Teardown and Mod Thread of Courui XML2 Aka "Big Head 3x18650 Side-Switch Thrower"

I got my KD COURUI real fast. I ordered another and it was shipped right away. I expect it any day.

Ok guys, I finally have a lux meter so I decided to redo the runtime test for the modded courui (before heatsink improvements) to get an idea of the amount of thermal sag evident in the output.

The meter I used is one of those cheap red HS1010 ones that are good up to 200k

So here’s the graph.

I’m new to taking lux measurements so I just left the figures as I took them off the meter.
Max values after a few seconds read 975 on the 10x setting of the meter so I guess that’s 9750 lux measured over a distance of 3.5m.
Using the convertor at ledrise.com and an angle of 90degrees (read that on this forum somewhere but no idea if this is right for all lights or depends on beam angle?) that comes out at a 119.4kcd or nearly 120k lux at 1m.

Please correct me if I’m wrong on any of this, still a bit confused by the whole thing at the moment.

….

In any case the raw numbers should tell a fair bit of the story by themselves. I’m seeing a fairly steep drop in lux right at the start that levels off after about 2 mins. At the end of that steep 2.5mins decline the output has dropped from 9750 to 9260lux which is about 5%. Not insignificant but I was expecting more tbh.

Considering that the regulation is in full swing at this stage and the current is locked at 5.81A for most of the first 5minutes, this drop in output can only be attributed to thermal sag.

After that the driver drops out of regulation and it’s no longer possible to see what effect the temperature itself has on the output.
I’ll see if I can hook up a power supply to this light and get a fully regulated 10-15minute runtime test done and see how far the output drops over extended periods at full power. Again just to have a good baseline of values for when I come back and test it again with the improved heatsinking.

PS. Looking at this chart compared to the one on my last test, it looks like the light drops out of regulation a fair bit sooner here. Everything was setup the same as last time but I may not have fully solved my recent flickering/bad driver grounding issue and this may be a symptom. In any case it doesn’t effect this test much but I’ll look into it and see if I’m burning off voltage anywhere I shouldn’t be.

Great work!

Can anyone suggest me a reliable source to order this Courui? DX, KD, or Lightmalls?

I’m happy with my KD version - came with a thicker 25mm aluminium LED base plate, & didn’t have the obstructive centering ring.

….still haven’t got around to modding it yet…

Hi FmC, thanks for the feedback and I am glad that you like your KD version. So how is KD shipping? Different members have different experience with KD Courui shipment as I read through?

Courui from KD, 7 days from order to ship then 11 days to the UK. Was in good nick when it arrived.

I had two separate COURUI orders from KD. I recieved both of them in eight days after shipping.

Thanks for the information guys, just place an order for one in KD and I feel so sinful now.

Hello! I am looking for my next flashlight build, and i thought it would be nice to mod a Courui. I’ve done some in the 100-250kCd range, so im looking for a definite step-up in throw. Has anyone did a courui with regard to throw? I mean dedomed xp-g2, high amps, etc? What kind of throw could i expect? Idon’t like the side switch at all, it needs special drivers, blabla, but i couldn’t find this big reflector light at this price point.

Thanks fory your help, buddies

Place the order on 23 Jan in KD, received the light on 7 Feb via registered mail, good!

This light looks quite nice. The head is much bigger than my T08 and it is a fat boy in general. :bigsmile: I love side switch though it is an electronic one, but the lockout solution has been provided by the other member here.

I am going to mod this light. Can anyone helps to confirm if the stock LED is XM-L2 U2 or it’s just a T6? I need to wait for my XM-L2 U2 1A on Noctigon shipped from IOS and it takes forever to reach here, thinking if I can just reflow the stock LED on Noctigon.

No easy way to confirm the bin without comparing output measurements with a known emitter bin.
I’d be very surprised if these were top rated bins however, so probably T6.

XP-G2 dedomed at around 4.2A easily gets to 150 metres. It will be a good 6 months time before I get back home, but I have plans to try another set of beamshots and see if it can do around 300 metres. Me thinks it can considering the beam is so tight and still very bright at 150 metres.

Can you mention any throw numbers?
A t08 can do 250kcd with xp-g2 hard driven, so if the courui can only throw 300kcd i obviously won’t spend much extra money and hassle with it.

I have not seen any >300kcd report of this Courui too, but from the picture of janko.hrasko here it looks quite promising.

I am modding one since yesterday. The LED positioning is a real pain. :frowning:

Wow! Thanx for posting all these Linus. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these and add another super thrower to my arsenal. J)

All my multi AA lights can do 300M, D40A NW, SD10 WW/NW, EA8W, even cheapo C8 can, albeit barely, reach 300. Jacob A60 reaches 300m, I dont see a reason why this monstrosity shouldnt reach 300 with ease :D!

Linus - fyi, the XM-L2 U2 1D is quite disappointing for me. My tests show it's significantly lower than a U2 1A or U2 1C in output, though I like it's tint. More like a T6 level. I think it's at the low end of U2 or really a T6 bin.

I think the “300” being talked about is KCd. That’s more than 1000 meters throw and for me its ‘monstrosity’.

My modified BTU Shocker (direct drive, dedomed XML2 T6 on copper, AWG 22 wires) only gives me 297 KCd (still more than a kilometer) but I’m very happy with it. :slight_smile:

My avatar says it all. :wink:

Haha, lol, I see :D!

1000m, thats a large stretch, whats the battery life with that throw :D?