Dude! I just threw 500m with this thing!! Holy smokes!
Only mod was 2x(0.47ohm) to get ~1.55A. And of course, a perfect dedome.
I got back at night, and I just came across a a bird's nest building in the middle of paddy field (they're huge, and white). And since I brought my T13, I just had to try. BAM! Clear as daylight. Metaphorically of course, but you get the point.
Google Earth told me it's 500m. Sadly no pics, didn't bring camera at the time. Will try again next time I go through there.
Oh bugger… I soldered it about 4-5 times and thought, that can I really suck this much in soldering? :weary:
Good thing is, I apparently don´t suck that much. Bad thing is, I don´t have the right resistors…
Any links where to purchase? Intl shipping mandatory…
Too bad for that mistake. SMD resistors are a problem, so many standards. Normally you would need a R22 or 220 (note the underline) for 0.22ohm. Not easy to find.
I just use a standard 1W pin resistor. A little big but fits just nice if you trim properly to size.
I have ordered the light on the wallbuys promotion and don’t want to wait another two weeks when it has arrived. I have some 1/4W axial resistors on order with values below 1ohm but I think a pot would be my favorite.
Viffer, thats a great vid and it tells a lot. But the gains seem very marginal considering the substantial current increase to gain a few extra lumens. Have you had a chance to play outside with it yet?
If we calculate the stock driver current which is 1A, the led current roughly 2A. The modified driver’s input current is 1.4A and the led current should be aroud 2.8A, but it’s probably not exactly true because of the driver efficiency loss.
According to the cree datasheet, from 2A to 2.8A led current increase results in about 25% brightness increase(at constant emitter temp!). 40% more current, and only 25% more brightness.
In our case the 40% more input current resulted only 17% more brightness. 1A -> 600lumen, 1.4A -> 700lumen.
The additional 8% (25-17) loss is probably due to the driver, and the higher emitter temperature.
I think it’s not bad for this price, but the zy-t08 is better in this price range.
Very similar beam profile as the other lights with big reflector, nice concentrated spot (measured 43kcd at 1.4A, 36kcd at 1A), but some rings are visible.
Do you have he crelant collimator head? I’m wondering what readings this light would get at 2.8a with that head
I’m waiting for my t13 to show up, have a few pots to try and a bunch of resistors if my pots wont work.
Got my christmas small sun zy-t13 today.
Here is my added resistor.
I don’t have measured current through LED, the wires seem a bit short and I am lazy…
The resistor is a 0,22R 5% TC50 MINI-MELF rated with 0.25W. Resistor get hot(Pres=4*0.22=0.88W, so about 0.3W per resistor on max current), but I have it now tested with just the head powered with a power supply for 30minutes.
Measured high input after mod with experimental power supply:
8V 1.4A. 11.2W
7.4V 1.55A. 11.7W
6.5V 1.79A 11.6W
6V 1.97A. 11.8W
On mid
8V 0.73A 5.8W
On Low
8V 0.16A 1.28W
10W is how I like my XMLs driven
So I took my new lamps for a walk and now I know why so many like this light.
I don’t really like the tailcap but the mode switch is nice and I love that it doesn’t have memory. It’s very nice and doesn’t need to hide before a 3T6, it throws more far than I can test…damn buildings!
For about 14$ what this has costed, its awesome!
A pot is just a variable resistor.
You use two beneath legs of pot as a resistor and then you can adjust with the screw on top the resistance and with that the current through the LED.
You should measure current with a DMM while adjusting like shown in the video above.
Nothing really complicated.
But since we have figured out which resistor is the way to go on this light, it’s easier to just solder a 0.22ohm in parallel. But if you want to try how more/less current behaves or if you want to know which value of resistor is the best for your personal mod. And since I never have the right resistor on hand I will order some pots for future mods.