Mini C8 AAA XM-L U2 Mod. XP-G2 Shots Added. 1.17.13

XP-G2 pictures added and night shot pictures added to the first post.

Fantastic! Great work, mate. 8)

SO cool, since I’ve got my olight I3 yesterday, I’m starting to fall in love with these small form factor lights.

Very beautiful light, I’ll try to buy some

what’s the total cost of the xpg version?
Really like the ‘cuteness’ of this light with the power of the xpg,
Too bad the stock one sucks :slight_smile:

Thanks guys. Costs are. All prices are from memory but should be close.

Ebay flashlight around $3.50.

Pill 1 hr labour and $1.00 material.

IOS driver $2.80.

LedDna LED (out off stock) XP-G2 $5.50.

10 degree TIR about .75c from cant remember. Lots of stores have them

I forgot to mention that I tried the stock reflector but the hotspot was very shadowy. I did not play around with heights as the TIR was sitting there looking at me.

That’s better! XM-L’s just don’t work too hot in these tiny lights. I’ve been thinking about popping an XP-G in one since your first post. Now I’m sure. :slight_smile:

I've had time to sleep on it and I'm not sure if I have been a little un fair on the XM-L. The difference in patterns is the main reason the XP-G looks good even with the same TIR. The XM-L puts out more off a wall of light so all the light is spread around whereas the XP-G has a tight hotspot making the light shine farther away making it look far more impressive and in this size light seems to be far more suitable. At the end of the day it would depend on what you wanted to do with the light.

Ya, it all depends on your use. I have two xm-l’s and one xp-g in AA form. If I’ll be using the light outside I’ll grab the xp-g almost every time. Like you said, in this size light the xp-g seems more suitable. I just have to wait until my latest order comes in before I get started on anything new.

Such a cool little light. :beer:

I use the same Mfg & angle TIR on XM-L, XP-G and Nichia. XM-L is always going to be floody, XP-G and Nichia will be more of a spot. Does not seem to matter the die size as long as the led is centered in the TIR.

I’m trying to find a suitable TIR optic for basically a mirror of this mini C8 mod. I don’t have the mini C8 in my hands currently, so I don’t have the height measurement.

XP-G2 led on aluminum. The pill will probably be copper scraps soldered together. Same driver from Intl.

Would any of the tight angle optics from FT work?

This is a link to the TIR used (from memory).
http://www.fancyflashlights.com/goods.php?id=341
The body had to be machined slightly deeper to fit the TIR in and the lens pressed in. If I was to do it again I would machine a small groove at the outer edge of the TIR and make a spring clip from a P60 earth spring to stop the battery pushing the whole lot out making for a bad positive connection. Similar to how the lens is held in place her.

The XPG-2 will work fine with this TIR as long as everything is centered.
I’m looking forward to seeing your build.

Thank you very much!

I found that spring mod linked in another mini C8 thread; should be interesting to find a way to cut a groove in there.

Dang, they require $5 min order. Can they be trusted with orders under $30? Without tracking would I get my money back if the item was lost in shipping?

I cant personally speak for the shop but I have never had a problem with them. You can probably pick these lenses up elsewhere as they are quite common. The groove could be cut with a dremel if you have one.

I just got done with my second one, with a 1/4” thick copper heat sink, a 16mm Noctigon sporting an XP-G2 R5 2B re-flowed to the copper pill, a 3 mode Qlite allowing 2.49A tailcap on an Efest IMR10440 cell, it’s making 518 lumens OTF at start-up and 459 OTF @ 30 sec.

I used an 18mm McGizmo reflector, for a decent mix of hot spot and spill. Gotta love it! :slight_smile:

Very nice Dale. Is the reflector out of an existing torch?

No, it’s made by/for McGizmo. It’s an 18mm OP reflector that IS has in a garage sale clearance. I’ve gotten several of them, pretty nice little aluminum reflector with a tight base that fits easily on a 16mm star.

Yes, I know…the reflector should be raised away from the star just a wee bit to better focus the emitter. But in this tiny light, there’s so little room that the extra 1-2mm is needed! :wink:

Well I ordered the tir linked above… 45+ days ago. No updates on tracking. Emailed ric 10 or so days ago, filed PayPal a few days ago. Ric seems to be giving me the cold shoulder on this one. :expressionless:

Is there a reliable shop (preferably US) that I can get them from? I’ve got 4 lights lined up and waiting on the 10 degree XML TIR’s.

Must be 10 degree?
IS has some Carclo 20mm 17.3 deg TIR. Height: 9.90mm