X-ML de-doming method with 100% success?

I did the same some months ago, with a paper cutting knife. Surface wasn’t too nice, I tried to polish it a bit, but it stayed somewhat diffuse. Result was about 30% more intensity with a small aspheric lens. I never built a light with it though, it just laid around for months… I actually had expected more. Maybe I’ll try some more polishing somewhen with 1000 grit.

Just de-domed a U2 using this method: wider beam angle comparing it to a X9 minus reflector. In the 73mm DX reflector the beam is near parallel however not quite as much throw as I had hoped, a few rings as well (I used a Mora to cut the dome, probably not the best idea)… if it wasn’t for the light reflecting of dust in the air I think I might be able to make out the hillside 1Km away with it, trees at 500m are no problem.

Here’s a pic of the XM-L and pill from my Trustfire Mini-01 after i cut the dome off.

Here’s a beamshot. Trustfire Mini-01 on the left. De-domed Mini-01 on the right.

|( |( |(

Now we all just want to stab and cut the dome off!

Thanks for bringing me to see the Light! LOL :party:

:smiley:

How did you cut it off?

I used a new Stanley knife blade. I chopped off about half of it first, then carefully shaved off layers until i got as close as i dared to the board. There’s probably around 0.5mm - 0.75mm of dome left.
I then carefully rubbed the remaining bit of the dome with a glasses lens cloth to try and polish it a bit.

Wow a lot of de-doming going on here! J) I’ve been EDC’ing my L2P with the de-domed dropin for about 3 months now so I can vouch for the dependability of the mod.

I was also expecting more throw… We’re seeing a 20-30% increase whereas I thought it would be in the range of 50-70% which seems to be the norm with the full dome removal method. Maybe we need to find a proper way to polish the dome afterwards? I need to get a few different grits of sandpaper. I also read somewhere that the dome softens with moisture, so maybe it can be molded flat to some degree after being prepped with a fine sandpaper and moistened. Just some ideas…

You started a de-doming revolution :slight_smile:

I think a method of polishing is needed like you say. I have a dremel with a polishing bit i might try.

Cheers
Matt

Thanx for sharing this guys! :slight_smile:

Ok, I’ve just polished the de-domed XM-L with a Dremel. It worked really well, and i can see the wires and and bits a lot better now. In the process of polishing, the layer of dome left has almost disappeared, so its about as close to a bare Led i can get without completely removing the dome.

The tint seems to have now shifted towards neutral, but i’ll do another comparison beamshot when the 16340’s are charged again.

My assumption is the dome is connected with a medium grade adhesive. Pics below show are a dom from an SST-50 and a de-domed SST-50 emitter. I melt the adhesive with emitter attached to a heatsink ( i wouldnt try this without) touch copper sink with high heat iron not anywhere near the emitter. Im using a 220v Iron for 3-5 seconds. Use synthetic or wood tweezers to lift the dome with a few slow twits and clock wise and counter. The adhesive will leave some residue outside the emitter contact point that easily comes off with anything other than a sharp blade, sand paper, or wheel jack…lol

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I think this is the biggest collection of dedoming information I have ever seen. Excellent! I love learning! :smiley:

If I don’t have access to a heatsink to attach the SST-50/90, could I use a hair dryer to heat it up?

Thanks for the info DarkSide :slight_smile:
Has the Led held up ok over time after the de-doming?

Here’s another beamshot of the 2 Mini-01’s. After polishing the remaining dome, the tint has definitely become neutral.
Mini-01 on left, de-domed on right.

Update: My STL-V2 has been revived! Due to the shoddy pocket knife work, there was still a large piece of the dome left. I took a razor and sliced it until roughly 0.5-1mm (can’t tell exactly, but it’s 1mm or less) and now my STL-V2’s throw has been increased from 48,700 (domed) to 53,400 (dedomed).
Hurray! I did expect a bigger jump in throw though…

Even though the lumen output decreased, the throw was increased and because the STL-V2 was mainly a thrower to begin with I just made it a better thrower :slight_smile: Going by ceiling bounce lux readings the lumen output has decreased by roughly 35%. Quite a lot actually, but it’s worth it for me because I learned something :bigsmile:

Also, the tint became warmer, but not as warm as my P60 IO NW drop-in (that’s the only NW emitter I can compare it to), but it’s definitely warmer than my CW 7G5-V2.

Thanks for the update :slight_smile:

Do you have a proper light meter, or is there a reliable app you can recommend?

Cheers
Matt

Do you have a drop-in your not using? sink it to the copper pill..Heck, you have some copper pipe you can grind to a flat clean surface. Attach with thermal adhesive. A hair dryer i dont think has enough output to heat the copper sink that will melt the adhesive. You will need a decent solder iron.The hotter the better. High heat very quick and you can expect no damage. I haven't screwed one emitter yet...And im really good and killing expensive new emitters and diodes..

I have a proper light meter, I have tried using my smartphone’s ambient light sensor but it only gives very general readings. Something along the lines of 1, 20,000 and 100,000 (I don’t even know what the units are).

I do have a drop-in, I guess I’ll try that then. But another suggestion; how about placing it on an extremely neatly folded cube of aluminium foil, and then blow torching for a few seconds.

Anyway, here are the results of my work! The 7G5-V2 has a higher overall output, no idea why it looks dimmer in the photos, but the STL-V2 blows it out the water completely for throw. It’s a real lightsabre now. And I’m pretty confident I can do this on almost all the lights I want to. This really is a close to 100% success rate :bigsmile:

7G5-V2:

STL-V2:

7G5-V2 on left, STL-V2 on right:

Note: The 7G5-V2 has 46,600 lux. The STL-V2 has 53,400, but maybe I should measure it again. It sure looks more than 53,400.

Edit: I just want to say how pleased I am with the results, and I want to thank HAL for introducing me to this technique :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

The STL-V2 does look a lot more intense. Thanks for the pics :slight_smile: