Did you do any mods to the battery carrier? What batts? Well U3's on SinkPAD's do pretty good, usually little less than XM-L2 U2's from what I've seen/done. I'm regretting not modding the battery carrier..... HHmm, next time. Like Pana PD's in there but they are a little loose, so used magnets, gains maybe 150-200 lumens.
yes . i found the springs had rather weak tension in them so replaced all springs with thick gold plated springs i had purchased a while back from Ric .I use 3 KEEP-POWER 3400 battries. to make them all nice and tight i used a 0.35mm thick heat shrink on them .the texture of the heat shrink is "rubbery" so it seats all 3 battries nicely with zero rattle . The other problem the battrey carrier most likely has is the switch!! I suspect thats what reponsible for the fluctuation in output. i opened the switch up and from what saw this switch is struggling to carry the massive amps this light pulls .
It should be in series, and yes, it is a lot of power. I do not recommend running down to close to cell depletion. Reverse charging could occur quickly.
Thanks for the pics of the reflector, rdrfronty. I think our reflectors are similar. Did you say you tested throw at 13m? I’ll have to try that. I have to find where my lumens are going…
I tested it 15m. I don’t think it needs done quite that far, but I know its a safe range for 99% of all lights, and I have a location in the house that size, so it works well for me.
Yeah I find your results strange. You did get some lumen increase, though not enough. But 3000 lumens in a BTU should be getting you in the 120k’s minimum, and likely into the 130k’s. Weird. So yeah try testing at a few more distances and see what you get. Your reflector might have a few more ripples than mine, but not much more and not enoughI think to create your issue.
I have seen someone explain how to do a reflow in other thread, but I did not look at it seriously as I know I do not have the skill to do so. I am not good at handling tiny things so for me just forget about it Anyway what is the good thing about reflow-ing the LED?
To me both BTU Shocker and DRY have some things in common, just that BTU Shocker uses TK70 head (and newer bin of XM-L), having the option of current regulated BTU driver and becomes a monster thrower as well. Both of these lights are sturdy (well I haven’t received my BTU Shocker yet, but I guese it is :P), wired in series and very high output.
Or should I put in this way, that both of these lights do not have complicating and detail-designed user interface like European Supercar, but they are pure, simple, and at the same time giving raw power like American Muscle!
Thanks tom, what about installing the Dry driver? I’m going to do it once my dry driver gets here because it seems that my turbo mode on my BTU isn’t working (Turbo looks the same in all my beamshots as high and there is no step down from it after 4-5 mins thats even gradual).
Can you direct me to any place that discusses installing it? Thanks!
Boy, sure wish we could drop yours in the lightbox to confirm, too bad your not just down the block! Have'nt seen the Dry driver, but I'd have to assume it's got the same form factor as the stock driver?? Maybe big assumption. Here's pics of the stock driver:
I dodnt' look into trying to pop it out of the alum threaded piece, so not sure how hard that is. Also, the Dry driver may be mounted differently? Really I have no idea... I suggest you try to contact Ric about the driver swap -- hoping he'll respond.