What did you mod today?

Nice! I was thinking about doing the same for the flood channel, but mine is really glued down, so i havenā€™t gotten around to it yet. In the meantime, i glued some zircon minus green just around the flood ring, and thatā€™s improved tint enough to keep it as-is for a bit.

I decided to make already crazy budget monster Astrolux EC06 even crazier by modifying it to use SFN55.2 leds. So I need board for 7070 leds and there being none, I made one myself from 0.5mm copper sheet.
1st. Phase:Cut templates

2nd. Phase: Test fit filed down pcbā€™s. Still some more filing to do.

3rd. Phase: Solder everything together on a hot plate. Beforehand reflector holes were reamed to 9mm. Reflector was then used to hold leds in correct orientation.

4th. Phase: Wire management. Not the easiest one.

5th. Phase: First full power test with Molicel P42Aā€™s. Wires desoldered themself from driver because of heat. It was few pops and light went off.

6th. Phase: Cleaned the solder pads and added higher melting temperature solder. Everything back together and it works. Hasnā€™t desoldered again. Very bright and also has hotspot instead of pure flood.

1 Thank

This is the kind of crazy stuff that hasnā€™t been done for a few years!

#Haukkeli :+1:

That mod/post is OL Challenge worthy/ready.

Nice! We want a beamshot!

I was thinking exactly this :wink: :crown:

Well done Haukkeli!!!

Andā€¦beamshots, or it didnā€™t happen :smiley:

I was thinking maybe I should participate in that contest, but I might still build something else. Itā€™s past midnight before itā€™s dark enough for beamshots. Northern country problems. In summer thereā€™s never dark and in winter thereā€™s never light.

With these skills and ideias, I guess you should really participate :wink:

Oh, I know , not easy to take some bemashots at this time of the year :expressionless:
It is probably a beast, though, shinning at the ā€œdarkest hoursā€ of the day :wink:

fwiw
Not all types of Beamshots have to be taken outdoors at night.

I take indoor beamshots during the day.

Here are some examples of different kinds of Beamshots, only the first example requires being outdoors at night, the other four examples are all indoor photos taken during the day:

1. outdoors at night

2. wall shots showing full beam profile, these can be taken during the day in a dark room or shady corner.

3. flat shots, this is by a window during the day, that is why you can see the flashlights, not just the beams. I find the gray soldering mat background works really well:

4. Corner shots (folded printer paper ā€œwallā€), also daytime

5. Composites w duv info, from a daytime shot, and measurements taken during the day in a dark room

Itā€™ll just be a white picture :smiley:

this is a beamshot taken indoors during the day:

(if you cannot see my photos on BLF? here is a direct link https://i.imgur.com/5MXB2ZR.jpg)

Haukkeliā€™s monster mod is probably more than 30 000lm, so Iā€™m joking about the resulting picture being simply white if taken indoors.

Like Zeroairā€™s beamshots that are done with fixed exposure/aperture for comparison.

I guess the problem is more the ā€œnightā€ thing, since in the Nordic countries by this time of the year there is light almost ā€œdayā€ and ā€œnightā€, so there is no complete darkness :zipper_mouth_face:

But Iā€™d say that a ā€œclose to darkā€ environment will allow and even better photo and will still portray how good it lights the ā€œnon-darknessā€ :wink:

Unicorn 4000K 519a 10Ā° TIR

Opple data:

Original MCPCB is pretty small:

Beam comparison:

Sunny TIR pattern visible on the wall:

Copper S2+ with 15A Convoy driver and three Osram CSLNM1 and Astrolux S1 lighted switch

Nice one Luna :+1:

Hallo to modders here.Please-i try to open the head of Sofirn SC32.New model out nowā€¦But its gluedā€¦Any idea how to open a glued head?Thanks a lot!!

I use 3M Safety walk tape. This is very stick grey rubber grip tape that removes cleanly and completely when done.

  • Tear off a couple pieces and wrap one around the bezel and other around the head. This allows for much better grip.
  • Still not enough? ā€¦ apply plastic-jawed pliers on top of the grip tape.
  • Donā€™t have plastic jawed pliers? Cut a piece of 0.032ā€ sheet aluminum and bend it into a U shape, then wrap it around your light above the grip tape. Apply regular pliers on top of the sheet aluminum.
  • Apply muscles to unscrew.
  • Once open use a metal pick to remove the threadlocker from the threads.
  • Do mod, reassemble, remove grip tape.

Iā€™ve generally found that this technique is sufficient to break most threadlocker used in lights. The only brand Iā€™ve tried this doesnā€™t work on is Fenix. They seem to squeeze a whole tube of red threadlocker into their threads.

For lights where mechanical pressure doesā€™t work you may need a blowtorch or oven to loosen the threadlocker. Then Iā€™m guessing silicone or leather gloves to insulate the hot metal as you unscrew. Iā€™ve never tried this method so do not know the best technique when applying heat.

Heating helps even if it isnā€™t blazing hot when you unscrew. I think it breaks it down a little each time.

To heat the light, put it in the sun for an hour or two. or, dip flashlight bezel in hot boiled water for a minuteā€¦

then use leather wrap and vise grips
.

or use strap wrenches:
.