It’s the driver that causes the colour change as it doesn’t use PWM, both a pro and a con. These drivers cause colour change in lower modes, so just about any emitter will produce a coloured tint on low mode. Replacing the emitter may not resolve peoples complaints on the tint, unless as in your example they use a Nichia.
I’m wondering how an XP-G2 would work out. Foursevens lights seem to have gone from green to white since they switched to XP-G2. It’s just matter of how the beam profile would be affected with the XM-L reflector.
Overall I don’t have a real problem with the tint. I mostly use it on high outdoors, or for peering into a dark trailer or car engine. White wall and real life are two different creatures.
I modded my S20 with T6-4C from FastTech. If you have retaining ring plier there is no problem to remove the bezel ring. This is now one of my favorite EDC flashlight.
Is the base 16mm, or did you reflow? I didn’t measure it, but it looked much smaller than 16mm.
The original led base is 14 mm. I used 16 mm without the problem, but then you can’t use the original plastic centering and insulating piece. Insread of the original one, I used this part from fastTech:
Well it just so happens I got a bunch of those from FastTech today, along with some 16mm XM-L T6 4C.
Did T6 4C swap improve the tint issue? Or is it now too yellowish due to being under driven (as reported in one of the previous posts) I was planning on buying the S20 but the green tint issue would be a deal breaker since I usually prefer a NW.
How bad was the greenish tint on the higher modes? (with the original emitter). I read elsewhere an S20 owner stated on the low settings it’s greenish, but on the two higher modes it has a nice white beam without any green. Maybe he was a lottery winner. I also read where an S10 owner had the same complaint and swapped for a T6 3C and now loves it.
I never swapped an emitter before but I have done some soldering on circuit boards (not flashlights) so I’d maybe give it a try if it’s not a total PITA and I knew the results were going to be worth the time and cost of doing it. (I can get the S20 for $39.99) I really like the S20 price and form factor, next choice may be the Sunwayman C20C for $58.00 it’s a comparable size (1mm shorter and 1-2mm thicker) but it’s not available in NW either, and no tail magnet 
Even as sickly green as mine is, I feel it’s a good value. I will try changing emitters as soon as mine arrive, so I’m very interested as well.
Did you ever get around to putting these in your S20?
I stuck an XML2 5000k NW emitter from Illumination Supply in my S10. Beam isn’t green, but it isn’t exactly white either. It’s yellow.
I think the problem is that the light is so low powered compared to what I’m used to that max power on the S10 is like medium power on my other lights. Since the S10 is current controlled, that means considerably less white tint even at max power.
So you have tried both an XML T6 5000k and also an XML2 5000k? I wonder if the S20 is a different driver than the S10, whereas the emitter swap produces better results. At least one user reported an improvement:
Also I see you tried a Nichia 219 but it wasn’t very bright, since from what have been reading the N219 is always dimmer than XML I wonder how the output of this with N219 compares to say an L2 L10. Maybe this would be a good host for an Nichia 219 build?
What emitter did you end up leaving in your S-10?
Waiting for an update from Ouchyfoot after he tries the emitter swap on his S20.
Are my eyes playing tricks or is that a copper MCPCB ?
I haven’t done any swap yet. I might not. The tint hasn’t really bothered me at all. Its not that bad. I mostly use it on high for purposes that tint is not relevant. If I want an outdoors torch, I would just use one of the many I have for that purpose.
If the tint shift is cause by an under driven LED, an XM-L swap would just produce more of the same.
Maybe an XP-G2. But I have no idea how the beam profile would look using the factory XM-L reflector.
Thanks, it sounds like Firelight has tried just about every emitter in his S10 (including XPG) to no avail.
I think the driver would push an XP-G2 nicely.
In my S10, I tried:
XML T6 5000k neutral
XML2 U2 cool white
XML2 5000k neutral
XPG2 5000k neutral
Nichia 219 4500k High CRI
I ended up going with the XML2 5000k neutral. For awhile I was using the Nichia 219, which gave great tint, but very little light (my guess around 120 lumens or so). The XML2 produces far more light and at 5000k the neutral tint is pleasing enough. It’s still nowhere near as good a tint or color rendition as the 219 or my more highly driven XML and XML2 lights, but is much better than stock.
There’s a very noticeable brightness increase going from XML 5000k neutral to XML2 5000k neutral, but the yellowish tint is the same with both emitters.
I have some neutral XML-2 emitters inbound; I might have to try that. Yellowish I can live with, but mine is SO green I just can’t get used to it. From what I’ve been reading some are worse than others, and I probably just lucked into one of the worse ones. I really can’t complain too much. I’ve been really lucky with as-issued tints so far, even with the Four Sevens minis that a lot of people complained about.
My S20 arrived today. Removing the bezel is no problem, but can you really push the pill out, without possible damage to the switch? When i push the pill with a battery, it moves a little, and the switch cover bulges, but then it feels like it
hits some barrier and won’t move any further. I’m afraid i will destroy something when pushing even harder than i tried.
I want to put a nichia in there, or at least a nw XM-L. The tint is ugly, but apart from that, i loved the light immediately, probably even more than all my other lights. With the tint issue fixed, this will be my main edc light.
Have you seen the new M10? It’s like the S10, but with a tactical tail switch and a side switch. Comes with XM-L2.
Oh yeah. I forgot about that. My S10 has that too. Here’s how it goes on the S10:
After removing the bezel, lens and lens gasket, place a battery into the light and push from the back. The pill will should move forward a little, but then it will stop. Screwed into the left side of the pill is a thin metal tab. It’s angled outward towards the bezel. It goes into a slot in the side of the body. Its purpose is to keep the pill at the right orientation so that the electronic switch lines up properly with the switch boot.
When you attempt to remove the pill, this tab hits the screw threads for the metal bezel stopping the pill from being removed. There are 2 ways to deal with this and remove the pill:
Option 1: At the point the pill stops the very top edge of the reflector should be exposed. Grip the outer edge of the reflector with pliers or your fingers with one hand while turning the body of hte light with the other to unscrew the pill. The tab stopping the pill from being removed will engage and move through all the bezel threads until it gets to the end and the pill falls out.
Option 2: The reflector has its own threads and screws into the inside of the pill. Unscrew the reflector from the pill and remove the reflector. With the reflector removed, the metal tab is exposed. Using a small metal hook, dental pick, or other tool lift the tab away from the bezel threads as you push back on the light. This may take a couple tries but the pill should fall right out.
The switch itself should be safe either way. The switch is completely recessed into the pill with no parts projecting outward. There’s a hole for the nub at the bottom of the switch boot to project inside to make contact with the recessed switch when the button is pressed. Except when the button is depressed, nothing related to the switch projects into or out of the pill. The bottom line is it should be pretty much impossible to damage the switch when removing the pill.