Nice to get some numbers... Thanks for sharing. :)
How do you like it compared to some of your other powerful lights?
What batteries did you use, and how many amps are you seeing on turbo?
Great! I say you did a good job modding the TR-J19.
I’m only seeing about 3.28A at the tail but that is with very long stock probe wires. I don’t list tail amps because I find them to be utterly useless and inaccurate. Better than nothing I suppose but different people will see different results with the same exact light depending on the thickness and length of their DMM leads. When it comes down to it the only accurate measurement is a good light meter and a calibrated IS or light box.
The cells used are listed in my OP right above the output tables. Unprotected KK ICR 26650 ;)
I normally check emitter amps. That way the switch is included and I get a much more consistent reading by soldering a wire directly to the emitter. It says a lot about if you have reached the max potential. In the lights that are essentially direct drive I think it says a lot. Your amp and lumen number seems to somewhat make sense... But the question is, why isnt turbo higher?
Im not too familiar with the dry driver myself (still waiting for one and never used one), but 3,28A at the tail and 2150 OTF lumens both seem quite low for your direct drive setup with KK ICR cells... Sounds like something is limiting the peak output..
Your SRK lights have around the same OTF lumens, I would expect more from this setup. Seems like there is something that still can be improved...
You are correct that it seems low but you must remember that lumens drop a good 25% after dedoming while lux increases.
looks awsome 
are you going to do any beamshots ?
Yeah but I remember Tom E’s Super Shocker mod that being directly driven at 5~6A to each de-domed LED his Shocker is able to put out 4000~5000 OTF lumens. The driver he uses is different though which is from IOS, but if the DRY driver is able to do DD in turbo mode, which is above 4A to each LED then your light should give at least 3500 OTF lumens, just saying.
It does seem a bit low lumens wise for XML2s, but I’d expect runtime to be awesome with 32650s and very little heat to kill efficiency due to great thermal transfer and massive head.
I just checked mine by eye doing a ceiling bounce up against a Fandy Fire UV-S5 (SRK clone) one of the early good ones that is actually a little brighter than the SRK's I have had and the J-19 is a LOT brighter even though the tint is not as white. It lights up every nook and cranny in the room where the FF doesn't. It's not terribly scientific but I can tell that the J-19 is way brighter. Both with fresh batteries as well. I can't see anything that you did differently so it's strange. Well on this one I did leave one emitter's dome on and stretched the spring a bit to make better contact with the board, it's kinda jammed in under the plastic piece. When my light gauge was still working I tested the one I sold to Gords with it and it was showing about 1,000 lumens more than the FF. Now that could be because of extra light bouncing around but I still would have guessed at more like 3,000 lumens, very close to my terminator. I didn't use the centering ring for the emitter either, the Reflector is sitting right on the noctigon with electrical tape over the wires so it doesn't short, I have found that when I de-dome that it hurts some if the emitter isn't up into the reflector as much as possible. Well anyway it's one heck of a mod and thanks for posting the numbers. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. I have another lux meter on the way so when it shows up I'll have to build a better box for it and post my numbers. Here are pics of the stock J-19 and my newest J-19 mod.
edit, I just had my wife do a "blind" test for me with a ceiling bounce. She didn't get to see what lights I was playing with and she confirmed that the J-19 was far brighter than the FF SRK and that the J-19 modded was also much brighter on High (not turbo) than the J-19 stock was on high. In fact the J-19 modded was slightly brighter on high (not turbo) than the FF SRK although it was close.
One more edit: Just another slight difference I used Wakefield Deltabond epoxy for the emitters. Can't think it could make that much difference though.
I’d be expecting to be much closer to 3000 lumens than 2000 just because an xm-l2 u2 at 3a on alu is rated to be comfortably above 1000 lumens, your direct bonded to copper, yes their dedomed but emitter lumens should still be above 1000 so your losing 800 - 900 lumens somewhere.
thats like misplacing a good hd2010
id definitely try pulling the emitter locators and retesting, , everything points to getting dedomed emitters as high up in the reflector as possible.
On the other side, is it possible that the DRY driver doesn’t deliver REAL high current in DD? As JohnnyMac mention that he measured only 3.28A at the tail, is this where the problem is?
it always has done in the past, I’ve got a couple now (one none step down model). but thats besides the point.
the 3.2a tail current is at 12v, I’m not sure its the same as emitter current, but even if it is, it still comfortably puts those three xm-l2’s over 3a with better than average heat sinking.
How many amps are you seeing on the tail of your light gords1001, and are all/both springs copper braided?
Amps on the tail should be the same as emitter amps. The voltage of the 3 batteries in series are divided on 3 emitters since they are wired in series.
If the driver is proper direct drive on turbo without lots of resistance, the batteries are good, and there is not a lot of resistance somewhere, amps on fresh batteries should have been much higher than 3,3A, and OTF lumens should also be higher.
Do you know exactly which driver he used?
LOL...darn you guys! You've taken all the wind from my sails. :p
Now I have to figure out why this giant is refusing to wake up. All your help and suggestions are very helpful. Please keep them coming. :)
Sorry JM, there was no intention to take away all the wind from you sails. Just wanted you to have a light that lives up to its potential and what you probably modded it for. :)
Tom-E normally uses this driver since its direct drive when using 3 cells in series and 3 emitters in series.
Maybe try your light without the driver circuit. Test proper direct drive and see what kind of lux and amps you get in comparison. If its the same, I would double check resistance between batteries and the driver..
Edit: Before doing that, do you have another set of batteries you could try it with. Just in case you have a bad cell or something..
I’m not doing tail current tests at the moment, I’ve been getting too many wonky readings and until I figure out why, its not going to be helpful.
I can try with the clamp meter tonight if need be though,
johnny, do all you king kongs drop right through the battery sleeve without interference? And is there definitely some resistance when screwing the tail cap on?
for those who’ve not seen the guts of this light, everything is HUGE I sleeved some 18650 cells into it to test and they wouldn’t reliably run it, the plungers are almost the size of an 18650 so those puny cells don’t work so well lol
Sorry for my discourtesy JohnnyMac, but you’ve actually done a great job there with those assembling and cooper-braid-ing etc, I will need to refer to your work if I happen to try my hand on modding this J19 in the future.
Yes as RaceR86 pointed out that’s the driver that Tom E used for his Shocker mod. Note that though it is written as 4.5A in IOS website but members here reported that it is actually DD in high mode, which is varying in between 5~6A. Also the contact board that comes with it is about 1mm smaller than the DRY driver.
Yes, Graham, they all drop right in with no resistance at all. The adapter sleeve is perfect on mine except for being @10mm too short and sliding front to back if you shake the light hard the same way.
There is also resistance when screwing the tailcap on. The switch plunger is definitely pressing against the back of the last cell. Tonight when I get home I will swap the KK for my TF Flame 26650 and see what happens with them with output.
I checked the tailcap resistance this morning while eating my breakfast. Resistance in the switch is just 0.1mohm. As a comparison I checked the body of my CQG S2 and with the leads about 3" apart (no tailcap joint in the mix) the resistance was 0.2mohms. I would have to say there is no contributing resistance in the tail section. I think tonight I will put a piece of 20awg wire in the anode spring as well to ensure no resistance from the driver spring. I had one when I first modded the light but that was before I change the spring from a floating design to being soldered directly to the driver contact plate.
Other that those things I can't imagine what else could possibly be causing the lower than expected output. Let me just add, so you are aware of another possible cause for low tailcap readings, my test leads are stock 3ft leads made of 24awg wire. They have been pretty spot on in the past with single emitter lights but may have too much resistance for this light.