$10.34 pocket thrower.

I agree, the flashlight that started this thread is nice, but with these suggestions your flashlight will be a better one. The only problem is that if you have the will and skills to rebuild a flashlight it is just not going to be that one dirt cheap one, but many many more. That is why the budget flashlight hobby is so terribly expensive

I don’t have a way to test it but I seriously doubt it’s actually pulling much more than 3amps.

The point of the mod was to have fun and make a pocket rocket on as little as possible. It was fun to make and even more fun to walk outside and see it throw as far as it does. Trying to push the envelope for a cheap 501B was the point.

Well anyway I’m sure your suggestions will help someone who is interested in building a different mod.

Oh and the other problem with thinking I can just add another dollar or two here or there is that you end up at $20 and then you think dang for another $5 I could have done this or that. When does it end? Either you want the most you can do for $10 or the most you can do for $15 or for $20. But comparing a $15 to $20 light to a ten dollar one is really apples and oranges. I could build your light and add another $5 and hit another level up right?

Direct drive XP-G2 on copper Sinkpad soldered to a p60 pill (on the bench, bare, not in a light), with Panasonic 2900mAh NCR, pulls 3.40A. I tried the same with the LED still on the Al board (but on a big CPU heatsink) and it started making smoke, so I thought it best to abort that particular test. :p

OK. How and where do you connect the driver board and where can you get a spring right for the task?

They have several different versions of empty p60 kits, some come with the small center spring for the driver, or they also have them available separately.

http://www.fasttech.com/products/1164600 (big hole XML version)

http://www.fasttech.com/products/1208506 (small hole XP-E/XP-G version)

They have a few other kits, but in orange peel finish. Look around. They have lots of stuff.

Just the spring: http://www.fasttech.com/products/1124700

Use this driver instead if you'd prefer modes, and limiting the current is a good idea if you're going to keep the LED on its original aluminum board: http://www.fasttech.com/products/1122303

On the driver board you just attach the red wire to the positive on the led. The black wire you can ignore. Then you just solder the board in place. The drop of solder on the negative part of the LED will touch the reflector and be your ground.

For the spring you can use this.

http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001712/1124700-gold-plated-batterydriver-contact-support-spring-f

I think I will make time to attempt it soon, but some more questions…

Where do I get this Fujik compound?

How will I clean the gasoline and its smell from the de-domed reflector.

Also, can this same procedure be repeated by putting an XPG2 in a C8 body without de-doming it? What kind of result will that have? I happen to have a bunch of C8s sitting around.

They have fujik at fast tech as well. Not much you can do for the gas smell other than to rinse it off real good with water, just don’t spray it. Yes you can put an XP-G2 in a C8 and it should throw a lot further as well. Although I would probably just de-dome the C8 but keep in mind that if the C8 is already a cool tint that it will get even more yellow. It will throw farther have less flood and be more yellow. Where as the XP-G2 that I linked to is very cool and ends up a very nice tint.

I clean the gas off with denatured alcohol in a spray bottle, haven't damaged one yet.

Although... I hate to say this, because I hate it when I hear others say what I'm about to say, but... given some of the questions you're asking, you probably aren't ready to tackle de-doming yet. Get the basics down first, this stuff takes skill and practice and a steady hand. And even then, everybody occasionally screws up and destroys stuff. If you aren't prepared to kill the LED and just accept it, even welcome it, as part of the learning process, or start small fires, or other minor calamities that just happen when doing this stuff, don't try it. You'll just end up frustrated.

Take your different budget builds and send them to rdfronty for testing . . most throw per dollar wins. :bigsmile:

I dont really see how another 5$ to the parts I mentioned could hit another level. Unless we are talking baby levels… A 2$ AR coated lens would probably be the icing on the cake on top of what I mentioned. (but Im all ears if other have better options)
I see your point though. I did add 30-50% to the price.
But then again, its not often you gain 30-50% in light output. Add 30% in efficiency/run time. Add modes, which could improve efficiency a ton and add lots of usability. Probably improved LED lifetime by a mile… All that for 3-4 bucks…
Sorry, if I come of rude, or judging something… That was/is not my intent. It was just meant as a friendly advise and options for others. :slight_smile:
I always appreciate your budget tips 18sixfify! You have many good ones, so dont stop posting great deals and stuff! :beer:

Thanks comfychair. That is very useful info!

Not a problem RaceR86 your advice will help somebody make this mod better I’m sure.

I’m really thinking about this, got a weller soldering iron with a somewhat small tip and recently aquired some 60/40 solder. Anyone know of a good TIR optic angle that would lead to the biggest hotspot? I’d like a mule, but really what I want is a slightly throwy light with no hotspot. Kind of like a sipik sk68 when it’s pulled in.

I picked up 3 of the 501b for $12. That’s all the P60 hosts I will ever need. I like the light weight and compact style of the 501b. (my taste is hardly mainstream) Add $2.50 for the empty pill, you have a host kit for $6.50.

While I’m not a big fan of P60 lights (for the thermal problems), I don’t look for the farthest thrower or a lumen blaster from them. Add a 17mm driver and LED of your choice. (…XM-L 3C, XP-G2 3D, Nichia 219) The low budget ready-made lights never have the emitter or driver I want anyway. I use the 1.4A Nanjg 3-mode for P60. At 1.4A the high is easy over 400lm OTF. That’s all I will put in a p60 without the bandaid thermal modding… Plenty for my general use, for the toolbox, quick spotter by the door, loaner, etc.

I already had a few empty drop-ins around to put to use. It has been a mixed bag finding decent P60 reflectors. My best luck are the XP-G OP for a clean, smooth well focused beam. …The XM-L reflectors (white spot, yellow corona, purple spill…) are behind DC-Fix diffuser to get a nice smooth even colored neutral flood for close in work. That one goes well in the toolbox.

Overall this low cost purchase worked out better for me than the Aurabuy XM-L C8, mine has performance issues from head to tail.

I recommend doing this with the Small Sun A629. Just dedome the xp-g2, stick it and you get over 20kcd for under $15 with nice modes and UI.

what sorta thrower should i be expecting? small sun zy t08 throwy? or a c8 range throw?

Hi,

Is the “kicker” here using an XP-G2 with an XM-L reflector? If so, would something like this work in with a C8 body and C8 reflector?

I mentioned in another thread that I was checking around with a couple of C8s I got this week, switching reflectors among them, and I ended up with one light with a really ugly dark spot in the center of the beam. That, I think, turned out to be because the pill had moved further back into the body, and adjusting the pill position got rid of the dark spot. I was amazed. So, with this thread, I’m wondering what would happen if I combined something like an XP-G2 with an XM-L reflector. Is it possible that I’d get the same kind of result that you found with a P60?

Thanks,
Jim

c8

It out throws a good C8 T6 that I have but not a ZY T08. If I go out onto my front porch I have bunch of trees a couple football fields away maybe three. my C8 will just barely reach them. The C12 I just got from light malls lights them up pretty good but that is an L2-U2 and it’s over driven. This one is about as bright when it hits them but with a small beam. It’s hard to say how much difference there is between this 501b and the ZY T08 because mine now has a L2-U2 demoded in it and it now throws a lot farther than it did stock.

On the road I have another set of trees in the back that is about 5-600 yards? and the small sun would reach it ok but not enough to really see the trees. This 501B with a fresh battery touches them but doesn’t light them up quite like the ZY-t08 did. Now the T08 lights them up so you can see them.

Ok I just walked out and tested the C12 and the 501B at first they are about even on the long shot but within a minuet the C12 is brighter but even after that the 501 is still pretty close. Plus you have to remember that this C12 is really white compared tot he 501.

Oh yah one more thing. I had an old fan that died so I took a bunch of copper wire from it and wrapped it around the reflector a whole bunch of times and got it so that it’s really packed in tight. I just barely got the top to screw down tight. The whole head of the flashlight gets hot fairly fast let’s say ten minuets or so.

I also have another drop in with a XP-G2 that is not de-domed it has the regular reflector that just fits the led I think it was from Kiadomain. It has a more defined hot spot than this one with the XML reflector but it’s about twice as big and half as bright. I believe that drop in is running at something like 2.8 it’s in a solarforce L2M that I got from MRsDNF in a give away. Very cool mod by the way.

Here it is the solarforce with some beam shots.

The 501b throws further and has a more neutral tint. Still love the solarforce though because I can use it in shorty mode and it has a super low low.