This ferric chloride is disgusting. Once this is done I don’t plan on using any more. Stains everything and hard to dispose but the look is cool for sure.
Why “hard to dispose of”? It’s basically salty rust. After use, salty copper. Flushes right down, just use enough water so it doesn’t sit in a pipe for too long.
Is this S2+ host from Kaidomain?
Decided to throw 219B sw40 R9080 in my Thrunite T10TV2. My first 219B in any flashlight. I’ve had a pair of sw40 and sw45 from azhu for a while now, it’s about time I put one to use.
The Thrunite T10TV2 has XPL-HD in some neutral tint… there’s a bit of tint shift but it ain’t XP-G3. A hint of green but not too bad. But I want some CRI! I’ll be leaving the driver stock since I use it with NiMh and it’s good enough. Previously I couldn’t open the darned thing, but now I own more than one strap wrench.
Sure enough, red threadlocker. Fun stuff…
Managed to peel it off that screw head with tweezers.
Might be tough to get those screws… The heads are pre-stripped a bit for me.
Got ’em (Phillips #0 if anyone’s wondering). MCPCB still stuck but the screws are just spinning.
Oh, that figures. Overflow threadlocker holding it down. That’s gonna go…
A bit overkill for one MCPCB, huh. Oh well.
Unsoldered around 150C. Pretty low-temp. I need to touch up the pads with my solder, which isn’t as low-temp, so up we continue to go.
Beautiful. Tapped the head really quick with a Q-tip, as I’ve read countless times to do, and got a cute little blob in the center of one edge. Neat! Now we wait for everything to cool off.
Had to modify a spare centering to fit - the original didn’t quite want to fit around the 219B. Not sure if the package is a tiny bit bigger, or if it just wasn’t accommodating the solder blob on the edge. Oh well.
(Sorry for the fingerprint on the lens.)
All done! It’s definitely got less green than the (very nice, honestly) SST-20 4000K in my FW3A. I expect I’ll definitely have lost some lumens, especially if I ever put a 14500 back in, as they’re reported to be 700-800 lumens on turbo and that’s where 219B tops out iirc. But I am quite pleased with it, the HCRI and R9 are quite nice.
Oh crap! I just realized that’s a S2(+) host with the rubber tail boots. Do want.
Minor mods tonight to my Sofirn S11 zoomie:
- Converted it from screw-zoom to push-pull-zoom. Took about 15 minutes with a handfile to remove the threads on the neck. Now the zoom is much faster and more convient to operate.
- Removed frosting from center element of the TIR optic. Took 15 minutes with jeweler’s rouge and some Q-Tips. Without the frosting the beam is a little throwier (I think… I didn’t measure since my lux meter needs a new battery). Flood mode is also now more like a LED Lenser with the beam fading out rapidly after the main circle of spill. The very wide outer spill was caused by the frosting and is gone.
Both the center and side elements of the TIR optic have approximately the same focal point…. so with frosting removed throw should increase. Having the same focal point for both elements is like LED Lenser and unlike recent Coast lights.
congrats on getting the light open
please share a link to the strap wrench that works for you,
mine are worthless
I put together Convoy L21A, XHP50.2 3V version and Convoy ramping driver for SST40.
Pulls 7,5A from Efest IMR21700 5000mAh, but I am not happy with it, kinda expected a bit narrower beam, better throw! XHP series with the dome, what was I thinking 
I only wish I used less thermal paste
Next test: same host and driver with Osram red projection led, this one peaks at 8A and has no dome, I have a good feeling about it 
Slice it!
I will try but from my experience with other leds kinda don’t like that method much, I was never too happy with my results so I focused on dedoming but this led, generally XHP series doesnt like chemical deoming so slicing it is then.
I also have some of those Osram white flat leds with rectangle die, more powerful version of NM2, might try that as well!
The first (“Mastergrip”) was part of a 3-pack from long ago, when I was a child. My dad got the 3-pack, gave me one, kept one, and gave his father the last. I can’t find any current listings for it.
The blue/black is “from Lowe’s store-brand ”Kobalt”“:https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-2-Piece-Household-Tool-Set/50029434
Yes, I was thrilled about that too. Now I just have to resist the pink and purple ones! :heart_eyes:
I decided I have too many black lights. In addition, my Sofirn SP70 is too similar to my Convoy L6 - and they’re both black.
So, I figured I’d bake the SP70. I had to disassemble it some for the driver swap I’m doing soon (MTNE order shipped today!). I was going to pull the tail switch for a bypass (and maybe Blue springs, too) as well. So really the only additional step I took was picking off the O-rings and stripping the lube off the threads.
Prep:
You may notice something I forgot: The head is assembled from two pieces. (I tried later and can’t separate them anyway, but some sort of residue bubbled out from the crack a bit during baking).
After the first round, which was a while at 550F on the “bake” setting on my oven.
I decided I wasn’t happy with how dark the tube stayed. Unless a flashlight with HCRI was shining right on it, it was hard to tell the difference even side-by-side with a black flashlight.
So I baked it again - this time I put it in the oven before preheating, and set it to 550F on convection bake.
It came out nicer, and I couldn’t be more pleased:
Finished product under 4000K SST20 (plus cat tax):
I was expecting the whole thing to turn somewhere in the brown to sand color range, but I really like the green, too. (Looks a lot like Sofirn’s green mentioned in freeme’s EC03 group buy thread ). It’s also just that much better that the colors happened to alternate.
Oh, you monster. I didn’t have to know there were purple and pink versions up there… My wallet really didn’t need to know.
P.S. I’m trying to get better at remembering to take pics of my mods, so hopefully some recent posts have been more fun to see than my typical walls of text.
Check out this post: Sofirn C8F host. 21700 C8F Available - #129 by contactcr
The matte black convoy anno can make some brighter colors if you use a torch and be mindful of the thinner sections.
It’s interesting how each anno is different with heat applied.
Got my first pair of UCLp from flashlightlens.com today. After struggling to unwrap the first lens while leaving my nitrile gloves on, I discovered it to be an invisible circle!
Put it on my modded Supfire M6, and I’m feeling better that I may not be losing 1000 lumens to a cheap, non-A/R glass lens.
Oh, also, the UCLp was 2.2mm thick, and the original glass 2.5. Worked out great, as it nearly perfectly offset the slight gap I’d created at the bezel with thicker LED MCPCBs.
Package from Simon came today as well. Four blue lighted switches (odd, would’ve sworn I only ordered two…).
Installed one in my Jaxman M8 and my purple S2+. Also decided to rehab my Thorfire VG10S. It now has a Luxeon V (V2 maybe?), a basic three-mode Convoy driver of some sort that I found lying around, and a blue light in the tail. (Previously it had the Luxeon, the original dead driver, and I stole and promptly destroyed the tail switch from it.)
And, package from Hank. A pair of XM-L2 for my Olights. I’m a bit intimidated to open them - for the S15 Ti, I’m concerned about the switch, and for the S1 I’ve never had it open.
Edit: A couple hours later now. I got the S1 open with only one tiny nick on the head at the head/bezel interface. I started with a razer blade, then a small knife blade, then an iSesamo - which eventually sent the bezel and optic flying, when things finally let go. From there it was pretty straightforward. My 16mm Noctigons weren’t gonna fit, and rather than file I pulled out the hotplate to reflow. I don’t know what solder Olight uses but it didn’t melt until past 220C - Hank’s Noctigons had already let go before 180C. I also accidentally made a very special emitter - I dedomed one of the “old” XM-L2s. I checked it with my DMM, and it still works - the last XM-L2 I accidentally “dedomed” took the bond wires with it.
On to the S15 Ti, I once again had issues re-assembling it. Again, the reflector was shorting out to one of the MCPCB leads. It took me I think 5 re-tries with the leads to get it working. The ends of the leads have gotten gnarly at this point, and I really didn’t want to pop the driver out and run fresh leads, so try, try again I did.
I also gave everything optic-related a wipe with some disposable lens cleaning wipes I’ve got: S15 Ti reflector and lens, and the TIR holder and TIR for the S1. The reflector does have some scratches on it, but it can’t be seen in the beam - only when looking straight down the barrel on moonlight.
Some pics:
(I cannot overstate how difficult it was to take the above picture.)
Well I think I finally found the sst-20 setup I wanted 
3000k,
Ra/R9 = 99/99 !!!
duv = –0.0011 !!! :heart_eyes:
how did you get the duv to go below the bbl?
+
3500K SST-20, i’d bet.