A Perfect Dedome?

[Manual_Man]

@Slewflash

@Tom E

I’ve done 3 Small Sun T08’s, de-domed in gas. They all go from 95-100 kcd to 200-210 kcd.

Small Sun T08s don’t start at 100kcd, stock they’re closer to 50kcd.

Thought it sounded to good to be true, ahh well you saved me $27.

[AlexGT]

Did you really get a UV emitter by removing the phosphor layer? I thought the tint you get was blue, can you make things fluorescence like a passport or driver license?

@comfychair

I finally killed one, but the gas didn’t do it. I had the bright idea to try rinsing in acetone instead of iso and even though it was just a quick dunk the phosphor went goofy and peeled up at the corners. LED still works, I managed to get all the phosphor off and now have a dangerously bright XML2 T6 UV emitter on a 16mm Sinkpad. :cowboy_hat_face:

So, don’t do what I did. Rinse in iso only.

[tallboybass]

This raises the question…“why do they put domes on the LEDs in the first place?”

[Tom_E]

@Manual Man

@Slewflash

@Tom E

I’ve done 3 Small Sun T08’s, de-domed in gas. They all go from 95-100 kcd to 200-210 kcd.

Small Sun T08s don’t start at 100kcd, stock they’re closer to 50kcd.

Thought it sounded to good to be true, ahh well you saved me $27.

Ooops! My mod'ed T08's start at 95 - 100 kcd. I meant fully mod'ed with dome (4.2A nanjg, XM-L2/SinkPAD, copper, UCL/p lens), then after de-doming this highly mod'ed light... Sorry I didn't make that clear. These are all true numbers, verified after the de-doming by another BLF'er on his well published throw measurements (https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/18214), but only after the modding .

[manxbuggy1]

@tallboybass

Well everyone seems quite happy with their lightmalls.com C8’s, that’s for sure!

I feel bad that my first modding of a flashlight went south, but it must be a sign…gonna try not to do that anymore (actually, now that I think about it, my first flashlight modding was grinding the keychain nub off an ITP A3 so it’ll tailstand! ).

Yeah I ground mine off too and it still wont tail stand very well so like you no mods for me either.

[tallboybass]

@manxbuggy1

Yeah I ground mine off too and it still wont tail stand very well so like you no mods for me either.

LOL!!

Well, my A3 DOES tailstand at least! (I used wire cutters and sandpaper) …then blackened with a Sharpie…some real high tech stuff, I’m mighty proud… :nerd_face:

[Slewflash]

@Tom E

@Manual Man

@Slewflash

@Tom E

I’ve done 3 Small Sun T08’s, de-domed in gas. They all go from 95-100 kcd to 200-210 kcd.

Small Sun T08s don’t start at 100kcd, stock they’re closer to 50kcd.

Thought it sounded to good to be true, ahh well you saved me $27.

Ooops! My mod’ed T08’s start at  95 - 100 kcd. I meant fully mod’ed with dome (4.2A nanjg, XM-L2/SinkPAD, copper, UCL/p lens), then after de-doming this highly mod’ed light… Sorry I didn’t make that clear. These are all true numbers, verified after the de-doming by another BLF’er on his well published throw measurements (https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/18214), but only after the modding .

Makes much more sense now!

[comfychair]

@AlexGT

Did you really get a UV emitter by removing the phosphor layer? I thought the tint you get was blue, can you make things fluorescence like a passport or driver license?

I have an actual UV light (but only 3x 3mm LEDs) for A/C leak detection, and this one with phosphor scraped off looks the same, except about 300 times brighter. Maybe the tint is a little more blue than purple but it's still putting out TONS in the UV range. Even 'blue' LEDs have a lot of UV in them and glowy stuff will glow enough to be noticeable, but this one is fierce. I'm not using it again until I have some proper protective glasses, even though I of course never looked directly at the emitter just looking at things it was pointed at left me with purple shadows in my vision for several hours afterwards.

Unlike the original XML, XML2 isn't damaged by scraping the top of the die, it's just a flat featureless slab of ceramic(?) with no traces to be damaged. Doing the same to a XML would have killed it.

[texaspyro]

Biological effects of high-energy visible light

Also, your eyes are not very sensitive to blue light and your iris won’t close down… you get hit with a LOT more light than you think…

[Tom_E]

Interesting ideas... I'll check if I got mineral or baby oil and give it a go. Got at least 20 of XML T6's laying around now, so good for experimentation.

[tallboybass]

I got a couple of Defiant 2AA lights @ Home Depot last night. Is there any point in dedoming? It would throw better and the tint would warm up, right? I believe it’s an XB-D emitter…? It would be a cheap experiment anyway…let me know what you think!!

[tallboybass]

Anyone?

[relic38]

I can’t say I’d recommend 2x14500 in a 2xAA light. Sounds bad for the emitter to me.
As for dedoming, I’ve never tried one of these tiny emitters. I have an XB-D kicking around somewhere.

[tallboybass]

I like mine…for what they are. Used one as a bike light tonight. It was ok but the batteries rattled a bit. Cat Eyes…you’re a ‘bad boy’…taking those back after abusing them with 14500s!!

[Slewflash]

Kind of blurry, but the best I can do with my old DSLR. It doesn’t do well over 400 ISO and I need a macro lens.

Here’s a picture of a dedomed stock XML2 from a TN31 (by TomE himself).

[Fritz_t_Cat]

One of you hotrodders who like to put in 3A drivers might try filling the space around the emitter with some liquid like mineral oil or ideally freon. You can’t use anything with water in it because it hydrolyzes at around 3V. Even a high boiling liquid will expand enough when hot to circulate and carry away heat. A reflector light or a non-zooming planoconvex aspheric should work perfectly well full of oil from front to back. It may even cut down internal reflections.
One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen was a running Cray II computer. It sat in an aquarium full of freon, and little streams of tiny bubbles were coming up from the components.
I expect manufacturers will do something like that at some point when they get the intensity up to where heat is the main limitation, maybe by filling a hollow dome with fluid.

[Tom_E]

Heat's always an issue, even with doctor's illuminated head gear when they are doing 4+ hour operations - this is relatively low amps, but strapped to someone's head it's not pleasant when it warms up. Weight is an issue too, so guess it depends on how much liquid. I know of at least one crazy intense bike light custom built that used water, I believe, for cooling - I think the emitters were mounted on an aluminum plate, then the cooling system acted on the aluminum plate from the other side.

3 amps is still stock to me - custom, we are talking 3.5A on up, maybe up to 5 amps in regular builds for single emitters.

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

I attempted a de-dome of an XM-L U2 that was installed in a small light, it’s direct drive with no driver so I dunked the entire head in gasoline. But, with the wife and kid wanting to go to the lake I got in a hurry. I removed the dome at 4 hours and broke 2 of 3 wires.

I figured, with nothing to lose, why not try this weird black liquid solder from Radio Shack that I bought mistakenly as glue? It’s electrically conductive, so why not?

And with that, I saved a de-dome!

Looks awesome too in this really small light!

Mind you, I’m not experienced at this kind of stuff. So if I can do it….

[ohaya]

@Fritz t. Cat

One of you hotrodders who like to put in 3A drivers might try filling the space around the emitter with some liquid like mineral oil or ideally freon. You can’t use anything with water in it because it hydrolyzes at around 3V. Even a high boiling liquid will expand enough when hot to circulate and carry away heat. A reflector light or a non-zooming planoconvex aspheric should work perfectly well full of oil from front to back. It may even cut down internal reflections.
One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen was a running Cray II computer. It sat in an aquarium full of freon, and little streams of tiny bubbles were coming up from the components.
I expect manufacturers will do something like that at some point when they get the intensity up to where heat is the main limitation, maybe by filling a hollow dome with fluid.

Water-cooled flashlights :)! They do that nowadays with PCs/CPUs, with heatsink/contact piece contacting the CPU and then a pump that moves the fluid to another part that has a radiator and fan(s).

[Fritz_t_Cat]

I suppose he had to keep the water away from the contacts. Water is a great coolant in the temperature range in which it is liquid, but not for bare electric wires. Some oil is a better insulator than air, and there are low viscosity and low boiling point fluids that are good insulators too. There might be something oil would dissolve, like the insulation on the wires or glue.