Any mod for the solar storm?

Hello guys, I am waiting for my solar storm from the wallbuys 50% offer, and I am already thinking to improve in some way this light haha.

I believe even uderdriven as it is, it is a wall of light, but it might throw very little.

I am thinking of replacing the XM-Ls by XP-G2 to have a better relationship between throw and flood, another possibility is also using a driver to get about 9 amps like the ones at kaidomain, both things together should give a nice mid range throw plus still a huge flood.

Your thoughts about it are welcome.

*Another possibility is dedoming the 5 xm-l but I think the risks are too high, and the loss in general output might not be that good idea.

Any suggestions guys? :beer: :beer:

i think xpg2 would be an interesting mod, but costly

i think KD driver would be a good mod, but i’d stick w/ xml in that case

first thing I’d try to figure out, is if a resistor could be change to get more current - that’d be the cheapest route…

I will check about the resistor, but I am not that good with electronics, I will try to show here how the driver is in case you can help me with it.

In the meantime I can do nothing but wait its 2-3 weeks ( hopefully).

you could also consider using TIR or aspherics…

Yes dthrckt, maybe TIR optics would work better since with 5 aspherics might be difficult to get a nice spot.

I’ve been checking the new TIR lenses from KD, maybe a 15-20º would be the right choice.

Let’s see first when the flashlight arrives here, it is shown as sent on the 3rd, I cross my fingers and hope it will be here around the 15th-20th.

Seems optics and/or driver are your most reasonable replacements. I would leave the XML’s since you should take advantage of the heat management in a light like this. I would rather find ways to compliment the XML’s than replace them.

Yes weiser, those are probably the most reasonable things to do without spending too much.

I want to see the guts of this light, I feel it has many things that could be done, if it has been designed properly.

Yavi,

I have one coming as well (6 x XML version) and am thinking of swapping with neutral or warm XMLs. As far as the driver, I think I'll wait and see what it looks like and how much is involved. It may not have the thermal mass to manage the heat generated by 3A per LED.

Hill, I don’t know the 6 leds version, but this one has a single star, so replacing the leds wouldn’t be that easy unless you know how to solder them to the star.

I received mine yesterday, it is not a bad light but for the driver, I haven’t measure the oultput yet, I believe it gives around 2000-2500 lumens, the main problem for the price of this light, is that it has no memory, I will think of doing something in the future, in the mean time I have order a set of TIR lenses with 10º from LED-DNA they gor a very similar size to the reflectors, It is not the reflectors are not good, the give a nice flood light with a decent hotspot, but as I like playing with the lights I wanted to give a try.

I will study about changing the driver, the problem is as the batteries are parallel, there aren’t many drivers to get something close to 2A per led, maybe only the ones designed for SST-90 if the leds were in parallel.

Again about the light, I am happy with it for the money I paid, but for what it costs without any disccount I would probably go for something else in this light format.

Yavi,

I got mine yesterday (label says Sky Ray XY-600) and have been playing around with it. Build quality/fit/finish is excellent, the design is nicely aggressive but not overly, and it is a very compact for a 4 x 18650's plus 6 x XML's torch. The output was lower than I expected using 4 x Redilast 2900mA 18650 cells, but I think that can be improved upon by using IMR 18650 cells. I tested the current with my DMM using one 26650 IMR battery and got 5.5A, and measured output by ceiling bounce against my triple XML driven at 2.8A per LED. Both were nearly identical, but the SR XY-600 will obviously run much cooler. I am going to get some Panasonic IMRs (10A max output) from Kumabear and see how that improves things.

I am also concerned output resistance at the switch. Given the small size, I am skeptical it will be able to handle excessive currents and worry about frying it. If that happens, replacing it will not be easy.

Any pics of the light, and the driver if you have removed it?

Cheers
Matt

Hill, I don’t think using IMR would do much of a difference, but let us know hehe. I did not measure mine but I stimate something similar to yours. I wont to change the driver, I would like to get about 9A-10A that is to say around 1.8A-2A per led, the problem is there aren’t many available for 4.2V.

I tried yesterday the TIR optics, there isn`t a big difference by eye, I will measure the luxes when I have a bit more of time.

MattSPL, I will get some pics of the driver etc, probably today.

Thanks

go direct drive, beef up the heat sink. I tried most of the mods mentioned. save the time and money

Dark Side, I would rather prefer having a med and a low, not only wow effect having it DD, maybe it would be a good idea having a driver with a high being DD…

Beefing the heat sink could be done while the TIR lenses have about 3.5mm less height, so an aluminium disc could be added under the existing star.