What did you mod today?

congrats on your mod

imo, no, the cross in the middle of the beam at 12” is not normal, in the lights I use… but I dont have your light

when I see that cross, I believe the LED is too low, relative to the bottom of the reflector… I sometimes sand the centering ring to be thinner, to bring the base of the reflector closer to the base of the LED…

at other times I lift the mcpcb with a shim. Copper sheet is recommended. I also have had success using thermal tape, folded into the necessary thickness under the mcpcb, instead of thermal paste.

at other times I remove the centering ring that is lifting the reflector too high above the LED, and install Kapton tape instead, to make sure there is no short circuit from reflector to LED and the solder joints on the mcpcb

So I would need some challenging work there:

I estimate some .010” clearance as is. The original wiring was flattened to accommodate the LED ‘washer’ and this served me.

I just so checked the reflector body width and is about .300” so I’m good to grasp in the lathe chuck and make a reduction.

BTW, would you think this be a true Cree? The high (maybe 7000ºK) I have disdain and maybe decapitating (shaving) the emitter would lower this. I don’t have many 5050 led options in my bin and pirating the Convoy S9 is just another hurdle. And then the output is below par.

Edit:
Bringing up the star wouldn’t have any effect as the reflector sits on the MCPCB via the gasket. The stack is held together via the bezel.

Regarding plus-shaped donut hole in beam.
I’m not familiar with that particular reflector. However, I’m not sure it’s that unusual having a donut hole in the center of the beam with a large reflector when viewed at 12”.

The reflector focuses the light forward. Where there’s no reflector, the projection will tend to be dimmer. This should only be apparent at extreme close range. Once you shine the beam a more practical distance it should look fine.

Try shining the beam 30’. Do you still get a donut hole in the center of the beam? If so, then there may be a problem.

Lowering the reflector:

  • Another way to lower the reflector is to sand the bottom of the reflector down a bit. If you do that, then the light source will effectively sit higher in the reflector. The downside is this is permanent and could cause issues if you want revert the change.
  • Or you can replace the washer with something thinner, such as a layer of Kapton tape stuck on the buttom of the reflector.

great photos
looks like the reflector would press on the wires if the white plastic spacer was removed, so I would Kapton Tape the solder joints, and remove the white plastic spacer, in hopes of bringing the reflector closer to the base of the LED.

and/or, I would sand the white spacer to be half as thick as it is now. And still insulate the solder joints w Kapton tape… You can put the tape on the base of the reflector instead of on the MCPCB, your choice…

Well, I’m going to make a reduction in the reflector base. I reckon I can make some .060” clearance there.
The translucent gasket is what centers the stack so that can’t be removed but I can reduce its thickness from .030” to about .015”.
But what about de-doming the little beast?

Edit:
Thanks for chiming in Firelight2. This reflector is somewhat thin at the base so that’s not an option (reducing the base).
As for the beam profile; at 30” there’s much artifact on the perimeter. Scattered secondary rays from improper focus I suppose. Have a tool shop so whittling down some aluminium isn’t a problem.

Another thing you could try is using thinner wire to the solder pads on the star. Bit awkward, but it’s doable

  • Strip the silicone from the wire after it enters the slots on top of the star.
  • Use Kapton tape or thermal epoxy to insulate the edges of the star so the bare wire won’t cause a short.
  • When soldering, use less solder and make sure to flatten the solder blob as much as possible.

Firelight2 :
Do check my last photos. The wires are the smallest (maybe 30 ga) and were flattened at the solder pads.

You could try inserting a few scraps of copper sheet cut in the shape of the solder pads between the star and the LED. The effect would be to slightly raise the LED in the reflector.

I’m not sure this whole project will accomplish anything though. I find it hard to believe the reflector would be designed to have the LED sit so high up. I suspect none of these suggestions will actually affect the beam in any meaningful way.

true
when lifting the star, a similar reduction in centering gasket height can help keep the stack height constant, and bezel pressure consistent. In some cases I have also opted to change lens thickness on some builds, or if there is room, tighten the bezel down further.

disclaim
I have zero experience with your light, and cannot recommend non reversible changes… I most definitely would NOT shave the reflector

I think sanding down the centering ring is a viable option… but, again, no experiece with your model of light, dont know if the cross in the beam at 12” is “normal”…

fwiw, I just reworked a Novatac w 219b, to lift the star. It had the same UGLY cross in the beam, at 3” from target, plus a ring around the outside spill at 4’ from a wall… FUGGLY!.

by lifting the star closer to the reflector, and removing the white plastic centering ring, I most definitely DID eliminate the cross in the beam… I just had to use Kapton tape over the solder joints on the star… since the reflector presses on those… and I had to fiddle to get the LED centered, since I no longer have the luxury of a centering ring.

@ Firelight2:

Don’t quite get at what you are describing? You are presuming I sit the reflector on those solder pads with Kapton intermediary.

@ Jon:

I just reduced the outside of the reflector base to clear the solder points. Now for the reduction of the gasket thickness. A long process as these are polyethylene (or some sort of soft plastic – but higher melt/soften temperature) and don’t machine well. Using sandpaper on a wooden block. Checking for parallelism as I go.

But none have answered my second query; would this be better if I shaved the dome? Is it an actual Cree? Putting more time in a clone than what I expect to have as result may not be worth it.

Edit:

A picture to better describe my intent.

Don’t mind the tape, covering the apertures to not have any shavings in there.

> I just reduced the outside of the reflector base to clear the solder points.

excellent option
I agree its a pain to sand the centering ring… I use a block too

I dont know the answers to your shaving and authenticity questions

here is an LED type lookup:

I hope you get the beam dialed in :slight_smile:

ime the cross in the beam, is definitely related to reflector to LED spacing, and not specific to the LED you chose

The “Cree” is a fake. 100%

EDIT Also, some of your secondary and peripheral artifacts are likely caused by the SS? bezel. If it is in fact steel, heat bluing it will reduce this dramatically.

Oh, I’ve done this type of work before and put some effort in focusing the beam. However, this LED seems very much an actual Cree but the tint is too high and I’m getting some random (stray) artifacts on the perimeter. I wouldn’t put such effort on a clone. They sometimes (often) don’t have the right beam profile and this would all be useless.

I did look at the die in the scope and does have all the characteristics of Cree.

Thanks Jared. But as I suspected from the start. However, how do you determine such?

Trained eyeball? - The Fake-Cree LED Awareness Thread - The new "low" in Budget lights.

Yeah, many thanks for that link. As for peripheral artifacts, the bezel is aluminium and I can’t open it more as this holds the lens and reflector. But the lens is plastic (I think it’s optic grade acrylic - very clear with very little reflection and no AR coating). I’ve ordered some lenses from Kaidomain and that will come In after the holidays.

Edit:
Pic of die – I had to play with the camera settings to get a lower reflective shot. So the background looks as a negative.

2nd edit:
Oops, I forgot to explain the lens thing. Scratched and blurred plastic lenses have given me some artifacts in the past.

So I reduced the gasket to its minimum (~.020”) and still the same dark center. But I lost the stray peripheral artifacts.

As Jared pointed out, this be a Lattice Bright. So I’m not putting in more effort. The reflector base reduction will serve for a future update with the XPL3 from my Convoy S9.

As I had originally posted, these cheap zoomies came with my 26650 battery order from Sofirn. Just pondering about it after supper and ballparked some mod. Wasn’t an intentional thing but sort of a sidekick.

So many thanks for your valuable input. Some of those links will be tabbed for further insights.

And I learned some new things along the way.

Good luck with focusing the reflector. If wire thickness is an issue, you could switch to teflon. Very durable and thin. I’ve used it with my quad E17A flashlights since it takes up so much less space than the silicone wires.

Novatac Gen1 mod to sw30:

.
pic is a link to more info


Finally added an illuminated switch to my S2+ with sst40. Love it!
Does anybody know what size those leds are?