my fenix light with sst20. How bad could it be? It was really bad.
I was going to use rubber sheeting that i have at work to remove bezel but my calloused palms were sufficient. Only the pressure of the oring under the glass was holding mine in. The other side was a different story, i got inspired to try my strength on the control ring and cut up said palms.
Also interested in the tir spoken of earlier. Requesting post pic / link when you can please.
Edit-
After undoing bezel many times started with the rubber strips i cut from the sheeting. It’s a semi glossy stiff rubber approx 1/8 thick so it kind of creates a vacuum snd grips the bezel really well.
we think alike
they definitely game the system with the terms Neutral White Nichia
anyway… sales and politics aside… really glad youre getting to swap some LEDs and experience the UI
hope it becomes useful in some niche of your use patterns, thanks for all the info and pics youre sharing
questions for anyone: is the 2020 reflector the same as the 2019? is the 2020 driver the same as 2019?
woah!
I was not paying attention when you said that the first time
thats nasty, but interesting
whats the tradeoff if we remove the coating?
what percent of output lost?
what to use to strip AR coating?
is that too many questions? LOL
when I got sapphire lenses for some V11r, I noticed they seemed clearer (maybe just clean)… but they seemed to lack AR coating, no purple/blue/green reflection from the suface of the glass.
The reflector is definitely not the same, as the 2019 version was smooth and the 2020 in OP. Also, the 2020 has a bigger LED oppening and a different centering gasket is used. Finally, I did not put them next to each other, but believe that the 2020 reflector is larger in both dimensions. The 2020 creates a much smoother beam, with no rings or artifacts that I can see.
The driver is the same, I have both seen it and had it verified by Jetbeam that they have not changed the driver. It is a pity they did not take the opportunity to address the driver’s shortcomings.
An LED swap to Nichia 219b sw35 has created a far better and usable light than I ever expected, given the increased bulk.
Now, I am thinking of adding trits in the tail lanyard holes. They are too short for 6mm x 1.5mm trits but will fit 5mm x 1.2mm trits fine. Does anyone know the best method to do that, since the holes are open on both sides? I am thinking of running electrical tape on the inside, install the trits, cure the glue and removing the tape. Any better / tried methods?
Another interesting thing I noticed is the XP-L version of the new model apparently comes with a smooth reflector and Nichia this Light OP model. Nice that they created both if they are willing to sell parts down the road.
One thing that surprised me - the neutral white RRT-01 and RRT03 supposedly both use Nichia emitters, but they are very clearly from different bins:
RRT-01 2020 neutral white: very warm color temp. Maybe 3500 or 4000K. Low CRI. Slightly greenish at lower power. Really not that great.
RRT-03 neutral tint: cooler color temp than RRT-01. Maybe 4500K. Rosy tint. Rosier than any of my XPL HI Leds. Reminds me a lot of the rosy-tinted Nichia 219B. The stock RRT-03 emitters are superb. Possibly the best color temperature and tint of any light I own.
I don’t have the capability to measure CRI, but it seems a lot better than in the RRT-01. The overall beam pattern looks much better than my high-CRI SST-20 lights (even the good tint bin ones in the FW3A), but reds still don’t pop as much as with the SST-20.
The 219C sm403 that I’ve had have varied greatly between even different examples of the exact same light (bought a bunch of IYP07s for gifts). Some have been nice and rosy with a slightly cooler, maybe 4200Kish? temp while others are greenish at everything but high modes and are a bit warmer. Lower R9 vs SST-20 4000K sounds consistent with that too.
